Hockey collectors in Canada
zsz70
Posts: 541 ✭
Living in the states, I will list the provinces that are
best represented in the set registry/hockey card graded world.
What is suprising to me, is that in all my transactions on ebay,
I have had only one with Manitoba and NONE with Saskatchewan.
Anyone have any insight as to why ? Has anyone dealt with anybody from Saskatchewan in the graded market ?
Anyway, here is my list of my most PSA buyers/traders in Canada.
1. Ontario
2. TIE Alberta
2. TIE Quebec
4. British Columbia
5. Newfoundland
6. Manitoba
7. Saskatchewan
In the states, Michigan would have to be number one, although Florida
and California have quite a few vintage hockey collectors.
best represented in the set registry/hockey card graded world.
What is suprising to me, is that in all my transactions on ebay,
I have had only one with Manitoba and NONE with Saskatchewan.
Anyone have any insight as to why ? Has anyone dealt with anybody from Saskatchewan in the graded market ?
Anyway, here is my list of my most PSA buyers/traders in Canada.
1. Ontario
2. TIE Alberta
2. TIE Quebec
4. British Columbia
5. Newfoundland
6. Manitoba
7. Saskatchewan
In the states, Michigan would have to be number one, although Florida
and California have quite a few vintage hockey collectors.
0
Comments
That's interesting. I've often thought about this with the cards that I purchase. I have noticed a disproportionate amount of the cards I buy come from Ohio and New Jersey.
JEB.
I'm not suprised about Ohio and NJ (I'm from New Jersey).
The major hockey dealer in the states back in the 60's was living in Conneticut.
Many of his cards found there way around the northeast.
What suprises me is how many cards are sold on ebay from California.....dsl...denver... and others.
I've often wondered how cards got out there.
I can tell you that some guys from out west used to travel to the White Plains show in NY
to buy lots of hockey cards. I'm sure they could have picked up a lot from Michigan and Canada as well.
marc
I also think it is based upon the popularity of N.H.L hockey in that particular area. Ontario has the Leafs which keeps hockey on the front page. Quebec has the Canadiens. Alberta has Flames and Oilers. B.C. has the Canucks. There are some good card stores in Toronto and Calgary.
I still think the graded market is in its infancy in Canada. At the Canadian Expo, BGS has a big market presence particularly with the modern collector. People in Canada who have had their cards graded by KSA have not realized much profit on their cards. There are still plenty of nice collections that are for the majority ungraded.
The exceptions are there are many older hockey collectors in Canada that have vast collections that arent into grading and never will be so it may take years for those cards to flush out. Harvey gets his hands on alot of cards and he flat out hoards them only a fraction of what he gets graded is what he has. Brian Wentz continually makes an effort to run the show schedule and is always a major buyer and i never see those cards hit graded holders (SGC etc). those cards are going somewhere or he is sitting on them (most likely)
Growing up when you only had mail order i really only dealt with 3 provinces Ontario, Quebec , Manitoba but i can honestly say i have never had a graded sale to Manitoba or Saskatchewan.
For the US market i would add MA and CT to my list of hotter hockey markets
that being said...also consider where OPC had it's home base and center of distribution.
same thing with Topps and Bowman for baseball and football.
Of course, both locations coincide with the center of National population mass (at least until the 1970's)
I also have to add how quaint it now seems that my beloved Blues nearly moved to Saskatoon about 20 years ago. If it had happened, I'm sure they'd be in Houston or Portland by now.
dan
Hockey set! Always looking to buy, trade or upgrade 1966 Topps to 1969 OPC.
Thanks for bringing up Boston, MA. Also, I want to ask you something about Harvey.
Anyway, there was a dealer in Massachusettes named Ted Woo (one of the nicest guys I ever met),
who came across some awesome hockey cards back in the 80's.
I remember him buying sets of ice kings and die cut opc's in PSA 7,8, and yes 9 condition.
I bought some from him and traded them before PSA got popular.
Anyway, Boston was crazy for hockey cards. I remember Ted doing about 15K
at a show once just on hockey. I remember, because I was right next to him.
You and Yawie are more of an expert than me on Parkies. I am amazed at the high POP reports
on these cards. I am also amazed at how Harvey and Gerry keep coming up with the beauties.
Don't get me wrong, I see a lot of low end stuff on ebay in 1951-1963 parkie, but nice Parkies
never made it to the east coast in bulk. I also see a lot of high end Parkies on ebay which I hope
you can explain to me why they are so available. I lived through through the 51 find with Michel
from Quebec, and the 62-63 vending find, along with the 63-64 vending find. But how about
the 53-54 and 55-56 years. I'm shocked that there are less 1969-70 opc low series cards
in high grade than these Parkie issues. Can you shed some light on this.
