Why do you collect who you collect?

ChuckNorrisFearsSid

ChuckNorrisFearsSid

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I'm sure most answers are that its the home team, a local guy, etc but any interesting stories as to why you collect who you do? Here's mine;

Initially I play collected Talbot. Hometown guy, loved his personality, etc so I started collecting him. I QUICKLY burned out on chasing cards I didn't necessarily like but felt compelled because of the % of cards thing. You all know what I'm talking about.

After losing interest there I stuck to collecting hits I got excited about pulling. No restrictions, just whatever card I got pumped about pulling. That's everything from a Roy Immortal Inks to a John Garrett 12/13 BTP patch that just has the coolest old Nordiques patch and everything in between. That's still my main PC.

Along the way I started collecting ITG vintage stuff. I've never felt any attachment to cards I bought rather than pulled but the old memorabilia was so neat I couldn't resist. I had all sorts of stuff, including one of the most desired GU cards on the planet, the BAP Vezina Memorabilia Georges Vezina.

About 2 months after landing hat card I was sitting at work thinking "I've got all these old vintage cards I never look at" so, again I ditched it and sold it all. While collecting vintage stuff I watched some YouTube videos "Legends Of Hockey" and one video stuck in my mind. Giacomin's video and the way he talked about playing for NY and later being sent to Detroit hooked me. I later found this video:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=v1LjvBoPchE

Hearing him talk about going to play and needing to have his bandages soaked in order to get them off turned me into an immediate fan, and here I am. A Pens fan from Pittsburgh collecting a goalie who played for the Rangers in the 70s, before I was born!

Anyone else have an interesting reason?
 
I started collecting Scottie Upshall the same day as my doctor's appointment.Back in 02 when the World Junior Championships was being held in Halifax.My family doctor who had twin boys aged about 10 years old at the time were attending the tournament in Halifax. After one of the Team Canada games the boys wearing their jerseys supporting the Canadian Juniors were horsing around a bit.Then along come Scottie Upshall.And for no apparent reason started up a conversation with the twins.And before he left offered to sign their jerseys. So when my doctor told me this story I made up my mind at that moment that that is who I would collect.I just thought that here is a young man who was willing to take time and communicate with these two young kid.He has the right stuff to make him collectible to me.And for me I never looked back on him.It did not matter how many teams he has played for or for how long(only a month in Columbus).
To me it portrayed great morals and respect.This was new to me because I never did collect a hockey player.I always collect Frank Thomas as PC guy.But that is my story and maybe St.Louis will be his last so I can cap it off.
 
Bob Nystrom : Local guy from a blue collar, hardworking town. 4 x Stanley Cup champion and both a gentleman and fan favourite.
 
Not a fancy story. It was in the early 90's that I started collecting because of a neighbor kid, baseball, football, basketball, then hockey. I switched over to primarily hockey in '95 because of the players I collected which was now more consistent than all the other sports. I knew of no one else collecting the sport so PC's were out, master sets were out due to lack of funds, but I collected to collect.

Now, it has been over 25 years since I started, my wife scolds me for every $ I spend on cards (for 15 yrs and counting). I have a decent collection, trying to not spend outside of my means. I have the most fun pulling the cards myself, as it adds to the thrill of the chase. and have been pretty lucky considering. I have pulled 2 Gretzky auto's, a 1/1 Gold label, a C55 bazooka back, a couple top Young Guns through various years, and /99 RC from last year's Ice. I tend to spend, on average, $3-5,000 /yr on boxes mostly. I have my favorites cards, sets, and years of cards I like to collect. I think I have done pretty good, myself.
 
