Hockey Cards

[Coffey]

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I just got this one, but it’s pretty pricey. Especially since in fantastic condition which is rare for cards from UD Black.

The 90s really did a number on me as a kid.
I'm always attracted to holographic/foil cards and comics.

That looks so nice.

 

[LivingRentFree]

The 90s really did a number on me as a kid.
I'm always attracted to holographic/foil cards and comics.

That looks so nice.

I hear you there!

 

[someguy44]

No way is that a 30k card.

It was a $30 k card at the time. When McDavid won his first Art Ross, the value of that card likely doubled. I know both the seller and the buyer as I was the middlemen for them. Buyer still has the card and is very happy he bought it for that price. Anyways, the shipping and insurance for that card (by Fedex) costs $1200 (might've been better for my friend to fly there and back, then again, it might not because you have no record of the card being shipped).

Btw, I made a mistake earlier. I said it was his cup shield rookie card. I remembered it wrong. It was his Cup Foundations 1/1 auto mem card that sold for $30k. It's still worth more now and that card is likely McDavid's 3rd or 4th most valuable card.

The funny thing is, I was the one who listed the card on E-bay and I got a couple of idiots messaging me saying that my friend was dumb to turn down $10,000 and $15,000 offers for that card (they weren't even the ones who made those offers). One of them said he would've taken $5,000 and ran as he didn't believe a 1/1 of McDavid card from the Cup is a true rookie like his /99. This is why sellers should never listen to idiots and their opinions if it's a 1/1 or any low numbered card.

 

[someguy44]

I'm in Vancouver too.

My most valuable pack pulled card is probably my Tavares yg bgs 10. Since the trade, they keep climbing in value. Not sure if that counts as a lot of the value is coming from the grading.

PSA is really catching on for grading modern hockey. SGC is popular in other sports. They are a good companyc but their hockey has less value. BGS slabs are so much better than other slabs too.

Yeah, I wasn't really including graded cards. I was just referring to raw cards. I have a McDavid YG that looks like it can get a 9.5 or even a black label 10 (think you have to pay Beckett under the table to get a black label 10). If it's a black label 10, then my McDavid is worth like around 10k (I wish).

 

[blankall]

Yeah, I wasn't really including graded cards. I was just referring to raw cards. I have a McDavid YG that looks like it can get a 9.5 or even a black label 10 (think you have to pay Beckett under the table to get a black label 10). If it's a black label 10, then my McDavid is worth like around 10k (I wish).

I have one Black label so far, a Hedman yg. My Tavares is only a single .5 away.... Which have increased value almost 10 fold.

I don't spend money breaking expensive sets and pretty much the only wax I buy is S1/S2. Haven't been lucky enough to hit a monster hit in a break. My best group break hit is probably Tkachuk ice /99.

I managed to pick up a Tkachuk cup rpa for about $130 after the Flames tanked last year. Also bought 2 Gretzky Topps rookies for $200 each. Other than that my collection is almost all pack pulled YGs.

I try and sell or trade all my non-yg inserts too. If anyone wants any, hit me up.

 

[blankall]

Personally, I'd stick with Future Watch Autos, YG exclusive or high gloss, and The Cup. Everything can change, but if I was hoping a card will stay relevantt and maintaim it's value, those are what I'd choose. Obviously, The Cup is going to be cost prohibitive for most people if it's a high end player.

I think part of why Ice might be popular right now is because people who were kids on the late 90s/early 00s are now of age to collect higher end cards, and if I recall Ice was introduced around then. I know that I didn't collect for over a decade, and I still remember ice from when I was a kid.

I like Premier RPAs because they are a lot cheaper than The Cup. I also find them to be nicer looking. I know there are players cards that I would have not paid for The Cup version of that I was able to find for much cheaper in Premier. Although, I haven't explored high end players like Matthews, so I don't know how great the price difference would be.

I don't disagree that fwa, high gloss, the cup, and exclusives are better choices. Very expensive though. A

 

[danielpalfredsson]

I don't disagree that fwa, high gloss, the cup, and exclusives are better choices. Very expensive though. A

They are expensive, but a lot of people in this hobby think nothing of dropping 100-200 on a hobby box multiple times over with no guarantee of hits that are valued anywhere near that. So within context of what the average collector spends on cards, I think they can be wise purchases.

Matthews, McDavid, those are cost restrictive. But most other high glosses are 200-500 CAD. Future Watches are under 100 for almost all players with some really big names being under 200.

The Cup is just bonkers though unless we are talking about low end players. I agree with that.

 

[someguy44]

This card just sold for over $4 k CAD. Wish I pulled it. Oh well, can't be disappointed with a Dahlin YG /100 though.

