Archive for August, 2010
Michael Jordan Still Has A Leg Up On Other Athletes
Posted by: | CommentsI have been working with Upper Deck since 1997 and in that time I have been privileged to know a great many passionate sports fans. Being a sports fan myself, I know I’ll never be able to throw a precision pass like Peyton Manning; hit a curve ball like Ken Griffey Jr.; fire a slap shot like Steven Stamkos; or hit a clutch jumper like Michael Jordan. Or could I? Jordan has been offering adult basketball fans the chance to come fly with him at a camp he runs in Las Vegas each year. The MJ Flight School just finished its 14th annual camp and it’s safe to say that MJ left an indelible mark on those in attendance.
Mark Gott had the opportunity to get up close and personal with his idol Michael Jordan at MJ's Flight School in Las Vegas this month.
One of the recent attendees was Mark Gott and he has been a huge fan of Michael Jordan since he was in junior high, back in 1987. Gott’s affinity for MJ’s skills led him to collect cards and memorabilia of Jordan, but more than that, he’s a huge fan of the Jordan brand clothing line. He has amassed more than 70 pairs of MJ branded shoes, slides and cleats. It seems his entire wardrobe is Jordan-related from the sweaters, polos, slacks and jeans, to the warm-ups, shorts and tanks. Gott estimates he has more than 400 different articles of clothing from the Jordan brand.
“If it’s not Jordan, it’s not in my closet,” said Gott. “He is the greatest athlete of my time and I feel comfortable in saying he is the greatest of all time.”
During a flight eight years ago, Gott was perusing an in-flight magazine where he first read about the Michael Jordan Flight School. He was disappointed to find that participants had to be 35 or older to attend the clinic so he waited patiently for that special birthday to arrive so he could get the chance to meet his idol. Sadly the camp was canceled when Gott turned 35 last year, but this year his dream came true. Gott had been anticipating this experience for some time and he wanted to come up with a way to remember it forever.
Gott had Jordan’s famous “jumpman” logo tattooed on his calf roughly eight years ago and as the opportunity to attend the clinic drew closer, he came up with a unique idea. What if he could get Jordan to sign the area just below the tattoo and then have Jordan’s signature permanently tattooed so he could display the authentic signature forever? He was committed to it, but now came the tough part: Will Michael agree to it?
Could you say no to this face? Neither could MJ as he agreed to sign Gott's leg after Coach John Thompson III asked.
Rather than going right to MJ, Gott worked through one of the coaches at the clinic, John Thompson III. Coach Thompson worked his magic to help Gott accomplish his mission. The day of the autograph session that Upper Deck Authenticated (UDA) oversees, Coach Thompson came to Gott and let him know it was a “go.” Gott immediately shaved his calf to prepare for the signing.
Gott shared that Michael was very supportive throughout the process and that when his turn came to get an item signed, MJ said with a smile, “Put your leg up here on the table.”
As Gott shares with Jordan where he wants him to sign, it looks like MJ is thinking, "You want me to sign what?"
Gott held still as MJ provided him with a world class signature that would last a lifetime.
On hand to authenticate and witness this first-ever body signing for UDA was Drew Mills.
UDA's Drew Mills even affixed a hologram to Gott's calf to authenticate the signature.
After Jordan delivered a perfect signature, a UDA rep was on hand to witness and authenticate the signature. But then came the painful part. Gott raced off to King Ink at the Mirage where tattoo artist Jasen Workman made the ink MJ has signed permanent.
A signature that will never fade. Gott truly has a memorable keepsake from MJ.
“Michael was really cool about the whole thing and was very interested the next day in seeing how the tattoo turned out,” said Gott.
When Gott shared with Jordan that he thought the tattoo came out great, Jordan again responded with a smile, “Of course it did, it’s my signature.” They both shared a laugh and shortly thereafter one of MJ’s staffers who had been working with him for 25 years pulled Gott aside. He told Gott that in his time with Michael, he had never seen Michael do anything like that. Being the first made the experience even more special to Gott.
The next day during the camp, MJ and others wanted to see how the tattoo turned out.
Gott felt like a rock star during the remainder of the camp with others in attendance asking about the MJ tattoo and taking pictures with him. When he returned home, he was still in awe of the experience. His children thought it was extremely cool as well and they have been busy telling all their friends about daddy’s new tattoo.