Well growing up in the 80's i had plenty of options, however also a lot of restrictions. being from a family that hails from Edmonton but living in Calgary it wasn't accepted to cheer for the flames and McDonalds moustache, and i have an older brother so cheering for the oilers and all the greats, Kurri, Fuhr, anderson, Esatekenn (pretty sure i screwed that name up), Messier, Gretzky, Coffee and on and on...was not allowed. however even with being around all of the greatness in Alberta in the 80's my fav player that i idolized was Mario Lemieux! however back then most of the time his games weren't televised out west unless he was playing a team out here so it was hard to have him and the Pens as my player/team. and then a young player was drafted by the red wings (and all of their games were televised) who was skilled and super talented who i grew up watching change his game and see the maturity he had and how he was a born leader and gentleman, and was able to watch him turn a team around from a bottom feeder to an elite force in the league once again.
Steve Yzerman.
ever since i was 6yrs old he and the wings have been my team. love that he takes the time to sign a nice auto on his cards, even now that he is with Tampa love watching and hear how well he is doing. i'll always collect those heroes from my childhood, Yzerman, Lemieux, Gretzky.
and now that i am older i thought i had another one in Zetterberg, and he was for years! but once he won the Wings the Stanley cup and the Conn Smythe... i haven't seen passion in his game since 2009.. to bad.
However in 2005-06 a special player entered the league and it's like watching my old idols on the ice again when i watch him play. Sidney Crosby.
i'm 35yrs old, and i have already seen entire careers eclipse of my fav's, and we are already 10yrs into anothers. i will really appreciate the next 10yrs of watching Crosby play, cause the time goes by way to quick.

Sean.
 
Last edited:
Sean, nice read. People crap all over Crosby for being a baby, whiner, etc. Maybe earlier on in his career he did gripe to the officials too much but I think that is, and should be forgotten. The Pens have done a delivery of season tickets to fans in years past and I remember seeing the one video, and keep in mind a player of his caliber could easily say "no" to doing this, but he did it and I can't remember the exact details but he showed up at a woman's house and she was completely shocked and asked him if he wanted to come in, that she'd just made cookies and to my surprise he was like "ok, sure" and went right in. Not like "I'm Sidney Crosby" but more like "damn, cookies? I'm in!" It was just really neat to see. For being the face of the league for many years, being paid what he's paid, etc, he seems to conduct himself with class. Might be dry in an interview but there's no police reports, no allegations, etc. I just can't afford to collect him or I would!
 
I collect Jhonas Enroth because I really like the way he plays, and the fact that he's one of the more smaller goalies in the NHL. More of a low-key guy, but knows his role and does very well in it. As a smaller goalie myself, I can relate to his position, as well as appreciate his technical ability as an athlete.

Seeing him get his first NHL win against my Toronto Maple Leafs was a really cool thing to watch, in a shootout no less. I became a big fan of Enroth that day!
 
yzerberg said:
Well growing up in the 80's i had plenty of options, however also a lot of restrictions. being from a family that hails from Edmonton but living in Calgary it wasn't accepted to cheer for the flames and McDonalds moustache, and i have an older brother so cheering for the oilers and all the greats, Kurri, Fuhr, anderson, Esatekenn (pretty sure i screwed that name up), Messier, Gretzky, Coffee and on and on...was not allowed. however even with being around all of the greatness in Alberta in the 80's my fav player that i idolized was Mario Lemieux! however back then most of the time his games weren't televised out west unless he was playing a team out here so it was hard to have him and the Pens as my player/team. and then a young player was drafted by the red wings (and all of their games were televised) who was skilled and super talented who i grew up watching change his game and see the maturity he had and how he was a born leader and gentleman, and was able to watch him turn a team around from a bottom feeder to an elite force in the league once again.
Steve Yzerman.
ever since i was 6yrs old he and the wings have been my team. love that he takes the time to sign a nice auto on his cards, even now that he is with Tampa love watching and hear how well he is doing. i'll always collect those heroes from my childhood, Yzerman, Lemieux, Gretzky.
and now that i am older i thought i had another one in Zetterberg, and he was for years! but once he won the Wings the Stanley cup and the Conn Smythe... i haven't seen passion in his game since 2009.. to bad.
However in 2005-06 a special player entered the league and it's like watching my old idols on the ice again when i watch him play. Sidney Crosby.
i'm 35yrs old, and i have already seen entire careers eclipse of my fav's, and we are already 10yrs into anothers. i will really appreciate the next 10yrs of watching Crosby play, cause the time goes by way to quick.

Sean.
Click to expand...



hey were we separated at birth? except that I loved the Flames and cheered hard for Yzerman, his was the first big card I ever obtained, I still collect Flames as my main PC but yzerman and the gang still hold very special places in my mind and my kids now love the penguins, lol. and yeah we are the same age and I grew up in cow town as well, lol
 
I started collecting Anthony Mantha because I knew he'd be a mid first rounder, had no idea about what team he'd get drafted by at the time. I have always been a huge fan of Heroes & Prospects and just decided to go with it.

