Mason Inflation

[gregmal05]

i think price was selling hi for a rookie, who has not really proven anything in the nhl, i mean look at him this season. last year he was hot and so his cards were too, the prices werent ridiculous for his play, but i wouldnt pay 400 for his rookie now, who knows if he is just the next andrew raycroft or jose theodore??? same goes for mason i am very hesitant to buy his cards knowing that a lot of rookie goalies in the recent past have been great as rookies but have not done much since. Now not saying all goalies are like that, ie miller, lundqvist. but i think price may be one of them. :) look at bobby ryans cards they are selling way above bv the last month or so, his cup books at 80 in the last beckett think the new one came out last week.

Totally agree with you there. Way too many things factor into a goalie having a great year, to really get caught up in a few good games, months, or even years. I was seriously contemplating picking up a Mason Ice Premiere auto patch /10 the other day, but chose not to for 2 reasons. The first, is that a player, regardless of position, almost always(at least in the post lockout era of super rookie cards) sees his peek value during his rookie year. I look at 2 guys I have tracked cards of, Parise and Lundqvist. Both despite being fan favorites with solid track records, have had their major rookie cards drop in value since 05-06. Parise's middle end stuff has gone up a bit, but the same 3 color Cup rc's that initially sold for 300-350, now top off at 290, despite him evolving into an elite player. Same with Lundqvist, except all of his stuff has gone down. So in my opinion, there really isn't a reason to compulsively buy Mason stuff cuz chances are, it will still be available at decent prices down the road.

The second reason I decided not to start collecting Mason, is because unlike a skater, who's overall raw skill can easily be seen, a goalie's talent is very easily masked by his team. Pascal LeClaire had almost identical numbers to Mason last year in the Columbus system, and was often brought up as "the future" the same way Mason has been. Mikka Kiprusoff is getting Vezina consideration for his win totals, despite otherwise being terrible this year. And as has been brought up, how many goalies have been able to put together a few good years, and then fade? Jim Carey anyone?

So really, IMO it is way to early to tell anything with Mason, but my own stance is to avoid buying cards of rookie goalies because it is very difficult to tell where they will be in 5-10 years. You are better off collecting Brassard or Filatov.

[Nashrules]

gregmal - Those in Columbus did not get caught up as much in the LeClaire hype, because while he had a solid year, he continued to be injury riddled, as was evidenced by what transpired this year.

[patsfan84]

gregmal, being a ducks collector, i didnt even take notice on lundqvist or parise prices, all i know is i am so glad i picked up my getz pc before this season :P as now my bobby ryan pc is going to cost me. Shoot i picked up a jonas hiller black patch fw patch /100 for 6 bucks in october on the bay :P got to love being a fan of a small market team, with little hobby fans. But i think picking up a mason yg for 20-25 is pretty good.

[Nashrules]

Yeah a mason for 20-25 right now is great. I was mad I missed one at the show this weekend.

[patsfan84]

guess everyone will be hoping for his spa fw /100 this week, then his cup in a few months. my dads buddy pulled his ice. thinks its level 2 though. got 48 for it or something.

[senrab]

I have a question - I bought a couple Mason OPC rookies on ebay for a good price...and I just noticed he is wearing #35 in the photo. When exactly did he switch to #1?

[Nashrules]

35 was a preseason number. He's basically always wore #1 in his career, didn't he?

[senrab]

He wore #35 in the OHL, I guess when he got his big break he went for the traditional goalie number.