Hey everyone!
I am new to this forum, and I am trying to get a feel for what everyone is after.
It has been a while since I did any trading, and am slowly getting back to this again. I felt it nescessary to find out who all here has any experience through the 90's, and first hand dealt with the hobbies fopa's especially with the utter disillusionment of the period between 90-93, where overproduction ran rampant, card values that were promissing (IE Pro-set) then fell off the face of the earth. Which left us all shaking our heads.
As well I would like to get feedback from collectors now, and see how they view the hobby, and the kind of shape it is in today.

I as well would like to see if there is anyone on here that is interested in "hold over" cards from the previous decade:confused0024:.

Your input will be greatly appreciated.
Brian

I got early 90,s hockey and it isn't worth anything. Remember when the lindros rc was the hottest it? I got a couple gretzky inserts that were like 25 one time. this yr i looked them up and they were five and six.

I got early 90,s hockey and it isn't worth anything. Remember when the lindros rc was the hottest it? I got a couple gretzky inserts that were like 25 one time. this yr i looked them up and they were five and six.
I had three of those Lindros RC's, and traded them for three boxes of 91-92 Pro-Set thinking I was getting a steal of a deal. This is when His Rookie was worth $30, and to buy a box of PSet was $36. In the end it all just evened out. Besides! My kids are 7 and 6, and they think they hit the jackpot when i dumped all those cards in front of them recently. Should have seen thier eyes light up.

I got started collecting in 1990, dropped out around 2004 and came back in 2006. I also went back and tried putting sets together from 1981 - 1989. Some of those OPC sets were tough. It is frustrating to see almost the whole 90's decade bottom out in value. I recall the 90 OPC Premier Jagr RC was selling for $180 in the early 90's. Of course, I hung on to all of mine and couldn't get $15 for them now. How quickly things change.

You'd think over time the value will return, but they produced sooooooooo much cardboard back then. I think I have 8 complete sets of 90-91 Upper Deck that I can't get rid of! I learned my lesson. If your going to sell or trade, strike when the iron is hot! People are paying some ridiculous amounts for 07-08 and 08-09 RCs. If you hold them a few years and their career doesn't pan out you be stuck with them. Can you say: "Alexandre Daigle"?

Alexandre Daigle Runs in fear ........

I just added all my hockey to my organize and was shocked @ how bad the bottom fell out of those cards.. Most of that stuff was stolen from me a few years back.. But i managed to get a few back (Long story) I knew they would eventually drop but i didnt think so bad......

I started collecting in 1990. The first set I ever put together was 1990-91 Proset :)

I stopped around 1998.... and then started up again in 2001..... though I never started buying packs / boxes again until 2005.

The "sell while it's hot" tip someone else has already said is pretty acurate. Even in today's card market.... where RCs are designed to hold their value.... you don't see a lot of cards that dramatically increase in value. When they're new, demand is at its highest.

Saying all that, it's still a ton of fun. I don't know how much of an 'investment' it actually is, but that's not my biggest concern.

I was renting table back in early 90 since we had cards show every week-end. I traded a lot of card, sold a lot and bought a lot. In the end it was fun and I was able to aquire older card in that period. I got many thoushound of card I never even bother to enter in my database. I have been collecting since I was a kid more then 30 years ago. the 90 was not what got me out of it but more the way NHL play style changed. Then the stikes changed rules and I slowly got back into hockey, then back into collecting cards again a year ago.

You will find today maket still fill the market with maybe 30+ set from ITG and Upper Deck. Pannini is back making hockey stikers as well. Quality is way up. Today most collector fall for memorabilia cards (jersey , patch, glove, skate etc...) and autograph. Ton of parrallel numbered cards subset. Rookies are still the hottest cards but that has evolve a lot with numbering, jersey/patch and auto. High end selling up to 500$ for 7cards pack/tin. They still make sure you can spenp a lot of money so this has not changed.

Hey everyone!
I am new to this forum, and I am trying to get a feel for what everyone is after.
It has been a while since I did any trading, and am slowly getting back to this again. I felt it nescessary to find out who all here has any experience through the 90's, and first hand dealt with the hobbies fopa's especially with the utter disillusionment of the period between 90-93, where overproduction ran rampant, card values that were promissing (IE Pro-set) then fell off the face of the earth. Which left us all shaking our heads.
As well I would like to get feedback from collectors now, and see how they view the hobby, and the kind of shape it is in today.

I as well would like to see if there is anyone on here that is interested in "hold over" cards from the previous decade:confused0024:.

