Possible comeback...

[cnshockey]

Hey guys,
Been away from the hobby for a while now. Moved away to Calgary for school and I'm not coming back next year and so I'll be home next year. I'm thinking about getting back into collecting. Wondering though if it's even worth it. With Panini back in the game, has much changed? Are there better products this year? Better quality cards? Would love some input on what I've missed and would love to hear an opinion from some of my old good friends here that know me decently well. If you don't know me, still want your opinion too.

If I do come back, it'd be in about a month or so. Last final on the 28th of April, fly back that day and would probably sleep for a few days and just relax. Obviously I'd be collecting that sexy russian Andrei Loktionov and I'd go after Kyle Clifford now too and maybe Alec Martinez. Anyone majorly collecting those guys?

Would love to hear as many opinions as possible.

Cheers
-Guy who still hates the Sharks more than anything else in the world.

[mikecole141]

As long as the comeback is like Mario Lemieux or Michael Jordan and not like Peter Forsbergs.

As for those players you mentioned, you know as well as i do that you were the only person daft enough to collect them in the first place.

Lastly you might be the guy who hates the sharks the most; as long as you remember that my Hatred for Dany Heatley knows no equal.

Welcome back, its been too long. Now get back into the game.

Mike

[cnshockey]

As long as the comeback is like Mario Lemieux or Michael Jordan and not like Peter Forsbergs.

As for those players you mentioned, you know as well as i do that you were the only person daft enough to collect them in the first place.

Lastly you might be the guy who hates the sharks the most; as long as you remember that my Hatred for Dany Heatley knows no equal.

Welcome back, its been too long. Now get back into the game.

Mike

Haha hey man you need to watch Lokti before you call it a daft decision. He should end up being our 2nd line center sometime in the next two years and could lead to us trading Schenn.

And trust me I think I hate that guy as much as you, if not more. I'm planning on getting a dart board and putting his face on it. And I will heckle him every time I see him live, which is quite fun as last time it almost got me into a fight lol. Nice to hear from you Mike. Feel like all the regulars and people I always liked are slowly fading away but it's nice to see some of em still around.

[MasonRaymond0320]

Hey Andy!

Great to see ya back in the hobby! I would collect Kyle Clifford. Seems like a solid player for the Kings.

Cheers,
Andrew

[Walter Sobchak]

Andy...its about time man. Hope ya come back for sure. I honestly do think quality of cards has improved with Panini in the game this year.

As far as those guys go, I dont know of anyone else going hard after Lokti or Martinez but I think Barrie is/was collecting Clifford.

[flemingc04]

It's been too long Andy! Hope things are well in Flamesville. I agree with Andrew that Clifford would be a great player to collect. The only person I can think of that also collects him is Barrie. With Panini in the mix, I think they have done a great job. They really came out with a bang in the sense that their patches are very rarely a single plain black or white patch. Quite often, they have great patches and even for jerseys. They've been using the seams in Crown Royale to also jerseys looking better as well. Since then, it also looks like Upper Deck has stepped it up a little with their patches too.

Looking forward to your comeback!

[cnshockey]

Nice to see so many familiar users. Sounds like the hobby has gotten better with Panini. Probably won't have a decision yet but really thinking I might get back in to collecting.

Oh...and anyone know of anyone now collecting Brian Boyle? Seems like he's finally panning out like I knew he would and I still have a ton of nice cards of his at home.

[oilfan10]

Figured you'd come back. Calgary must have drove you insane with all the Flames fans and cowboys lol(I kid Cowtown residents ).

As for your questions...Tim is/was going pretty hard after Loktionov and I think Kyle Clifford stuff, and Barrie was collecting Clifford as well. I don't think anybody was collecting Martinez heavily, but I do know that JoelCarry was going after a lot of his Cup stuff and has the Cup rainbow.

And as far as I know, nobody is collecting Brian Boyle even though he's having a good year.

Panini has added some new elements to the hobby, but have flaws and bring out the same old whiners as any company does:

-WAY too many redemptions. It makes UD's usual number of redemptions look like nothing.

-Too many parallels in every set. There are color parallels and a lot of sets have the same formula:

1. Make base/insert set(Card 1)
2. Add jersey piece in (Card 2)
3. Slap sticker auto onto card(Card 3)
4. Add 'Prime' jersey in (Card 4)
5. Add sticker autograph to jersey card(Card 5)
6. Add sticker autograph to 'Prime' jersey card(Card 6)
7. Make various die-cut versions of each of the above cards(Card ????)

-And as noted above, too many sticker autos

-And...Crosby doesn't sign dual autographs so they shouldn't have tried to make one

Just a little inkling of what people have been complaining about the last few months(over and over and over and over...), so if you want to jump on a "Panini sucks" bandwagon, those are a few options

Panini has brought some really great ideas to the table though.

Certified was an early favorite for product of the year, despite have lots of parallels. It gave auto rookies very early into the season with a very nice design. The Fabrics of the Game cards were beautiful, along with their different variations.

Crown Royale has been very nice, with a new(but old) design. Probably has the nicest base cards in a long time, and plenty of other really nice cards. The Rookie Silhouettes have definitely been the stand out rookie cards this year, and probably the nicest design in the last several years. You should look them up.

Score was great. Cheap product with tons of value.

On the flip side, Donruss was a miss, as was Limited with the thousands of redemptions in the product(their Phenom rookies were cool though). They've also caused Upper Deck to step up their game a bit.

Welcome back Andy! There's been a lot more back and forth arguing on the boards lately, so I think you're gonna enjoy the comeback

P.S. Collect Dustin Penner

[ravens_creed]

Hey Andy, always good to hear from you. Sad to hear your stint in Calgary was only a one-year affair. You'll have to tell me more about it via PM sometime.

As far as the state of the hobby, I'd say this year has seen a lot of new product and since it's Panini's first year, you'd have to think they'll be learning and getting better as they go forward. Upper Deck has improved a bit, and I've found the price on their stuff to be more reasonable than in the last two years, but with this new distribution thing they have going on, that could change.

[cnshockey]

Welcome back Andy! There's been a lot more back and forth arguing on the boards lately, so I think you're gonna enjoy the comeback

P.S. Collect Dustin Penner

Ooh. arguing. Fun

Collect penner? Nah. He'll be here next year and then gone.

Nice to hear from you J and thanks for all the input.