Jordan Staal and Other Problems With the Hobby

[rdmack]

Why is his YG rookie still selling for such a high price.

I am simple on these economic things so let me quickly explain my thought process and maybe someone can point out the flaw in my thinking.

1. Card value is determined by what the buyer is willing to pay and what the seller is will to accept for a card.

2. The two main factors affecting demand and scarcity. If many people want something and there are few of them available sellers will demand more and buyers will pay more.

3. Why do I demand a piece of cardboard with a picture of one player over another? Because I like hockey and I want pictures of good hockey player and not so much of those that underperform.

4. There are equal number of Jordan Staal and Loui Erikisson YG cards in existence but one goes for $3 and one for $30. Is Jordan Staal 10 times the player Loui Erikisson is? No. Its debatable who is better.

5. Will Jordan Staal ever be better than Guy Carbonneau? Probably not call me when Staal wins his first Selkie let alone third. Carbonneau rookie goes for about $6 making him about the 5th a player Staal is while I would bet there are more good condition Staal cards floating around out there then 83-84 O-Pee-Chee Carbonneaus.

The point of my gripe is that I wish collectors would get over the magic number that is printed in a Beckett when a card is first issued. Once that number is out there it becomes very hard to move people off that price to one the more accurately reflects demand. The net result is the market dries up for these products and they basically stop trading because few are will to pay a premium for a good third line centre. This would be a much better hobby if people would be more aggressive in setting their prices and throw their Beckett in the garbage.

[canesice]

seems hit and miss to me.. $8.50 to $45 graded..

http://completed.shop.ebay.com/i.htm..._ipg=50&_rdc=1

Eric staal usually sells for $20-30, and I would think should be valued higher.

I dont see an issue with the price..

[lumm0x]

Pittsburgh won the cup. They are an exciting young team who is still playing strong. A ton of fans new to collecting have started grabbing their favorite Pens players. The Young Guns is an established rookie staple. The Staal kids have a recognizable name and following. At this stage I wouldn't be surprised if Penguins rookies like that saw 10 times the interest of Dallas rookies. Those that can't afford the Crosby and Malkin cards go after the next recognizable rookie.

There are a lot of factors why Staal will see more interest than a guy like Eriksson. Performance is not necessarily one of them.

[keystoneantiquities]

If you don't want to pay $30 for his rookie, don't pay it, but the market bears what the market will bear. I have a couple of sleepers I'm buying cheap, I would recommend you do the same.

[rdmack]

If you don't want to pay $30 for his rookie, don't pay it, but the market bears what the market will bear. I have a couple of sleepers I'm buying cheap, I would recommend you do the same.

I collect sets. I don't want to pay $30 for his card but its not great having a set missing one card. I understand why d-men are undervalued in the hobby even thought they are more valuable to a hockey team but I don't understand why the card of a third line forward with limited elite scoring potential is the most valuable card in series 1 along with Kopitar, Kessel and Stastny. You have three exciting scorers and one guy who chips in 20 a year. One of these don't belong.

[rdmack]

Pittsburgh won the cup. They are an exciting young team who is still playing strong. A ton of fans new to collecting have started grabbing their favorite Pens players. The Young Guns is an established rookie staple. The Staal kids have a recognizable name and following. At this stage I wouldn't be surprised if Penguins rookies like that saw 10 times the interest of Dallas rookies. Those that can't afford the Crosby and Malkin cards go after the next recognizable rookie.

There are a lot of factors why Staal will see more interest than a guy like Eriksson. Performance is not necessarily one of them.

You make some good points about people collecting Penguins because of the Crosby Malkin factor but that doesn't explain the whole thing. Compare him to Kessel. Who is an exciting scorer who played with the Bruins (who alot of people collect) then traded to Toronto with the second biggest fan base in the NHL (I am a habs fans so guess who is #1). You would think that would make his card more valuable than Staal's but it is basically equal value.

I really think the biggest factor in the price has to do with the fact that out of that year Staal was the first to make an impact with his team. His card shot up to 80 dollars with everyone expecting him to be that years Crosby or Ovechkin but came down a bit because he is clearly nowhere close to that.

People are still not willing to abandon that elevated price even though there is no basis for it. That is the issue I have with Beckett pricing once it is written it doesn't really change very much (only to the upside) and dealers and other keep charging a higher than justified price because Beckett says they can. The effect of this is the market dries up for cards even just a few years old. This really hurts the hobby because you lose alot of collectors who want to work on and expand what they have from years past and not just chase the newest product on the market.

[Ray33]

The Jordan Staal YG problem is simple if you don't want to pay $30 for it then don't buy it.

[bidds55]

First of all, Beckett's price guide sucks. Just because they say it's a $30 card doesn't mean anything.
Secondly, if performance determined demand, and price for hockey cards, we would all be clamouring for vintage Marcel Dionne and Mike Bossy RC's - I don't know BV for their stuff, but I would guess both could be had $20-30 easily.

Finally, if you want a Staal YG, just hunt for one on ebay. This summer they'll probably be finishing around the $5 range, unless the Pens repeat.

[zunato]

The Jordan Staal YG problem is simple if you don't want to pay $30 for it then don't buy it.

we have a winner.



You said it yourself in the first post

1. Card value is determined by what the buyer is willing to pay and what the seller is will to accept for a card.

[Orfew]

First of all, Beckett's price guide sucks. Just because they say it's a $30 card doesn't mean anything.
Secondly, if performance determined demand, and price for hockey cards, we would all be clamouring for vintage Marcel Dionne and Mike Bossy RC's - I don't know BV for their stuff, but I would guess both could be had $20-30 easily.

Finally, if you want a Staal YG, just hunt for one on ebay. This summer they'll probably be finishing around the $5 range, unless the Pens repeat.

As for Bossy, 20-30 might get you a decent topps rookie but NOT an OPC. As for Dionne, if you know where I can get his rookies for 20-30 each just let me know as I will grab a few. Hie rookie is a tough card particularly in any kind of decent shape. The topps can be had for 30-40 for an okay card, the OPC is a much more difficult card condition wise. The 71-72 OPC set was not manufactured as well as the topps. Expect to pay 50-70 for a solid example but much more if the card is better than ex.