I think the way ITG does retired player sets is GREAT. The cards always look cool,like genuine artificats. When was the last time you saw a “new” idea from UD. Fatty McGee is an idiot. The recent Vezina, game used pad/glove cards . . .KILLER

I’d like to see ITG compete head to head with UD next year or even better give DLP a hockey license.

Beckett … what can you say.

I love the fact there is another hockey guy around.

Check out my recent post on Bring Back the Roar- Blackhawks
http://voiceofthecollector.blogspot.com/

To be fair – I don’t think it is all Beckett’s fault. I wouldn’t be inclined to read anything which consistently puts a negative spin on things. If I were looking to get into hockey collecting, and picked up a Beckett – a bunch of doom and gloom articles wouldn’t exactly sell it to me. Basically – there’s a lot wrong with the hobby as a whole, Beckett or no Beckett. I’ve just started to ignore the negatives (and there are a lot of them), not out of being naive – just because I want to enjoy the hobby. I got to a good place with the hobby, and I’d like to stay there.

As for magazines promoting websites, I’ve found its becoming more and more common. Lots of ‘join the discussion at our website’ or ‘check out *insert name here’s* blog’ in magazines like Macleans, SI, and ESPN (they are advertising an upcoming Beta for their new site….shudder). I think it is only going to increase. The internet is making magazines irrelevant. Why wait a week, two weeks or a month for a paper copy when you can get the same thing instantly. Publishing companies of all kinds are starting to amp up their web presence (witness SI.com’s resurgence as an online community, instead of just an article repository) in an effort to stay relevant.

I think your set evaluations are a bit off though. Hockey collectors clamour for OPC every year. They want something beyond a set that takes one box to put together. Something that allows trading on a large scale – and more importantly something that gets more than the same 5 players per team on cardboard.

Base Upper Deck? Everyone builds this set. They build it for precisely the reasons you say. It never changes – it is hobby comfort food. It has the most desirable rookie cards of 40-50 of the top rookies per season, at a price point where everyone can crack a box or two. Sidney Crosby’s Cup RC might be worth $10 000, but his Young Gun is at the top of more people’s want lists.

Unless UD has completely revamped Trilogy for this year (I wouldn’t put it past them), it really doesn’t resemble M&M at all. The only thing serial numbered are the rookie cards and various inserts. There aren’t even any parallels of the base set.

Victory RCs are only barely SP’d – they fall at a rate of 1:2 packs. Much easier than most SPs. It needs to stick around simply because it is the cheapest option around. Less than $1/pack? Its not hurting anyone…

MVp and Ultra could definitely be mashed together to produce one mid-range brand. I don’t like Black Diamond, but again – its a set builders product with a devoted following. Ice has the acetate cards, which are a big hit. It could be mashed with Trilogy, and I think the hobby would be better off.

Products like The Cup, Black, Sweet Shot and Ultimate? They are out of my price range, but they fly off the shelves. There is a devoted market for high end products, and UD would be silly not to take advantage of it.

As for whether ITG should have a license? I am neutral on that. I love a lot of the cards they put out now, but feel that they weren’t quite right for the NHL market. I also feel that they may have burned a lot of bridges with the NHL/PA, so it may be a moot point. Not to mention the $25 million UD paid for exclusive rights. I don’t think any other manufacturer is going to top that.

That might have gotten a bit rambling at points. I love hockey cards, but sometimes I need a bit of a break.