Do you view this as a good or bad thing??

[Luongo Collector]

No secret I focus my collection on mostly Luongo cards. Reason from the beginning was always because he was, in my mind, relatively cheap to collect for such a great goalie. Even up till last year I was getting lots of mid to high end for great prices.

And even the 1/1's, or other low numbered were cheaper than I thought they ever should have been.

The last 6 months have, in my mind shown a large increase in his sale prices. I have been outbid on some 1/1's that are blowing me away. I've chatted with some other Luongo guys and we have no idea who is buying this stuff, as it was always the 2 of us from what we can tell.

So I guess I should take it as a good sign that the cards are selling for more, but problem is I'm still buying and will never sell!!!!! Lol

How would you guys feel if this was your main guy you collected? Weird how I'm seeing a uptick a year after he retired. Haven't followed other guys much, but is this a common occurrence?

Chris

 

[FrozenInferno]

Not sure about Luongo specifically but I think future HOFs have been undervalued and maybe the market is wising up to them. I see guys who have done it all like Malkin, Patrick Kane, etc, sell for low prices compared to some of these shiny new kids. Shiny new kids who might, if they're lucky, accomplish nearly as much as guys like Malkin and Kane already have lol. Supply is always lower on those proven guys too.

Something has to give there. Either the new kids have to come down in price or the future HOFers have to go way up.

 

[creasecollector]

I think it's a good thing, though maybe not for the wallet. From time-to-time I feel like it's nice not to be "the only" guy chasing his stuff and it can be exciting when new competition enters the market, as those new adds feel that much sweeter I've found. New competition also forces me to appreciate what I have in my collection already if I miss out on a few 1/1, which has happened a few times in 2020 so far.

Best of luck picking up those rarer Luongo's!

 

[Burner]

Maybe the hockey collectors are sick of rookie driven products and values? Veterans don't get the love they deserve in Hockey compared to the other sports. Maybe it's time our sport is finally catching up to the idea that most of these rookies are overvalued from the get go and sick of seeing prices tank when they don't become the next Crosby, Ovechkin or McDavid.

 

[WatchMyBreaks]

Maybe the hockey collectors are sick of rookie driven products and values? Veterans don't get the love they deserve in Hockey compared to the other sports. Maybe it's time our sport is finally catching up to the idea that most of these rookies are overvalued from the get go and sick of seeing prices tank when they don't become the next Crosby, Ovechkin or McDavid.

I agree, look at a card like the Joe Thornton Black Diamond rookie. It’s actually been losing value over the years while Joe continued to put up all time great stats firmly securing a place in the top 100.

 

[French_Connection]

I definitely agree with others here that the non-generational vets have been undervalued for a while. I realized I had some holes in my collection of the stars of this past decade and have been able to pick up autos of Kane, Toews, Getzlaf, etc. for a song.

It's not even that UD products are so rookie focused (although they definitely are) but the market tends to focus on only a handful of those rookies. A lot of the non-anointed rookies are very undervalued.

 

[dismonkey1]

I think there has been a general uptick in price especially during the initial Covid-19 crisis. Now, I am seeing the prices soften a little for some cards which i attribute to the July hockey doldrums. Also, some of that stimulus money is gone and what will happen with unemployment (especially in the U.S.) and will institutional investors continue to buy trading cards? I guess it will be interesting to see where we will be in another 6 months in terms of pricing.

 

[FrozenInferno]

I just think that if the hockey segment is going to grow and attract collectors from other sports like we hope it will, new people with new ideas might start challenging the status quo. There are a lot of smart collectors out there and if they start doing their homework on hockey they're going to look closely at things like accomplishments, population counts of rookie cards, etc, and maybe they would rather put money into guys with shorter supply who have done things rather than unproven rookies with a gazillion rookie cards printed.

The Crosby YG explosion we saw in recent years for example. Some like to say it was only manipulation or buyers clubs or whatever that drove the price up. Well maybe those people were on to something. Maybe they saw McDavid show up and how much money people were spending on him and wondered ''why are we spending so much money on this guy and Crosby is so cheap?'' Sid has like four or five times the accomplishments in an already legendary career and his YG has around a third of the print run of McDavid if not less, but his YG was selling for like $300 bucks and so was McDavid's. It didn't make any sense. If everybody was buying McDavid because he might someday do what Crosby has already done, but if Crosby was selling so cheap, then what exactly was the aspiration there lol?

Crosby was undervalued for too long and now he's getting his due. So is Ovechkin. How much longer before the Malkin and Kane types start seeing some respect? Guys with multiple Cups, MVPs, Conn Smythe's, you name it. Future HOFers who have done it all and are still superstars in the league but they sell for low prices compared to some of the kids who may accomplish half of the things they did.

I'm actively trying to add guys like that to my PC before prices go any higher because right now they're great bargains.

 

[hduong]

It's never a bad thing when overall sale prices go up. I don't mind highly touted rookies command good money. It's the proven stars previously mentioned that don't get enough love. Especially Kane and Malkin. Ovechkin was in this group until he won his cup and his prices sky rocketed.

 

[weasel-king]

Jagr cards have skyrocketed the last few months as well, and I think it does have to do with people wanting to spend their money. I know I save $400 just on gas and food by working from home.