Your input will be greatly appreciated.
Brian
Ive got jagr 2nd year ProSET card as well as alot of 1989-90 UD cards..winnipeg,QUE, hartford

even Sakic in quebec with the "C" but you can see where it was an "A" like someone took the "A" off and put the "C" over top... leech and nolan ,hatcher rookie cards..

I started to collect in 1990. The hobby changes so quickly in about 2 decades. It is now more a business than anything else for card manufacturers, the NHL and NHLPA. At $500/pack, we expect quality and rarity in 2009. A card with a print run higher than 10 without auto/memorabilia is now almost garbage stuff!

I been collecting sine 1974. Of course not truly til the later 70's as that when I truly started to buy cards. Of course had mom clean out all the 74 to 78 as I did not clean my room. So I didn't need my cards (What a shame). At least I have my own place otherwise I be getting more thrown out.

I think anyone that collected in the 90's learned oh to well what can happen. If ya love the hobby you love it plain and simple no matter what happens on the monetary front.

DON

I started in 89 as a kid. I went wild for proset in the following years but I also had a thing for Roy. I stopped collecting around 95 when I discovered girls lol Last year my dad was cleaning some things out and he called saying he had all my cards in a safe. He figured they were worth something and so did I. Man was I wrong! The only thing I had was a few Roy cards and they really weren't worth alot.It's taken me awhile to catch on to what might hold some value nowadays cards are so different from when I stopped collecting. Still one of my all time top cards is proset Roy The Mask. I always loved that card it was unique when it came out.

Haha I like it, if I didnt, I wouldn't have a billion cards sitting in my room... haha. I like the thrill of the hunt for the players I love. I wouldn't buy them on ebay (outside of a steal) but I would have so much more satisfaction to pull one out of my own pack haha y know.

I been collecting sine 1974. Of course not truly til the later 70's as that when I truly started to buy cards. Of course had mom clean out all the 74 to 78 as I did not clean my room. So I didn't need my cards (What a shame). At least I have my own place otherwise I be getting more thrown out.

I think anyone that collected in the 90's learned oh to well what can happen. If ya love the hobby you love it plain and simple no matter what happens on the monetary front.

DON
That is so well put Don. I knew tooo many people(especially kids) that put the dollar value behind the player or set they were building in hopes that it will carry them to wealth. None of these guys from my hometown are collecting anymore because they didn't see the real value here. The only ones left collecting have reasons beyond card values.
The best thing is discovering I had my one set of 91-92 UD in my many binders of completed sets, but also having two other sets.... These went to my two daughters. I got a Priceless response that you can't buy!

I been collecting sine 1974. Of course not truly til the later 70's as that when I truly started to buy cards. Of course had mom clean out all the 74 to 78 as I did not clean my room. So I didn't need my cards (What a shame). At least I have my own place otherwise I be getting more thrown out.

I think anyone that collected in the 90's learned oh to well what can happen. If ya love the hobby you love it plain and simple no matter what happens on the monetary front.

DON

I am over 30 years old, so a bit like you all my O-Pee-Chee cards went to garbage when I was 8-10 years old after we moved to a new house. We didn't cry at that time because cards had no significant value, and we could buy more at the grocery or gas station. EVERYBODY could collect the BEST hockey cards in the 1980's and before. It was a super cheap hobby. About 25 years ago, a guy in my region bought a whole batch of 1979-1984 O-Pee-chee boxes from a distributor at $2/box (a lot of over 100 boxes of fresh unopened packs). At $0.05-0.35/pack, you cannot compare the hobby philosophy in the 1970's with the one in 2009 as you try to compare. If you have no money in 2009, you will have no valuable cards in your collection. It is as simple as that. The monetary issue is a HUGE issue in 2009 if you want to collect the best cards of today. How can a fan of Carey Price get a Carey Price The Cup RC #/99 card without money? Money is a big problem today in collecting, and frustrating when you realize you cannot afford to buy the card you want to get because you don't have the budget.

tooo many people(especially kids) that put the dollar value behind the player or set they were building in hopes that it will carry them to wealth. None of these guys from my hometown are collecting anymore because they didn't see the real value here.

Absolutely on point! When I open a pack I look at the players and think, "Awesome! a Malkin!"...or "Cool picture on this one!" You can't explain the feeling when you bust a pack and find the one card you needed for a set, be it a star player or a nobody. I once traded four Jagr rookies for a much needed Janne Ojanen and was thrilled to complete the deal!

