In 2026, I set out on a journey to figure out what I truly enjoy about collecting hockey cards, and, even more importantly, what I don’t. Over the years, I’ve always owned cards, bought cards, and sold cards with varying levels of interest. However, until this year, I never took an in-depth look at what actually drove me as a collector.
This post will share my findings, listed in no particular order.
I Enjoy: Hunting for Cards
This is probably the single thing I enjoy most about the hobby. I love finding needles in the haystack and spending hours each week scouring listings to find cards that intrigue me. I enjoy analyzing them for condition flaws, eye appeal, nostalgic value, and a variety of other things. In the past, I used to hunt and then eventually want the payoff so I’d pull the trigger too fast, which resulted in lots of purchases that were too spontaneous, and eventually those cards would end up in the sell pile.
These days when I find a card that intrigues me, unless I’m vastly familiar with it or the price is so good that it will need to be a snipe, I let it marinate. If I keep thinking about a card and the card keeps pulling me back, I know adding it to my collection will be far more satisfying, for far longer, than those spontaneous purchases.
I Enjoy: Eye Appeal Is A Must: Card Design + Photo + Condition
Eye appeal is a catchall for everything that makes a card appear nice, but the factors that make up eye appeal are very subjective to each collector. For me, the most important elements are the card’s design and quality of the photo chosen, followed closely by the absence of any egregious condition flaws that ruin the visual presentation.
There are some iconic cards in the hobby that I absolutely hate the look of — McDavid Young Guns, for instance. Then there are other lesser known cards that I love holding in my hand — the 2025 UD Bootleg McDavid, for instance.
The photo used for the card also plays such a crucial role in the eye appeal. When a player had a weird expression on his face (ex: Quinn Hughes Bootleg) or an odd pose, it takes away so much. Other times, certain photos chosen make the player appear totally different than he looks regularly — 2025 Celebrini UD base is good example, but I come across this issue quite often. Some cards hit it out of the ballpark, like the Celebrini Young Guns, which has a pleasant color palette and a cool looking photo that looks much cooler than, say, Michkov’s Young Guns (but the photo and look of Michkov’s Acetate Young Guns is right on the money!) .
When it comes to condition, most cards will have flaws, but there are certain flaws that I can’t overlook. On modern, giant chips or peeling — like we see on some of the Red Outbursts — are just painful for me to look at. On vintage, staining, rips, bad centering and print defects are far worse for me than rounded corners, surface wrinkles or rough edges.
At the end of the day, for me, I can’t enjoy a card that makes me focus on a bad photo, design or a condition issue I deem important.
I Don’t Enjoy: Vintage
This is something that was a revelation and surprise for me this year because I’ve always admired the 1980’s and earlier cards even as far back when I was a kid, but every time I possessed those cards, I just didn’t care for them as much as much as I thought I would before the purchase. I’ve owned over 10 Gretzky rookies in my lifetime and I have absolutely no desire to own another one ever again — it’s an ugly photo and it’s not even an NHL photo!
The other issue is that for the pre-1980 guys, I feel very little nostalgic connection to any player, so while guys like Jean Beliveau or Maurice Richard are big, iconic names, they just don’t resonate with me on any level. The only caveats to this are three guys…
Ken Dryden – As a teen getting autographs, I met him during the 1998 All-Star game in Vancouver and he was wonderful. His 1989 CBC documentary series, Home Game, was also one of those defining moments for me when I was learning about the game. Then there’s his 1976 OPC card which I think is one of the coolest looking vintage cards ever created. So as you can see, Dryden is one of the few players that I never saw play who holds a personal connection.
Gordie Howe – Another great human, in my opinion, and his 1954 Topps card is one I can see myself wanting to own one day because I think it’s his best looking card… by far!
Guy Lafleur – This is another iconic player that I shared a cool personal story with and just like Gordie and Dryden, he was a wonderful human being, which, as I get older, matters more and more.
Other than those three guys and maybe a well-centered and high eye-appeal 1980 Gretzky, I don’t see myself jumping into the vintage game anytime soon.
I Don’t Enjoy: Clutter and Volume
I knew this about myself for a long time but collecting cards sometimes created an avenue where the clutter and volume would sneak up. I mean, why wouldn’t you want 5 autographs of your favorite player or a bunch of graded PSA 10 Young Guns of the newest big prospects? Next thing you know, there’s a box filled with cards that hold no appeal to you and the only reason you bought them is because you thought that’s what the hobby is about.
I absolutely have no desire to own another base Young Guns card ever again. Prospecting usually leads to failure more times than not, but I’m not against it as long as I limit myself to one or two meaningful and high eye appeal cards. The rest? Meh, not for me right now.
I Don’t Enjoy: Autographs as Much as I Thought I Did
This revelation shocked me because I’ve always been an auto guy. I was an autograph hound as a teen and always gravitated to autographed cards, but the cards I’ve enjoyed holding in my hand the most the past year were mostly non-autographed ones. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against autos and there are some absolutely awesome autographed cards out there but so much has to go right for an auto’d card to have the eye appeal I desire in a PC card. Don’t even get me started on how awful so many autographs are… then there’s just the sheer quantity of autographs out there, which makes them less desirable than I initially thought… but if someone out there wants to give me crisp Michael Jordan Bulls card, I won’t say no! Tough, I will pass if he’s wearing a Wizards jersey, lol.
I Enjoy: Shiny Cards
Even back in the 1990s, I always loved the look of the refractor and cards that reflect light in a way that’s pleasant to the eye. I probably should have bought some 1997 basketball PMGs with this desire for shiny cards, lol, but alas, I did not. I guess, at the end, I place a lot of eye appeal value on textures and colors and shiny cards are usually high in both.
There are other avenues I’m still trying to formulate a definitive opinion on (patch cards, thick cards, etc.) so I’ll wrap things up for now. You can reach me on Instagram or contact me via email here if you have any thoughts on what I wrote.