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Will the lockout hurt vintage hockey this coming year?

I know the new cards will be affected, but what about pre 1980? Will it be the same affect the 1994 Baseball strike had?

Comments

  • There could be the possibility that this could have a positive impact on vintage as some modern collectors may see the light and realize that today's players and their million $ salaries are hardly worth the cardboard that they are printed on. With this realization, they will still need an outlet for their collecting habit so they may begin collecting cards of players who played for the love of the game, many of whom had summer jobs to supplement their meager playing salaries.

    Have a great day..

    Rob...
    Collecting PSA Vintage Hockey
  • I posed the same question a few months ago and the hard core hockey guys assured me it would be no problem. They are die hards and there support will not dwindle so the market may not be affected much if this last for a while. I see bigger potential problems and it may cause some problems if the lock out really becomes extended which I see as a possibility.
    But if vintage hockey starts getting cheap, I'd throw $ at it. Very tough to find. Low pops in high grade. Small set sizes making sets practical and not to expensive. Look at any drop in prices as a chance to get in ot even get in deeper.
    Fuzz
    Wanted: Bell Brands FB and BB, Chiefs regionals especially those ugly milk cards, Coke caps, Topps and Fleer inserts and test issues from the 60's. 1981 FB Rack pack w/ Jan Stenerud on top.
  • The money I save on Canuck tix this year, will probably end up in vintage cards if the opportunity arises...
    The first person in the PSA universe to complete the 1969 OPC
    Hockey set! Always looking to buy, trade or upgrade 1966 Topps to 1969 OPC.
  • I agree that the vintage hockey market will be even better this year.
    Not meaning record prices, just a lot of action as usual.

    The NHL is going through its worst period right now.
    The 60's were awesome.
    The late 60's were incredible.
    The mid 70's saw the Orr overdose expire along
    with an awesome Canada Cup. The late 70's
    was strong with Bruins-Canadiens and the original
    six doing well except Detriot and sometimes Toronto.
    There was a lot of intrique with the play of the Flyers,
    who still have many fans from those mid-70's teams.
    The early 80's was incredible with the awesome Islanders
    and the up and coming Oilers. The late 80's had the
    best Canada Cup ever, and the emergence of 66.
    The 90's was good until the Devils style influenced the game,
    perfected by Jacque Lemaire, and introduced in the late
    60's by Scotty Bowman to allow his slow skating Blues to
    match the better skating Bruins.

    Now we have entered an era of bad economics and a watered
    down league. John Leclair said that interest in the states
    is very low. This is very true. There are die hard hockey fans
    here, but many could care less because the game is dull right now.

    Hockey needs a lot to survive the next few years. If another
    99 doesn't come along soon, then the future doesn't look good.

    However, the vintage card market will remain strong.
    The collectors are die-hards and totally committed.

    I personally will not miss the season. When I get the itch,
    I'll pop in tapes when hockey was good. The 87 cup...
    the 80 olympics....playoff games from the early 70's and
    early 80's. That's when the game was open and awesome.


  • RedHeart54RedHeart54 Posts: 2,277 ✭✭✭
    I agree. Look at baseball: interest waned with the '94 debacle and the potential strike a year or two ago. Vintage collecting interest never waned. Unfortunately, hockey has always been the "4th" sport in this country and any gains it's made in the last few years- let alone since the lockout of '94-95- are sure to be seen in TV ratings and possibly cardboard. Vintage hockey, in my mind, will always be popular among those who buy it no matter what the state of the current NHL. I hope the lockout doesn't go on long, but hey, they did it to themselves. With that in mind, do most of you believe the owners when they say they've lost $250+ million in each of the last few years or the players when they say the owners are lying?
  • Are you kidding? Hockey isn't the 4th sport in the USA, it's the 7th. Soccer has a very good immigrant following here, not to mention a few Americans interested, Tennis has a very strong female following, not to mention many men as well. Golf has pretty much anyone older than 50 and anyone with a net worth of over $500,000.00. Really now, what is the fan base of hockey in the US? There really isn't that big of a fan base. The league is weak. What does Gary between do? He expands 9 teams! Very smart. Gary Between, and the trap, not to mention player's union greed ruined the NHL. With the 1980 Olympics and then the Islanders 5 straight Stanley Cup final appearance, hockey should have been going strong. I really hope the season is canceled because of each side and their greed. What I want to see in hockey is a salary cap, coupled with a 25% ticket price reduction. Contraction, or relocation of a few of the teams. Why does Seattle not have a team? I've been dumfounded by that. The city has a Stanley Cup championship. They would already have a great geographical rival in the Vancouver Canucks. I remember thinking is Gary Between insane when they expanded Nashville. I think with a salary cap, you can have 10 teams in Canada and they will all do really well (moneywise). Have 2 teams in Toronto and Montreal, have Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa, move an American team to Windsor (Red Wing Rivalry) and bring a team back to Quebec, maybe even bring one back to Winnipeg. They should either move some teams to Canada, or disband a few of the teams so the talent level can go up. The only league I think that can survive with still more expansion is the NFL because football for a lot of areas in the US is kind of like a way of life. Plus they only play 8 home games if they don't make the playoffs. There aren't enough games to get sick of your team if they're bad. Greed and Gary Between hurt hockey.
  • RedHeart,

    Your question about who do you believe is an easy one.

