Discussion: Your Collection and The Digital Card Movement

[RGM81]

My approach is pretty similar to @sedinfan - I will go full-on to get the physical exchange versions of the e-Pack cards. Compendium is a cool way to add new Gorges cards in an era where he doesn't get many cards. I don't care much about the Magenta parallels and happily trade those for cards that can be stacked for Blue/Red/Gold.

I'm disappointed that a lot of guys dump those cards on COMC for chump change. That's especially true with the Foils from UD1/2. Takes a while to trade for 100 Carey Price cards man. LOL

I haven't gotten into Skate but I did see this last week they made a digital card of Carey's 500th game. I kinda want that. I was there! But I dunno if I want to get the app just to store a digital file of that. Maybe UD can make it in a Bio of a Season at some point. Haha

They are a gateway to the future. I mean I see more cards online than I do actual cards unless I go to the shop or look at my PC that day.

[Pheebs888]

The electronic platform is an interesting turn but to me, it feels incomplete...My biggest joy in the hobby is displaying my collection so virtual stuff is of no use to me. However, much like many people, i find it fun to build the rainbows and the foil and gold foil are pretty nice, besides since UD kinda forgot to make Weber and Radulov cards this season, those parallels were pretty much all we had to chase. So I chased them and had them sent over to me, I must admit it's the first time I display a base card in one of my frames but it's nice to see the base, silver foil, gold foil and Exclusive version all on one row, still missing the midnight though lol....So I guess what I'm saying is for me e-collecting is a complement but it will never be my main way of collecting. I must say though, if I still lived in England i'd probably e-collect more to save on shipping costs...

[creasecollector]

That being said, I've had fun participating in the ePack Compendium madness, trading up to acquire enough digital cards to exchange for the physical rainbows has been a blast.

I agree, the 'Digital > Physical' card chases have been a blast!

[jogesc2]

I do not have any and probably will never have any unless they come to me from someone who has them in hand. I spend too much time on the internet already when I want to unwind I like to open a box of cards and actually feel the hobby not view it thru a screen. I have no qualms about it but can you imagine walking into a cardshow and there was no cards there were just tablets on the tables for you to choose which card you wanted to add to your inventory. I display my cards in a basement along with jerseys, sticks, etc. I do not want to share clip art of the digital cards I have. They are here to stay so enjoy it if it your cup of tea. If not you can enjoy the hobby in the traditional sense.

DON

+10000000000000000000

[SenatorCollector]

I'm liking Epacks because, while you can't physically get the base cards, you do get inserts and interesting exclusives, like the UD Rainbow Foil. Topps Skate is a new one to me, but if it's anything like the football they did a few years back, then yeah, not interested!

[geschrocks33]

Unless it can be obtained as a physical card, I don't count it. Compendium Blue/Red/Gold counts for me, base & magenta don't. I have a Clutterbuck Magenta in my ePack collection, but that's only because I pulled it from the box I bought and said why not, might as well just leave it there.

As for Topps Skate, it's fun to try and build up to get the better colors of your player, but I don't go as hardcore as I would if they were "real" cards. I did trade enough to get a Gold (10x) Stastny on there, and I have traded for most of the inserts as well, but don't do it religiously.

[AG1181]

Unless it can be obtained as a physical card, I don't count it.

+1

[apod417]

I'm very much into the e-pack thing. I love trading compendium, I have not gotten into any of the high priced stuff but I did do my foil and rainbow gold of Elliott, Pietrangelo and Parayko. That said I use E-pack to view cards I want and buy them from their owners (example: I saw that someone had pulled a Parayko High Gloss, I made them a cash offer through messenger, had them send me an invoice through paypal then once he received my money we traded a base card for his high gloss, this made things great because at that point no matter where he was from I had the card "in hand" instantly). Now as far as ToppsSkate I would like to have some physical cards made just haven't committed yet. I will however have my magenta and base made for my rainbows on compendium, for my PC players only, it bugs me not being able to physically have the complete rainbow.

I do think UD will eventually move all products to E-pack with the exception of The Cup, I'm thinking we are going to see the death of physical base cards, not immediately and maybe not completely(UD1,2 and OPC Platinum), but I expect to start seeing products no longer having a physical base set. Makes sense for UD to not have to print base cards when they can be collected online and I'm sure hobby stores are still going to sell products sans base cards especially if you offer inserts exclusive to hobby boxes that can't be found on e-pack.

[Inferno]

I'm okay with UD's ePack because for the most part there is an actual tangible connection to real cards. If I buy a pack and pull a Young Gun I can have it shipped to me and actually own it, so it's an alternative for someone like me who doesn't have an LCS close by to pick up actual packs.

Topps Skate is a different animal all together. I did play it for a while and spent some money on it but after a couple of months I stepped back and thought about it and just couldn't continue playing it. You don't really "own" anything in the app, it's all just visual. Sure I can print off an image of a card I "have" and make a physical version but there is nothing stopping me from pulling up a stranger's profile, opening up a trade offer, and looking at the exact same images from there instead without chasing inserts or spending money myself. It sort of renders the whole thing moot when you can view the exact same cards on someone else's account and print off anything you want even if you don't have the card in your own profile. There's no real sense of ownership in terms of actually collecting. Some of the cards do have real life value and can be sold on eBay though so at least you can recoup some money if you get out of the game (like I did).

[AG1181]

Unless it can be obtained as a physical card, I don't count it. Compendium Blue/Red/Gold counts for me, base & magenta don't.

I agree with your philosophy, but I made an exception for Magenta. After collecting and trading to the point where I had all the Magenta redemptions (and it was a hell of a lot of work and money), I ended up with a Laine Magenta Auto, which I was able to transfer to COMC. At least there was a point to it all.