Beyond the fabric

If you've ever busted a box of hockey cards (well, maybe more than one), you've likely pulled a jersey swatch card as one of the premiums. Some, especially those featuring patch, nameplate or number swatches, are put away for safe keeping. One of favorite players get tucked away, too.

For the most part, though, or at least it has been my experience, most of these cards could be viewed as run-of-the-mill jersey cards. Sure, they're nice, souvenirs of official NHL games. Some cards feature bigger names, too. But after pulling a bunch, as we've been fortunate enough to do over the years, they simply become a part of the collection.

That's one of the main reasons we started the Threads collection, taking these cards one step further by getting them signed by players. Last week, Columbus' Rick Nash and Jakub Voracek became the latest two NHL players to join our club.