Ryan Hartman I started collecting because he was drafted by the Blackhawks. I'd love to sit and collect Toews, but my bank won't allow me to, so I decided to go with a cheaper option. Again having a ton of cards in Heroes & Prospects and being a first rounder helped me get a lot of his pre-NHL cards.

I was looking at my collection and realized I had an QMJHL Player from Canada and an OHL Player from the USA, so I thought it would be cool to add a WHL player from another Country. I randomly picked Julius Honka who is Finnish and played for the Swift Current Broncos.
 
Lee Stempniak I collect because he is the hometown guy. He grew up playing his youth hockey no more than a minute around the corner from me. His parents still live here, about 5 minutes from where I live, and I also bowl in a bowling league with his grandma. He's the lesser known guy from the Buffalo area because Kane gets all the attention. He's also a really great down to earth guy if you ever meet him in person.


Cal Clutterbuck is a bit of a more "funny" story. Me and my buddy Steve (Tmacfreak91) were playing NHL one day on PS3 and heard "Clutterbuck" and I just thought that "Cal Clutterbuck" was one of the best names I have ever heard, so decided to grab a few of his things, and that escalated into a mega PC, and here we are today with almost 90% of his stuff. :laugh: He's also a good guy if you ever meet him, has a huge personality and I like the way he plays with 120% intensity every time he hits the ice.
 
When I was a kid I lived in Medicine Hat for a couple years and my dad worked with Trevor Linden's dad. We would occasionally go to their house to have BBQ's and whatnot. This was before he was even playing junior hockey. I was closer in age to his younger brother Jamie so we would play together more than his older brothers.

A few years later I saw Linden win a pair of Memorial Cups on television and was amazed that I even knew him. Then he got drafted to my favourite team and I just started paying attention to his career. I loved his hard work and leadership on a budding Canucks team transitioning from the Stan Smyl years.

I always liked his approach to the game, his demeanour when it came to dealing with the public and his charitable nature. He may not have been perfect, but I felt he always tried his best to do what was best for the game. He gave a heck of a lot more than he ever asked for.

These days he still is a pillar in the community and his charitable nature has never dwindled.

There will never be another player that will be able to match the enjoyment I have for collecting. I couldn't imagine chasing the "next big thing" or the newest Canuck. It'd never be the same.

I'm so fortunate to have discovered the "player collecting" approach. It has been the single best thing to happen to me in the hobby. I've enjoyed it now for almost 20 years.
 
I remember it vividly. 91/92 Score had come out, and I was looking over cards I'd bought with my friends at school. This was back in the time when cards often had interesting info on the back, and when youths would sometimes be inclined to actually read it. My almost-teenaged self studied the back of Murphy's card and was struck by his career stats at the time. I knew the Bourques and Coffeys of the world, but who was this Larry Murphy? He had comparable stats to those guys, yet I'd never heard of him. Thinking the world revolved around me, I deduced that if I'd never heard of Larry Murphy, nobody else could have either. So right then and there, I decided to carry the banner for him. If nobody else was going to cheer for Larry Murphy, damnit, I was going to.

My efforts to hype him up and tout him among my friends fell on deaf ears. They laughed it off and considered it a joke. I came from a farm outside a small community of only a few hundred people, so the only way you could get older product was to get to a city with a card shop. One time, one of my friends did and came back with, among other things, a Murphy OPC RC. I was jealous (and confused as to why he would get a Murphy RC, but no matter). Not long after, my friend went digging for sales to make a quick buck and asked if I wanted to buy the Murphy. $8 later, I did. I still have it.

We grew up, and for many, the hobby eventually died off in favor of other pursuits. I still carried a torch for it though, and when I started university in 1997, I suddenly had access to a card shop. Then Ebay came along and blew my mind. Cards I never had access to were suddenly at my fingertips.

