What if no new cards were printed?

[bluesfan6]

Say that hockey cards stopped being printed by any company. Would it benefit the hobby? Would you still collect or would in push you away from collecting? Just curious to see how it would affect you guys.

[mingus_md]

If hockey cards stopped being produced, I would still collect. It would allow me the time to go back and work on the older Rangers cards that I tend to neglect when new products come out. I think a reset in the hobby would be useful to reduce the number of sets, but it would be tough to have a year without rookie cards for the newest rookies.

[30ranfordfan]

I would still collect, yes.

[Kessel_fan_87]

I would collect as well

[bluesfan6]

I think it would be interesting to see how the market would change. It would seem like collectors would get a chance to catch up a little bit lol. I agree that no rookies would be a huge downside to this though.

[centrehice]

Say that hockey cards stopped being printed by any company. Would it benefit the hobby? Would you still collect or would in push you away from collecting? Just curious to see how it would affect you guys.

Would not bother me in the least. The last Hobby Box I opened was a 03-04 Bowman Chrome.

Once the Original Donruss, Topps, OPC, Leaf, Flair, and Pacific stopped making cards and Upper Deck was the only player, the Hobby has been lost for 8 years now.

The Hobby would thrive, as everything would trade and sell, unlike today where piles of accumulated cardboard garbage grow with each year.

[forsbic]

are you saying there WILL be a lockout in 2012-13? sorry, just thinking out loud. i'm just wondering how far from truth is this theoretic notion of yours. it's bussines like any other and without the rookies i think companies wouldn't want to invest in a lot of series just to please the collectors with the same players from previous season.. (I think Panini would try to offer some special series/sets just for the occasion (much like UD All World in '04) but for some reason I'm not that sure about UD now).

back to the topic - i think it could actually help the collectors to enjoy the hobby. getting in touch with other collectors more when chasing some older cards. rediscovering older series. finally finish some sets rather than having another new one in-process (and being slightly frustrated from not even completing the older ones yet). trade with what you have rather than being neglected because you haven't opened any box of the new (widly demanded) stuff..

take my word for it. they've already stopped producing cards of my favourite player. it now turned from consuming to collecting! no regrets (:

[MattDMC]

Wouldn't bother me one bit as I love collecting vintage and have been sacking on picking up vintage lately so with no new product I'd have more time and money to focus on finishing some vintage sets I've had incomplete for the last few years.

[87sluggo]

I wouldn't be bothered either, I was overloaded to begin with. I completely missed out on Captain C after dabbling in Canada Vs. The World and the Tough Guy sets, so yeah, I could use a break to catch up..............

[Drewk86a]

are you saying there WILL be a lockout in 2012-13? sorry, just thinking out loud.

Neither the NHL nor the Players Association can afford a lock-out. The NHL is riding a surge of popularity with the greta hockey being played in the playoffs. They cannot afford to squander that.

Also - Even if there were a lockout, I think companies would still produce cards.

To comment on OP - In a way, I would welcome a cessation in printing new cards. I still need between 1,500 and 2,000 cards to fill out my Lindros collection. I haven't even glanced at my Lemieux cards for over year. No new cards would give people time to concentrate on their PC.

Plus, I think it would create a wave-type action in the hobby. Suppose I am working on building a SPx Finite set and once I complete the set there is nothing more to do. I may decide to move onto something else and could liquidate the SPx set to support my new project.

Lastly - I think you'd see a surge in people buying unopened packs of older product as a way to feed their pack-ripping addiction.