Nostalgic and sad, NOT a rant tho........

[mooneyes]

It's not the money, there's something for everyone out there, I can live with never opening a Cup tin.......it's the FEELING I miss.........I must have bought 3 boxes worth of 99/00 UD MVP from various 7-11's at the time. If I got a star-player Silver Script it was cooooool, if I got a MVP Talent or Hands of Gold insert (SO SHINY) it was awesome, and the Pavel Bure 90's Snapshot was like pulling a Bobby Orr auto today......and remember, I was 30+, not some kid just starting out...............

This isn't to say I'm not enjoying myself. ITG Forever Rivals gave me hours/days/weeks of fun, from breaking a case with a Leafs fan to filling out the base singles on eBay to hunting down the jersey cards. I've been pretty lucky lately with the box breaks, a Yakupov auto/rc redemption from UD Artifacts that paid for the box AND lunch, a Bobby Orr 4/10 SPA auto. I'm almost halfway through paying off a reallllllyyyyyyy nice card (12 EZ bi-monthly installments!!) that'll make me feel like MikeFitzpatrick for a day!! Life is good, right???

It's just that I was disappointed because opened a box of OPC and the "only" thing I got was a Nordiques patch. And then I went and complained about it. That's just......sad.

Only, that is one of the sweetest opc logos! Lexiled (another member on here) would give you his left arm for it!

[xahax]

Hi all, I'm new to this board but not to collecting.
Reading this post bought me back to a time i was a lot younger, in my teens. We bought the hockey card packs as they came out, loving seeing our favorite players and hating the gum. Yes we collected but not really seriously.
What we did, which i don't think is happening anymore, is played games with them, in an effort to win your buddies cards.
We'd flip the cards, throw them towards a wall, the closest throw wins, and we would each stand up say 5 cards against the wall. We would then throw cards at them to knock them down, with the person who knocks down the last card getting all the cards.
It was a lot of fun (unless you got cleaned out lol)
As time went on, as we grew up, I moved on, forgetting about buying hockey/baseball cards at all.
That was until about 1979 when my parents sold their house and called me and told me they found some "old" hockey cards of mine and asked if i wanted them. I got them and of course the corners are all frayed from being used but they were mine.
Then in the 90's with the sudden upswing in card collectiing I was back.
As an adult I now bought card packs and boxes in an effort to complete a set of some sort, something I never attempted when I was younger.
Yes there were "high end" insert autographs and game used cards but I didn't buy the high end product.I enjoyed completing the sets. Then over time, card packs became more and more expensive as well as boxes. So I slowed down on my purchases to the point that I stopped for a number of years. I would buy a pack or tow or a box every now and then just to see what was out there. As a matter of fact the last box I bought was 2009-10 Trilogy but man was it pricey. I only bought the one box, haven't bought anything since.
I've had some nice cards that I've pulled over the years, but nothing earth shattering like people are looking for now.
This "hobby" has become a "business" to pretty well everyone, and that's too bad. As soon as they open the packs, the first thought is "I wonder how much it's worth", not "wow what a great card, he's my favorite player" or something like that. Imagine my surprise when one day a few years ago i was looking up those old cards from my childhood in a Beckett guide and discovered one of them was a Glenn Resch rookie card. Who knew?

[87sluggo]

What we did, which i don't think is happening anymore, is played games with them, in an effort to win your buddies cards.
We'd flip the cards, throw them towards a wall, the closest throw wins, and we would each stand up say 5 cards against the wall. We would then throw cards at them to knock them down, with the person who knocks down the last card getting all the cards. It was a lot of fun (unless you got cleaned out lol)

Topsies, Nearsies, Farsies, WALLSIES!!!!! I kept my Lafleurs and Drydens and Bossys but tossed my Gretzkys against the wall, and since I was "unco-ordinated" I lost them allllllllllll.


Good times :D

[AndrewZachary]

Did you know that cards /100 used to be rare? That when you opened a pack and pulled something like that or one of them relatively new-fangled jersey cards or an autograph it was INSANE? Did you know that?? That I borrowed my buddy's scanner and learned how to use it and scanned my 00/01 UD Vintage Lemieux/Jagr dual gold jersey /50 that I'd pulled from a box and put it up on eBay where 90% of the time there were no pictures, and it sold for $375???

