10 Random Thoughts

[cjb]

1) Do you think Kane and Toews would ever go back to Chicago now that Bedard is there?

2) Why are some upper deck series 2 base cards out of order? Example

275 Rasmus Dahlin - Buffalo Sabres
276 Trevor Lewis - Calgary Flames
277 Craig Anderson - Buffalo Sabres

305 Vladislav Gavrikov - Columbus Blue Jackets
306 Tyler Seguin - Dallas Stars
307 Eric Robinson - Columbus Blue Jackets

3) The Price of hobby boxes are increasing again. My LCS has hobby Pre-orders of Series 1 for $150 and series 2 for $175. Who the hell is going to buy series 2 for $175? 6 Months after release date, how much do you think that Bedard YG is going to go for on Ebay? $220 is my guess. If that’s the case what’s the point of spending $175 for the box? Just spend some extra money and buy the card.

4) What’s up with Mathis’s Pic? Some creepy community theatre going on there.

5) O-Pee-Chee Hobby is probably the best bang for your buck product out there right now. How long until they change the format and jack up the price and eventually ruin this product.. Platinum was a great product for many years then they changed the product so that there’s more base cards more mostly worthless rainbow rookies and on top of all that almost doubled the price of a hobby box. Is regular OPC next?

6) Back to hobby boxes. Hobby Boxes cost $40 more than a retail box. What do you get for that extra $40? The chances of pulling a hobby exclusive low numbered card is slim and when you do is mostly likely base, and goes for like $5 on Ebay? Is that worth the extra $40? High gloss? Forget it, Young Gun Parallel? Difficult, but even if you do it’s mostly likely a no name player and it ain’t worth more than the $40 extra you spent on it.

7) How does someone who lives in Kentucky run the hockey boards around here? Shouldn’t he be interested in college basketball and fried chicken? (Doniceage)

8) Does a Young gun lose value if the player on the card is no longer with the team he played for when the Young gun photo was taken? For example when Bo Horvat wat playing for the Canucks his YG was worth $100. Now that’s he’s in New York the value of the card has been cut in half. Still a good player though. If Matthews bolted for another team, would that YG go down in value?

9) Back to my hobby box rant. Do you think hobby would be more worth it they labeled the words ‘hobby’ or ‘retail’ on the front of the young guns card?

10) Where happened to the every day starting goalie in the NHL? These days it seems like either teams a throwing away their goalies after 2 seasons, or they are splitting duty with the backup. Gone are the days of the every day starting goalie who year after year would play at least 50 games per season. In my research I only found 6 teams that has the same starting goalie who has played the majority of their games year after in the past 3 seasons. (didn’t take retirement or injuries into account)

[Savard18]

1. As a Hawks fan myself - I think Kane would be the ideal line-mate for Bedard, and I do believe Kane will come back to the Hawks eventually but only when the Hawks are ready to take that next step and are ready to contend for a playoff spot at least.. But at the same time perhaps Kane wants to play with a generational talent like Bedard now and play a role in his NHL development? many assumed that Kane didn't want to be involved in a re-build, and I would have understood that before the Hawks won the draft lottery and drafted Bedard but drafting Bedard obviously changed everything for the Hawks moving forward, so I wouldn't be shocked if Kane returned to the Blackhawks sooner rather than later.. I mean, I wouldn't be shocked if Kane signed with the Hawks once he's ready to play again, because I think this team is a lot closer to being a playoff team than anyone is giving them credit for, now weather or not adding Kane is a good idea is an entirely different debate which I would be happy to elaborate more on at some point..

As for Toews? I think he's done.. Look, my cousin is a sports journalist here in Chicago and I heard Tazer has become a total "OCD germ-aphobe" after Covid, and the media is just calling it "long Covid" - so if true, and I have no reason to believe it's not true - then there are certainly some psychological issues there that will require therapy to get over..... So yea, I don't see Toews ever playing hockey again.. Look, I'm sure the Hawks will honor him in some way tho, like giving him a 1-day contract so he can "retire" a Blackhawk - which probably isn't necessary anyway considering he's technically never left the Hawks.

2. I have no idea, however I've noticed that trend in a lot of sets, so it's not as unusual as some may think.. I'm guessing they have a checklist in mind already set, then they progressively add/subtract more players as the go??