This is his most valuable card to date. Probably only his Cup RPAs /99, his Ice RPA /10 and his shield 1/1's or some special 1/1 from the Cup would be more valuable than this YG HG.

 

[Daximus]

looks like there's a million of those upper deck series 1 young gun matthews cards. I can't understand how they're going for so much

I've bought so many packs hunting for him and no dice. Probably blew $400 easy. I'm not hunting for Matthews anymore. Probably just go with box breaks now. Get the team cards you want at least.

 

[someguy44]

I've bought so many packs hunting for him and no dice. Probably blew $400 easy. I'm not hunting for Matthews anymore. Probably just go with box breaks now. Get the team cards you want at least.

Funny thing is... I rarely buy 16-17 Series 1. Bought like 5 packs on the first day of their release and hit a Matthews YG... Last year, I bought like 2 packs and hit a Matthews YG. I never even bought a box of 16-17 Series 1 (did for Series 2), but was pretty lucky with it.

 

[Daximus]

Funny thing is... I rarely buy 16-17 Series 1. Bought like 5 packs on the first day of their release and hit a Matthews YG... Last year, I bought like 2 packs and hit a Matthews YG. I never even bought a box of 16-17 Series 1 (did for Series 2), but was pretty lucky with it.

Some people just have crazy luck with their pulls. I've pulled some decent cards that I've used to trade for my collection. But never pulled anything of high value. I watched a box break in a facebook group I'm in and someone pulled one of those Petterson high gloss cards. Instantly people were offering him $2500+. I've only been into the Hobby for about 2 months now but have never pulled anything with that kind of value and I've probably opened 3 hobby boxes so far.

 

[danielpalfredsson]

Nobody has good luck with pulling cards. If they do, it's either a very small sample size, or they conveniently only share their pulls when they hit it big.

Some people like breaking boxes, which is their choice, but nobody should go in with the expectation of getting good value back on the regular.

I'm not saying I never crack product for fun, but it's a really inefficient way to collect. I'd lose my mind if I tried to build a collection that way.

 

[someguy44]

Nobody has good luck with pulling cards. If they do, it's either a very small sample size, or they conveniently only share their pulls when they hit it big.

Some people like breaking boxes, which is their choice, but nobody should go in with the expectation of getting good value back on the regular.

I'm not saying I never crack product for fun, but it's a really inefficient way to collect. I'd lose my mind if I tried to build a collection that way.

This is true. I didn't mention all the other garbage I've gotten. However, there is maybe like a few people who would profit (not counting breakers) if they had a crazy pull like my friend who pulled that McDavid 1/1 foundations from 15/16 The Cup. That one card paid for all his breaks ever and then some. You need one of those crazy pulls in order to be on the + side. Otherwise, everyone except for the breakers and UD loses.

 

[NeelyWasAWarrior]

I'm placing my bet on ovechkin breaking gretzky's goals record. I'll probably pick up 1 or 2 of his rookie cards.

 

[blankall]

Nobody has good luck with pulling cards. If they do, it's either a very small sample size, or they conveniently only share their pulls when they hit it big.

Some people like breaking boxes, which is their choice, but nobody should go in with the expectation of getting good value back on the regular.

I'm not saying I never crack product for fun, but it's a really inefficient way to collect. I'd lose my mind if I tried to build a collection that way.

I don't believe in luck, just value. I increase value by buying S1/S2 retail on sale. I stay away from busting expensive hobby boxes.

I picked up retail boxes of 2009/10 on sale for $30 a few years ago. I put in a little work and sold many inserts on eBay. I find this is the best way to build a solid collection.

 

[Niten Ichi Ryu]

I collected hockey cards throughout my childhood. Stopped for 20 years. Then McDavid got drafted by my city, and decided to buy 1 box of upper deck series 1. 3rd pack in, boom, a fresh mint McDavid young guns. After that, I exploded my bank account and went ham on eBay scavenging McDavid rookie cards, autos, patches, rares, card booklets and box breaks throughout the season. Just in anticipation that his rookie cards will be worth multiple times more during his prime, and when he retires. Almost like miniature investments

After that year, haven't bought a single McDavid card. The McJesus rookie rush was over, had to take advantage of that year and take part in the hype

Some quick pics of a couple of them

 

[someguy44]

I don't believe in luck, just value. I increase value by buying S1/S2 retail on sale. I stay away from busting expensive hobby boxes.

I picked up retail boxes of 2009/10 on sale for $30 a few years ago. I put in a little work and sold many inserts on eBay. I find this is the best way to build a solid collection.

This is also true. It's best to stay away from buying boxes (easier said then done for most people).

