Why do you collect?

[Marcb105]

There is a joy that comes with the sorting and completing a set, a team, or even just a focus of cards.
I think a lot of it currently is nostalgia, that has ramped up as I have a young one who has started to get into it just a little recently.

The collection focuses have changed a lot over the years, but it still comes down to certain cards (for many diferent reasons) bringing joy and therefore, seeking them for the collection.

[creasecollector]

what a simple but fantastic idea for a thread... collecting for me started in the 70s and was going along perfect for a 6-12 year old and then Mom threw everything away when I lost interest into my teens (in her defense, she did ask me and I said I didn't want them). Then around 1986, just after Mario came into the NHL, I noticed the Gretzky rookie and started buying boxes and building sets like I did with packs as a kid in the 70s... by 1990, I was buying cases of Upper Deck and OPC Premier. As boxes of 80s stuff was going through the roof in price, the new cards just kept coming...I quickly realized that saturation was causing the new cards to never be rare or worthy of collecting.

I left the hobby in 1991 and sold everything to one guy... the Gretzkys, the Marios, the Roys, all the sets from the 80s I built from wax boxes.... plus, all the cases of Upper Deck, OPC Premier, and 7th Inning Sketch I had bought.

Fast forward more than 25 years to July 2018 and John Tavares comes home to my beloved Toronto Maple Leafs... I Google Tavares Rookie Card and see his Young Guns card for the first time.

I find this website in August 2018, before Tavares even plays a game for the Leafs... I then notice the super collector thread and see creasecollector's Enroth Collection from the same draft year as Tavares... I also notice how incredibly impressive the other player collections are. I knew right then, with the internet now, if I was going to get back into card collecting, it was going to be around John Tavares and not how I collected in the 80s and 90s.

I then found out about the ITG cards of John Tavares from when he was 16-17 years old and I'm hooked into the hobby again. I decided I was going to put my Tavares Card Collection online like creasecollector did and I was going to start with posting a new card each game day as I build my collection.

Three years later, I veiw the Tavares cards I have assembled as a unique and difficult collection to match... not quite super collector, however, there are some very rare cards that make my collection unique and rare in itself. Sure, I could collect 20 FWAs and a few Cup RPAs that would be worth more than what I have assembled. However, I enjoy building my collection as one unique player collection, because, I believe some of the rare Tavares cards I have assembled actually feed off each other... I can always add plenty of FWAs and more of the modern day glut anytime going forward.

Therefore, the reason I collect?... for the sole purpose of creating a single unique collection that stays intact long after John Tavares leads us to the Stanley Cup and retires as a Toronto Maple Leaf.

Thank you for the shoutout, @WillyC ! Much appreciated.

As for me, the reason I collect is, like other collectors, based on a variety of things.

I really enjoyed collecting cards as a kid, so the nostalgic component of collecting cards has been with me for a long time. I've also played the game for many years as a goalie and collecting hockey cards connects me to a sport and position I will always enjoy.

Thanks for this fun topic!

I also posted on Hobby Insider in 2017 about why I collect Jhonas Enroth cards. If anyone wants to check it out, here's the link:


http://hobbyinsider.net/forum/showthread.php?t=418025

[781Rangers]

I collect for a number of reasons but I imagine at the core it is because it takes me back to being a kid at the rink in the early 90’s. I love the 1989-90 Topps set. This was the first set I remember receiving cards for. I remember that the back of the Gretzky had Indianapolis on it. I remember not realizing Mark Howe or Bryan Trottier played for such a long time. The older players had a smaller font on them. I like that Patrick Roy still had brown pads on in that set. There is a muted quality to the entire set of playing in partially lit arenas especially compared to the Upper Deck release of the next year.


What I found exciting about collecting in the early 1990’s was how hockey cards were sometimes your only way to see a player. We only had a regional tv station for the local team and I do not remember ESPN carrying games until 1995ish. Beckett and the Hockey News were the two other sources of information. There was such an influx of Russian (Fedorov, Mogilny, Bure, Larianov, etc.) talent as well as European players (Sundin, Lidstrom, Selanne, Jagr, Hasek, etc) that it was really exciting to watch. I still love the first three upper deck sets. I loved the Canada Cup subset in the 1991-92 set. The Canada Cup was definitely not on television for US audiences. It was so cool to see these great players wearing jerseys other than the team they played for. This was before the era of 3rd jerseys with the exception of the original six teams in 1991-92 which was also cool to see.


I collect because I find Michel Goulet jersey and Dino Ciccarelli cards interesting, as well as others. I love the idea of owning part of a “relic”. If you go to the hockey hall of fame you see jerseys displayed. This is my own personally curated collection. I have a green piece of a Ron Francis Whalers jersey. I find that super cool. I picked up an ITG Turk Broda game used stick piece. The connection to the history it what gives it importance to me.


I lost a bid on Pierre Turgeon engrained card yesterday and I was bidding because it had a cool picture of him on Buffalo and I really do not remember those years. I do remember the Islanders but nothing specific about him in Buffalo.


Sometimes I search for something because it is difficult and will take me time to amass, if it is possible. I have 44 of 45 of the Upper Deck Black Diamond All Time Greats Championship Rings. I hope to obtain all of them but I am happy with what I have collected. Sometimes I collect to look back and realize I have something I personally think is really cool. I have the 2003-04 Jean Beliveau Upper Deck Trilogy Script card and it is important to me because of the way he carried himself as a hockey ambassador off the ice when I was watching.