I'm normally someone who spends 2 to 5 grand on Leaf product a year; I'm boycotting them now indefinitely. It's one thing for them to try to get their own exclusive for their own NHL product, it's another for them to deny the collectors altogether any NHL product for these two players. It's pretty much like a terrorist action where they try to make all collectors suffer because they don't have the market. UD's exclusive license is leverage they can't overcome. They can't overcome it because their cards suck so bad for their sports cards lines.
Good news is, of the 50,000 or so cards that will be bought and sold for each player, less than 10% will be affected. Like another poster said, cards from Young Guns to Ice Premiere /99 will be unaffected. Heck these two guys might not even make it to the NHL this year. And personally I'll be looking for Josh Ho-Sang. And by the time these two make it to the NHL, a player like Gabe Vilardi may overtake them already.
To me, this is less impactful than them signing Eichel. And he probably didn't even realize how much it's hurt his fanbase as the number of Eichel collectors is almost none.
|