There was Taro Tsujimoto.
On May 28th, 1974... the Buffalo Sabres selected Tsujimoto in the 11th round of the NHL Amateur Draft. However he never suited up for the Sabres that season, because he didn't exist.
He was a fictitious hockey player who played in the Japanese Hockey League on a fictitious hockey team (Tokyo Katanas).
Luckily for cardboard collectors, his hockey card isn't fictional. Panini produced a card of Tsujimoto for its 2010-11 Score Rookies & Traded set. They've actually held their value due to Panini's decision to limit the card's production (inserted into one out of every twenty factory sets).
I've wanted one of these since they came out, but wasn't willing to pay the ridiculous prices for a fictitious hockey player. Last month, I picked one up off of eBay for $9.05 (+ $3 shipping).
Thank you Mr. Imlach (Buffalo's general manager at the time)! Without your prank, there would be no Tsujimoto hockey card and I'd be $12.05 richer.
Happy Tuesday and sayonara!
6 comments:
More teams should do things like this. Insert a little fun into what can be an over-bearing draft process.
VERY cool card, been meaning to grab one of these for a while now.
Things are so serious these days... I'm sure teams would be afraid of being fined or something. But... I totally agree. When it comes to the draft (in any sport), I usually just sit back and wait for the online results and team reviews.
The good news is that they continue to get cheaper and cheaper as more of us finally add it to our collections. They should be under $10 by next year.
How have I gone my whole life and never heard of this? I now cannot live until I own this card. *faints*
Just head over to eBay... should be able to find one at a reasonable price.
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