Kovalchuk Collectors-What will you do with your collection?

[redwingsfan11]

I can certainly understand where you're coming from. However on a different premise, it is easy to understand others selling what they have. This is not a situation that is clear as day for many, with this event comes alot of mixed emotions and perceptions. So i can understand why some may consider dumping it all. Some hard core devils fans may feel like they were left high and dry by a player who made it seem on paper/contract that he was willing to stick with the team for a while. Are people fools for thinking that, i think not. Can some be judged for not having the forsight of his exiting the NHL. No. Sure its easy to say now that because of his talking about it during the off season it was %100 bound to happen. But when a player takes part of a season with his team, it gives the notion that, "hey maybe he is going to stick with us after all". Then there is the position that the devils are in now, can they do anything to change what happened yesterday. No. But none the less the devils are in a momentary low position. I wont go into the economics of it because whats done is done. To some, it may seem like Kovalchuk did the devils a favor. Who knows he might have, maybe it might be crazy enough to think that he was willing to sacrifice his image from NHL fans to show and set a precedent of how such a contract leaves others in such a poor position. It could also be that he can have his cake and eat it to. However to end my point, i don't think that it is a moral imperative for all to keep their collection of him. Unconditional love is meant for family, not a hockey player. I won't hold anything against anyone because there are too many conditional experiences and emotion attached to a persons collection. I just don't want everyone to be judged on the same account that is all.

Now please don't take this post as like i'm trying to start a malicious argument. I believe in respect for all my peers. I love the friendships i made here especially with fellow Kovy collectors. I'm just stating a point that other people may be experiencing and am trying to bring it to light. At the end of the day, its not that important. I personally am over the whole ordeal of his leaving. I wish him the best of luck. I still love my cards, before i went to bed I took my collection out of him and still had the same excitement i did when i first got them. Especially my Ice auto /10. But for me my collection will be available, hey if someone miraculously wants my lot of cards for a decent price (lower than what I have on ebay), then yes i will entertain the offer because I will use that money to start a fund for my Henrik Zetterberg Super Rookie /15. The card that started the drive for my collecting of hockey and most likely where I will end as well. That being said, do i have hopes to be so lucky? No, but hey its worth a shot in my opinion. Again, please don't take this post from a position of malice, its just me stating my opinion.

-Tim

[hugehitter31]

On a much smaller scale I went through this a little bit with Burmistrov. When I first heard rumours he was leaving I sold the Cup ARP I had of him. I still have some rookie autos but that was the big one. To me I figured get some money back from it while it was still worth something but now it might be too late.

[TheBoxBreaker]

I can certainly understand where you're coming from. However on a different premise, it is easy to understand others selling what they have. This is not a situation that is clear as day for many, with this event comes alot of mixed emotions and perceptions. So i can understand why some may consider dumping it all. Some hard core devils fans may feel like they were left high and dry by a player who made it seem on paper/contract that he was willing to stick with the team for a while. Are people fools for thinking that, i think not. Can some be judged for not having the forsight of his exiting the NHL. No. Sure its easy to say now that because of his talking about it during the off season it was %100 bound to happen. But when a player takes part of a season with his team, it gives the notion that, "hey maybe he is going to stick with us after all". Then there is the position that the devils are in now, can they do anything to change what happened yesterday. No. But none the less the devils are in a momentary low position. I wont go into the economics of it because whats done is done. To some, it may seem like Kovalchuk did the devils a favor. Who knows he might have, maybe it might be crazy enough to think that he was willing to sacrifice his image from NHL fans to show and set a precedent of how such a contract leaves others in such a poor position. It could also be that he can have his cake and eat it to. However to end my point, i don't think that it is a moral imperative for all to keep their collection of him. Unconditional love is meant for family, not a hockey player. I won't hold anything against anyone because there are too many conditional experiences and emotion attached to a persons collection. I just don't want everyone to be judged on the same account that is all.

Now please don't take this post as like i'm trying to start a malicious argument. I believe in respect for all my peers. I love the friendships i made here especially with fellow Kovy collectors. I'm just stating a point that other people may be experiencing and am trying to bring it to light. At the end of the day, its not that important. I personally am over the whole ordeal of his leaving. I wish him the best of luck. I still love my cards, before i went to bed I took my collection out of him and still had the same excitement i did when i first got them. Especially my Ice auto /10. But for me my collection will be available, hey if someone miraculously wants my lot of cards for a decent price (lower than what I have on ebay), then yes i will entertain the offer because I will use that money to start a fund for my Henrik Zetterberg Super Rookie /15. The card that started the drive for my collecting of hockey and most likely where I will end as well. That being said, do i have hopes to be so lucky? No, but hey its worth a shot in my opinion. Again, please don't take this post from a position of malice, its just me stating my opinion.

-Tim

Some good points there, Tim, and I agree with a lot of them.