3. Sorry, but many LCS's are a rip-off.. I'm not saying the owners are shady people, but it costs a lot of money to have a brick and mortar store, hence the products will cost more - not only that - but these guys have contracts with Upper Deck, and UD has a say in pricing - it's really complicated stuff.... I mean I buy all of my sealed products from eBay or Dave & Adams via eBay and I usually wait until the release day madness subsides and buy my hobby boxes a few months later. Except for this year, cuz Bedard, lol.

4. I don't know nothing about that.

5. I like OPC, as a matter of fact I got drunk a few months back and blew like $3,000 on sealed product in one night (terrible mistake, lol) and I did indeed buy a bunch of OPC with that 3k, I mean I'll honestly say I didn't get anything close to what I paid for it out of the boxes, but it was a fun break none the less. I mean I did get cool cards like printing plates, blank backs and serial numbered cards and typical inserts - I just didn't get the best players.. So the boxes delivered, but the players didn't I guess... But hey, that's the way it goes with unopened product - sometimes you hit a home run, sometimes you will walk and sometimes you strikeout. I just need to remember that most of the time you will walk or strikeout the next time I drink and shop, lol... I mean having a couple of good breaks can really boost your confidence - then you think ALL of your breaks will be just as good as the most recent ones... I mean my first couple OPC hobby boxes delivered big time, then I bought a bunch more and they were relative "duds".. But hey, I only spent like 200 on OPC so, I think I got like 4-5 boxes..

If it matters, this is what you get for around $3,000, lol.




6. IDK, it all depends on what you're looking for... I mean if you're hunting YG's and that's all you care about then buy the retail - but at least in hobby there is a chance you can hit something significant - either way you're going to get hobby exclusives, and you will probably get something decent out of a hobby box, and I think that makes the extra $40 worth it... Just my opinion of course.. But again, if you're just hunting YG's then the retail box is the best bang for your buck.

7. I don't know, perhaps you should ask? lol.. Well, I guess you kinda did in rhetorical fashion.

8. I don't think so, I think in most cases there is just a lot of hype around younger players so when their YG is released there is a lot of demand for it and loses value as time goes by for a few reasons - eventually everyone one that wants one gets one, the hype around the player winds down and of course a year later the next years rookie crop gets all of the hype hence their Young Guns. Of course that's always not the case but it generally is with high draft picks er hyped rookies. IMO, in order for a YG to sustain it's value or increase in value the player has to be among the best in the league, that or be a key member on a perennial contender... But of course you have the guys that are drafted in the 3rd round, but turn out to be studs, so obviously their YG's will start off as "commons" and increase over time as they begin to prove themselves as star players. But when you're a common there is no other way to go but up.. Brayden Point and Alex DeBrincat are perfect examples of this... Of course you have the flashes in the pan like Troy Terry..

9. IDK, maybe, it depends on the print-runs of either..... I honestly believe ALL cards should be serial numbered anyway - even base cards, but I don't think ANY card company would go for it.. They like to keep their print-runs close to their vest as they say.

10. I think the parity among goalies is shrinking by the day.. Long gone are the days where there were only 5-6 elite goalies in the league, and then there was everyone else.. I suppose the real question is how good can a goalie get??.. Keep in mind each team can only dress two goalies - you're talking about the top 64 goalies in the world at any given moment, so how much better could #40 be from #25 if you were to rank them all?? not much... And keep in mind these kids are being groomed to be professional goalies, so they spend their entire lives getting better... My point is that there is less parity between goalies (or professional athletes in general) because athletics these days is taken very seriously from a young age which is why generational talent, truly is becoming "generational" because the average athlete can only get so good until they can develop no more and most players hit similar "peaks" - but then there are the McDavids, Bedards, Price, Louongo, Lundqvist etc and those types of players are rare finds because they have something that the average player doesn't..

[RGM81]

Ummm not to overlook the rest of the post, but you’re friendly neighbourhood hockey manager lives in Kelowna, not Kansas.

[cjb]

I was talking about doniceage. Isn't he the boss here?

[cjb]

Savage is the pic part of your secret stash

[Savard18]

Savage is the pic part of your secret stash

Hey, I was just looking at your traders 2 second ago.... What would it take to get that Day With The Cup MacKinnon?..

