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creasecollector

Beyond The Crease: A Hockey Card Blog
focused around Hockey, The hobby, and my Jhonas Enroth card collection (Among other things)

How To Get Your Player Collection on The Map? Make Yourself a Collector Who's Easy to Find

12/17/2019

9 Comments

 
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Some cards from my Jhonas Enroth hockey card collection.
 I've been wanting to write a post like this for a long time now, probably ever since I started this card blog last year. I feel like getting your name out there and building a strong online presence of your collection is a massive tool to utilize and (in my opinion) not that many collectors are putting their collections 'out there' enough on the interwebs.

​ Sure, you can rely on eBay searches every day, which can help you acquire many cards for your player collections, but there are many other valuable avenues to spend your time on if you want to make a quality player collection. If you make yourself a collector who's easy to find, the payoff is definitely worth it. 

​ I'm going to rundown some of the tips that I've taken (and continue to do so today) in order to get my name out there as the collector who collects Jhonas Enroth cards and how I get my collection out there online. 

Here's a few of my tips:

​ 1). Join Online Forums

If there's a hockey card forum to be apart of, chances are I'm on it. Though some are not as active as others, I've found that joining multiple hobby forums has increased the reach of my collection just enough to land me some new cards. I think every forum I've joined has led to at least 1 addition that I wouldn't have otherwise come across if I hadn't signed up for that site. 

While CloutsnChara was the first forum I ever joined back in 2011 and is sadly on the way out, there are plenty of other forums active that I use every week. The two biggest forums for hockey are SportsCardForum and HobbyInsider. There is also BlowOut Cards, which has a small hockey card section that has been steadily growing over the past little while. 

Feel free to connect with me on any of those Forums (Username: creasecollector). I love receiving messages from other collectors!  

I even joined a Finnish card forum Korttifriikit to locate a Enroth card I needed, which turned out to be a unique misprint/error card that I had never seen before. 

On a more recent note, when Enroth moved overseas to join Dinamo Minsk the KHL, I signed up for a website called LastSticker which has turned out to be a fantastic resource for European cards (and NO, I do not speak Russian, the Google Chrome translator is my friend!), which then eventually led to me to sign up for a European social media platform called VK (which is a Russian version of Facebook) in order to contact collectors in Minsk, Belarus to try and find information on Enroth cards I needed and to add some cards to my collection.

​To some this may seem overkill, which I totally understand, especially when I sit here at my computer physically typing this out, but the rewards speak for themselves. 

2). Make a Website to Showcase Your Collection

This one may seem obvious, seeing as how I created a website for my own collection and so I may seem a little bias, but I do strongly encourage player collectors to create their own space online as not only a way to showcase their collection in a neat and detailed manner, but to also share their current want list in order to let other collectors know what they need at the same time. 

Sure, we could copy & paste a massive want list in a thread, as you should, but I find having my own space that has everything together in one place has been very effective. The internet is massive, and having my place on the web has led to other card collectors stumbling upon my website from a random google search, which is pretty cool. 

An important thing to also mention is that just because you have a website, doesn't mean people will always visit it, so you also need to share your website in order for this to work. Put a link in your signature, share your website URL with other collectors when applicable, start a blog, do anything that you can in order to get collectors to your site. All you need is that one collector who has one of your wants to visit the site and a new PC addition could be in the mail before you know it! 

(Author's Note: I recently acquired one of my 'White Whales' a few months ago through a collector who contacted me through this site! Check it out in my blog post here)

3). Try Social Media

While not traditionally an avenue for card hobbyists in years past, as niche forums typically held the online space in this regard, social media is (whether you like it or not) becoming one of the places to be to deal the cards that we all know and love. 

I'll be honest, this one has been a tough one for me. Not that I don't appreciate the value of social media, I absolutely do, I just prefer to keep those personal and hobby lives separate more often than not, so reaching out to collectors through these personal channels like Facebook, Instagram or Twitter has been harder for me to update as often as I should be I think, but I'm always getting better. I have acquired some great pieces on social media via card groups, but I feel like it's something I need to do more of as time goes on. 

When it comes to hockey cards and social media, the new kid on the block is r/hockeycards on Reddit. While I don't post as much content within that community, the collectors on there are usually fairly new to the hobby or collectors who have been out of the game for a bit and I love seeing their experiences. It reminds me a lot of when I started this hobby back in 2005. 

4). Stick With it and be Patient

 As is with a lot of things, patience is key when getting your name out there. Remember, there are a lot of collectors out there, and some collectors will collect the same thing as you or their collection will overlap with yours, creating some tough competition. Cards will not come rolling in overnight and you need to build up that presence online to let others collectors know you're the person to go to with these types of cards, and this can take awhile.

My best advise with this is to have fun along the way. Create a website if you wish, post on a forum or two and talk hobby with some like-minded individuals who share the same passion for the hobby as you do, post some pictures of your collection that you love online for all to see and make these experiences your own. Picking up new or elusive cards are part of the fun no doubt, but remember to share and appreciate what you have first and enjoy what follows. That is the key with any hobby I think.

