Collecting 101

Collecting with purpose – whether the focus is legends, the latest rookies or your favourite team – will make your hobby more organised and rewarding.

People start or resume collecting for a myriad of reasons, but if you don’t have a defined goal it can become overwhelming.

Reflect on what truly excites you about hockey cards, be it the challenge of completing a set, the love for a team, the nostalgia factor or the story a card tells, and use this as the foundation to build your collection. 

Here are some strategies to consider, and at the end of the day, just follow your gut.

The Rookie Hunt

Young Guns are Upper Deck’s flagship rookie cards.

Goal: Collect your favourite rookies
Focus: Start with the base rookie then chase parallels
Strategy: Choose rookies from your favourite team, top draft picks, or research upcoming players.

Team

Focusing exclusively on your favourite NHL franchise.

Goal: To own your favourite cards from a certain team
Focus: Any card where a player is wearing your team’s jersey
Strategy: Consider why you love that team, and start collecting cards based around that event / timeframe / player. (I first saw the Calgary Flames play in 2002, so when I started collecting, I started with the players from that year.)

The Player Collector

Specifically collecting a certain player’s cards.

Goal: To collect your favourite cards that feature a certain player
Focus: Base cards, parallels, inserts, autographs, numbered, memorabilia, and 1/1s
Strategy: Collect any card that appeals to you or focus on a category, e.g. autographs. (As I got more into the game, I gravitated toward two players who became my favourites and my collection became more player-focused.)

Set Completion

Collecting a base set.

Goal: To have a complete 1–250 (or more) set in a binder or storage box
Focus: Annual flagship sets like Upper Deck Series 1 & 2 or O-Pee-Chee

Collecting a master set.

Goal: Every card from your chosen product
Focus: Start with base and once you’ve completed that, move on to the next sub-set

Strategy: Set-build by trading duplicates and buying lots to fill the final numbers
Considerations: Can be expensive and time-consuming, especially for larger or older sets. Requires substantial research and meticulous organisation.

Memorabilia & Patches

The Relic era introduced cards containing pieces of actual jerseys, sticks, or skates.

Goal: To own a tangible piece of sports history
Focus: Jersey cards, patch cards (multi-coloured pieces of the team logo), stick cards, or even fight strap relics
Strategy: Look for game-worn memorabilia (as opposed to event-worn) and patch cards featuring a logo or colours you like.

Vintage

Focusing on cards from pre-1980.

Goal: To preserve historical cards and collect cards that hold historical significance
Focus: Pre-war (WW2), Parkhurst sets from the 1950s and 60s or 1970s O-Pee-Chees
Strategy: Choose your decade or timeframe, look for low-grade cards with high eye-appeal.