capsfan30
Verified Trader,
OK, did I miss some huge event where all of a sudden Borje Salming is the one guy that everyone wants? I have a jersey card of his that all of a sudden everyone is asking after, when before no body blinked an eye at it.
Did I miss something? - Borje Salming
- Thread starter capsfan30
- Start date
BruinsFan08
Verified Trader,
Depends on the card I guess, I've got a few that have been sitting in the trade box for years now. He was definitely an elite D-man.
set collectors? If it's a perceived SP by the set collectors there's your answer
gallinator
Verified Trader ,
I bought a sizable collection off of pwag a few months ago and have been trying to add to it ever since...been getting very difficult the past 3 months. I don't mind paying a little above market for some cards but sellers are holding tight.
He's definitely due for some hobby love outside of Sweden and Toronto!
He's definitely due for some hobby love outside of Sweden and Toronto!
gallinator
Verified Trader ,
There might also be a "halo effect" from his SP auto in Motown Madness, bringing favor and attention to his other cards? Stranger things have occurred...
Frendo
Banned User
There're numerous retired players who suddenly went from "nobody" to SUPER/ULTRA-hot since I returned to the hobby at 2008, most notably ones is A.Irbe (oh gosh he's selling better than The Cat right now! or almost!!) and some others like B.Ranford, T.Twist, T.Linden, A.Moog etc who got 10x-50x more hobby love right now long time after they actually retired than when they was actually still active as an NHL-player.
Maybe Salming suddenly got some new hardcore collectors who grew up while Salming was still active in NHL and hunts like crazy for his rarer card for their new Salming-PC I presume or..?
Maybe Salming suddenly got some new hardcore collectors who grew up while Salming was still active in NHL and hunts like crazy for his rarer card for their new Salming-PC I presume or..?
Chillychow
Verified Trader ,
That's the category I'm in - watched the Leafs as a kid in the '70's and '80's and have been quietly (until now) pickup up Salming, Sittler and teammates high end cards as they've come up. I've also noticed an uptick in pricing as of late. Perhaps it's time for a little Salming S&T...
gallinator
Verified Trader ,
Speaking of Salming, here's a good opportunity to mention an act of kindness...
A couple of weeks ago I bought into a group break on eBay from a seller I had never dealt with before. Dropped $15 on St. Louis and came up empty except for one numbered base card. I sent the seller a message and told him not to waste the postage and to keep the card or give it away, etc. He thanked me for the gesture and asked who I collect, so I told him Sakic, Stastny Bros, Vaive and some guy named Salming - but also told him he really didn't need to send me anything. He replies, "I've got something I think you'll like and you can let me know in feedback comments" - and a few days later I get this:
So a BIG shout out to "bardowncollectables" for his unexpectedly generous donation to my Salming PC!
A couple of weeks ago I bought into a group break on eBay from a seller I had never dealt with before. Dropped $15 on St. Louis and came up empty except for one numbered base card. I sent the seller a message and told him not to waste the postage and to keep the card or give it away, etc. He thanked me for the gesture and asked who I collect, so I told him Sakic, Stastny Bros, Vaive and some guy named Salming - but also told him he really didn't need to send me anything. He replies, "I've got something I think you'll like and you can let me know in feedback comments" - and a few days later I get this:
So a BIG shout out to "bardowncollectables" for his unexpectedly generous donation to my Salming PC!
mortuus
New Member, Must Send First!
cool its looks identical to mine that.
gallinator
Verified Trader ,
Haha, yes very close! I think I might have a nanometer more blue on mine ;-)
I've seen some Silver versions with the same cut...would have been nice if ITG made it closer to 50/50 for the Golds, but I can't complain about this one.
I've seen some Silver versions with the same cut...would have been nice if ITG made it closer to 50/50 for the Golds, but I can't complain about this one.
gobuffalo2331
Verified Trader,
If you told us what jersey it was it would be easier to answer the question.
gallinator
Verified Trader ,
Pretty sure it's this one, which does explain the interest from a wider spectrum of collectors (tough set, pre-05, distribution issues(?), etc.)
Salming Borje 2004-05 ITG Franchises Canadian Game-Used Memorabilia SM-14
Salming Borje 2004-05 ITG Franchises Canadian Game-Used Memorabilia SM-14
jetsman
Verified Trader
I've never seen the attraction to Salming, but then again I don't for a lot of the guys mentioned in here.
I think the hockey card market has always been bloated by sentiment from Toronto and a lesser degree Montreal. Salming's a great example of this but Felix Potvin is even better. Look up and down the line of goalies who did more than Potvin - Hasek, Richter as examples - and yet because he played with the Leafs he gets all the warm fuzzies.
Heck, compare Potvin and Jocylen Thibault. Their career records, percentage wise, are near identical - 266-260-85 for Potvin with 32 SO's, Thibault was 238-238-68 with 39 SO's. They also each played for 5 teams (including each playing for 1 original six Cdn and one other Canadian team + an additional Original 6 squad). Both had iconic masks - Potvin the cat-style, Thibault the Plante tribute. Yet Thibault doesn't get even a fraction of the attention.
Now a lot of this can simply be chalked up to the minority of collectors who go after the likes of Potvin and Salming being a very vocal minority, but the bottom line is this centrism to Toronto, for better or worse.
