Hockey Cards

[acrobaticgoalie]

So in my 2 retail boxes of 16-17 series 1 I pulled Matthews, nylander, buchnevich, and mantha young guns, along with a marner yg canvas. Could not have made out much better

Nice! I want a Marner Canvas

 

[acrobaticgoalie]

I got a box of MVP as a stocking stuffer. Pulled a Gold scrip Ryan Callahan,Silver Script Cory Schneider, Nylander, Leipsic, Mantha Rookies and a Zibanejad NHL Territories. These cards really aren't worth anything

 

[Kipper933]

I have 6 02/03 OPC blasters waiting at a canada post, I didn't think they'd actually get here before Xmas so I didn't even check the mail. Hopefully I can pick them up on the 27th.

I'm going to swing by walmart tomorrow to see if they have any 50% off boxes, although they haven't at my local walmarts for the last 3 years (just regular full-priced retail).

 

[SubyDubyTML]

Managed to pull a Matthews YG and Chychrun Canvas. Was pretty happy about the Matthews, probably going to send it in to BGS.

 

[Stopsight]

got a couple blasters as a gift and pulled a Mcdavid YG, so how about that

 

[acrobaticgoalie]

got a couple blasters as a gift and pulled a Mcdavid YG, so how about that

Trade ya my Matthews for it haha

 

[danielpalfredsson]

I got a box of MVP as a stocking stuffer. Pulled a Gold scrip Ryan Callahan,Silver Script Cory Schneider, Nylander, Leipsic, Mantha Rookies and a Zibanejad NHL Territories. These cards really aren't worth anything

MVP is generally worthless.

It is more a low end/set building brand. When it hits ePack, you can head on COMC and buy most inserts for pennies.

There are probably some SSPs and a few very hard to hit autographs that are worth a few bucks. But your average pack of MVP won't really yield anything.

OPC is the better low end brand IMO. Better looking cards, better inserts. Still is similar to OPC though in that most hits aren't worth much.

 

[acrobaticgoalie]

MVP is generally worthless.

It is more a low end/set building brand. When it hits ePack, you can head on COMC and buy most inserts for pennies.

There are probably some SSPs and a few very hard to hit autographs that are worth a few bucks. But your average pack of MVP won't really yield anything.

OPC is the better low end brand IMO. Better looking cards, better inserts. Still is similar to OPC though in that most hits aren't worth much.

What brands are more sought after as far as autos go by collectors? Asking for possible flipping purposes. I almost won an auction for a SPGU Sam Reinhart Inked Rookie Sweater card for around $5. Guy outbid me at the last second. A card like that i would probably try flipping in a few years. The Odd card i would keep for myself. Got a SPGU Kopitar inked sweaters card which i am gonna keep for my PC. Nice looking card

 

[danielpalfredsson]

What brands are more sought after as far as autos go by collectors? Asking for possible flipping purposes. I almost won an auction for a SPGU Sam Reinhart Inked Rookie Sweater card for around $5. Guy outbid me at the last second. A card like that i would probably try flipping in a few years. The Odd card i would keep for myself. Got a SPGU Kopitar inked sweaters card which i am gonna keep for my PC. Nice looking card

Flipping is a short term game unless you are great at predicting players who'll break out.

The two ways to make money in cards is to understand enough about their values and buyout large collections from people who want to move them and are willing to sell low in exchange for an easy sale in order to pass on the work of selling them individually to someone else. This isn't exactly easy as you'll have tons of competition, and tons of people who have been doing this for much longer than you. A lot of money in this is in vintage cards, which is very specialized and I'd imagine just like any other specialized hobby there'll be multiple dealers/stores/hobbyists who have years or even decades of experience crawling over classified ads trying to jump on anything that looks promising.

The other way is to go on COMC and flip on there. I'm not exactly about to divulge which cards I go after or give you an FAQ of exactly what I do because the site is small enough and there isn't an infinite amount of cards to flip on there, but you can easily make a solid 50-100 USD a month flipping on there depending on how well you pick up on it and how much money you're willing to tie up in your cards. I do it on the very low end, l put maybe 80 bucks into my account lifetime and after spending a bit of time building up my port average maybe 2 bucks a day in profit that goes back into my collection. There are some really big time flippers on COMC, but as a hobbyist, depending on what you're comfortable tying up in your account, it isn't something where you're going to get rich off of. It is a solid way to supplement your collecting. It is a lot of work to learn at first, but once you sort of find a routine and have some cash/cards in your account, I find it to be a low time commitment way to flip.