“We are in football season right now and it seems like everyone I show says that it is the coolest tattoo ever,” said Gott. “It goes to show you that despite Michael Jordan being retired for so long, he still has a huge impact and influence on generations of sports fans.”
No word from Gott as to whether the tatoo has helped his jump shot, but the memories from the experience will last forever.
Will UDA diversify its portfolio and expand into tattoo-signature authentication? Probably not. We are pretty happy with the Michael Jordan autographed memorabilia we are currently producing. This was likely a one-shot deal, albeit a special one that Mark Gott we will not soon forget.
Popularity: 3% [?]
It Never Hurts To Ask
Posted by: | CommentsOne thing a sports fan knows is that it never hurts to ask. It never hurts to ask a player for an autograph. I mean, the worst they can say is ‘no.’ It never hurts to ask a scalper if he can give you the tickets for less. You’ve got to be able to afford a coke and a hot dog during the game, right? And it never hurts to ask the loud, drunk guy behind you at the game to keep it down. Well, actually, you may just want to talk to security about him.
Playing on the theme that it never hurts to ask, Upper Deck is inviting hockey fans to ask the 2010-11 NHL Rookie Class a question through the company’s official Facebook page. Proving that it never hurts to ask, the company will also be giving away some new Upper Deck Hockey product to select fans who contribute questions. Click here to ask your question.
So how is Upper Deck going to get star rookies like Taylor Hall (Edmonton Oilers), Tyler Seguin (Boston Bruins), Kyle Beach (Chicago Blackhawks), Brayden Schenn (Los Angeles Kings), Nazem Kadri (Toronto Maple Leafs) and all the other top rookies from the upcoming season in one place to ask them these questions? It’s simple; the company will be attending the 2010 NHLPA Rookie Showcase and Photo Shoot in Toronto next weekend.
Nazem Kadri is giving Maple Leafs fans some hope.
At the event, Upper Deck will capture images of these hot young guns for use in its new trading card sets like 2010-11 NHL Upper Deck Series One, which will arrive on stores shelves in November. Upper Deck will also collect some video of these young stars by putting them through “Rookie Boot Camp” to get them ready for playing in the NHL, but mostly to help fans get to know them better. Check out one of the videos from last year’s event.
Upper Deck will also be gathering some pertinent information about the players to use for their biographies on the back of 2010-11 NHL Upper Deck trading cards. We make trading cards for the fans, so why not ask the fans what they want to know about these up-and-coming players? So through the use of social media, Upper Deck is doing just that and fans seem to love it. We had more than 30 questions posted within the first 30 minutes of sharing this promotion on Facebook so it’s abundantly clear hockey fans are excited about the 2010-11 NHL Rookie Class.
Taylor Hall (drafted #1), Tyler Seguin (drafted #2) and Erik Gudbranson (drafted #3) are the next generation of super stars in the NHL and fans can ask them questions through Upper Deck's Facebook page.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to post questions and look for updates from the 2010 NHLPA Rookie Showcase and Photo Shoot right here on the Upper Deck Blog, on our official Twitter page and on our official Facebook page next week!
Upper Deck Young Guns Rookie cards are VERY popular. Who will be the next great rookie from this class?
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We’re Golden. We Think!
Posted by: | CommentsI just finished up another rip-roaring Fantasy Football Draft with 11 of my buddies (or should I say colleagues?) here at Upper Deck. The UDFFL (Upper Deck’s Fantasy Football League) is chock full of guys who think they know exactly what they’re doing, but only time and some healthy campaigns posted by their top five or six picks will prove them right.
Which brings me to my first bone of contention: Was I really that foolish to grab St. Louis QB Sam Bradford in the 15th round with my own version of the “Mr. Irrelevant” pick? I mean really. But man did I get some ribbing from the boys. Granted, I already had Drew Brees as my starting QB and Vince Young as my backup, but what the heck? I had already drafted four RBs and five wideouts, along with my tight end (Antonio Gates), kicker (Nate Kaeding, thank god Fantasy ends before the playoffs begin), and the Saints “Dee,” so why not pick up some trade bait with my last pick? Think about it; I dropped my 15th selection on Bradford, the NFL’s overall No. 1 Draft Pick from this year. I’ll dump him in Week 3 for an emerging wide receiver when one of these chumps realizes that Philly’s Kevin Kolb isn’t turning out to be the second coming of Donovan McNabb or that Carson Palmer really is getting old in Cincy, even with T.O. lining up on the outside.
