Why Is This Hobby So Unkind To Some Of Its Players ?

[bojohnson]

ill tell you why

these players all have cards in every single set that panini/UD releases, so in essense they have thousands of different cards, and only hundreds of buyers

[cygnusx1]

ill tell you why

these players all have cards in every single set that panini/UD releases, so in essense they have thousands of different cards, and only hundreds of buyers

No they don't.

[bojohnson]

No they don't.

luc robitaille has cards in virtually every single product thats ever released

its ridiculous

[pwaldo]

It isn't unique to hockey. In every sport when a guy retires his popularity goes down because he is out of the spot light. It happens with everyone no matter how good or popular they were. People just want what is new and they are spoon fed highlights of current players by the media with little to no recognition of players before them. That's why some guys who are rookies are in more demand than players who were Hall of Famers 50 years ago.

[jbudny]

I really wish they'd start giving Kirk McLean the Richard Brodeur treatment.
Nothing against Brodeur.

I second that! I'm pretty sure Kirk McLean doesn't like to sign much because all of his autos from ITG are SP's and I don't even think McLean has many game used jersey pieces on the market. All I can think of is his draft day duos card with Roy that has a jersey piece. It is all glove and stick pieces.

[maradona]

People should look at cards like an investor might. If something seems too undervalued to you, the right thing to do is to buy and wait for the price to rise. If it never does, it shouldn't bother you much, provided the price you paid really was low.

[30ranfordfan]

You're forgetting one important thing..... do those guys want to be on cards anymore? Do they want to sign for the card companies much anymore?

Active players pretty much have to sign, as part of the group licensing. Retired players? They don't have to sign for anyone. With how few signed cards you see of the players you mentioned..... I'd suspect they're probably unwilling to sign much for the card companies.

Goalies like Barrasso, Vanbiesbrouck, Richter, Moog, Vernon etc are waay superior and has Stanley Cups or harwares or international merits or 15x-20x better stats but still R.Brodeur beats crap outta those goalies in card-wise (ITG cards not icluded!)....pure insanity!

Rant over....

[Yipper]

There is simple answer to this:

Not all players present or past have autograph contracts with existing companies. This is the driving force behind putting vintage players into sets. Companies are not going to take spots of people they have a contract with and put in those who do not. By doing so, it restricts the set cause they take up a spot.

Prime example is Bure. He doesn't really sign often or sign at all since he is in Russia most of the time. I've asked vegaspuck and Panini over and over again to put Bure in. They want to, but never got an auto contract. That is the driving force. However, I did notice a recent addition to SPGU where he does have an auto. So I expect we'll see more of him from UD.


The other reason is they have to be granted permission by the NHLPA to use any retired players in there sets... as a matter of fact, they have to be granted permission for any players in general and there is an approval process. Sometimes they are approved and sometimes they are not. Sometimes the players themselves don't want to get involved.

Don't just think that they are popular, skilled, etc... or the fact that you want them in sets. Yes, sometimes "wants" can be satisfied, but that is not always the case. There are a lot of factors that we have to respect including the players themselves not be interested in joining this part of the hobby. It about them as much as it is about us.


And lastly, marketability, which I'm sure others have talked about already.

[Frendo]

Yes that's true but I'm quite sure that many of those retired players even nerver got any offer from card companies because they're
"not so desired" by "collectors" when they never even tried.

Just plain stupid that Richard Brodeur got a such much more hobby-love than Kirk McLean which was a all-star goalie, led in wins at a season with 39 (which was almost double of the best note of "King Richard"), was only just ONE goal from winning SC, was a elite goalie for a quite long time from end of 80's to middle of 90's....and the very last true stand-up goalie who played in NHL!

What's the story behind that King Richard gets a such treatment from Upperdeck? I know that one of the employee at UD is a die-hard collector of Richard Brodeur but it's the sole reason? I don't think so....what's with the Tony Twist story?

I read somewhere that McLean is quite enthusiastic to seeing his own cards while he's on a autographing session at expos.
I'm sure that many retired players would be more than pleased to be on cards if they actually got asked for that, many just don't want to felling into the oblivion....Upperdeck appears to having some own favorites who're on every of its releases while there are such many better players outhere.

Who heck wants NHL-shileds or logos from the most expensive hockey series ever The Cup with Twist!?!?
When there are soo many better who never got any nicer cards like he does plus there are +10 no +50 "enforcers" who actually can play hockey and has a nice stats compared with Twist (who is a utter junk for me, sorry all Twist collectors!) but never got a such treatment from UD like Twist gets....

No joking that I really really like Upperdeck (aww Lundy cards!) but they're a absolute joke when it comes up to retired players!
I know that been too many imput from me about retired players who only gets crap or no cards...

[Wickabee]

I love that someone said that about McLean. The last real standup is right!

The thing about Richard Brodeur is, he was the first. He was the first solid goalie the Canucks had for several years. He was the first goalie to take them to the finals in 82. In the history of Vancouver there are 3 guys who stand out as the best goalies:
Roberto Luongo
Kirk McLean
Richard Broder

Luongo is still going, so he's having lots of cards still produced in every set. Kirk McLean is a Pat Verbeek/Adam Oates/Ron Francis story. He was in the 1990s overproduction era, he plays second fiddle to Trevor Linden for fans of that era. McLean comes in second in every Canucks category:
Best goalie: 1 - Luongo, 2 - McLean
Best 90s Canuck: 1 - Linden, 2 - McLean
Went to finals" 1st - Brodeur, 2nd - McLean
The same way Oates played second fiddle to Neely and Hull, McLean comes in second in every category for Canucks fans. I think as time goes, you'll see more demand for McLean and much, much less than there already is for Brodeur. It's not just about accomplishments, cards already produced or popularity. It's all those things mixed with which generation grew up watching player X.

Look at Sakic. Elite, incredibly popular player, but you can nab most of his cards pretty cheap. That will change as kids who watched the end of his career grow up and start (re)joining the hobby. McLean has the same kind of potential for very, very soon. Oates, Francis, Verbeek don't.