    It's both.

    Some owners like Ed Snider of the Flyers is making billions of dollars
    with Comcast and can spend whatever he wants on high priced players.

    The Domino Pizza Red Wings can do the same.

    These and other owners who do well in other businesses can lose
    money in the NHL and it won't hurt them.

    On the other hand, look at Winnipeg, Quebec, and the other
    teams that can go south.

    These owners (some like Peter Pocklington) don't know
    how to run a franchise and are really hurting.

    I'm going to say that both sides are very wrong.
    However, I think the owners are more in the wrong
    for not disclosing their finances. If they could prove
    to the players that they are in trouble, then the players
    would look like fools, and the fans would be upset
    with the players.

    I'd be very interested to hear what Mario Lemieux has
    to say about all this.

    I would also be interested to see if another league
    gets started because of this.
  • yawie99yawie99 Posts: 2,575 ✭✭✭


    << <i>I'd be very interested to hear what Mario Lemieux has to say about all this. >>



    I was thinking the same thing the other day, Marc. He might be the only guy with an objective perspective of both sides of the issues. As one of the most respected figures in the game, he could be our best hope for settling this and salvaging at least some of the season.
    imageimageimageimageimageimage
  • For now, another league is getting started, the new WHA. If they get the hockey addicts watching, and have some decent games, I think the NHL will have something to worry about. If the NHL folds and restarts, it won't be the first time. That's how the NHL first started. The other owners in the NHA couldn't stand the Toronto owner, so they disbanded and created the NHL in 1917. The NHL can do that now, but it won't go over the same, because they still need the same players. With the NHA, it was an owner that ticked them off.
    By the way, are you sure the Red Wings are owned by Domino's Pizza? Domino's ceo is Don Monahan. I recall that Little Ceasers bought the Tigers from Tom Monahan in 1985. You could be mistaking the 2 Pizza companies.




    << <i>RedHeart,

    Your question about who do you believe is an easy one.

    It's both.

    Some owners like Ed Snider of the Flyers is making billions of dollars
    with Comcast and can spend whatever he wants on high priced players.

    The Domino Pizza Red Wings can do the same.

    These and other owners who do well in other businesses can lose
    money in the NHL and it won't hurt them.

    On the other hand, look at Winnipeg, Quebec, and the other
    teams that can go south.

    These owners (some like Peter Pocklington) don't know
    how to run a franchise and are really hurting.

    I'm going to say that both sides are very wrong.
    However, I think the owners are more in the wrong
    for not disclosing their finances. If they could prove
    to the players that they are in trouble, then the players
    would look like fools, and the fans would be upset
    with the players.

    I'd be very interested to hear what Mario Lemieux has
    to say about all this.

    I would also be interested to see if another league
    gets started because of this. >>

  • WabittwaxWabittwax Posts: 1,984 ✭✭✭
    I will miss hockey if they don't play this season. I think the key to expanding hockey's popularity is to get people to attend the games. Seeing hockey in person is better than any other sporting event, IMO. The action is non stop and the crowd really gets you into the game. That's something that you miss from TV. Plus on TV, it's hard to find the puck. I've been a mild hockey fan all my life but when I got some free tickets a couple years ago, I became completely obsessed. I would never have dreamed of paying the prices they want for tickets for something that I wasn't really in to. Now I go all the time, all because I attended a game in person. In fact I bring my whole family and buy tons of crap while I'm there. I've spent a pretty penny over the last couple years on hockey, all because I attended a game in person. I've tried to get my friends to go but they think I'm nuts for paying that kind of money for tickets. Hockey tickets here in Phoenix are about 4 times the cost of Baseball tickets. I think they need to drop the prices in half or start giving out tons of free tickets to people who have never been to a game and hockey's fan base will explode, IMO.

    Oh yeah, and as for the Vintage card prices, they won't be affected a bit, IMO.
  • I think the lockout will kill (further) interest in post 1990 stuff. I believe interest in vintage will remain flat - there is a much smaller group bidding on vintage hockey that the other sports.

    An extended lockout will kill some teams. The NHL is in serious trouble and will shrink if this goes on for a long period of time. It took baseball years to regain attendance levels pre strike and it took the Mark McGuire home run chase as an event to help bring it back. If this season is lost I think it will be six years or more before attendance gets back to last year's level. The 94 lockout hurt hockey when the major media markets had a still good Gretzky in LA and the Rangers in NY as a dominant team - now we have Tampa and Calgary.

    Having said all that negative stuff, I'll still buy vintage because I like it and I'll attend AHL games because they are reasonable cost and my family enjoys them. The lockout will impact new and casual fan interest, not addicts like most fo us.
    C56, V252, V128-1 sets
    Hall of Famers from all 4 sports
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