I'm pretty sure “Larry Murphy” was one of my first Ebay searches. I was curious what would be out there for him, and this first search turned up a Canadian seller listing, among others, a signed Murphy OPC RC. There was no picture of it, but I thought it sounded like a cool concept; I mean, where else was I going to get a card signed by Murphy? Manitoba didn't even have an NHL team anymore. On a wing and a prayer, I bought it, and it was better than I could've imagined, with a beautiful, clean signature in blue ink. I was hooked, and couldn't leave well enough alone. If having 1 signed Murphy card was cool, surely having more would be even MORE cool,right?

It became a challenge – how many different signed Murphy cards could I get? I whittled away at it and continued it out of boredom after I graduated from university and returned home for a stint. At first my collection was limited to autographs, but the release of 04/05 ITG Ultimate Memorabilia 5 and a Murphy Complete NHL Logo 1/1 changed that. I saw the merit of GU cards and added those to the list. I took my collecting habits with me when I moved to Calgary in 2007,and when the well started to dry up, I even added PSA GEM MT graded 10 cards. When THAT well dried up, I finally stopped resisting the suggestion of SCF's resident Turco collector Tim and decided to go for ultimate completion. And here I am today.

Was collecting Larry Murphy motivated by money? Not in the profit sense. Aside from some select pieces, I would be hard-pressed to make back what I've put into his cards. But he was a player I could afford to collect and corner the market on. I enjoyed following the back half of his career, from his success in Pittsburgh through the lean times of adversity in Toronto to the rebirth with Detroit. When he became eligible for the HOF, I knew he had the numbers but wasn't sure if he would again fly under the radar. Needless to say, I think they made the right decision. It was fun rooting for “the guy nobody else would root for”, and it's been fun piecing together a cardboard celebration of his career. I guess I still consider it my mission to bring attention to him.
 
All my pc guys I enjoyed watching and everyone needs to pc a couple 50 goal scorers!
(Fleury 51 90-91)
(Odelein 50 89-06)

Plus their cards are relatively cheap (as am I)
 
My main player PC is Joe Sakic and has been for almost 26 years.I first saw him play against my hometown Blues in 1988 and was amazed that a guy not much bigger than my 15 year old self could hang on to the puck in the offensive zone for what seemed like an eternity.The following season his RC was released and I traded for and purchased everyone I could find.Since hardly anybody in my neck of the woods knew who he was I ended up with nearly 50 of them and have them all except one to this day.
 
I just happened to like him from the day one when he entered NHL. I haven't followed ice hockey in recent years pretty much at all.
 
I started collecting Vincent Lecavalier back in 1997 when Black Diamond came out, and I pulled his triple diamond parallel. I looked at his stats on the back, and noticed that he was born almost a year to the day before me. I thought it was awesome that a guy almost my age was making it to the bigs at the age of 18, having just been drafted by Tampa 1st overall.

Now, I have since stopped collecting all things Lecavalier, and turned to my favorite team, the Caps. But, I didn't want to just collect all Caps cards. I decided to get the RC's and whatever parallels they may have, of all guys to ever suit up for the Caps, whether it was for 1 game or 900+, regardless of what team he may be pictured as.

After a few years of just doing RC's, I decided I also wanted to try and get autos and GU of as many of them as I could. Not just any 'ole Gu and auto, though; I wanted them pictured with their rookie team (if applicable), and as a Capital. For some, that's obviously not possible, but it's been a fun challenge.

Then I just said eh, why not, I'll do everything I can get my hands on. Especially base cards, so that I can try to get all of the guys, especially those who didn't start with the Caps, cards that portrayed them wearing the red, white, and blue.
 
My largest player collection in terms of volume of cards is Brad Staubitz (he doesn't have very many cards but I have tons of duplicates). He is the only former Soo Greyhounds' (my favourite OHL team) player to have suited up for the Montreal Canadiens (my favourite NHL team) in a regular season game.
 
capsfan30 said:
I started collecting Vincent Lecavalier back in 1997 when Black Diamond came out, and I pulled his triple diamond parallel. I looked at his stats on the back, and noticed that he was born almost a year to the day before me. I thought it was awesome that a guy almost my age was making it to the bigs at the age of 18, having just been drafted by Tampa 1st overall.
Click to expand...

I almost collected vinnie for the same reason, he's 1 day older than me :D

had too many players going on to pick him up too though
 

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