McDavid Outselling Crosby

[samosa4u]

Last night I came across something pretty surprising: we all know that Sidney Crosby is the best hockey player in the world, so therefore his cards must bring in the most money compared to other hockey players, right? WRONG! Connor McDavid is outselling him BIG-TIME! For example, Crosby's best card is his 05/06 Upper Deck The Cup, and it's going for approximately $3,000 to $4,000 USD. Now McDavid's 15/16 The Cup card (#'ed to 99) is bringing in approximately $14,000 to $20,000 USD - unbelievable! Even the cheaper version (The Cup Tribute) is going for $10,000+ USD.

The above is just one example as to how McDavid is outselling Crosby, and I could give a countless others, but I figured I don't need to because you all get the point, right? Despite McDavid not winning a cup yet, card collectors have nevertheless gone CRAZY over him. What do you guys think? Are you surprised by this? Do you think it's a good investment?

[Peter_Spaeth]

I don't believe in any of it, because it's artificial, manufactured scarcity.

[irv]

Originally Posted by samosa4u

Last night I came across something pretty surprising: we all know that Sidney Crosby is the best hockey player in the world, so therefore his cards must bring in the most money compared to other hockey players, right? WRONG! Connor McDavid is outselling him BIG-TIME! For example, Crosby's best card is his 05/06 Upper Deck The Cup, and it's going for approximately $3,000 to $4,000 USD. Now McDavid's 15/16 The Cup card (#'ed to 99) is bringing in approximately $14,000 to $20,000 USD - unbelievable! Even the cheaper version (The Cup Tribute) is going for $10,000+ USD.

The above is just one example as to how McDavid is outselling Crosby, and I could give a countless others, but I figured I don't need to because you all get the point, right? Despite McDavid not winning a cup yet, card collectors have nevertheless gone CRAZY over him. What do you guys think? Are you surprised by this? Do you think it's a good investment?

I believe a lot has to do with Connor being new/fresh and Crosby being yesterday's news so to speak.

Also, in a lot of hockey circles, Crosby is known to be a whiner, who, unfairly gets away with a lot of things he shouldn't, and that also rubs a lot of people the wrong way.

Connor is phenomenal, and has a very bright future ahead of him, and most young kids/adults and adult collectors are focused on him and not Crosby anymore.

I know none of it makes sense as Crosby is a clear/easy choice for the HOF, but based on what I mentioned, he has fallen out of favor with a lot of people.

Connor's cards will no doubt come down after a couple years once things settle out, or if another phenom comes along, so, imo, most of his cards are currently way over priced.

[Peter_Spaeth]

It's interesting to me how in hockey, and to some extent basketball, they can see a 13 year old kid and pretty accurately predict superstardom, but in baseball even by the time guys are in college or the minors it's still a crapshoot if a top prospect is going to make it.

[irv]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

It's interesting to me how in hockey, and to some extent basketball, they can see a 13 year old kid and pretty accurately predict superstardom, but in baseball even by the time guys are in college or the minors it's still a crapshoot if a top prospect is going to make it.

Hockey is easy, imo, as most of these phenoms stand out, head and shoulders above most kids they are playing with and against starting at a very your age.

I have seen it myself where one kid can just basically skate circles around others, stick handle in a phone booth, and have a far greater sense of what is going on on the ice than even the coaches.

As time goes on where some kids plateau out and become just another player, these kids continue to excel, out skate and out play just like when they were much younger.

Imo, most of today's younger hockey players are far more skilled and talented than what most were just 10 yrs ago.
Granted, today's game is far different, which allows this talent to shine, imo, but what some of these kids can do nowadays has just never been seen before.

[Peter_Spaeth]

There's a story, who knows if it's true, about Orr. He was 14 maybe even younger I think and Boston sends someone to scout him. The scout comes back, and tells management, he could play in the NHL. Management is exasperated, tells the scout we already knew that, give us some useful information. The scout replies, you don't understand, I mean right now.

[irv]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

There's a story, who knows if it's true, about Orr. He was 14 maybe even younger I think and Boston sends someone to scout him. The scout comes back, and tells management, he could play in the NHL. Management is exasperated, tells the scout we already knew that, give us some useful information. The scout replies, you don't understand, I mean right now.

LOL, very well could be true as Orr was that good.

At 14, Bobby Orr came to Oshawa and likely this is when my Father/us seen him?