​After all, It's your collection, so why not share it with others? 

I hope you enjoyed this blog post. I will be updating this post if I think of new tips to add. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to leave them in the comment section below! 

Happy Collecting, 

- Aaron / creasecollector
9 Comments
Brett
12/17/2019 10:27:36 pm

Great post!! Nowadays, having a certain level of online presence is critical. Gone are the days of just going to the local shops or stores...expanding to the world of the internet is key (especially in finding some of those elusive white whales).

I think you hit the nail on the head near the end of your post - HAVE FUN. This is a hobby where the individual collector is in charge of things - there is no right or wrong. Do what feels comfortable and the moment it starts feeling like work, back off a bit.

For me, blogging has been my thing for the past decade (ok...maybe not as much in the last year or so) but I have found it invaluable for keeping me on track with my goals, helping me stay organized and has given me an outlet to share my thoughts.

Hobby Insider has been my forum home for as long as I can remember (before that, it was the Beckett forums) and while I don't post as much at this time, I am there a few times a week to see what people are talking about.

This hobby is a social one in my eyes. There are great people with equally great stories. That's what I am finding to be a key part of sport card collecting as I get older and wiser.

Again, great post. Keep having fun and thanks for sharing.

Reply
Aaron
12/17/2019 11:07:33 pm

Brett, thanks so much for your kind words! I always appreciate your comments on my blog.

I agree, collecting has become a lot more social than it once was, so I beleive in order to help ourselves expand our collections we need to branch out where and when we can in order to track down some of those elusive cards.

In-person interactions with collectors still have its place no doubt whether it be selling or trading, but we can't forget the online factor or let it escape from our collecting radar. We must not only use it, but harness it in order to help our own collecting goals, too.

Having fun is so important! All of this wouldn't be done if I didn't have fun doing it. I enjoy sharing my collection with others and writting stuff about this hobby, so why not take it to the internet?

Thanks again, and I look forward to your next blog post as well, whatever it entails.

Reply
Brian link
12/18/2019 10:38:34 am

Great post. I've thought about doing more online presence myself, but mostly just do daily blog posts to show off my collection. I have 2,600+ unique cards of Andrew McCutchen, but don't have the time (or patience) to rescan them all to a website.

Reply
Aaron
12/18/2019 10:16:15 pm

Brian, thanks so much for your comment on my blog. Means a lot.

And even though you have over 2,000 cards (which is impressive) I would suggest scanning a little bit at a time and have fun with it. Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day.

After you're all done, adding new scans here and there to a website is super easy to do. Best of luck if you ever decide to start that little online project with your McCutchen collection. :)

Reply
Al
12/18/2019 06:36:47 pm

Aaron, you've made some very good points in your blog, and I totally agree with you. If there is one thing that I could add it would be to maintain an active presence in the local collecting community. Obviously going to card shows (if you are fortunate to have some in your area) and getting to know some of the dealers would be beneficial, but for me it's about getting to know local collectors as well. Darren at MLS used to have monthly trading nights, and I would try to attend as often as I could, even though I seldom (almost never) brought cards for trading. Through those connections I was able to bring some outstanding cards (including 2 dual shield cards) into my pc in private deals, and an outstanding custom card for a game ticket from Iggy's 1000th point that Brett created for me. You could even get a case where you hear "I know a guy that just pulled ... are you interested in it?" With the spread of social media local connections can become world connections in a hurry.

Reply
Aaron
12/18/2019 10:21:38 pm

Al, thanks so much for your comment. That is one awesome story. I always really like hearing your insights and experiences on the hobby!

I agree, the local collecting community is a big one. Although I don't have a local collecting community where I am, big shows like the Expo in Toronto are great places to be within the hobby community as well for sure.

Those shields are awesome. No doubt I've seen them many times while scrolling through your Iginla collection!

For anyone who reading this and want's to check out Al's Iginla Super Collection, here is his website:

https://uhtredtheviking.weebly.com/

Reply
Al
12/19/2019 02:12:11 am

Thanks for the shout out Aaron. Like you've said to me before, slow and steady is the way to go with the website. I try to add a little bit each week, but it is definitely a work in progress.Thanks for the tips in your blogs, it looks like you've been pretty adventurous when it comes to hunting down those Enroth cards that you need. Best of luck with your collecting!

Daniel
4/28/2020 12:22:06 am

I wish I had the know how to make a web site for all my khabby stuff. But I loved ur article.

Reply
creasecollector link
4/28/2020 09:33:27 am

Daniel, thank you SO much! I appreciate it. It's a topic that I wanted to write about for a long time and my tactics are always in motion to try and acquire new cards. I think a lot of collectors know that feeling all too well.

As for your Khabby website, you can create one very easily and I'm sure it would look beyond awesome! Send me a message and we can talk about it. If you need any help or have any questions, please let me know.

Reply



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    Author - Aaron

    ​I've been collecting Hockey cards since the late 90's. Mainly the goalies since 2005. I also Co-Host a Hockey Card Podcast.
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    Not-so-secretly searching for every Jhonas Enroth card on earth. ​Let's enjoy this hobby together!

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