‘Puck Junk’ host Sal Barry personifies hockey collecting

One great aspect of the hobby and doing what I do is that I get to meet and interact with some great hobby people. This column allows me to highlight some of those folks, and I love the fact that I get to do so.

Sometimes I meet someone who truly personifies and encompasses an area of the hobby they truly enjoy. Sal Barry of the Puck Junk podcast might just be the finest example of that.

As the Puck Junk moniker suggests, Sal is a hockey guy through and through. He's a writer, podcaster, hockey collector, fan, and his knowledge of hockey and hockey collecting is vast. Prior to his podcast, he was a weekly guest on the SiriusXM radio show “The War Room,” where he shared his hockey knowledge on multiple levels. He launched the “Puck Junk” podcast in 2015.

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Sal is a Chicago guy whose card journey started in the early 1980s collecting multiple sports. However, in 1989 he jumped into the hobby heavy and hockey cards were his weapon of choice.

When he appeared on “Sports Card Nation” (episodes 313 and 314) we discussed how we both loved the era where multiple manufacturers held the licensing rights for the same sports, but agreed we probably won’t ever see that again. (Upper Deck currently holds the exclusive rights to NHL trading cards.)

Like myself, Sal is a card dealer. He discussed his affection for the annual Toronto Sport Card Expo. Unfortunately, he is unable to set up there due to the logistics, but nonetheless he enjoys the show and gets to pick up inventory for both his PC and his show inventory.

Sal and I are both “pricers” of the cards we sell. That’s a pet peeve of ours—when cards are not priced in a showcase for collectors to see.

Sal is a great advocate and ambassador for not only hockey collecting but the hobby in general. Check out his blog Puck Junk started in 2007 and his podcast of the same name. And he recently added a merch store with some really cool hockey-themed shirts as well.

— John Newman is a collector, dealer and the host of the Sports Card Nation podcast. Catch his Hobby Quick Hits on Monday and his guest interviews on Friday on your favorite podcast plat­form. You can reach him at sportscard­nationpc@gmail.com or on Twitter at @sportscardnati1