I find the best way to get the most valuable cards is to pick and join certain breaks. You have to watch a lot of videos and be the first to buy a specific team or be very calculating.
Stay away from cheap teams cause your ROI will be very small, if any, even on rare hits. Stay away from randoms too as that's pure gambling.

I recently watched 5 videos of an eBay breaker breaking 5x2 boxes of 15-16 S1 in 5 days. Not a single McDavid YG in those 10 boxes and all 12 boxes are from the same case. So on the 6th day, I made a max bid of $260 on Edm. Got it for only $238. McJesus YGs ungraded go for roughly $300. Hence, I was guaranteed to profit...and I did as he pulled a damn good shape McJesus... was hoping to profit more for 2 McDavids in the last 2 boxes as some cases have 2.

Anyways, if people join breaks that way, they are guaranteed to profit and might even hit a rare card of a wanted player on top.

 

[blankall]

How are people's 2018/19 breaks going?

So far I've busted 4 hobby boxes, and 7 tins. 1 Pettersen and 1 Kotkaniemi.

I've got 20 of those Walmart blasters coming in the mail though (they were half off on Black Friday, only $24.99 CAD, and I wen't a bit nuts). Hoping for 2 Pettersens in there to beat the odds!

 

[Olden McGroin]

Picked up one of those Walmart Mega Boxes, pretty good value for $25. In mine I got Pettersson, but it was Marcus. I wish Upper Deck didn't put "Preview" on the Parkhurst rookies.

 

[Bondurant]

How are people's 2018/19 breaks going?

So far I've busted 4 hobby boxes, and 7 tins. 1 Pettersen and 1 Kotkaniemi.

I've got 20 of those Walmart blasters coming in the mail though (they were half off on Black Friday, only $24.99 CAD, and I wen't a bit nuts). Hoping for 2 Pettersens in there to beat the odds!

Successful. Broke 4 hobby boxes of UDS1 and have all the desired Young Guns. My last back had 8 Young Guns including a canvas and a clear cut & Pettersson. Best breaking experience of my life. Oddly, enough I didn't pull a single Cholowski and had to resort to E-Bay.

This was my most ambitious year. Normally open just one box. Missed out on McDavid and Matthews so I wanted to try to secure a Dahlin and Petterrson.

 

[Kcb12345]

What's the best starting point for a beginner to collecting hockey cards? I've seen a lot of talk about hobby boxes on here but are tins or the 24 pack retail box good starting points for a beginner collector on a budget? Or is it just the best bang for your buck to go straight to hobby boxes?

Upper deck series 1 boxes I mean^

 

[nuxnuxnux]

Zephyrepic has ud series 1 retail box for $68cad plus shipping, is this a good deal? I’m mainly looking to just crack a box for fun and maybe hit some sort of value

 

[nuxnuxnux]

What's the best starting point for a beginner to collecting hockey cards? I've seen a lot of talk about hobby boxes on here but are tins or the 24 pack retail box good starting points for a beginner collector on a budget? Or is it just the best bang for your buck to go straight to hobby boxes?

Upper deck series 1 boxes I mean^

Your more likely to hit a nice card in a hobby box

 

[PavelBure10]

I used to love collecting hockey cards. There was no better feeling than opening a pack, sifting through and pulling your favorite players rookie card. Those days are over for me. It got way too expensive. UD has ruined the hobby for me. Making like 20 different Upper Deck subsets that are made for rich collectors "The Cup", and the poor "MVP". It's not what it used to be, where any Joe blow could open up Gretzky's rookie card. Only very few can afford The Cup packs, which were selling for $450.00 a pack before I quit collecting. It taken the fun out for me. Although beautiful cards, the Cup ruined the joy of collecting. I miss the days where anyone had a chance to pull the big one. Now only the rich can pull a McDavid or Crosby Cup rookie, it blows.

 

[GreatSaveEssensa]

I used to love collecting hockey cards. There was no better feeling than opening a pack, sifting through and pulling your favorite players rookie card. Those days are over for me. It got way too expensive. UD has ruined the hobby for me. Making like 20 different Upper Deck subsets that are made for rich collectors "The Cup", and the poor "MVP". It's not what it used to be, where any Joe blow could open up Gretzky's rookie card. Only very few can afford The Cup packs, which were selling for $450.00 a pack before I quit collecting. It taken the fun out for me. Although beautiful cards, the Cup ruined the joy of collecting. I miss the days where anyone had a chance to pull the big one. Now only the rich can pull a McDavid or Crosby Cup rookie, it blows.

You do realize that you dont need to buy ‘The Cup’ right? You can still pull the ‘big ones’ from regular Upper Deck Series 1 and 2. Sure they dont have cards valued at a few thousand and up, but honestly what sets did when you were collecting?