I really get what your saying. My first foray into collecting was in Basketball cards. I started collecting in 1995-1996, when Toronto was awarded a NBA franchise and the entire city had Raptors/Basketball fever. Basketball quickly became my favorite sport (it isn't anymore and hasn't been for a long time) and I was collecting basketball cards like crazy. When I look back at my extensive basketball card collection procured over that period, I have, ONE, yes ONE, Autograph card to show for it. The rest is now worthless, base and inserts, the most valuable being a Kobe Bryant rookie card which if I'm lucky I can sell for 10 bucks. I know it's not hockey cards but it really shows you how things have changed. I busted more basketball in that period than I have between getting back into the hobby last year and now yet pulled one auto, no serial #'d cards and no GU.

On a side note I have tried numerous times to move some of that basketball stuff from that period here on these boards and have had ZERO interest, exemplifying just how worthless the stuff is.

[hossa18sens]

I pulled the Stanley Cup hologram from 1990 Proset and an auto/jersey Gretzky #99/99 from the 1999 Gretzky Living legends... I have not had that "wow" feeling since then

[30ranfordfan]

Thread is a good read so far :)

Biggest thrill I ever got from pulling a card, was at the Expo a couple of years ago. Another member here (former staff, reoddai) was running a group break of 10-11 Between The Pipes (this was @ the Spring Expo, in 2011). I had bought two slots in the break, and it was being opened @ the Expo.... this would add the redemption cards to the cards available to people in the break.

We had someone @ the ITG booth draw user names before we started cracking. My name had been drawn as the first pick, so as we were breaking it - I knew that whatever the top card we pulled was, it would be mine.

I was in a state of shock when a box I was opening yeilded a dual Made To Order (which eventually became the card in my avatar).


Since then, I have pulled plenty of "nice" cards, but nothing with anything close to that 'wow' factor. Only time the 'wow' factor has happened for me since then, is the excitment in tracking down a card I don't yet have for my Ranford collection (or an auto for my Oilers autograph collection), but that's not nearly the same thing.


Of course, this is the point I was trying to get to....

Thread made me think: When was I ever *THAT* excited to pull a card before?

I can think of 3.5 other occasions:

1. 2005-06 UD Series 1. I hadn't bought (or seriously collected) in about 5 years at this point... and bought a few lose packs @ the LCS for fun. I hit a Jersey card, and (I think) 3 YGs in 6 packs. I think to myself: Either I just got all the good packs in that open box, or it's a hotbox. I buy another 6 packs..... it was no hotbox. No GU cards, only 1 YG. That 1 YG was a Crosby though!

2. 2000-01 Be A Player Memoribilia. At this point, I had not purchased a box or any packs of hockey cards in a couple of years, but hearing about the Vezina Pads that had been diced up for cards.... caught my interest. I took a gamble on one box. Did I pull one?? NOPE. Odds were very long. I did pull my first memoribilia card though, an All Star jersey card of Rob Blake (still own that one).

3. 1991-92 Score Series 2. I Spent a little better than a year search for the final card I needed for my set. Ed Belfour. Should have cost me about 50 cents to buy one at the time (this is when hobby shops stocked singles from base sets, becuase people would buy them to fill their needs) but I had no luck finding one. Despite living in a town of only 2,000 people, there were two hobby shops local to me. I used to buy packs of this stuff for 50 cents each, crack them, look for the Belfour, and when it wasn't there - I'd buy another. Before long, my $5 would be gone..... andI had a whole bunch more cards I didn't need.

Across the street from our house, the the house of the owners of one of the hobby shops. They used to give out a choice of "cards or candy" on Halloween. My brother and I, obviously, chose the cards. He pulled the card out of his packs. I was very excited at the time. Despite being three years younger than me, and knowing that I'd trade him something really good to get it, he gave it to me...... though I think for "future considerations": Eventually the roles would be reveresed, and I would help him out.