- Lots of hype surrounds Bradford. He may very well be the second coming of ‘Slingin’ Sammy’ Baugh.
But what struck me as interesting throughout the draft was everybody’s reluctance (or should I say well-honed strategy) to stay away from most of the rookies. Not surprisingly, Fresno State’s Ryan Mathews was the first freshman to get scooped up (with the 13th overall pick). Our lead designer, Neal, made the move, but since he’s a Chargers homer anyway, it didn’t faze me. With L.T. off to the Big Apple and Darren Sproles standing at five-foot-nothing, Mathews looks like the new workhouse in San Diego. He scored 19 TDs in college last year and posted eleven 100-yard games. He should be the real deal. At least Neal certainly hopes he is.
- Workhorse: The hard-driving Mathews should get to carry most of the load in San Diego’s backfield.
Which rookie was next, you ask? With the 38th overall pick, running back Jahvid Best was selected by one of our copy editors, Roger. Here’s a guy (Best, that is) who tallied 16 touchdowns last year for the Cal Bears and posted five 100-yard rushing games. He’s no Ryan Mathews, mind you, but he’s no slouch either. Granted he’s not a proven stud like many of my backfield picks (Jonathan Stewart, Joseph Addai and Brandon Jacobs, to name a few), but he’s got potential. We’ll just have to wait and see how often the Lions actually can get inside their opponent’s 20-yard-line. I’m thinking slim and none, for the most part. I mean, we are talking about the Detroit Lions, aren’t we?
Best is hoping to bring some versatility to Detroit's backfield this season. Only time will tell.
Okay, so who was the next rookie taken? With the 70th overall pick, Buffalo’s newest backfield acquisition, C. J. Spiller, was snatched up by one of the UDA guys, Steve S. The big man at Clemson is now supposed to be the new man in upstate New York. Lord knows, the Bills need some help, and C.J. could be the answer to their prayers. Steve S.’s office is next to mine, so I’m sure I’ll hear the roars from next door when the Bills start circling the wagons on September 26 against my team, the New England Patriots. Let’s not tell Steve how badly the Bills will get crushed on that fateful afternoon, but wish him well anyway with C.J. Maybe one touchdown and 60 yards on the ground from Spiller will be Buffalo’s big highlight from Gillette Stadium that day.
Six more rookies would be selected, including my gratuitous 15th round gesture for Bradford, before the UDFFL Draft ended. In order, they were Montario Hardesty (ninth round); Dez Bryant (10th round); Golden Tate, my second-to-last receiver taken (11th round); and both Demaryius “My Sore Left Foot” Thomas and Dexter McCluster (14th round).
Tate could be Golden in Seattle, just as long as Matt Hasselbeck can find him going deep.
What’s cool is that all of these first-year players will be appearing in Upper Deck’s fast-approaching 2010 Sweet Spot Football set, which is scheduled to launch next month right around the same time as Monday Night Football. All of the aforementioned rookies will be appearing in the set and every one of them will have autographed helmet cards to boot!
And for the record, just in case anybody was wondering, we conducted our fast-paced draft over the course of two well-orchestrated lunch hours by our resident ring leader, Big Ben. He looks like a cross between Junior Seau and Adrian Gonzalez, so nobody messes with Ben. Although truth be told, he’s the calmest, most courteous guy in the building. If higher management only was aware of what we were doing on our hard-earned lunch hours, they probably would have bought us lunch, right? Hey, it’s research after all. Come to think of it, maybe I’ll go upstairs right now and tell ‘em. Who knows? Maybe they’ll bring us bagels tomorrow.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Attack of the Baseball Cards
Posted by: | CommentsEach month Upper Deck spotlights one of its hobby retailing partners and shares a few reasons why you need to visit their store. If you haven’t been to a card store lately and are in the New Jersey area, make sure to visit our Retailer of the Month.