Unfortunately, too many people today open a pack and their first thought is, "What's book value on this?"

I'm still another year away from 30..... but you're right.

I didn't start collecting until the early 90s. Even then.... a lot of kids I knew could afford the higher end stuff. OPC Premier may have been a little pricey (at least in the 1st year) but even Upper Deck wasn't too bad in price. My mother has always laughed about the cards she bought as a kid. She traded them all to her brother, for the gum out of his packs. (And his cards didn't survive into adulthood with him).

We all know now that cards from the 90s never ended up being worth anything.... but at least at the time.... I could take pride in the fact that I had the 'best' Sergie Federov rookie, or that I had a Pavel Bure rookie, or whoever. At 10 or 12 years old, I was collecting because it fun, not because I was going to make money.

At the same time, can anyone deny the fact that when busting open a pack, as a kid, you didn't get excited when you pulled out something that was more valuable? Can you deny that you ever had thoughts about how much your collection was going to be worth in the future? That wasn't the main reason you were necessarily collecting.... but it HAD to be in everyone's mind.

In today's market, I don't see how the card companies expect to get kids into it. While a rookie card from The Cup may be a little extreme, even a Young Gun of a star player costs more than what most 11 year olds can likely spend on hockey cards. Forget packs of a mid-range set like Upper Deck S1 or 2S. Unless I'm completely out of touche with reality.... does 13 year olds get enough allowance money to save up and bust 3 boxes per series? Even if they did.... at best they've got 36 / 100 Young Guns (from the whole set). Do the have the cash to keep busting packs, or buy the singles?

I'm not trying to say that cards all need to be priced in a manner that makes them accessible to kids. I just don't see how kids can even fall under the illusion now-a-days, that the $2 packs they're busting are ever going to be 'worth' anything. And then at that age.... and if that's the case, why should they buy anything at all?

I don't think the value of cards is the be all and end all of it. I've probably spent between $1500 and $2000 since the season started last fall. If I were to try and sell everything I've bought in that time period, I'd be lucky to get $1000 for it. I know this, and I knew this when I bought the stuff.

To say financial concerns aren't (or shouldn't be) part of this hobby though, it's crazy. Even if you're not worried about the resale value of your cards, you have to know the value of them, when buying wax. I busted a box of UD2 a couple of weeks ago.... I was still missing 1 base card for the set, plus (roughly) half of the Young Guns. I was in a spot where finishing my set, just buying the singles, would probably have cost me close to the cost of 2 boxes. There is no way I could finish my set with 2 boxes...... but I know what to expect from the series 2 box. I got a few YGs I needed, traded away the ones I didn't.... flipped the Jersey cards (I got 3 of them) for more YGs I needed. Even the inserts, and the Victory Rookies have been worth something in trade.

It's not necessarily about what kind of cash considerations you can get for your cards.... but what their perceived worth is to others. I knew.... buying a box of UD2 that BEST CASE scenario.... I pull 7 cards that I actually want, and likely only get 3 or 4. Considering the box cost $70.... that's pretty expensive.

If I don't know (reasonable assumption) that I can flip several of the cards I pull for (likely) another 7, or so, that I do want.... I probably never buy that box. Even at $5 a card (say I get 14 wants.... after trading.... for the $70 box) that's still a lot. I could probably buy most of them for a fraction of that. The need to gamble (which is what wax breaks are) is obviously there. I MIGHT get that $100 card, plus a bunch of other stuff, in my $70 box.

To say that money shouldn't be a factor into your collection, is nuts. Because our collections cost so much money to build, it has to be.

I am over 30 years old, so a bit like you all my O-Pee-Chee cards went to garbage when I was 8-10 years old after we moved to a new house. We didn't cry at that time because cards had no significant value, and we could buy more at the grocery or gas station. EVERYBODY could collect the BEST hockey cards in the 1980's and before. It was a super cheap hobby. About 25 years ago, a guy in my region bought a whole batch of 1979-1984 O-Pee-chee boxes from a distributor at $2/box (a lot of over 100 boxes of fresh unopened packs). At $0.05-0.35/pack, you cannot compare the hobby philosophy in the 1970's with the one in 2009 as you try to compare. If you have no money in 2009, you will have no valuable cards in your collection. It is as simple as that. The monetary issue is a HUGE issue in 2009 if you want to collect the best cards of today. How can a fan of Carey Price get a Carey Price The Cup RC #/99 card without money? Money is a big problem today in collecting, and frustrating when you realize you cannot afford to buy the card you want to get because you don't have the budget.