I know many in the hobby dislike what eBay and the internet as a whole have done to collecting. It’s certainly hurt brick-and-mortar local card shops and caused many others (that couldn’t adapt and USE it to their advantage) to close.
For me, the good comes in that it has opened the world up and we can make trades with people that we’d have never had contact with 20 years ago. I can move something not high dollar, but that someone else wants, and get something cool for myself back. For me, it’s a good thing.
Yesterday, I received two bubble envelopes with cards that I had traded for. Combined, it’s one of the best days I’ve had on cards I received. I’m not counting 15+ years of eBay purchases here.
The first package was from Lori in Massachusetts. She is a big Bruins fan and we follow each other because of cards. If you want to follow her on twitter, you can find her at @bruinsgirl125. She was interested in a Bruins auto I had, so I sent it (and a base rookie) to her and received these beauties in return.
Living in Dallas, I’ve become a Stars fan. They don’t come anywhere close to my Blackhawks, but I can pull for another team. My girlfriend is a big Stars fan (yes, she watches games and knows what she’s talking about), so I saw probably 50 or so games this season. Even before I moved here, I liked Mike Modano. He was one of the best players in the NHL, a future Hall of Famer and born in the United States. That was always enough for me.
The second package I received was from Tom in Illinois. I sent him a bunch of Blues cards, including a Doug Gilmour auto and a Tarasenko Young Guns and received a nice package in return. As a Blackhawks fan, I’ve been wanting Hull, Pang and Tallon autographs. The opportunity to pick them all up at once was almost too good to be true.
I became a Blackhawks fan in my teens. I lived in Morgantown, West Virginia and when my parents bought me a stereo, I discovered that I could get WMVP out of Chicago. Most everyone around my age that liked hockey was a Penguins fan, so I was drawn to other teams and the Blackhawks became it. I spent many a night listening to Pat Foley and Dale Tallon call games out west when I should have been long asleep. At the time, Darren Pang was the studio man for the broadcasts. You can see why I wanted Tallon and Pang autos.
I previously mentioned that I like Modano. Ed Belfour was the Blackhawks goalie of my youth. Neal Broten is, well, Neal Broten. I shouldn’t have to explain why I am always interested in a Neal Broten card. If you don’t know though, you should check out the article below.
Link: Broten’s hockey legacy far exceeds his public profile
Back to the cards, I can’t even put into words how excited I was to receive these yesterday. They are some major additions to my PC.
Lori and Tom, if you ever read this, thank you! I love making trades and I love fellow hockey fans. Most are much more pleasant to deal with than fans in other sports. I’m proud to say that I (as well as Lori and Tom) are part of the hockey collecting community.