My Dad remembers Orr playing road hockey out in front of our place here in Oshawa when I was just a wee lad. Unfortunately, my Father never got an autograph but being in the Bruins farm city at the time, seeing great upcoming players, wasn't that unusual.
http://oshawagenerals.com/bobby-orr

The hockey world will forever remember him as No. 4, but when the remarkable career of Robert Gordon “Bobby” Orr began, it the Parry Sound native wore No. 2 for the Oshawa Generals.

Orr first came to Oshawa as a 14-year-old phenom for the 1962-63 season and starred with the Generals for four years, helping the Generals capture the OHL Championship in 1966.

His explosive offensive style made him and instant sensation in Oshawa and he went on to a glorious National Hockey League career with the Boston Bruins, becoming one of the greatest defensemen in hockey history. In four seasons as a General, he complied 278 points in 194 games while playing most of that time against players several years older.

The only defenseman in NHL history to win the Art Ross Trophy as scoring champion (he did it twice), Orr won eight consecutive Norris Trophies as the NHL’s best defenseman and amassed 915 points in just 657 NHL regular season games. He still holds the NHL records for most points by a defenseman in a season (139), most assists by a defenseman (102) and best plus/minus of any position player (+124).

He was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1979 after the mandatory three-year wait period was waved, and become the youngest player ever inducted at the age of 31. Despite numerous knee injuries, he is still considered the greatest defenseman in NHL history and was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1979.

On November 27, 2008, in front of an over-flow crowd of 6,253 fans, the always humble Orr finally agreed to allow Oshawa hockey fanes to pay tribute to a player that changed the game forever, and will certainly never be forgotten.

[samosa4u]

Originally Posted by irv

I believe a lot has to do with Connor being new/fresh and Crosby being yesterday's news so to speak.

Also, in a lot of hockey circles, Crosby is known to be a whiner, who, unfairly gets away with a lot of things he shouldn't, and that also rubs a lot of people the wrong way.

Connor is phenomenal, and has a very bright future ahead of him, and most young kids/adults and adult collectors are focused on him and not Crosby anymore.

I know none of it makes sense as Crosby is a clear/easy choice for the HOF, but based on what I mentioned, he has fallen out of favor with a lot of people.

Connor's cards will no doubt come down after a couple years once things settle out, or if another phenom comes along, so, imo, most of his cards are currently way over priced.

Nice post, Dale. Yes, I also agree that McDavid's cards are overpriced now. If McDavid does not win the cup in the next 2-3 years, then we will see collectors get nervous and start dumping these cards on eBay, in my opinion.

I think getting Crosby's The Cup Rookie for around $3,000 or so is a good deal. He can still win another cup (or two) and then the value of this card will increase, for sure.

[chaddurbin]

i don't know, for every orr or mcdavid there's a alexander daigle or jason bonsignore. most #1 picks in basketball are at least all stars bordering on HOF'ers, while in hockey you have solid guys like ed jovanovski and roman hamrlik. solid nhl players but nowhere near the franchise changer.

i do agree mcdavid outselling crosby is a joke. i would think crosby's career would be in the 90th+ percentile of mcdavid's career projection. if mcdavid somehow surpasses even that he'll be a top 2-3 players in hockey history....then you're talking about gretzky orr lemieux howe.

edit: i LOVE hockey, and hockey players, and hockey cards...but base on my experience you should not be investing in hockey cards!

[Peter_Spaeth]

http://www.landofbasketball.com/draf...er_1_picks.htm

Seems to me a fair number of guys here who did not work out so well.

[irv]

Originally Posted by samosa4u

Nice post, Dale. Yes, I also agree that McDavid's cards are overpriced now. If McDavid does not win the cup in the next 2-3 years, then we will see collectors get nervous and start dumping these cards on eBay, in my opinion.

I think getting Crosby's The Cup Rookie for around $3,000 or so is a good deal. He can still win another cup (or two) and then the value of this card will increase, for sure.

Thanks, Samosa, and I agree. Just wish I could say I owned one!

Originally Posted by chaddurbin

i don't know, for every orr or mcdavid there's a alexander daigle or jason bonsignore. most #1 picks in basketball are at least all stars bordering on HOF'ers, while in hockey you have solid guys like ed jovanovski and roman hamrlik. solid nhl players but nowhere near the franchise changer.

i do agree mcdavid outselling crosby is a joke. i would think crosby's career would be in the 90th+ percentile of mcdavid's career projection. if mcdavid somehow surpasses even that he'll be a top 2-3 players in hockey history....then you're talking about gretzky orr lemieux howe.

edit: i LOVE hockey, and hockey players, and hockey cards...but base on my experience you should not be investing in hockey cards!

