Collector Showcase: Naim's Indigenous NHL Rookie Card Collection

To mix things up, I wanted to try writing something different today.

Since this blog primarily revolves around my own collecting habits, recent pickups and my opinions of this great hobby of ours, I wanted to turn the tables and feature other collectors in this new Collector Showcase written portion of my blog. This will give me the chance to showcase some awesome collections, but also give these great collectors some exposure and (maybe) help them track down some more cards to add to their already impressive collections. 

First up is Naim Cardinal's Ingidenous NHL Rookie Card collection:

After seeing this collection continue to grow over the hobby forums, social media, as well as already having been featured on various news outlets, which even included a spot on Sportsnet's Hometown Hockey, Naim's collection was one that I personally enjoyed the meaning behind and seeing him passionately pickup and share more rookie cards to add to this collection is always a fun time. It was a no-brianer for me when I reached out to Naim about featuring him on my hockey card blog at some point - For a collection so impressive, it just had to be done. 

​Naim started his collection after being unable to find his collecting 'niche' when opening packs of cards and felt he needed to start a new collection that he felt he could attach himself to and find joy in accomplishing. 

His goal for this new collection was simple: Collect rookie cards from every current and former Indigenous NHL player ever to play in the league. A tough task to undertake, for sure. 

In the opening of this blog post, I shared Naim's photo that he captured of all 70 Indigenous rookies spread out of his table. Since that photo was taken, myself and other collectors around the hockey card community have continued to follow his progress and he adds more rookie cards (both from the past and present) to his ever-growing collection, which most recently includes a 2019-20 Upper Deck Series 1 Young Guns rookie card of Florida Panthers forward, Brady Keeper.

​​As a collector myself, what really strikes me most impressive about Naim's collection is his ability to continue to stick with it as his collection keeps continuing to evolve almost every single season. 

For a lot of collectors, sticking with a collection that is very open-ended might seem a little daunting, not to mention the amount of reseach and time that must go into finding the currently and former NHLers who have Indigenous backgrounds and then to go about finding a rookie card to add to the collection. It doesn't have an end date, as there will always be something to add, which is something I appreciate. It's the journey of card collecting that keeps a lot of us in it, and I'm glad when other collectors find their very own collecting niche, whatever that may be, and can present a collection of this magnitude to the world. Pretty awesome if you ask me. 

If you'd like to connect with Naim about his collection, or if you have a card you'd like to offer him for his collection, you can find him on Instagram under the handle @indigenousrookiecards

​I'd also like to post up some links of some other featured interviews and articles that Naim and his collection have been featured in. These pieces are defintely worth the read and dive deeper into his collection as well.

​Check them out below:

Naim Cardinal And His Impressive Rookie Card Collection Of Every Indigenous NHL Player - Beckett
https://www.beckett.com/news/naim-cardinal-indigenous-hockey-rc-collection/

​Cree Man Collects Hockey Cards With A Twist - APTN National News
https://aptnnews.ca/2017/10/25/cree-man-collects-hockey-cards-with-a-twist/

Card Collector Focuses in on NHL Indigenous Rookies - Wind Speaker
https://windspeaker.com/news/sports/card-collector-focuses-in-on-indigenous-nhl-rookies

Hockey Fan collecting rookie cards of every Indigenous NHL player - CTV News
https://www.ctvnews.ca/sports/hockey-fan-collecting-rookie-cards-of-every-indigenous-nhl-player-1.3741822

Man amasses full set of rookie cards for Indigenous NHL players - CBC News 
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/indigenous-nhl-hockey-card-collection-1.4370305

A clip of Naim's Hometown Hockey feature - Sportsnet 
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvafLjdhf1Z/

​As you can see, Naim is a pretty popular guy for his Indigenous rookie card collection. Thanks for putting us hockey card collectors on the map again, Naim! It was a pleasure to showcase your collection and all the best with it moving forward. 

If you would like to have your hockey card collection personally featured by myself, please reachout to me via this website's Contact Page here. Thanks! 

​- Aaron / Creasecollector