Hockey Card Collectors!

[MeanGene]

Tonight I brought a box of 2003 Pacific Private Stock Titanium cards. The guy at the store, told me that the best card in there is the Zetterberg Rookie. I opened up a few packs in the store and I got Kurt Sauer rookie card. The man checked the value and it was $40.00. I also got a Geoff Sanderson with red foil letters. He said those cards were worth more. It was not much. I was also told the Zetterberg rookie was worth $400.00 and rising. Well the last card of the last pack I got one. The thing is that it is in the red letters. It is a serial numbered card. I have a feeling that I got the wrong one, but maybe it is worth more. Anyone know it's value? Thanks!

[rkbrasse]

The best way to check a true card value is to look on ebay and see how much they are going for. Beckett and the like tend to overvalue cards quit a bit. You'll keep buying magazines that tell you your stuff is worth much more than it will really sell for.

Since ebay is where most of this stuff goes now, it is a truly good gauge as to where the value of your card really lies.

[folgersnyourcup]

I checked on Ebay for ya but couldn't find that particular card.... check to see if Beckey Hockey Collector has an online database.

[AbNormal27]

I wouldn't chance eBay as values are falling fast latelyon ALL cards. Beckett is the bible of price guides for this type of thing, however, you'll NEVER get book value for a card, trust me. I've be collecting for years, and I can tell you that whatever the book value states, you'll be lucky to get HALF of that. A card shop will not offer you top price for something that they have to make money on, and therefore, you don't get a whole lot. As for the "ruby" variant of his rookie card, this is something that may only appeal to diehard Zetterberg collectors, as it is just that, a variant of his rookie card and even though it is serial numbered, ALL rookies, regardless of which varient are serial numbered in Titanium this year. In fact, there are several different variants, Ruby, Sapphire, Silver, Gold etc, etc. As for which holds the highest value, who knows, and honestly who cares? Unless you are a collector of that particular player's cards, the added value to each variant can only truly be gauged by you and whomever you are trading with. Just my 2 cents, and only my opinion, but I have been collecting since 77/78 and am in between Detroit and Toronto, arguably the 2 hottest hotbeds for hockey cards.

Aaryn

[MeanGene]

Thanks!

I went back to the store today and it is "worth" about $100.00.

I also got a sweet Tugnutt Game Worn card. In the picture, he is wearing a Stars Jersey, but the jersey patch is a star cut out of his Columbus Jersey. That card is sweet!!

[AbNormal27]

Well, now you know what you could get in trade for it. I would hold out for at least $40-$50 in trade.

I'm hoping to improve upon my collection of Ron Francis jersey cards soon. I now have 26 and #27 is on its way. It sounds like a lot, but when you consider they can get about 1500 swatches out of just 1 jersey, it kind of puts it into perspective.

I saw that Tugnutt card (or a card like it) in this month's Beckett. It does look sweet.

Aaryn

[Jeff O Rocks]

If you can ever make a RecZone practice on the weekends....there is a guy that has a table set up and he has Canes cards (and other teams too...I believe ..he has some really good ones...great condition...most range from $.50 to $10.

[AbNormal27]

What a CO-WINKY-DINK! I popped into one of the local card shops on my lunch and got my 27th Ron Francis jersey card! This one is a little more special though.

It's an AUTOGRAPHED jersey card, serial numbered 9 out of 10 from this year's Be A Player Signature Series set. It is easily now the rarest and best Ron Francis card in my collection. Little did I know that when I left to go for lunch and drop off a roll of film that a spur of the moment move like that would result in this type of acquisition. That just made my day! :D

Aaryn

[crazy4canes]

Good for you Aaryn! :spin:

[Stormbringer]

That is just TOO COOL AND AWESOME Aaryn! Congratulations!! :spin:

[Kat]

I have a Ron Francis Whalers card (from his first stint with the Whalers), that I had autographed back when he played for Pittsburgh and I was a teenage Pens fan. Maybe someday I will scan it in...

-Kat

[nccanes]

Speaking of cards...

From the Bristol Press

Whalers cards still in abundance
By Paul Angilly 06/02/2003

It’s been six years since the state’s beloved Hartford Whalers pulled up stakes and headed south, yet the single hottest hockey card on the market right now features the Whalers’ logo and the familiar Hartford jersey.

Jean-Sebastien Giguere has set the NHL on its ear during the postseason, leading his Mighty Ducks of Anaheim team into the Stanley Cup Finals. Collectors have taken notice, swarming to pick up copies of his one true rookie card -- from the 1996-97 Upper Deck Ice set.

