How to Collect Hockey Memorabilia

Hockey collecting suffered a sharp downturn after a player lockout alienated fans. With the exception of a few veterans like Jaromir Jagr, vintage and rookie cards are the winners here. Pre-war cards are the most valuable and only about 500 are in circulation. Hockey collectors are die-hard fans and a modest investment can build a solid collection.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Choose a Theme for Your Collection

1. Decide what type of memorabilia you want to collect. Collections can include uniforms, game-used equipment, signed jerseys, photos, pucks and sticks, helmets and trading cards.

2. Establish a budget. If you're collecting cards, plan to buy one or two per month. Game-used jersey cards, where a piece of player's jersey is attached to the back of a card, are a good investment.

3. Focus on one player or a team. Decide if you want to collect team sets or year sets. Know that hockey card manufacturing is down, so quantities of new cards are more limited than they have been in the past.

Collect Hockey Memorabilia

4. Plan to build your collection with good quality cards. Buy cards in singles, sets, or in moderately priced large lots sold at auction sites. Good cards are sometimes hiding in bulk lots.

5. Know the market and what to look for when collecting. Nostalgia and quality are two important components of hockey memorabilia collecting. Sports cards are graded according to condition, "Gem Mint" meaning flawless, all the way down to "Fair" or "Poor.'

6. Consult grading services like Beckett's and PSA Authentication Services, price guides and publications such as SportsCollector.ca.

7. Buy collectibles at established sports memorabilia stores, or shop online through auction sites and dealers like Upper Deck.

8. Contact the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Ontario for autographs of your favorite players. Put the player's name on the outside of the envelope and enclose a self-addressed stamped return envelope. They will forward requests directly to players.

9. Take care of your collection. Have magazine covers, cards and photos professionally framed in UV-resistent plexiglass on acid-free paper. Keep signed equipment in display cases or air-tight containers. Store cards and photos in PVC-free plastic sleeves that won't damage autographs.

Tips & Warnings

• Know your dealer. Obtain a Certificate of Authenticity (COA) or similar proof of documentation. If none is available, ask questions about the items you're buying and confirm addresses or phone numbers for online dealers if it's the first time you've bought something from them.

[sadie8686]

on 4/28/2008 Check out a reputable vendor like www.number1sports.com.

[eddie3002]

on 2/29/2008 Beckett.com and http://www.vintagesportscardmemorabilia.com/ are great avenues for getting started in card collecting.