Attack of the Baseball Cards
60 Milltown Road
Union, NJ 07083-9308
(908)687-8107
Email: attacksteve@aol.com
Open: Monday-Friday 11:30am-7:30pm, Saturday 10:30am-6:00pm & Sunday 11:00am-5:00pm
Holidays open 11:00am-4:00pm with hourly door prizes
Closed only 3 days a year: Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving & Christmas
Shop owner Steve Mandy grew up in Hillside, New Jersey, the home of Yankees’ great Phil Rizzuto. When he was just five years old, he began visiting “the Scooter’s” home several times a year where Rizzuto would bring Mandy and his buddies into his trophy room to recount his playing days. There were times when Mandy and his friends would arrive so early on Saturday mornings that Rizzuto was still in bed following a late night game that he had just called as a broadcaster. On those days, Rizzuto’s wife would take the gang into the trophy room, put cartoons on the TV and feed them breakfast. After a while Phil would walk in, still in his robe and slippers, and spend some time. Steve also met other Yankee legends who would visit Rizzuto on occasion, like Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle and even Joe DiMaggio. Those meetings lit the fire; his passion for autographs and collecting was born.
Mandy grew up spending plenty of time with Yankee great, Phil Rizzuto!
In 1982, a close friend – a Red Sox fan in fact – told Steve that she had seen a newspaper ad about an upcoming baseball card show where Ted Williams would be appearing. She asked Steve to go with her and he agreed. After taking just one step into the card show, Steve had an epiphany that this was what he wanted to do as a job. Two months later, with Joe DiMaggio as the scheduled guest signer, Steve rented a table at his first card show and displayed some of his cherished autographs.
Joe DiMaggio also had a profound impact on getting Steve Mandy into the business.
Through the years he expanded to cards, new and vintage, memorabilia and more. He promoted shows in the late ‘80s and was a partner in his first store during that same time period. In 1994 he retired from his longtime occupation as a publication artist and art director, to become a store owner full time.
Steve still has many of his most cherished autographs from Rizzuto, a signed “Mr. Coffee” coffee pot from DiMaggio, and even the original program from Mickey Mantle’s funeral in 1995. Steve loves being a part of the trading card industry and tries to pass his passion on to everyone who walks into his store, Attack of the Baseball Cards.
Plenty to see at Attack of the Baseball Cards, make a point to stop by!
“A lot of people ask me why I named the store Attack of the Baseball Cards,” said Mandy. “While spending an evening with friends, my task for everyone was to come up with a trade name that would start with an ‘A’ so I would be listed first in the phone book. We blew out names for almost an hour before getting tired and moving on to watch television. Well a PBS channel happened to be on with the cult film ‘Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.’ Someone said that we should call the store ‘Attack of the Baseball Cards’ where you can have giant baseball cards chasing people down the block. Everyone laughed except me and I took that idea to the bank. In fact my first ads showed me covered with baseball cards with only my face and hands sticking out. Needless to say, the name stuck and no one ever forgets it.”
Attack of the Baseball Cards is now in its 28th year in the hobby. This year they are celebrating the 12th Anniversary of being named runner-up for the National “Sportscard Hobby Store-of-the-Year Award.” The store is located on the Union/Springfield border with the entrance in the back of the building. Steve has worked to make Attack of the Baseball Cards a kid-friendly environment for youngsters in the area, having learned how meaningful it is from his own time reminiscing with the likes of Phil Rizzuto. The “Summer Student Essay Contest” has become a staple program at Attack of the Baseball Cards and Larry Jordan of Upper Deck (brother of Michael Jordan) served as a judge for the 2008 contest. Steve also runs Baseball Card Camps for children and Upper Deck sponsored the summer session this past year. In July 2008, Attack of the Baseball Cards was selected by Upper Deck and Major League Baseball as one of only five Official Baseball Card Headquarters stores for that summer’s MLB All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium!
Upper Deck has run several promotions in conjunction with Attack of the Baseball Cards.
Mandy brings more than 28 years of hobby experience to help customers with their every need. Listed in “Who’s Who In America” Mandy has been a guest speaker at schools, hobby conventions and seminars throughout the country. He’s also done appraisals of private collections and estates for tax purposes and insurance companies and law enforcement agencies. In 1999 and again in October 2004, Mandy was honored by the Township of Union (NJ) with the Mayors Award for contributions to the community and children in the area. In April 2007 the Township of Union (NJ) once again honored Attack of the Baseball Cards.