I think the hockey card market has always been bloated by sentiment from Toronto and a lesser degree Montreal. Salming's a great example of this but Felix Potvin is even better. Look up and down the line of goalies who did more than Potvin - Hasek, Richter as examples - and yet because he played with the Leafs he gets all the warm fuzzies.
Heck, compare Potvin and Jocylen Thibault. Their career records, percentage wise, are near identical - 266-260-85 for Potvin with 32 SO's, Thibault was 238-238-68 with 39 SO's. They also each played for 5 teams (including each playing for 1 original six Cdn and one other Canadian team + an additional Original 6 squad). Both had iconic masks - Potvin the cat-style, Thibault the Plante tribute. Yet Thibault doesn't get even a fraction of the attention.
Now a lot of this can simply be chalked up to the minority of collectors who go after the likes of Potvin and Salming being a very vocal minority, but the bottom line is this centrism to Toronto, for better or worse.
FASTMAX
Verified Trader,
Set collectors all the way. I believe that if Howe/Gretz/Orr were in that set it would be considered the greatest release ever. Of any company. That is my belief anyway. Go look at the checklist for those releases.
gallinator
Verified Trader ,
I've never understood the popularity of Felix Potvin, either. He was occasionally exciting, fleetingly brilliant but generally run-of-the-mill. Lumping him together with Salming, though, even in an attempt to chalk up whatever popularity they have to the fact they played for Toronto, is really stretching it.
Salming wasn't the first Swede in the NHL, but he was the first TOUGH Swede. Watching him take the ice was truly exciting to me and I would say to my mum, "SALMING's on!!" (I was 4-5 when I first saw him). He was a groundbreaking trailblazer for later Euro stars and is, to me, iconic. Sittler's 10-point game? Borje was there, baby - 2G/2A!
Sure, Toronto gets a lot of hobby love - and it deserves it. That may help Salming's hobby popularity a little, but IMO he did most of the heavy lifting himself.
Frendo
Banned User
Excellent written!
I think that it's his posture (with his extremely wide gap between his legs and his quite awkward way to use his glove) in the net and with his equips, he was among those very first goalies with completely customized equips and of course his The Cat mask which boosted his extreme popularity.
I think that he's waay too overvalued and some other players like B.Ranford, R.Brodeur, W.Clark, A.Irbe, R.Brodeur, T.Linden, R.Hextall etc (sorry!) who only got 2-4 (or less or nothing!) good/very good seasons in their whole career but still more popular than the majority of others even with superior stats and even with HoH status.
There're many who seriously wants Hexy or even Ranny into HoH! Come again! Holy crap!!
Börje Salming deserves a lot more attention than many others overvalued/overrated players which got a eternally fan love despite its inferior stats/merits and short-lived careers (some fab seasons followed up with +10 as best medicore or even bad seasons)
I'm surprised by of many HoH:ers or future HoH:ers struggles to getting decent cards (or even nothing) while all those players I mentioned up above gets a crapload of cards every year....
Now that's a quite discriminating and unfair angaint these players who gets ZERO recognition despite that they made +500-600 goals, +350 wins, +1200 points, HoH:er or future considerations, many timer AS game selections or AS1-AS2 Team selections, numerous NHL-records etc IMO, while many goalies/players with 50-150 more loses than wins, 0.3-0.7 points per game avg, never won some cups or hardwares, zero goals in some seasons etc but still gets more love...scanadalous!
I promised myself to not making rants anymore but heck it's not easy sometimes to looking some things thorough my fingers haha...!
Rorschach
New Member, Must Send First
I believe the OP's question is not why Salming is popular, because he isn't, Toronto or not. The question is why suddenly is there so much demand for a particular card of a guy who has a bunch of cards out there that just sit...at least for a lengthy period of the past.
I've noticed it too, recently. Maybe it's just a coincidence that several HFers suddenly have started PCs of him. Or it could be a SP card as someone else mentioned and people need it for their set.
I've noticed it too, recently. Maybe it's just a coincidence that several HFers suddenly have started PCs of him. Or it could be a SP card as someone else mentioned and people need it for their set.
jetsman
Verified Trader
Ok so if we want to talk d-men compare his stats to others of his era - Denis Potvin for example. Salming, despite no Cups and no Norris trophies, gets much more love. Or let's compare him to fellow Euro trailblazer Jari Kurri...
gallinator
Verified Trader ,
Potvin is so B-O-R-I-N-G in comparison, though, especially when on the ice with Bossy (who admittedly deserves more hobby love) and the cantankerous Billy Smith. Plus, he's not Swedish.
Fellow Scandinavian Kurri gets plenty of attention from what I see, so I'm not catching your drift on him...?
Fellow Scandinavian Kurri gets plenty of attention from what I see, so I'm not catching your drift on him...?
piper1
Verified Trader,
The real truth regarding this matter is that he only has about half a dozen decent cards for trade and most of them are memorabilia of former players. I know because I was one of the ones who tried to trade with him. He clearly doesn't want to trade three of those cards and should place them in his PC instead. If I am not getting cards that are on my actual want list, I am like anyone else, I will seek tradebait instead, but I certainly wouldn't trade 1.5x more for the Salming than it is worth.
No doubt he will have his take on this matter but ask him how many years those old GUs have been on this trader list and see what he says.
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