Modern cards don't really go up in value. Especially not ones of stars. There are a few exceptions, probably guys like Toews and Price, but usually cards peak when they are first released and drop steadily. Especially autos/jersey cards as more auto/jersey cards of that player dilute the market as they play. This is why short term flipping is the only way to really make money, and you have to consider that people who know a lot more than someone new to the hobby will be doing it as well, so there's a learning curve and competition there.

If you want to dip your toes in flipping, try to figure COMC out.

As far as flagship auto brands, I would say Future Watch Autos which are in SPA are the only auto based cards that come to mind where the set is bigger than the player so to speak. Maybe someone else could correct me or expand on it. Otherwise, in my experience it seems like autos mostly sell based on the strength of the player. Autos that are more limited or from more expensive brands IE The Cup will likely have more staying power, but don't mistake that for me saying that if you buy an auto from The Cup today, that in 5 years you'll be able to flip it for profit.

 

[acrobaticgoalie]

Flipping is a short term game unless you are great at predicting players who'll break out.

The two ways to make money in cards is to understand enough about their values and buyout large collections from people who want to move them and are willing to sell low in exchange for an easy sale in order to pass on the work of selling them individually to someone else. This isn't exactly easy as you'll have tons of competition, and tons of people who have been doing this for much longer than you. A lot of money in this is in vintage cards, which is very specialized and I'd imagine just like any other specialized hobby there'll be multiple dealers/stores/hobbyists who have years or even decades of experience crawling over classified ads trying to jump on anything that looks promising.

The other way is to go on COMC and flip on there. I'm not exactly about to divulge which cards I go after or give you an FAQ of exactly what I do because the site is small enough and there isn't an infinite amount of cards to flip on there, but you can easily make a solid 50-100 USD a month flipping on there depending on how well you pick up on it and how much money you're willing to tie up in your cards. I do it on the very low end, l put maybe 80 bucks into my account lifetime and after spending a bit of time building up my port average maybe 2 bucks a day in profit that goes back into my collection. There are some really big time flippers on COMC, but as a hobbyist, depending on what you're comfortable tying up in your account, it isn't something where you're going to get rich off of. It is a solid way to supplement your collecting. It is a lot of work to learn at first, but once you sort of find a routine and have some cash/cards in your account, I find it to be a low time commitment way to flip.

Modern cards don't really go up in value. Especially not ones of stars. There are a few exceptions, probably guys like Toews and Price, but usually cards peak when they are first released and drop steadily. Especially autos/jersey cards as more auto/jersey cards of that player dilute the market as they play. This is why short term flipping is the only way to really make money, and you have to consider that people who know a lot more than someone new to the hobby will be doing it as well, so there's a learning curve and competition there.

If you want to dip your toes in flipping, try to figure COMC out.

As far as flagship auto brands, I would say Future Watch Autos which are in SPA are the only auto based cards that come to mind where the set is bigger than the player so to speak. Maybe someone else could correct me or expand on it. Otherwise, in my experience it seems like autos mostly sell based on the strength of the player. Autos that are more limited or from more expensive brands IE The Cup will likely have more staying power, but don't mistake that for me saying that if you buy an auto from The Cup today, that in 5 years you'll be able to flip it for profit.

Thanks. I know flipping won't get me rich but just like you said ,make a few bucks here and there to keep the collection going. Buying low on Comc seems like a great way to do it especially since you can buy a bunch of cards with only one shipping cost. Shea Theodore is a good example as the last time i looked his Young guns card was $0.70. He is a guy with good potential

 

[danielpalfredsson]

Thanks. I know flipping won't get me rich but just like you said ,make a few bucks here and there to keep the collection going. Buying low on Comc seems like a great way to do it especially since you can buy a bunch of cards with only one shipping cost. Shea Theodore is a good example as the last time i looked his Young guns card was $0.70. He is a guy with good potential

Forgive me if I am misunderstanding you, but the point of buying to flip on COMC isn't to have them shipped back to you. You buy, and then re-price the card while keeping it on COMC. If you do it right, hot cards will sell in maybe 1-5 days, older cards with larger profit margins will take anywhere from 2-8+ weeks to sell but if you are flipping a lot of cards it becomes sort of like a rotation. This week a card I bought 8 weeks ago might sell and I'll make 5-10 bucks on it, and then use that 5-10 bucks on another card that'll sell 8 weeks later. So on and so fourth.

