The Cup vs Ultimate Leaf. Whats your thoughts?

[Dergula]

Hey Folks,

I have been on the fence with buying some of the new CUP. I wanted to get some of your opinions on the product. I have gone in some group breaks with the Leaf product and I have been leaning more towards the LEAF end of it.

I like the design on the Leaf stuff personally to the CUP. The price point to is another bonus to the LEAF product.

What's do you think of the two products?

[creasecollector]

It's a hard make a direct comparison of the two. They are both totally different products with a different focus.

For some collectors, cash in king. So I would see that go towards Leafs favour.

However, The Cup has been a long-standing 'staple' product embedded in this hobby for the last 10 years, and there's a lot of pluses to that.

But it all depends on what you are looking for that matters. Do you want some sweet vintage pieces that are so rare it'll make your head spin? I'd say go with Leaf.

Do you want to hit THE card that everyone is looking for right now? Then I would go with The Cup and try to pull a McDavid or another Rookie that people are more likely to fall for since they are currently playing and (hopefully) putting up some points. Plus The Cup has some flashier designs and hard-signed stuff which is always a plus.

Sticking with the design aspect though, I do love what Leaf has been doing with their foil lately. Some very nice stuff indeed. Very shiny cards is very nice :)

Although I haven't looked up many completed sales to see how Leaf Ultimate does on the secondary market, I would assume Leaf Ultimate would give you more bang for your buck price wise. The Cup this year is insanely high and will no doubt crush some poor collectors wallet (every product does from time-to-time) but you get my point.

But it depends on your personal collecting focus as well. Vintage or Modern?

Based on what you've said so far in your original post, I think you should go with Leaf. I can't make the decision for you, but that's where I think you're already leaning a bit :)

Best of luck with whatever you decide to do. Hit some big cards! :)

[geschrocks33]

I think Leaf Ultimate is the safer break, the Cup is a bigger gamble. I prefer the Cup design to the Leaf Ultimate, but I would say the Leaf Ultimate would give you the better return, only way you make your money back in the Cup is if you hit a monster. In Leaf Ultimate, plenty of decent value cards in there to help recoup the funds.

[jsokol1626]

Personally, I avoid Leaf for several reasons:
the lack of true rookie cards
the price point is too high
less desirable to hockey collectors
non-licensure severely limits card design
nothing to offer for collectors on a limited budget and young hobbyists

The Cup is one of the hobby's most desirable products. However, for a high end product it has more than it's share of rookies that won't amount to much in the NHL. If you're saving your money to buy 1 or 2 boxes you're likely to be disappointed, at least that's been my experience, I can live w/out a chance at a really big hit as the odds never seem to break in my favor.

[Dergula]

Some good opinions. I do like the vintage memorabilia personally I think that's why I gravitate towards the LEAF product.

I would hate to spend big bucks on a tin of the CUP to get some no name RC patches that will drop in price drastically after the hype of the product. Also I am a Leaf collector and this year's cup isn't packed with many Leafs (Next year ooooooh boy look out!). I may try my hand in the Matthews Cup year.

[10-4 collector]

I bought 1 box of Ultimate and got in return 75% back in sales. You womt do that too often with the cup

[Goggy29]

I'm more of a UD fan but would be willing to try Leaf. Not a huge fan of how the Leaf look though.

[Dergula]

Ya I've seen some of the breaks on here and @ $800 a tin and sad to say they may get almost half that value so far? If you don't hit the big McDavid or massive hit I think it's a huge waste. I really really want to like this product but man I dunno.

[LeafGregg]

Personally, I would choose Leaf :)

[rj92795]

I have to choose The Cup, because I'm not a fan of using digital pictures of jerseys instead of the player. I can tolerate real pictures of jerseys, but the ones that look like they came straight from the NHL online store are gross.

Plus the only Islanders offering in the set is Bossy, and his digital jersey picture is the worst of the bunch.

However from a realistic standpoint, I don't think The Cup is worth what they are charging. Leaf is about right cost wise.