A whole release dedicated to the glory years of my guy (and some other players too). So many great memories....and as a result - so many cards to chase.
And with last week being my annual golf vacation, I missed the initial wave of online action. And there was/is a lot to be ingested.
I had a chance to finally go over the checklist, transferring it to my master Trevor Linden list, and I noticed a huge amount of cards to chase. More than any other release - ever. Twenty-eight cards!!!
That's right. Over two dozen Linden pieces to go after in this one product. Now part of me is looking forward to the chase, but another part of me wonders when enough is enough. A large number of cards isn't that bad....when the cards aren't so low numbered. But with Decades 90s, more than half of the cards sit with a print run of less than 10. That makes it really tough to aggressively go after.
I was a little frustrated, concerned, scared when it came to releases like Artifacts (13 cards), Superlative III (20 cards), The Cup (18 cards) and UM12 (21 cards + 2 expo redemptions) and their numerous subsets, parallels - or both.
But Decades 90s takes it to the next level. In addition to their parallel structure similar to Decades 80s (black, silver and gold) and their numerous subsets similar to UM12 (Cup Clashes, Franchises, GU jersey/auto, GU patch/auto) ITG has decided that this product would be the debut of Trev's first ever Nameplate.
1/1 cards of each letter in his nameplate. L-I-N-D-E-N. I love the fact that he now has a set of these out there....and that they're game-used. But that monstrous chase added in to all the other cards makes it a little overwhelming....and frankly, it makes it a little de-motivating. I went from being really excited about this product to a feeling of "where do I start?". That's not a good thing.
I went from thinking about buying 3 or 4 boxes of the product to contemplating just chasing the singles. A rough estimate of all the Linden card "values" in the open market has me placing it at around $2500-$3000. That's a huge investment for just one product.
Now I know I've said that collecting is never a race, but when I look at my wanlist these days, the majority of it consists of cards just from the past 12-18 months. Hopefully there won't be too many additional 16, 18, 24-card releases coming out in the near future. I've got way more than enough on my plate to last through the 2013/14 hockey season.
And the guys haven't even hit the ice yet.
So how much is "too much" for you? Do you modify your collecting because of the sheer numbers of it all?
28 cards is indeed a lot to chase.
ReplyDeletenow try looking up how many PK Subban cards there are in last year's sets... or this year's.
You can't have/get them all. I'm going to find the ones I like that fall within the budget, and they will be mine.
The rest...................................
So true.
DeleteI feel for the Tim Thomas collector who had 60+ cards a couple years ago in Certified. Or the 40+ Iginla cards in Artifacts. And I can't even imagine trying to collect the likes of Crosby, Ovechkin, RNH, Gretzky, Orr or Howe.
I'm sure the dull ache will soon wear off. I'm curious as to when it peaks though. There has to be a breaking point.
Doesn't there?
It was too much for me 14 years ago. I couldn't keep up with the Pacific parallels from the late 90's... let alone the numerous 1/1's in today's products. But that's just me. Best of luck on your hunt for Linden.
ReplyDeleteI can totally see why something like this would be demotivating. I was really hoping to see a couple Khristich cards in the set (would've loved to have a base and auto from it). Maybe it's good he isn't, though he's not near the level of Linden. One thing that really bothers me after looking through the checklist is those silver, gold and black parallels. It just seems like unnecessary scarcity.
ReplyDeleteHope you're able to get at least a couple at a decent price. Good luck!
I agree Eugene. A few too many (unnecessary) parallels.
DeleteHave there been many Khristich cards of late at all?
Thanks for the comment. Have a good one!