But when you're ready to use the cash you make on singles for your own PC, yeah the shipping all at once to yourself comes in handy.

One tip, if you are going to flip on COMC, go into your profile and change it to advanced selling mode. COMC's shipping isn't really as cheap as it is presented. They charge you 25 cents shipping per card, but if you are just going to reflip a card within COMC you can turn on "advanced reselling mode" and they won't charge you that 25 cents when you buy a card. If you eventually decide to have cards shipping to you, you'll have to then pay the 25 cents at that time along with the flat rate shipping cost.

If someone thinks I'm wrong, feel free to add in to the discussion. But for modern day cards, outside of speculating on lesser known players (AKA not top picks), short term flipping is really the only way to make cash. Not buying a card and holding on to it for years to sell.

Guys have to become SIGNIFICANTLY more than they are projected to be for their cards to see a huge bump and also be on a popular team that has a devoted base of collectors.

A card I think has some long term potential is Matt Murray's YG. But that's if you think he is going to be Carey Price 2.0, a perennial Hart/Vezina candidate who wins multiple cups (not gonna happen for Price ), and eventually goes into the HOF. If you think he'll simply be VERY GOOD, it probably has peaked in value. The card is a shorter print than typical YGs as it was an update card in SPA which is one big reason why I think it might be a good one to bet on if you are looking 5-10 years into the future. Right now, you can grab it for 30 CAD on a good day. Carey Price's YG is a 150-200 card, and I don't think Murray will ever exceed Price as far as collectibility goes, so that might be the cards ceiling. But the fact that it was a shorter print than a typical YG is a + in its favour of potentially increasing in value.

 

[Maelmoor]

I seem to get Mitch Marner in every box this year, cannot complain about that! This time it saved my Black Diamond box (/99 signature).

 

[danielpalfredsson]

Loving the Rookie cards in Trilogy. Bonus that the /999 should be pretty cheap to acquire. Happy to see Chabot finally getting rookie cards since he played that 1 game this year. UD totally missed the ball last year with only giving Dzingel 1 attainable rookie card (SPA). He had an SPGU out of his jersey number, but that one is hard to come by.

 

[REGGIE DUNLOP77]

I collect older cards,got a lot of years in the 70s,collect by the card or bought in lots,bought full years from the 80s,both decades are OPC...changed to upper deck for 90s busting boxes and buying new sealed years,2000s i busted boxes,,loved that year they put vitage cards in ,and the insert set was repos of the 72 cards,,,

have some from 60s but far from full sets and a few from 50s,got a Gordie Howe,couple of star habs players,,forget who now,have to look in my bicycle spokes


anybody eles collect vintage cards,
i have not have time for afew years,,damn maybe ten years,i also collect other memorbillia ,, havemaybe 5 stanley cup replica rings ,,cheap leafs in early 60s just added to old rings ,61,62,63 are same ring,i have B Orr from 74,,,bluejays from 93.

 

[acrobaticgoalie]

Opened my 2 boxes of 16 /17 series 2 that i had preordered today. Out of the first box i Pulled a Laine YG , Jacob Larsson Exclusives YG, Werenski Canvas YG, Timo Meier YG and Ryan Pulock Rookie Materials Jersey card. Amazing Box! The second box was nothing special as my best card was probably my Zaitsev Canvas YG but great day!

 

[Jabba The Hutton]

Got my Hutton YG Acetate back from BGS

 

[danielpalfredsson]

Does anybody know how often the vendors at Wal-Mart re-stock the discounted product and if there is a good day or time to go to catch stuff after it is just put out?

I'm talking about the infamous 29.99 hobby boxes that have shown up at Ontario/Quebec Wal-Marts over the last few months. I grabbed a 29.99 OPC 10-11 Hobby Box a few weeks ago which although isn't a huge steal (45 bucks at my local hobby shop otherwise) was a fun break at only 30 bucks.

I've seen some weird stuff like 1999-00 series 2 and some 1997 Pacific product but I haven't seen any Rookie Anthology or ITG Hobby Boxes which others online have found.

Every location I go to is always flooded with some of the more recent Score hobby boxes with exciting rookies like Nail Yakupov.