Yes, Brian Wentz does have some hockey cards on hold. I've bought cards off of his website,
and then he tells me he has others.
marc
Yawie should be able to help you on the 53-54's . I do believe there was the Gacvan find of some 53-54's which netted alot of the 8's and i believe Yawie landed alot of his 8's from that find back in 2002. I dont want to go into any more detail than that because i believe Yawie will have a more detailed and accurate response.
As for the Parkies. 55-56 is the toughest by far. You just dont see alot of high quality cards from that set. I havent seen the quaker oats you are looking for in any quantity since late 80's as well
I think the 69-70's are going to surface with the prices they are bringing Harvey will find them and grade them. Im not sure just how many are going to be found and how fast
Gerry Chartrand just recently had a very nice vintage hockey find or made a large collector purchase. I was told about it back in late January and his ebay listings the last month are sure confirming this
I will say this Gerry's Len's and Harvey's raw inventories for sale are no were close to what they were 2 years ago.
I am the most useless person when it comes to any help on those.
Randy- Thanks for the input. Harvey said that it was his opinion that the 1969-70 opc Serge Savard PSA 8 rookie
would outlast its 1969-70 Serge Savard PSA 9 Topps rookie in the long run. I guess he's under the impression
that 69 lows are one of the toughest too.
Yes, I'm still looking for some quaker oats for my set. If you ever run across any, please give someone my
email................himnit@safeplace.net
marc
<< <i> Harvey said that it was his opinion that the 1969-70 opc Serge Savard PSA 8 rookie would outlast its 1969-70 Serge Savard PSA 9 Topps rookie in the long run. I guess he's under the impression
that 69 lows are one of the toughest too. >>
Yep i would agree with that Topps hockey cards in general were printed with a much higher quality and are lower demand so your Savard should stand the test of time.
The key for finding cards in the low series is going to be how many guys collections from that era are found and when and of course what condition they are found in. The 69 first series is always going to be tough but they arent going to be non-existant
Do you remember my comment about the 68-69 OPC the same holds true of the low series of 69-70 . Im going through boxes of cards i have laying around and i found nothing from that series. i found an ex-mt bucyk and about 17 series 2 that should go 8 or 9
My card collecting recordkeeping is horrible, but I guess that close to 20 percent of the cards in my nearly complete '53 set are from the gacvan.com find. That was in late '01 and early '02 - or at least that's when they hit eBay. I'm not actually sure when they unearthed the cards.
But I do know that it was an amazing run of cards: a PSA 8 Lumley, PSA 8's of the other major cards and quite a few PSA 9 commons, including the Al Rollins that became like my Moby Dick when I lost out on it during one of the gacvan auctions. I jotted down the eBay ID's of a lot of the big winners and many of them are people that almost never bid on hockey cards. They were those kinds of cards. It's funny because one of my eBay buddies (tiburon14), who I didn't know at the time, lives in Vancouver and tells me about going into their shop and just drooling over the dazzling array of high-grade Parkies they had. I just wish I had won more of them.
I also don't consider myself much an expert, but '55-56 does seem like the toughest year for high-grade Parkies, especially if you're talkin'bout the Quaker Oats ones. But I also think there is good value with the '54-55 Parkhurst set right now. I don't think it's quite as attractive as either '53 or '55 but it's kind of between the two in degree of difficulty, at least based on the PSA Pop report. The prices on a lot of '53s have been crazy lately, but there are still relative deals on '54 Parkies.
Some of you know that I'm trying to complete the c56 set. I saw on AJs website that he had one I
needed for 275.00. We negociated a slight discount and I sent him a check for the amount.
A week later he received the payment but said he had made a mistake on his website; that the
price was really 375.00. If I would send an extra 100.00, he would gladly complete the transaction.
I told him to tear up the check and to forget it.
Anyone else have a bad experience with this dealer?
but I've never been wrong
it seldom turns out the way
it does in the song
once in a while
you get shown the light
in the strangest of places
if you look at it right
I personally have never had that problem with Harvey but ive heard the same story from another collector last June
Macgregor Psa8(nq) 1of4 and he said he would offer this card to me. I was prepared to offer him 300.00 dollars on this card being he was
giving me first dibs on the card. Well, the next day i got home and noticed the Macgregor was listed on e-bay for sale. I immediately called
Harvey and asked him why he listed the card on e-bay when he had promised it to me. His reply was he felt he could get more money for it
on e-bay. I later found out that he listed it on e-bay because he had another collector inquire about the same card, so he figured he could get
a bidding war going, but Harvey the idiot that he is falied to realize that me and the other collector were friends, and out of respect to me
dropped out of the bidding to let me have the card. I ended up winning the auction for 180.00. When I went into the store the next day being
I reside In Toronto, Harvey could not even look me in the eye. He had one of his other employees hand me the card like the coward that he is.
