Leaf Signs Nico Hischier to Exclusive Autograph Deal

[CasualCollector28]

Agree pretty much with everything you've said thus far... My biggest issue like I said many posts ago was that it stings as a Flyers fan to basically watch either of the two guys my team could draft be signed to an exclusive deal and not have their ink featured in many of the products that have been a staple to the collecting community for years. It doesn't matter who the company is that signs the player to an exclusive contract, if they don't have a license agreement it makes chasing any "rookies" pointless for me and a lot of others. It could be another decade or two (if I'm even still living) before the team I cheer for and collect gets a top two pick in the draft again. Regardless of the perceived depth or tout of this upcoming draft class, it hurts NJD and PHI collectors as the same as it did with BUF fans when Eichel went. Can you imagine the uproar and revolt if it was McJesus or any number of the Leafs picks that were featured as rookies this year amongst Leafs and Edm fans??? Autographs certainly aren't everything in the hobby but as a consumer it feels like a kick in the beans to have it happen. I don't expect Leaf or any other company competing with UD to care, I'm just puzzled as to why its even necessary to begin with... If I buy a Leaf product I'm looking for HOF type hits. They do a terrific job with offering some pretty sick stuff... but "true" rookie cards are something that should be avoided without licensing... I know as collector MOST want their teams new guy featured in that uniform. I could careless what Junior Team they played for. I would LOVE for more options than just Upper Deck but for me and rookie cards it comes down to licensing...If a rookie card of someone from my team doesn't have the Flyers logo or another NHL team logo I'm not interested.

If things are kept civil and name calling and foul language are kept out of it (which sometimes goes hand-in-hand with heated topics like this), I too really like discussions like these and learning more from other collectors on both sides of the argument/issue. It's fun ! Plus I find it interesting as well.

[adamslogik]

I think it bears mentioning that Upper Deck were the ones who started this whole trend of exclusives. I don't see why they should be the only ones allowed to do it but all of you guys are jumping all over leaf for playing by the rules that upper deck established.

You're all acting kind of entitled.

[sparty07]

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[Inferno]

I think it bears mentioning that Upper Deck were the ones who started this whole trend of exclusives. I don't see why they should be the only ones allowed to do it but all of you guys are jumping all over leaf for playing by the rules that upper deck established.

You're all acting kind of entitled.

Nobody complains about the UD exclusives because it guarantees NHL licensed autos of those players and that's what the large majority of collectors want. An unlicensed competitor doing it and removing official NHL rookie autos from the market is going to get a very different response as evidenced by this thread. It's just the reality of the hockey market: licensed rookie drive the hobby and autos are a huge part of that.

[canucksfan007]

I think it bears mentioning that Upper Deck were the ones who started this whole trend of exclusives. I don't see why they should be the only ones allowed to do it but all of you guys are jumping all over leaf for playing by the rules that upper deck established.

You're all acting kind of entitled.

As unfortunate as it is, UD simply has different rules when it comes to collectors than what Leaf has .... as unfair as it is. Its not a misunderstood topic, people, no matter what it is .... like what they are used to, what they are comfortable with .... change is scary, especially when its change they immediately dont like.

So UD goes out and signs Crosby / Gretzky / Roy to exclusives and thats fine by me. Why is that? Because that does not change the way people collect. Want an auto from either of those players? No need to worry, Upper Deck has those autos for you wearing the colors you want and from the sets you want. In all honesty, this really is just a rookie thing. We all know rookies are what drives the hobby year after year .... people are drawn to the new and exciting kids. They also want to chase autos from those new and exciting kids every year from their favorite releases. Releases that have weight behind their names, that are established and widely collected by the hobby. Even when Panini was in the fold, did any of those rookies get any sort of love compared to UD?

SP Authentic > Contenders
SPx > Prime / Playbook / Rookie Anthology ( insert more Panini RC Auto Jerseys here )
Cup > Dominion

Why did every UD set beat out Panini's counterpart? Very simple ..... their releases carry weight behind them. An SP Authentic Future Watch Auto Rookie /999, has weight behind it .... a Contenders Auto Rookie SP or SSP does not.

The only "win" I would say for Panini was National Treasures. Because ALL rookies were /99s ( and we all know how much more the hobby loves /99 true rookies ), the /99 versions from NT can compete and often DO BETTER than their Cup /249 counterparts. National Treasures was BY FAR the nicest set released during the 13/14 season, and the rookie design had a big hand in that.


Going back to earlier in this post ...... it is all about the rookies. Do we care that UD can only have Roy autos? Not at all. Why is that? There are so many Roy autos out there. What if Leaf swooped in and stole Patrick Roy for their own, would there really be this much anger towards that exclusives ..... of course not. Sure, a few people might not like it .... but nothing compared to swooping in and taking our auto rookies.

Other than the elite of the elite ...... Crosby, Gretzky ...... Orr maybe? Is the community even getting half as upset is Leaf comes in and signs any other star veterans? Of course, every veteran exclusive signed by Leaf will effect someones collection, but on the magnitude of the top draft picks? Not even close. Lets say Leaf went out and signed Mario Lemieux, Martin Brodeur and Steve Yzerman to exclusives .... I am still fairly confident in saying there is no where near this much back lash for the signings towards Leaf as Nico and Nolan, which is mind boggling in its own right.

[adamslogik]

Maybe the reason why Upper Deck thinks thet can keep screwing collectors is because many of you keep lining up to take it on the chin. They know what comes after 3rd base...just sayin...

[CasualCollector28]

It really is just about the rookies and licensing at least for me... I could care less if veterans or HOFers get inked exclusively with other non licensed brands... What I care about is a gap in my collection where my team had a top 2 pick and I wasn't able to go buck wild on RPAs or Future Watch Autos because of an exclusive deal with an unlicensed manufacturer.

[CasualCollector28]

Acting entitled?? entitled to what exactly? We are consumers in this market no? Being such I think affords the right to be entitled to opinion... Imagine if MTL had a #1 or #2 pick this year, do you mean to tell me you wouldn't get chapped at all that the top rookie for your team had zero licensed rookie graphs?

[MadCub]

It is gonna be painful to go back to Canada this summer, the inflated cost of product makes it hard to keep up....and with Hischier playing in the city I am headed to.....sigh...at least I'll be able to land team issues of him....LOL

[Sharky94]

Just like that... I find myself hoping the Flyers don't draft him... Sucks to have a high draft pick like Nico NOT featured with ink in 99% of the card market.

Hey, that would make collecting him a LOT cheaper! You can always get his auto'd cards later after the exclusive ends. You can still collect all his cards and be proud that your collection is as complete as possible. But it won't cost you an arm and a leg.

I would much rather have a complete collection that was not as big as some, than there being a lot of cards released that I couldn't afford. I collect UD Exclusives cards of the Caps and Sharks. I cannot tell you how happy I was when I found out that UD did not make Exclusives in 05-06 because I couldn't imagine how much I would have had to fork out to get an Ovechkin YG Exclusives. And if you are an Oilers fan, how many Connor McDavid auto'd cards are out there that you know you will never be able to get in your collection, unless you win the lottery?

Of course, I am philosophically opposed to exclusive agreements, so don't let my above comments make you think I believe this is a good thing. Exclusive auto agreements are as evil as UD having an exclusive license. Both are horrible for the hobby and hurt everyone except the player signing the agreement. But you can't blame them for dumb companies throwing loads of money at them. It is the NHL and NHLPA's fault for starting all this garbage.