 

[Cubs2024wildcard]

Does anybody know how often the vendors at Wal-Mart re-stock the discounted product and if there is a good day or time to go to catch stuff after it is just put out?

It depends on their area schedule.

90% of the time the stuff sits in the back until somebody shows up to put it out.

Your best chance is when new Pokemon cards are released. In retail it's a gold mine and unlike sports cards they don't wait around to put them out.

 

[danielpalfredsson]

It depends on their area schedule.

90% of the time the stuff sits in the back until somebody shows up to put it out.

Your best chance is when new Pokemon cards are released. In retail it's a gold mine and unlike sports cards they don't wait around to put them out.

Do you mean they might restock the shelves during the same periods the Pokemon cards come out? Or are you suggesting I get into Pokemon cards.

 

[Raymoondo]

I just got a Matthews Young Gun from a pack. Is that worth selling now (I think Ebay has it around $150) or should I wait until he gets older?

I don't normally ever get hockey cards (this is my first and last hockey pack that I'll be opening), so I'm not all too familiar with the concept of trading and selling cards.

 

[La Cosa Nostra]

If it's not for your PC sell that card now. Unless Matthews becomes the best player in the league ahead of McDavid then it's not going to rise in value much more then it already is.

 

[danielpalfredsson]

I just got a Matthews Young Gun from a pack. Is that worth selling now (I think Ebay has it around $150) or should I wait until he gets older?

I don't normally ever get hockey cards (this is my first and last hockey pack that I'll be opening), so I'm not all too familiar with the concept of trading and selling cards.

Although it isn't 100 percent certain, cards tend to peak when they first are released. So if you'd like to sell, selling now would be a good idea. It is risk/reward, but if you want to sell soon I might hold out for the playoffs. I think if the Leafs get in that the Matthews hype will peak then for a very short window.

On a side note though, don't get caught up thinking you're gonna get $150 cards every time you open a pack. Honestly, unless you really need the cash I would just hold on to the card. I don't see the point in buying packs, opening them, getting something awesome, and just selling it and using the money on more packs on a continual cycle until you eventually hit 0 dollars because with packs on average you won't pull more than you spend. Get a nice one touch or screw down case with a stand and you've got a pretty decent hockey card to display if you're into displaying hockey memorabilia. (Now I'm talking as if you're not a Sens, Canadiens, or Sabres fan.....)

 

[Raymoondo]

Although it isn't 100 percent certain, cards tend to peak when they first are released. So if you'd like to sell, selling now would be a good idea. It is risk/reward, but if you want to sell soon I might hold out for the playoffs. I think if the Leafs get in that the Matthews hype will peak then for a very short window.

On a side note though, don't get caught up thinking you're gonna get $150 cards every time you open a pack. Honestly, unless you really need the cash I would just hold on to the card. I don't see the point in buying packs, opening them, getting something awesome, and just selling it and using the money on more packs on a continual cycle until you eventually hit 0 dollars because with packs on average you won't pull more than you spend. Get a nice one touch or screw down case with a stand and you've got a pretty decent hockey card to display if you're into displaying hockey memorabilia. (Now I'm talking as if you're not a Sens, Canadiens, or Sabres fan.....)

Honestly I'm not really that into keeping memorabilia. This pack was just given to me by a friend; I don't usually buy packs or anything else. I was thinking of starting a collecting though, so I might just get a case for it.

On a side note, how does the selling process usually work? Does the value of the card never increase regardless of how well the player does in his later years?

 

[blankall]

Honestly I'm not really that into keeping memorabilia. This pack was just given to me by a friend; I don't usually buy packs or anything else. I was thinking of starting a collecting though, so I might just get a case for it.

On a side note, how does the selling process usually work? Does the value of the card never increase regardless of how well the player does in his later years?

Not true. Many players increase in value in later years. It does get a bit complicated though, as UD has only been short printing rookies (AKA Young Guns) since about 2000. So no one is really sure what the long term value will be.

However, from what I've seen here is how it works:

1. Hot rookie comes out. Everyone wants it. Value goes up.
2. Hype dies down. Card drops in value.
3. Card holds steady for a while depending on players performance.
4. Card goes up in value, once supply begins to dry up and a player who is now 5-6 years into their career gets hot.

If you look at the Young Guns from 2000-2002, the big stars are all holding value and actually increasing. Guys like Datsyuk, Nash, Zetterberg, etc.. all hold quite well. Guys like Staal and Heatly, who fell off, not so much.