The only thing that surprised me is actually just that it seems like some people started collecting Kovy more as an investment rather than based on the player/person he is. I used to collect Olaf Kolzig cards and had a bit of a hard time in the couple of weeks after he became a Lightning and leaving Washington. Not that I was ever a Caps fan, it just felt like he was leaving his fanbase in D.C.

I still stuck with my collection of him, and although I no longer consider myself a collector of Kolzig per-se, I still kind of consider it a minor PC. I rarely add cards to it, but I have not sold it either. I still feel like it's mine, you know?

I feel bad for the fans in New Jersey who feel like they've been robbed. I understand them completely and it's sad to see that one of their best players are leaving without completing his obligations as per his contract. As I wrote previously, the only thing I'm that surprised me was that it seemed like some people treated his cards as investments and not collectables, but I guess that if this is the case for someone, they don't feel morally attached to their cards anyways (at least the Kovy ones).

-Ethan

[CoolHandLuke]

20 years down the road, people will simply remember he was a good player So selling might not be the solution. I remember with Ken Dryden, he took a year off to finish studying to become a lawyer and not long after he retired to start practicing as a lawyer. I remember how we felt and how we tough he still had many good years in hockey. It did felt sour, yet, today, we remember him as a great goaltender that led his team to many Stanley Cup. While it may feel sour today, this will be forgotten over the years but not how good he was.

[redwingsfan11]

20 years down the road, people will simply remember he was a good player So selling might not be the solution. I remember with Ken Dryden, he took a year off to finish studying to become a lawyer and not long after he retired to start practicing as a lawyer. I remember how we felt and how we tough he still had many good years in hockey. It did felt sour, yet, today, we remember him as a great goaltender that led his team to many Stanley Cup. While it may feel sour today, this will be forgotten over the years but not how good he was.

Great point, now that I have had a day to deal with it and think about it, it is on that basis which i feel most comfortable and still a bit proud to keep my collection.

Ethan I understand where you are coming from as well. Its just that nature of the hobby, some buy for pleasure and others for investment. I think the famous saying here on the forums, "if you are looking to make money on hockey cards, turn somewhere else" still holds true. I believe that with each and every hockey card I buy. I can pretty much forsee my Kovy collection turning out like your kolzig collection. To be honest I wouldn't mind that one bit. It sort of puts a smile on my face when i think about keeping them. Its funny because every day i do my typical ebay searches in this order, "Zetterberg, Kovalchuk, Kopitar, Rick Nash, John Tavares, Steve Yzerman". That did not change today. I still found myself subconciously typing in Kovalchuk because somewhere inside i was still excited to see if his Premier signatures black /5 or any other rare card popped up. I dont have the money for it, but there is still a thrill of the hunt for me in a sense. I still sort of thwart this feel good thing with having my collection available to start a fund for my Zetterberg. But deep down inside i sort of know how its going to turn out, which is me 10 years down the road still taking out my collection of Kovalchuk, pulling out his ice rookie auto /10 and saying, "I paid 362.50 for this?...I would do it all over again".

I had to go through a small emotional roller coaster to get to this point though lol

This is why i love the forums, I can ask a question, get feedback and experiences and learn more than I began with. Thanks guys =)

[Drewk86a]

Maybe I'm already at the point where a player retiring (or going to the KHL) doesn't affect me as much. My current stable of players includes:

Retired PC: Lindros (40% complete), Lemieux (37%), Brian Propp (51%), Craig Berube (62%), Claude Boivin (93%), Dave Brown (45%)

"Gone to KHL" PC: Kovalchuk (18%), Evgeny Artyukhin (50%),

Active in the NHL PC: Dainius Zubrus (83%)

As you can see, my PC were not selected for BV or long-term investment. It is also clear that I still have a lot of work to do and cards to find. The fact that I won't be able to watch him play bothers me more than the impact on his cards.

[TheBoxBreaker]

Ethan I understand where you are coming from as well. Its just that nature of the hobby, some buy for pleasure and others for investment. I think the famous saying here on the forums, "if you are looking to make money on hockey cards, turn somewhere else" still holds true. I believe that with each and every hockey card I buy. I can pretty much forsee my Kovy collection turning out like your kolzig collection. To be honest I wouldn't mind that one bit. It sort of puts a smile on my face when i think about keeping them. Its funny because every day i do my typical ebay searches in this order, "Zetterberg, Kovalchuk, Kopitar, Rick Nash, John Tavares, Steve Yzerman". That did not change today. I still found myself subconciously typing in Kovalchuk because somewhere inside i was still excited to see if his Premier signatures black /5 or any other rare card popped up. I dont have the money for it, but there is still a thrill of the hunt for me in a sense. I still sort of thwart this feel good thing with having my collection available to start a fund for my Zetterberg. But deep down inside i sort of know how its going to turn out, which is me 10 years down the road still taking out my collection of Kovalchuk, pulling out his ice rookie auto /10 and saying, "I paid 362.50 for this?...I would do it all over again".

