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economist sunsuntribune diversions saturday nov 5 2005 19 sports card dealers barely noticed nhl lockout as collectors kept on pursuing favourites by roger varley staffwriter although the national hockey league lockout hurt many businesses the sports card industry hardly noticed business fell off slightly between august and the end of september because of a lack of new nhl product but sales are rebounding said igor grinch of grinch sports cards on centre street in thornhill cards were produced last year of nhl prospects such as sydney crosby showing them in their jun ior uniforms said terry rad- chenko of 1 step ahead sales in brampton there was a lot of demand for them he said that also has generated a lot r a player who scores a lot his price goes up or players people love like tie domi terry radchenko 1 step ahead sales of interest in crosbys first nhl card mr radchenko added not ing mr crosbys prospect card would be a keeper but it would nt be classified as a rookie card which will be more valuable the two men are among a handful of dealers showing their wares every tuesday evening at the thornhill community centre at bayview avenue and john street between 40 and 50 people show up most nights mr rad chenko said while many fans said they were turned off by the lockout it appears hockey card collectors arent among them this years nhl cards will include two years worth of nhl draftees which will also heighten the interest of collectors mr rad chenko said mr grinch said he has many customers who comein and spend 200 a month on nhl cards he put them into four cate gories those who collect only cer tain players those who collect cer tain teams those who want to buy sets and ones only interested in rookie cards but they range in age from seven to their mid80s from blue- collar workers to lawyers he said as a dealer its hard to get attached to cards or youll want to keep them all igor grinch grinch sports cards he began as a collector before becoming a dealer about three years ago as a dealer its hard to get attached to cards or youll want to keep them all he said many people collect the cards because they relate to the players mr radchenko said they see players as someone they respect or who reminds them of their youth he said thats why bobby orr gordie howe wayne gretzky and mario lemieux cards are still in demand bobby orr cards i cant keep them in mr grinch said mr radchenko agreed noting bobby orr is die number one choice especially among those who saw him play he said and thats why just as in die v stock market demand and supply determine the value of cards mr radchenko said a player who scores a lot his price goes up or players people love like tie domi he noted the value of goalie ed belfours cards went up after he i was traded to toronto maple leafs its all speculation he said but added the value of most cards goes up sec dealers page 20 orkregioncom