One other time he said he had sent in to psa to get graded a 1964 Topps #48 Henri Richard and that it was a sure psa8(nq). He said he
would sell me the card once it came back from psa. Well months went by and I did not get a call from Harvey on that card so i decided to call
him to find out the status on that card. He told me that the card ended up coming back a psa6(nq) but yet when I checked the pop report on
the Richard it had not moved at all the psa6's stayed the same as well as the psa7's and the psa8's. Harvey was stringing me along. He never
had a Richard.
Harvey is the only dealer I have dealt with that won't be flexible on his prices even if you buy a lot of cards from him. I can honestly say
without hesitation that I have never had a positive experience with that guy. Awhile back I had won an auction on e-bay on a raw ungraded
card from Harvey. When I went into the store to pick the card up, he would not provide me with plastic card holder to put the card in. He
figured since I was a local collector he could save himself a plastic card holder. He expected me to take the card home in my bare hand.
I have also spoken with many other local collectors and they have had simillar experiences with this guy. He has lost so much bisiness from
serious local collectors over the last year. I have spent easily over 35.000-40.000 dollars on graded hockey over the last year and most of
my purchases are coming from u.s. dealers. Ever since my Macgregor experience with Harvey I have not purchased anything or bid on any of
his items on e-bay. He has no integrity and no honour when it comes to keeping his word and following through on what he says. Well,
these are some of my experiences with the great Harvey.
Regards
Theodore
I will never again buy from Harvey. My principals go much deeper
than my collection. Those of you who have dealt with me know that.
Based on what many people are saying, he will never get another penny from me.
Even if he lists a 1955 quaker oats Plante rookie psa 9 with a buy it now for 50 bucks.
Thanks for informing of all this. The love of money is truely the root of all evil.
marc
I agree its a shame a guy like Harvey that has the opportunity to have a positive affect on collectors in turn is only concerned about the
mighty buck. There have been many instances where he has had 1969 o-pee chee low where I would be willing to offer him way more than
what they sell for on e-bay but I know he is so greedy that he won't even give a collector an opportunity to make him an offer and then I see
these cards for selling between 45-55 dollars and I would be willing to offer him 75-85 for a common with a pop of 5 or higher. I could easily
bid on the card and win the auction for 65-70 but I'm like you Marc No matter how bad I want a card i will still not bid on his auctions. I will
tell you one thing I am a serious collector of graded vintage hockey and Harvey has lost me as a customer long ago and I am a local
customer where i can just drop by his store and pick up stuff but he just makes it so difficult to get anything accomplished. Even if you make
him a respectable oofer on a card, he always wonders can I get more money for it on e-bay.
Awhile back I called them on their 69 o-pee chee high series cards that they have on their web-site and asked them if I was to puchase a lot
of them what would they be able to do as far as price and from the offer they made me it showed they are interested only in win deals for
themselves. I have seen them throw 69 o-pee chee high series cards on e-bay and have them sell for 9.00 but when you make them an offer
of between 15-18 dollars they refuse, yet they sold a 1969 o-pee chee Lou Nanne psa9(nq) on e-bay for 40.00 and if you go to their web-site
they are asking for 35.00 dollars for psa8(nq) high series cards like the Low Nanne and those cards have been sitting there for months.
Instead of them trying to make win-win deals with longtime collectors they instead try to get the last dollar out of them.
I remember my very first purchases off of e-bay was from Harvey. It was on some ungraded 1965 Topps hockey. When I phoned him to
ask him the total , he decided to add taxes on the total amount and when I told him that he did not state taxes in his paid description he
was still asking for the taxes, so when i told him to then keep the cards he was then singing a different tune and said ok he would sell them
to me. I guess because I had no feedbacks in my listing as I was new to e-bay he thought he could take advantage of me. If I want I can
sit here for days and go on about how he has treated me over the years. I mean I put together a 1964 Topps Tallboy Hockey set in all
PSA8(nq) and out of all my cards in my set Harvey has only contributed only the Macgregor psa8(nq) that I mentioned in my previous post.
Is that not a shame that one of the world's largest hockey dealers and a local dealer only offered me one card to my set.
Gerry from Gerry's sportscards is the best Canadian dealer I have dealt with. Gerry and his son Jason are so down to earth people it is
unbeleivable. I have never had a negative experience with those guys and I never have a problem coming out of the pocket for cards I
need that they have and I do not haggle with them on prices because I'm just grateful that they even would consider offering them to me.
I am so appreciative to have them in Canada. they answer all my e-mails and always do win-win deals for both sides thats why I do not
have a problem with paying a little bit of a premium on a card that they are selling. I wish Gerry and Jason continued success in life and
I hope they are around for many years to come as they have proviced me with many rare and important cards to my 1964 Topps Hockey set
and without their help would have never been able to complete my set.