I had to go through a small emotional roller coaster to get to this point though lol

This is why i love the forums, I can ask a question, get feedback and experiences and learn more than I began with. Thanks guys =)

That sounds cool, Tim. And that's basically why we're members of this great forum: To learn, to interact and of course to collect!

I definitely think that you should give it a chance (keep your Kovy collection for now). What I've experienced with my Kolzig minor collection is that, even though I rarely spend any sort of money on his cards, I still look at the ones I have now. I remember all the great memories of how I acquired my favourites, whether it was as an eBay steal, SCF trade or perhaps just someone's generosity (thanks to a couple of guys for helping me out on the latter, you know who you are and it's much appreciated!).

Kovalchuk might be gone from the NHL, but he remains in every faithful collector's heart, and I hope that you will at least keep your most precious Kovalchuks (perhaps your top 10 or 15 favourites). I think you'll cherish them some day even if you feel a bit saddened by his current departure.

Thanks for an insightful debate and exchange of opinions, it has been interesting so far, and as you've said earlier, it's always great to learn new things and see things from a different perspective.

-Ethan

[TheBoxBreaker]

The fact that I won't be able to watch him play bothers me more than the impact on his cards.

If it's a consolation, you can always watch the KHL live at numerous internet pages that offer free live streams. Of course the time difference could however become a problem for you since you're in the States, but you can always watch highlights and such.

[RGM81]

All due respect, I can't believe what some of you guys are saying. If Kovalchuk is a PC player for you, you should "love" him enough (you know what I mean) to keep collecting his cards no matter what. I find it distasteful when people stop collecting a certain player because he was traded to a different NHL team (or in this case, leaving the NHL). That's what happens to players and most collectors are aware of this. I don't want this to sound like a rant, but I'm a bit surprised that you don't respect Kovy enough as an athlete to continue collecting his cards.

I hope that you'll feel like you're making the right decision no matter what you decide. Maybe wait a week or two to see things from a different perspective, it might change your mind. It's not like the memories you have of Kovy will fade away, they'll always be there for you to remember them.

All the best,

-Ethan

The bolded part there....that could get into some dark territory. I won't name names but there's more than a few athletes that have brought serious shame upon themselves.

It's also a matter of circumstance. A lot of Patrick Roy collectors & fans were LIVID over the manner in which he left the Canadiens. They say he "quit on the team" and things like that. To this day, they have not and probably will not ever forgive him for the events of December 2-6, 1995. For some people the logo on the front is more important than the name on the back. When there is a betrayal (real or perceived), that can hurt deeply and have a significant impact on how one feels about a player.

Kovalchuk bolted at a very inopportune time for the Devils. They had to watch top players walk away because of his contract. They faced severe penalties for signing the contract. They will lose a potential top pick because of him abandoning his contract. Timing and the fact that he's doing this for more money in Russia are major factors that weigh heavily against him.

[TheBoxBreaker]

The bolded part there....that could get into some dark territory. I won't name names but there's more than a few athletes that have brought serious shame upon themselves.

It's also a matter of circumstance. A lot of Patrick Roy collectors & fans were LIVID over the manner in which he left the Canadiens. They say he "quit on the team" and things like that. To this day, they have not and probably will not ever forgive him for the events of December 2-6, 1995. For some people the logo on the front is more important than the name on the back. When there is a betrayal (real or perceived), that can hurt deeply and have a significant impact on how one feels about a player.

Kovalchuk bolted at a very inopportune time for the Devils. They had to watch top players walk away because of his contract. They faced severe penalties for signing the contract. They will lose a potential top pick because of him abandoning his contract. Timing and the fact that he's doing this for more money in Russia are major factors that weigh heavily against him.

I completely agree that what Kovalchuk did to the NJD was completely unacceptable and I'm sure a lot of fans (and collectors) are feeling dissapointed. What I meant by my comment was that even if a player gets traded, retires, takes a break or perhaps even screws up a bit (Toskala, eh?) a collector should still (hopefully) continue to collect his cards. Of course there are exceptions that would be completely understandable, and I don't think that anyone should take it too literally what I wrote.

For example, if I really liked Theoren Fleury as a player and started collecting him, only to discover his many flaws as a person (if you've read 'Playing With Fire', you'd know how troubled his life has been) I too would re-consider collecting him.

Basically I think that if you're a Kovalchuk collector because of Kovalchuk (not because of the crest on the front of the jersey), then you'll most likely forgive him for his actions sooner rather than later, but if you're a team collector and happen to be a Devils fan, no one should certainly blame those collectors for wanting to get rid of their accumulated Kovalchuks.