8/2/2007 4:48:33 PM

There’s a little OCD in all collectors, the drive to achieve completion in whatever set you’ve targeted.

For some of us, that includes some of the rarest items in the hobby, the ultimate thing that makes a collection unique – the cards with a print run of one.

With the release of the high-end products and their glut of 1/1s, many of these cards have been popping up for sale or trade, often commanding a premium far above what people believe is necessary. But in trade or sale, many people want a ballpark of what they can get for their pulls.

To do this, one must take into consideration many factors. Beckett Hockey does not price the cards due to scarcity, and value can be hard to determine because there are few comparables, but there are a few guidelines you can follow to see what has a higher value and what will fall to the wayside.

Some 1/1s are unique pieces of memorabilia. The NHL shield or CHL logo cards, Property Of… cards and the Artifacts Jersey Tags fall into this category. In theory, these cards are limited by the number of jerseys or sticks that can be acquired by a company, making these pieces among the most unique and desirable in the hockey hobby.

Other 1/1s are made that way by an autograph on a card from an un-autographed set. Still others are simply the shortest of the short-print parallels, differentiated from their regular cousins by a different color ink or foil. Autographs tend to command a premium over the ink and foil parallels.

Printing plates are a version of unique memorabilia, but they are nowhere near as limited as the jersey or stick cards. They are also not as personal to a player, and therefore do not command the premium prices the game-used pieces do. Because there are usually four press plates to any set, these often fall below the value of the other 1/1s of the same player.

As far as value goes, true 1/1s are worth what people will pay for them which, like every other card, depends on a variety of factors.

Popularity of the player and his team and uniqueness of the card itself play a part, but 1/1s are the ultimate “last chance” auction. If you miss your opportunity to buy the card you want, you have no guarantee you’ll have another chance. That card is likely going into a personal collection and won’t see the market until someone tries to sell them off.

Because of the built-in urgency, values of these cards can be much higher than one would first thing. With key players and sets, collectors can invest more in a single card than they would in an entire case of The Cup.

Even cards with a more modest following can easily exceed the price of the box from which they came. It’s the ultimate set up for a bidding war. Some collectors feel without that singular card, their collection will never be complete.

As the hobby continues to place a premium on unique items, collectors can expect to see an increase in the number of 1/1s, especially in the high-end products.

The flooding will knock down the value of things that are unique in name only – press plates being chief among these. But items that remain extremely limited will continue to be some of the most volatile and valuable things in the market.