With all the new brands of hockey product continually coming out, each day we see something spectacular and rediculous. What is it this time? It's the Crosby Kid. Go ahead and look on ebay, you'll find auctions asking $10,000.00 for a single piece of cardboard. What would possess someone to spend that much on a hockey card? Why is it worth so much? I myself cannot see my wallet being opened to that extent even though it IS a 1/1 print, and it IS Crosby; you have to set a limit somewhere. (Unless you have an endless supply of disposable income!)

Recently the hockey card collectible realm experienced just that: people struggling with limits. What this particular Crosby card is doing to people is ridiculous/silly. They are not buying boxes of hockey cards to simply collect them, they are not doing it for the hobby, they are doing it for the Sid Kid. Hoping to strike gold in this lottery. Now, I say 'most' people, not all of us are crazy like some, so don't say I'm making a generalisation. What this card has done to the hobby has had both positive and negative effects on the world of card collecting. We see people supporting Upperdeck and related companies in full force. That is GREAT for the hobby! The more people buy, the more likely we are to see brand new and exciting products!

The bad part? When people are opening boxes of cards, they often times find themselves posting on local forums claiming they got 'ripped off' because they did not receive the Crosby (or Alex Ovechkin) money maker. In my eyes I see people disregarding the true enjoyment of busting wax. They don't take the time to see how the card is made, how it looks, who the player is. They are not thoroughly enjoying their product, just merely tossing it aside. Mind you, opening my packs of cards, I too find myself hoping for a Crosby Card. But for me, it's not the be all see all end all of my hobby--just a bonus.

So how much worse can it get? Will the storm calm down, or will it just madly develop into something raging and uncontrollable? Will the card companies look at this, and say 'hey, look at all these people spending money for a Crosby card! Maybe we should make a SSP run of these Crosby cards so we can pull in even more money!!?'. Wouldn't that be devastating? Instead of finding #/ 499 or #/1499 Crosby Rookie Jerseys , and Auto Jerseys in a box of SPX, we see #/10 Auto Jerseys, and #/25 regular jerseys. The hunt for these cards would be ridiculous. I hope it does not come down to it, but I can't help but think how will people react, and how well the market would sustain the demand for these cards.

Take a minute and enjoy your cards. Just becuse you didn't get the big money Crosby Card does not mean you have to be sad down and out. Do not treat the hobby like a lottery, because it isn't!

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