I said "3.5" becuase I know I did get excited when pulling a Beiber Autograph from 2010-11 Donruss too. I wasn't excited to own the card though, simply excited to flip it on eBay for a tidy profit.

[87sluggo]

I pulled the Stanley Cup hologram from 1990 Proset and an auto/jersey Gretzky #99/99 from the 1999 Gretzky Living legends... I have not had that "wow" feeling since then

Geez buddy, no offense but I don't think there's an encore after pulling that Gretzky card!!

"Goodnight Toronto!!" - Stevie Nicks, to the crowd in Vancouver at the end of the Fleetwood Mac show a couple months ago.

[13stepper]

This "hobby" has become a "business" to pretty well everyone, and that's too bad. As soon as they open the packs, the first thought is "I wonder how much it's worth", not "wow what a great card, he's my favorite player" or something like that. Imagine my surprise when one day a few years ago i was looking up those old cards from my childhood in a Beckett guide and discovered one of them was a Glenn Resch rookie card. Who knew?

I don't disagree with you at all, the hobby has become a business. It is very important to note that because of the business aspect we all get to experience a much deeper offering, like jersey and autograph cards. I love the fact I can spend $100 on a box of cards and get 3 hard signed autographs, this is still a relatively new concept in the entire history of sports cards and it has taken the hobby to the next level.

Yes there are folks that only try to get expensive cards, ie "the business". However "the business" side of the hobby is an entirely new dynamic to the overall list of reasons why people collect. It's been noted in a couple replies in this thread "real collectors", I really despise that comment. Just because people buy product for different reasons doesn't mean they should be labeled "not a real collector".

I may be viewed as one of the "not real collectors" however I've been collecting since I was 8 years old, 1988 I started. My reasons for collecting then were simply what a lot of you have mentioned. Since the hobby has progressed and this dynamic of "business" has come into play, it has really enhanced my enjoyment in this hobby. I collect two things, Mark Scheifele, or any high end card that really catches my eye (has to be pack pulled). The "magic" around pulling a super high end card cannot be explained unless you've done it. When I pull a Gretzky, Lemieux, Tyson, Jordan, James, Howe, Crosby etc from a high end product I don't ever want to forget that experience, thus I keep the card.

One last comment regarding card values, yes they have declined considerably. The example the thread starter used is perfect. However I feel the card value issue's shouldn't be pinned on the hobby, but blamed against the business aspect of the hobby.

[13stepper]

I pulled the Stanley Cup hologram from 1990 Proset and an auto/jersey Gretzky #99/99 from the 1999 Gretzky Living legends... I have not had that "wow" feeling since then

LOL, you may be chasing that dragon for a few years!

[87sluggo]

One last comment regarding card values, yes they have declined considerably. The example the thread starter used is perfect. However I feel the card value issue's shouldn't be pinned on the hobby, but blamed against the business aspect of the hobby.

I blame the companies AND I blame us. And by "us" I mean you hahahaaaaa!!! Some of you anyways. A 96/97 UD Game-Jersey card was seeded 1:2500 packs, and it was one of the top players of the game. I never pulled one of those or any other jersey card, most of you didn't either I'm thinking. What must it have felt like to bust one of those out of a pack eh?

Then 00/01 Private Stock and SPGU came along andddddd that was it. If you had 30-35 dollars to throw away, you got a guaranteed hit. Except it wasn't neccessarily a star player, it might have been Kenny Jonsson. Mine was :D........... But we allllll lapped it up, we wanted more and more and more, and the companies - who can blame them, money is gooood - they happily obliged!! Now if you have the coin then you can have the jerseys, the patches, the laundry & Meigray tags, the fight straps, the ENDLESS parallels.

Now that seemingly every player gets a jersey or auto card or both the mystique is gone, the desire is gone. On the other hand, I love current Canucks & old-timey Habs, and I'm grateful for the cards I own of those players. Maybe YOU, you're a Wild fan and the Tyler Cuma FWA that's crap to me is gold to you and you're laughing at my Alex Burrows auto. The companies are just responding to demand, every team has its fans etc........

In the end, I have no answers. Geez, I'm not even sure what the question is anymore. I do like to talk tho eh :D