That card is No. 1 in Beckett Hockey Collector magazine’s "hot rookies" list for the July 2003 issue, and is also No. 1 in Tuff Stuff magazine’s hockey card "top ten singles" list for the July 2003 issue.

Issued late in that season, the 1996-97 Upper Deck Ice set featured player portraits on see-through plastic. On card #25, Giguere, Hartford’s top draft pick from 1995 (13th overall), is shown in his Whalers uniform. The text on the back mentions his first NHL win, on Dec. 28, 1996 against the Ottawa Senators.

Just a few months ago the card could be easily found for less than $5; but at least four sales on eBay in recent weeks have topped the $50 mark, with dozens more selling for upwards of $30. Even the lowest winning bids over the past couple of weeks have topped $20. There is also a gold "Ice Performers" parallel of the card available, with eBay auctions for that version reaching a high of $91. Several more were sold for $50-60, although one recent auction had a winning bid of just $20 (probably due to a poor written description on the seller’s part).

My advice if you’re interested in this card: Wait. The 1996-97 Ice issue may not be as common as other sets from that season, but it’s not exactly scarce either. Once the excitement of this year’s NHL postseason dies down, prices on Giguere’s hottest cards will drop as well. While it may never again sell for less than $5 (or at least not anytime soon), by the end of this summer it probably won’t be too hard to find copies in the $10-15 range.

The good news for Whalers collectors is that you don’t have to look to the past to pick up cards that bring back fond "Brass Bonanza" memories. There have been cards issued featuring players in Whalers uniforms -- and sometimes even including a piece of the uniform -- every year since they moved to Carolina. This season alone, nine different former Whalers have had new cards produced featuring them in their Hartford uniform -- at least 18 different cards, with more possibly on the way.

Among the most attractive are three Whalers cards from the "first round draft pick" subset in Be a Player First Edition hobby packs. As the name suggests, the subset features former NHL first round draft picks -- but the twist is that these cards show the players in the uniform of the team that drafted them, with the team logo prominently featured as the background. Card backs include pictures taken on draft day. The subset includes former top Hartford picks Giguere (1995), Jeff O’Neill (1994) and Chris Pronger (1993).

This year’s Be a Player Memorabilia set includes a "big deal" subset, featuring a pair of players that were traded for each other in the past. Included is a card of Chris Pronger in his St. Louis Blues uniform with Brendan Shanahan as a Whaler, plus another card of Shanahan in his Detroit Red Wings uniform and Keith Primeau as a Whaler.

The 2002-03 Fleer Throwbacks set, which prominently features ex-NHL "enforcers," includes a card of Ulf Samuelsson with Hartford. Samuelsson is also shown along with the Boston Bruins’ Can Neely on a "squaring off" insert. A memorabilia parallel of that insert card pictures Samuelsson with the Whalers, but includes a piece of a jersey he wore with the Philadelphia Flyers (along with a piece of a Neely Bruins jersey).

The Upper Deck Foundations set includes regular-issue cards of Gordie Howe (named only as Mr. Hockey) and Mark Howe, both shown with the Whalers. There is also a Gordie Howe "Spectacular Efforts" subset card, highlighting his return to the NHL with Hartford in 1979-80.

This season’s Upper Deck Piece of History set includes two more Gordie Howe cards that show him with Hartford: a "Tribute to Greatness" subset card and a "Seasons to Remember" subset card.

Upper Deck’s new Artistic Impressions set includes "Flashbacks" inserts that reprint past cards made by the company. Included is a Ron Francis card from his Whalers days and a Gordie Howe card that depicts him with the Detroit Red Wings, the WHA’s Houston Aeros and the Whalers.

Prior to this season, there had been more than three dozen other cards produced of Whalers players since the team left Hartford. Included are several Brendan Shanahan cards that include pieces of jerseys he wore with the Whalers, autographed cards of Gordie Howe and Pat Verbeek, several insert cards highlighting Gordie Howe’s career, and cards featuring pieces of sticks or jerseys Gordie Howe used while playing in Hartford.

One card issued last year should interest current Hartford Wolf Pack fans: The 2002 Topps/O-Pee-Chee Archives set includes a reprint of Nick Fotiu’s rookie card from the 1975-76 O-Pee-Chee WHA set, showing him with the New England Whalers. Fotiu is now an assistant coach with the Hartford Wolf Pack.

©The Bristol Press 2003