The trick is to find someone with an ongoing fan base. Upper Deck stops printing cards at the end of the year. There are lots of Young Guns for any given player, but most get tucked into people's private collections. So, for example, if Matthews is winning cups in a few years, everyone will want his card. The people who have them in their collections will still want to hold onto them. Demand goes up.

Crosby's YG, about 4 years ago when I started collecting was going for around $300 ungraded and $400-500 graded (9.5 plus). Now it's going for double that.

Kane and Price were going for $40 each. Now they're going for $150+ ungraded and $200-300 graded.

The trick is guessing at which hyped up rookies are going to be the future superstars. You don't have to pick the best player in the league either. For example, Stamkos' YG seems to be holding steady despite him not doing anything. The reason is his supply got bought out early due to hype. Then as the demand remained steady, there was little supply to satisfy that demand.

What makes Matthews and McDavid different is that they play for huge hockey markets. So despite McDavid being overprinted, his YG is still holding value. If there are 30,000 vs. the regular 15,000 copies, it doesn't matter if you live in a hockey market with 1+ million people who are all hockey fans. A portion of those fans will want a rookie card of their generational player, and that will drive up demand above supply.

 

[danielpalfredsson]

Honestly I'm not really that into keeping memorabilia. This pack was just given to me by a friend; I don't usually buy packs or anything else. I was thinking of starting a collecting though, so I might just get a case for it.

On a side note, how does the selling process usually work? Does the value of the card never increase regardless of how well the player does in his later years?

The only cards that tend to increase in value are rookie cards of guys who were unknown late round picks and broke out. So like a Mark Stone type of guy.

Otherwise, rookie cards and cards in general almost always peak when they first are released as more people are interested in adding them to their collection. This is especially true for top draft picks.

It is possible that Matthews card could increase in value if he has a prolific career, wins a few Hart/Art Ross/Stanley Cups but the safe thing in the short term to do is to sell now, or at the very least hope the Leafs make the playoffs and sell at that time.

eBay sold listings is a decent indication of what a popular card like Matthews is worth. Right now they look to be selling for around 175-200 Canadian raw. If you have sold on eBay before and are familiar with the process of selling an item, that might be the best and easiest route to go. Just makes sure you ship the card with tracking. It should cost about 10-15 to ship a card with tracking in Canada. If you list on eBay from a marketing standpoint it would be better to list it at 199.99 with free shipping than to list it at 175 with 15 dollars shipping. At the end of the day, you make the exact same amount.

Another route would be to sell it locally on Kijiji/Facebook/Craigslist. You'll probably get a lot of low ballers trying to buy the card off you to flip though. Which there's nothing wrong with in theory, but you shouldn't need a third party to help you sell a card like Matthews when you've already committed to selling it locally. That card should sell itself pretty much as it is one of the most in demand if not the most in demand card on the market right now.

Last option if you don't know how to use eBay and aren't into the idea of going the classified route would be to find your local card shops and see what they'll give you for it. IMO for a card like Matthews, this isn't the smartest move because you shouldn't have to pay someone to sell something that will sell itself. You could literally list the Matthews card slightly underpriced on eBay and have it gone in a day. But if you do want to go this route consider that with eBay+Paypal fees and 10-15 dollars shipping within Canada if you did sell the card for 200 CAD w/free shipping you'll only pocket about 160 after everything. If you choose to sell the card on the lower end at 175 w/free shipping, you're only pocketing around 135. So if you have a shop offering you anything close to that because they know it is a hot card they can sell the same day they buy it, maybe you opt to take it just for the convenience of not having to go the eBay route.

As far as my opinion on selling from packs. I just don't really get it if you're gonna collect. I think if people buy packs, they should keep the hits from them a majority of the time. Because although you had an amazing first pack, the reality is if you spend say 1000 dollars on packs of hockey cards in a year, you'd be very lucky to get 500 worth of cards back. So I don't get the mentality of say spending 1000 on packs, pulling 500 worth of cards, selling those cards, then spending the 500 on more packs where you pull 250 and so on forever. Nor do I get the mentality of buying packs just to trade/sell the cards for cards you want more as singles, I think it makes more sense just to buy singles in the first place since it'll cost less. I think it is fun to buy a pack or box every once and a while the same way someone might buy a lottery ticket every once and a while knowing they aren't getting their money back, but I think relying on packs/boxes to build a collection is misguided.