One of the good guys, Steve Mandy constantly works in the best interest of his customers.
You can follow Attack of the Baseball Cards on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or by checking out their official store website. So what are you waiting for? Visit the shop today!
People always have fun opening new cards at Attack of the Baseball Cards, stop by!
Popularity: 2% [?]
The Other Way to Get a Signed Trading Card
Posted by: | CommentsIf you don’t have luck pulling autograph cards from Upper Deck packs and just can’t find your favorite players milling around before or after a game, there is another route you can take to get an autograph from these stars. Try the TTM approach where “TTM” stands for “through-the-mail” autographs. If you’re just a little patient, this is a really cool way to get signatures of your favorite players.
Some people will send more than just a trading card to get signed, maybe a photo or jersey, but the easiest thing to send is definitely an Upper Deck card. First you need to write a letter to the player of your choice explaining that you think they are great and that you would like to get them to autograph your card. The best place to mail your card to is to the stadium address for that player’s team. Also, you may want to consider writing your letter by hand; people have experimented and found they have a better rate of success with hand-written letters.
Let’s say you are sending a request to Jason Motte, pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals. You would send it to the Busch Stadium address. This is a sample letter of something that you could send to your favorite player:
Dear Mr. Motte,
I am a huge fan of you and the Cardinals. I think you are an amazing pitcher and so glad that you are on the Cardinals. (You could personalize it with an experience that you had or some accomplishment that the person you are writing to has accomplished.) I was hoping that you could autograph my Upper Deck card for me. I have included a self-addressed, stamped envelope so that you could send it back to me. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy day to read my letter and hopefully you’ll get back to me soon.
Your #1 FAN,
And if you get a player as nice as Jason Motte was for me, you could end up with something like this!
SUCCESS! He signed my card and returned it to me!
The most important thing to include with your letter and trading card is a SASE which stands for “self-addressed, stamped envelope.” That makes it much easier for the athlete to just sign your card and return it to you. This is why sending memorabilia can be a little tough; most athletes are not going to have time to re-package and pay for additional postage to send your item back to you.
So, how do you find the addresses for your favorite player’s team? Check out this great website that will help you pull the addresses you need for baseball teams: http://www.sportmapworld.com/map/baseball/north-america/mlb/.
The most important aspect about TTM autographs is to be patient. Players have a lot on their plates and cannot always drop everything to sign and return your cards each day. I have got autograph cards back in as little as five days before, but waited as long as three years in some instances. The normal wait is usually around three months.
You may want to prepare for the worst. You may not get your card back. It rarely happens, but it can. That’s why you likely don’t want to send anything too expensive out. If you send the card to the wrong address you may get everything back with a yellow slip from the post office, which is called a RTS (Return to Sender). Also, if the player is in a hurry they could put the signed card right in the envelope after signing and it can get smudged like the card below.
Oh rats! The pen he used wasn't the best and the autograph is beading. Oh well.
If you really want to get into the hobby of collecting autographs through the mail, Harvey Meiselman writes a comprehensive book every year, with the players’ home addresses. It is so great to use and you get the address for almost every current and retired player. Here’s more information about Harvey’s book: http://www.sportsaddresslists.com/.
There are plenty of resources to find up to date addresses for your favorite players.
A great website to use is Nolan’s TTM. He updates it whenever he has success in getting an autograph card through the mail. His website is: http://www.nolansttmgraphs.webs.com/. Another great website that is always updating their users’ success is: http://www.fanmail.biz/ to see who is signing. One last site you might want to review is: http://www.sportsautosttm.com/.
I’ve found current and former MLB players have the highest success rate, for all sports, for fulfilling through-the-mail autograph requests, but don’t let that discourage you from sending Upper Deck cards to players from other sports like NBA, NFL or NHL. Since I started collecting through-the-mail autographs in Spring Training, I have already received over 100 signed cards. Hopefully you’ll have the same success rate. Good luck and let me know how it goes!
Troy Kozlowski is an avid collector, a contributor to the Upper Deck Blog and a member of the Upper Deck Volunteer Alliance.
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