Regards
Theodore
I agree about Gerry. I would also like to add Len Pottie to that list.
I could also add Mike Q. (qcards/ebay) and many other great
Canadian dealers.
Actually, my wife and I were impressed when we traveled to Canada
for a show and vacation how friendly the Canadian people are.
We visited Golden Age Collectibles in Vancouver, and also the
Toronto Expo Center show once. I've only been to Canada twice.
I'm very sad to hear all this about the iceking. Is there anybody
reading these threads that can stick up for him ?
marc
I also agree with a point that was made regarding cards on many dealers websites that sit there for months for sale at multiples of SMR, and more importantly multiples of what they are selling for on Ebay which I feel is the true price guide of our hobby now. These dealers need to come back down to earth a little and realize that they really need to work with collectors and keep the cards circulating through the hobby. This also just might bring new collectors into the graded market which we soreley need at this time.
I think that it is this " ELITEST " attitude of the many graded card dealers out there ( not all ) that keeps many raw collectors from taking the next step into the world of graded cards.
Have a great day.
Rob..
I have had nothing but positive transactions with Len Pottie, Mike Q, and Gerry. Also, 4playsportscards who used to work for Harvey has some nice items for sale and is easy to deal with.
<< <i>ive gotten several of my Plantes from 4play...always a pleasure to deal with. len and steve pottie are also wonderful sellers >>
Hey Will
On the subject of Plantes, who is " RAYDBONZ " He seems to have very deep pockets. That 70/71 OPC that sold for $192.50 was extremely high for that card. I think one sold about 3 weeks ago in the 70 - 80 dollar range.
Good luck with your Plante set.
Rob....
Sorry for the momentary derail, let's get this thread back on track.
figured i'd get some questions about him. i first spoke with him some time last month when he emailed me offering me a few of his high grade Plantes. he never email me back, and i guess started a set of his own. i talked to him last week, and he's a great guy. apparently he is a goalie collector with very deep pockets. i've decided to stop bidding on any of the Plantes that he has a bid on. i tried winning a '75 WHA PSA 8 at $75, and his initial bid still beat mine. it looks like i wont be able to compete with him, so there's no point in running up the price of his cards. luckily, he's only working on the Basic Plante set. i'm still #1 on the Master, and i won't give up that position without a fight
He did take back without hassle a PSA 8 Beliveau RC that I had bought from him because I was concerned about some missing ink/possible paper loss on the reverse. He's not the most flexible on his prices - I have had decent results negotiating with Andrew - but we once worked out a trade: I swapped him a few '59 Parkhurst cards he needed in exchange for a few '56 Topps baseball cards when I was kinda-sorta collecting that set. It was a very fair trade at the time of the deal, but turned into an extremely good one for me when I later took the '56s to eBay.
about the little guy as long as they get ahead at the end of the day. Don't get me wrong they have the right to charge whatever they like
for their cards. The problem I have with them is they have no honour and credibility. Every single time I have spoken with Harvey he has
always lied to me about something. Its almost laughable about how stupid he thinks everyone is. One time when I first started collecitng a few
years ago I called his store to ask him a price on a certain card that a fellow collector was offering me and he was immediately asking me who
the seller was so he could go by the card or cards himself. When I responded that it was not a dealer that was selling the card but a collector,
he still insidted that I give him the name because he said he knew everyone that collected that particular year. I just hung up the phone on
him. On that day he was like a vulture circling around trying to manipulate the situation. In all my years of collecting i have never met a more
shady character than that guy.
One other time I called his store to get some prices on some graded cards he had and he said I had to ask his son Andrew for the prices and
when i spoke with his son the next day about prices he told me to talk to Harvey about the prices. As you can see from their conduct it is
almost impossible to get anything accomplished with those guys. its like before you walk into their store they have made up their mind that they
are going to make it difficult for you to purchase anything from them. He is just a very shady character.
Its his right to sell his cards for whatever he likes but when he promises something to someone or when he offers a card to a collector and
then goes back on his word thats when i have a problem. I'm a firm believer in treat people the way you would like to be treated regardless
of how much many you have or your status in life. I'm sure he would not like it if I collector gave him his word that he would buy a card from
him and then went back on his word. If everyone was to conduct themselves the way Harvey conducts himself we would not be able to get
anything accomplished. I do not know how other collectors have success dealing with him. I hope some of this info has helped other
collectors in wanting to find out what dealers are good and what dealers are shady. Gerry and Len Pottie and 4playsportscards and qcards
are all great sellers but be careful when dealing with Harvey. Very Shady!!!!!!
but he is an arrogant a*ss and could use a large
slice of humble pie.
btw, thanks goodriddance and yaws for bidding on my auctions.
but I've never been wrong
it seldom turns out the way
it does in the song
once in a while
you get shown the light
in the strangest of places
if you look at it right