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Why Do YOU Collect Jerseys?


TheBaron

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Everyone has a reason.

Care to share yours?

I prefer older jerseys mainly for the historic value. Also, they tend to look way cooler to me.

What are your reasons, folks?

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Besides hockey jersey collecting (to a very limited degree) and hockey, my other interest in life is antique automobiles and antique automobile restoration and mechanics. In the December 2013 edition of Sports Car Market, Thor Thorson writes on a 1936 Alfa Romeo Grand Prix car that sold at auction for nearly $10 million:

This is the third Grand Prix car that I have written about in as many profiles, and it is time to restate the most basic reality of all vintage cars, which is particularly true in relation to the Grand Prix variants: These cars have absolutely no underlying economic value. You can never make anything of economic value with them (save the occasional movie) and never will. The only thing that gives any of these cars any monetary value is the fact that someone is willing to exchange money for the car. In trying to understand and parse out why any of these cars command the money that they do, we cannot talk about value in the traditional sense — we have to look at the intangible rewards that flow from being able to own one. As opposed to road-going cars of the era, the driving experience of pre-war GP cars is not the primary determinant of value. They have to be considered as historic artifacts….

This is why originality and known history matter so much: A perfect replica or a made up “bitsa” may be impressive, but it wasn’t really there to participate in the drama. With a bitsa, Tazio Nuvolari’s sweat never soaked into the upholstery, a young Enzo Ferrari never fretted over getting it ready to race. Only the real thing can tell the stories. When it comes to artifacts, authenticity and participation in the human drama are everything. Our subject car is the real thing.

I think that comes so close to describing why a jersey collector, me or any number of you, enjoy having a jersey that some player with sufficient talent and fortitude wore in a game in the NHL or AHL (hell, or even the CHL or ECHL, etc.) It is a part of the history of a sport we love… For us it has meaning and significance. Otherwise it’s just a mixing of cloth and thread.

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'Cause I need to get as many as I can before the card companies cut them all up..........

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Because I'm extremely interested in the aesthetics in most topics, and especially in the NHL, I've been interested in the jerseys since I was a kid (grew up with NHL 2000 and other games, I often tinkered around with the different jerseys), and now with the internet, I can relieve my childhood and collect the jerseys I grew up with, and that hold a special place in my heart. My collection is recently-started and small, but I'm proud to have jumped on the boat sooner rather than later, and hope to have a big collection that will satisfy my inner child in the future.

I also take hockey jerseys as sort of a fashion statement. They're my favorite article of sports athlete equipment out of all of the sports. They're the most unique, decorative, colorful and expressive. And they have the face of the team on the front (in most cases), which are the best way to represent their identity. I like to wear jerseys when I go out, spreading my passions for the sport and the jerseys and teams wherever I go. It makes me feel good on the inside. :P

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Besides hockey jersey collecting (to a very limited degree) and hockey, my other interest in life is antique automobiles and antique automobile restoration and mechanics. In the December 2013 edition of Sports Car Market, Thor Thorson writes on a 1936 Alfa Romeo Grand Prix car that sold at auction for nearly $10 million:

This is the third Grand Prix car that I have written about in as many profiles, and it is time to restate the most basic reality of all vintage cars, which is particularly true in relation to the Grand Prix variants: These cars have absolutely no underlying economic value. You can never make anything of economic value with them (save the occasional movie) and never will. The only thing that gives any of these cars any monetary value is the fact that someone is willing to exchange money for the car. In trying to understand and parse out why any of these cars command the money that they do, we cannot talk about value in the traditional sense — we have to look at the intangible rewards that flow from being able to own one. As opposed to road-going cars of the era, the driving experience of pre-war GP cars is not the primary determinant of value. They have to be considered as historic artifacts….

This is why originality and known history matter so much: A perfect replica or a made up “bitsa” may be impressive, but it wasn’t really there to participate in the drama. With a bitsa, Tazio Nuvolari’s sweat never soaked into the upholstery, a young Enzo Ferrari never fretted over getting it ready to race. Only the real thing can tell the stories. When it comes to artifacts, authenticity and participation in the human drama are everything. Our subject car is the real thing.

I think that comes so close to describing why a jersey collector, me or any number of you, enjoy having a jersey that some player with sufficient talent and fortitude wore in a game in the NHL or AHL (hell, or even the CHL or ECHL, etc.) It is a part of the history of a sport we love… For us it has meaning and significance. Otherwise it’s just a mixing of cloth and thread.

This is great!

Keep the excuses coming, all!

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