I think the whole Daigle situation/hype embarrassed the NHL, as, imo, they seem much more careful nowadays when they are touting/spouting off about the next best thing to come along.

The Daigle era was at a funny time in the NHL. They were trying to expand/popularize the game but unfortunately, this backfired on them.

Remember the Manon Rheaume hype as well?

[samosa4u]

Originally Posted by chaddurbin

edit: i LOVE hockey, and hockey players, and hockey cards...but base on my experience you should not be investing in hockey cards!

This is what people said in the past and look what ended up happening. There are a few sellers that I know who picked up vintage high-grade singles, complete sets, etc. and made a killing. Remember, the intelligent investor will NEVER follow the crowd!

[irv]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Some unique circumstances perhaps, but Eric Lindros, the so-called (or was it self-appointed?) "Next One" didn't quite live up to hype either.

Was Manon Rheaume actually considered to have a chance or was it just a publicity stunt?

Originally Posted by PM770

It was Don Cherry who gave the best analysis of what happened to Lindros career.

He said that in juniors, Lindros got into the horrible habit of watching the puck onto his stick, but since he was so big when the other kids would line him up for a big hit they would just bounce off.

Lindros was never able to break the habit. In the NHL, those guys don't bounce off. And Scott Stevens will kill you.

Lindros, considering the era he played in, and with a big target on his back, had remarkable numbers, imo, and it's no fluke he is in the HOF.
He missed how many games due to injury and still put up exceptional numbers?
His downfall was his reputation and people jumping on him for that.
Bobby Clarke was once asked his thoughts on Lindros, and he said, once you removed all the baggage, mostly from his Mother, who was referred to as the Bonster (her name was Bonnie) he was an incredible hockey player with elite skills.
Personally, if you watch hockeyfights.com, namely, Lindros', you will see how often he was targeted and how often he had to drop them. Imagine having to be looking over your shoulder at all times, having to drop the gloves way more frequently than most players and still put up numbers like this:
865 points in 760 career games, from a relatively young kid, in yesterdays style of hockey, is nothing to snicker at.

Scott Stevens, when asked about Lindros, hates talking about the hit that ended his career. Stevens got caught up in the hype, and also targeted Lindros and never missed an opportunity to hit him nor fight him.
In retrospect, he feels bad and wished he had of minded his own business and just played the game without that mental distraction.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pH4AILBsMTw
https://www.nhl.com/player/eric-lindros-8458515
https://www.thestar.com/sports/hocke...l-of-fame.html

One might think I'm biased because I never missed a home game when Lindros played for the Oshawa Generals, but ask most in the hockey world who have watched him or played with or against him and they'll tell you the same thing. He was determined, talented and highly skilled and brought to the game something that had never been seen before. He could not only handle his own, he could put the puck in the net as well.
https://www.nhl.com/news/eric-lindro...me/c-283567428
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHw0SHaRB1Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1CZSGZenbc

[rats60]

Wasn't Crosby 10k + at one time? His card has really dropped after winning 3 Cups and back to back Conn Smythe.

[samosa4u]

Originally Posted by rats60

Wasn't Crosby 10k + at one time? His card has really dropped after winning 3 Cups and back to back Conn Smythe.

Are you referring to his Cup rookie or was it something else you saw? How could it drop by $6,000 - $7,000 USD after winning all these cups and awards? That doesn't make any sense to me. Maybe you saw one graded BGS 10 Pristine or one that was #'ed 87/87 or 87/99.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by samosa4u

Are you referring to his Cup rookie or was it something else you saw? How could it drop by $6,000 - $7,000 USD after winning all these cups and awards? That doesn't make any sense to me. Maybe you saw one graded BGS 10 Pristine or one that was #'ed 87/87 or 87/99.

http://www.cardboardconnection.com/t...s-of-the-2000s

An article from a few years ago references sales at 10k. The only recent sales that I can find are the parallel /87 at 2900, 3300 and 5000. I am questioning if the true rookie /99 has really dropped. Does anyone have a link to completed sales for the RC /99?