Hockey Cards - Part III

[CutOnDime97]

New to the hobby. Brand new. Slowly trying to learn about everything and I am starting to wonder if "Breaking Culture" has truly affected not only the price of boxes, but also hurting collectors? I am trying to be smart and remind myself that I do not want to join this hobby to "make money" but at the same time, I don't want to feel like I am throwing my money COMPLETELY away and it would nice to feel somewhat assured that there is decent value in some boxes.

Many have said hockey cards haven't quite suffered as much as other sports and Pokemon, but before I go out and buy a couple hobby boxes of Series One, I paused and started to wonder if a long-time collector has noticed a major shift in the hobby, and if it is worth it nowadays to be one of those nostalgic consumers who walks into a shop, buys a box or two and rips wax on their own.

Obviously it is almost never economical to open a box yourself, but is it at the point where it is borderline throwing away hundreds of dollars with little potential in terms of value? I do not mind just building a personal collection, purely for fun, but it is still something in the back of my mind. What would you recommend for a new collector in the hobby who wants a balance of fun and value? Do you recommend it at all?

Honestly, I wouldn't recommend opening boxes or breaking at all. The products have gotten more watered down and prices gave gone up. It's really not enjoyable. I've opened maybe 2 boxes in the past year or so and felt extremely ripped off both times.

I'd recommend setting up saved searches on the eBay and COMC apps and building a collection buying singles. I watch a few YouTube channels that rip boxes (Zeeree, GP Sports Cards, Mainely Hockey Cards) to get the jist of new products and get my fix that way.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

Does COMC determine what to sell the card for, or is that just on the person who sent it in ?

 

[CutOnDime97]

Does COMC determine what to sell the card for, or is that just on the person who sent it in ?

You send it in (or send over from epack), COMC adds it to your account, and you price it yourself.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

You send it in (or send over from epack), COMC adds it to your account, and you price it yourself.

Ahh ok that's why there's some stupid ask for cards from them on ebay.

Thanks.

 

[CutOnDime97]

Ahh ok that's why there's some stupid ask for cards from them on ebay.

Thanks.

They cross list the listing on their platform to eBay. So you're a lot better off logging into COMC and buying the card vs buying on eBay for more money and paying shipping

 

[dr robbie]

Obviously it is almost never economical to open a box yourself, but is it at the point where it is borderline throwing away hundreds of dollars with little potential in terms of value? I do not mind just building a personal collection, purely for fun, but it is still something in the back of my mind. What would you recommend for a new collector in the hobby who wants a balance of fun and value? Do you recommend it at all?

Watch some youtube videos of people doing hockey card box breaks. They'll drop hundreds / thousands of dollars and be excited when they get a third of the value back in cards. It's completely a waste of money right out the gate unless you can supplement in another way like streaming the video. And that's not even factoring in that you need to move it fairly quickly, which takes time and effort. I'd recommend just buying want you want from a seller. It's cheaper and you actually get what you want rather than some extremely low chance of getting it. Nearly all of the cards you get are going to be worthless in a decade, so I would not say it's a good investment.

 

[Craig Ludwig]

Watch some youtube videos of people doing hockey card box breaks. They'll drop hundreds / thousands of dollars and be excited when they get a third of the value back in cards. It's completely a waste of money right out the gate unless you can supplement in another way like streaming the video. And that's not even factoring in that you need to move it fairly quickly, which takes time and effort. I'd recommend just buying want you want from a seller. It's cheaper and you actually get what you want rather than some extremely low chance of getting it. Nearly all of the cards you get are going to be worthless in a decade, so I would not say it's a good investment.

Bang on!