I was going to offer a Sedin National Treasures Patch 21/50, Tim's Canucks Franchise Trio's, a few Podkolzin's (OPC MR Blue, Metal) and some Young Guns... If that - or something like that interests you, PM me.

[cjb]

It's funny I was going to PM you about those vintage cards you posted on jays trader page

[Savard18]

It's funny I was going to PM you about those vintage cards you posted on jays trader page

Which ones, lol?

[cjb]

PM sent in 2 minutes

[RGM81]

Don is sort of an overall site admin.

To answer the other questions....

1. I think that era is over. Toews may never play again due to the lingering effects of long COVID. Kane...never say never. It's weird seeing him in another uniform.

2. An odd error for sure. It's prevalent throughout the checklist. QA error.

3. I think there's going to be a lot of it out there, but the demand will stay high enough, and shop owners locked in at the higher prices because the distribution racket plays its little games, that you probably won't see them come down. The past couple of years has been brutal to watch prices escalate while the product's quality and content has not kept pace. This year is going to be very interesting on a lot of levels, and I think it may be a peak that leads into a decline. You'll have a new wave of people in the hobby, just as there was with McDavid and at the start of the pandemic, but if people are cracking Series 2 at $200 a box and getting skunked, they won't be staying around for very long.

4. I've never noticed it LOL

5. I really truly hope that there is a mandate from the NHL/NHLPA that some of these products have to remain accessible/entry level for collectors. Further to #3, it's obscene how much they charged for this year's Platinum, one of the worst QC-impacted products I think the market has ever seen. I saw a couple breaks early and it's disheartening. People's faces quickly turn to disappointment when they get their 2020-21 Update Auto of a player who has already been traded, and the shiny stuff just doesn't cut it. OPC remains one of the bright spots in the hobby, a throwback to when people collected sets instead of chasing hits to flip on eBay. They've already gotten a little silly with some of these parallels, but they have to keep it below $100/box or else it just further freezes out lower-income collectors.

6. If we are talking purely S1/S2/Extended, it's a slight advantage for sure to go the hobby route. You get your extra inserts/hits, and the case hits still hold some extra value for sure. If you're just in it for the Young Guns, retail is a perfectly viable choice. Get your 6 YG's hope you hit the good one, it has a lower ceiling but a higher floor. It's when you get into products like Artifacts that the distinction between hobby/retail gets much more pronounced. I'm not an Artifacts fan generally, but the retail edition of this product is borderline criminal at $40/blaster and your best hit the majority of the time will be an /299 parallel.

7. Still having a chuckle.

8. It's highly situational. As a point of reference, it's across the board, not limited to Young Guns. Last year I traded a Jesperi Kotkaniemi rookie year Cup Signature Renditions for a bunch of Tim Hortons inserts I needed, and based on sale values at the time I came out ahead in the deal. LOL Conversely, whenever a player gets traded to or signed by Montreal, you can expect that his YG will at least double in price in COMC listings within an hour. I picked up a Tanner Pearson YG and FWA for $10 on the day he was traded. Today you'd pay $16 for those two cards. And that's just Tanner Pearson.

9. If there were other little notable bits, like a higher quality card stock or a different image, I think at that point it would create genuine interest to value a hobby pull higher than a retail pull. But as it is, I don't think it would be necessary nor really much of a big deal.

10. There's really very few bonafide #1 superstar goalies anymore. They break down. Carey Price's career is done. Vasilevskiy it was announced today that he needs back surgery and will be out 2 months. It takes a toll. They're so big these days that the strain on their knees, backs, etc., is considerable. Mix that with the notion that goalies aren't really as highly valued as they used to be. The salary cap plays a role--does a team want to be paying an elite goalie $8m-$10m in the same way that they'll pay a superstar forward that type of money? Teams have learned in recent years that they can win a Stanley Cup with "good enough" goaltending. It's pretty rare that there's a goalie who is so good at the junior level that he goes in the first round. This year, there were only 26 goalies drafted in the 7 rounds, many of them in the 3rd round or later, and even that was the highest number since 2018. Look back at the goalies Team Canada had for 2010 and 2014 Olympics, and compare that against who would potentially be in goal in 2026--I read an article that suggested Carter Hart, Tristan Jarry, and Logan Thompson would be the trio...doesn't really compare to the likes of Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo, Marc-Andre Fleury, Carey Price or even Mike Smith, right?

Fun questions!