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Brag Photo of the Week: Entomology Cards Arrive
Posted by: | CommentsInnovation is one of the key tenents that made Upper Deck the leader in the trading card industry. Upper Deck pressed the envelope like never before when 2009 Goodwin Champions Baseball was released. The original Goodwin Champions Baseball sets had some really unique elements to them so Upper Deck paid tribute to that with three cutting edge insert sets that collectors found in packs as exchange cards.
First came the “Thoroughbred Hair Cuts” cards featuring actual hair from the mane of championship horses Funny Cide, Smarty Jones and Afleet Alex. (http://upperdeckblog.com/2009/11/upper-deck%E2%80%99s-triple-crown-bid/)
The next cards to be produced and find their way to the market were the “Landmarks” set which included actual salt from the Dead Sea, sand from Omaha Beach, coal from the Titanic and cable from the Golden Gate Bridge.
The last insert set has been perhaps the most anticipated of them all, the Goodwin Champions “Entomology” cards. Many collectors have been calling these the “bug” cards, but most are actually a play of the vintage Goodwin Champions cards that featured butterflies and other subjects. We thought it would be awesome to be able to bring collectors a real butterfly encased in a trading card along with other strange and unique creatures from around the world.
The cards have taken a long time to produce because each card is basically assembled by hand. We had to work with a variety of partners on strategies to make these cards happen because quite frankly, nothing like this has been done before. We finally got in our samples of the cards recently and we were blown away by how great they look. Pictures do not really do them justice, but we’re excited to share them with you. Here is the first image we are sharing of the Great Walking Leaf.
Some are the traditional trading card size, while others (like this one) are oversized to fit the specimen encased in the card. Special holders were also created to get them to customers as well, which you can see the card placed in here.
On the back of the card is information about the specimen along with where they came from.
And more than anything, the cards are extremely thick, actually able to stand on their own.
We look forward to sharing more of these cards with collectors throughout the next couple weeks until they all are in house and ready to ship. Look for more images at Upper Deck’s Facebook page next week to see images of the Chinese Lantern Fly, the Cryptic Dead Leaf Mantid, the Spicebush Swallowtail, the Man Faced Beetle and more! (http://www.facebook.com/UpperDeck) If you were one of the lucky collectors to redeem one of these special cards be excited to own something truly unique, but understand this is a new era of trading cards, don’t think you can put these in the spokes of your bike…
Popularity: 100% [?]
Collector of the Month: Paul Boleska
Posted by: | CommentsEvery month, Upper Deck will spotlight one of our valued collectors to showcase their collection. The great thing about sports collectors is that they are all very different in what they collect, how they collect items and what they do once they have them. One common trait is the passion they share that is seldom found in any other group. This month, we head north of the border to spend some time with Paul Boleska of Edmonton, AB.
Paul is retired from the law enforcement sector in Edmonton, but he stays active with hobbies like archery, board games and collecting trading cards. Paul has amassed over 700,000 trading cards in his collection, primarily consisting of baseball cards. He had been out of the hobby for awhile however, until he heard about Upper Deck’s massive 20th Anniversary Set consisting of 2,500 cards inserted into a variety of baseball products last year.
Paul Boleska holding one of the binders in his enormous 20th Anniversary Set.
The set commemorates the first twenty years of Upper Deck’s existence with cards from all major sports including golf while also paying tribute to world history, pop culture, politics and technology. Upper Deck also included some very rare game-used memorabilia cards of players from a variety of sports that were typically only available one per case or 1:288 packs on average.
“I was so impressed with the whole concept and look of the Upper Deck 20th Anniversary Collection, that I decided I was going to collect the entire set, including the memorabilia cards,” said Boleska.
Although Paul Boleska had amassed a tremendous amount of cards since he got bitten by the card collecting bug, when he stated this project, he still considered himself a novice. Putting together a set this large would be a considerable challenge for even the most seasoned collector. Even now Boleska admits, “With my limited knowledge of collecting cards, I did not realize the true depth I was getting myself into.”
Paul was opening up a lot of product to get the cards he needed, but that would not be enough: he needed to reach out to other collectors, other shops, and get online to find the cards he needed to complete this monster set. “There were countless hours searching numerous websites for cards, hundreds of e-mails to fellow collectors from around the world requesting card lists, and then the purchasing of cards from as far away as Australia, China, Europe and throughout North America,” said Boleska.
Even though he was officially retired, this pursuit became almost like a job for Paul. “I was always asking local collectors to look for cards that I still needed, and constantly updating Wayne Wagner, owner of Wayne’s Sports Cards here in Edmonton with lists of cards still outstanding,” said Boleska.
Wayne Wagner of Wayne’s Sportscards congratulates Boleska on putting together the entire 20th Anniversary set.
The most important person in Boleska’s hunt however was the mailman who would on occasions bring him close to twenty packages a day with cards he needed from collectors around the world. Boleska shared that each day was almost like Christmas when the mailman came by with the latest additions to his collection. And then came the day when the last card arrived and Boleska’s collection was finally complete: a special day for sure!
I asked him if he has plans to sell the collection. Boleska said, “Being a true collector, I have no plans on selling it at this time. This set took a whole year to build, taking around 2000 hours of opening of product, searching the web and sending hundreds of e-mails back and forth with collectors. I now spend the time going through the two binders looking and reading all the information on each card. I loved this product from the moment I first saw it.”
Congratulations Paul, it truly is a remarkable achievement and a very special set! If you are looking to put the set together yourself and would like some pointers, feel free to contact Paul Boleska at paulboleska@shaw.ca.
Popularity: 40% [?]
Retailer of the Month: Tim’s Baseball Cards
Posted by: | CommentsI had heard about Tim’s Baseball Cards in Chicago, IL over the years, but never had much interaction with him unfortunately. Then, earlier this week, I got an e-mail from another hobby shop in the Illinois area who said, “Did you hear about Tim’s?” Then I got another one from one of his customers saying, “Did you hear about Tim?” And it’s continued all week long. It’s pretty amazing what has happened to Tim and his shop, which is why we have selected them as our Retailer of the Month.
Tim’s Baseball Card Shop
4549 North Western Avenue
Chicago, IL 60625
(773) 275-6725
Website: http://www.timsbbcardshop.com
Email: vincecarter00@aol.com
Tim Herron opened up Tim’s Baseball Card shop in 2004 and at that time, it certainly wasn’t much to look at. He went to school right across the street from the location he opened up at and it’s been his lifelong dream to open his own business, in his home town, doing something he loves. Today, Tim’s shop has a lot more to offer than the two showcases he started with; but there’s no denying that compared to some shops, you would consider him a “little guy.” Well, not anymore.
Miller High Life decided that instead of doing a Super Bowl advertisement where they feature their product, they would buy a commercial and give it to the little guys. They took an interesting approach by focusing on smaller businesses who could never afford an advertisement during the big game (the people who need it). The marketing team at Miller High Life did a nationwide search of businesses that might fit into this concept of giving the little guy a shot on the big stage and wouldn’t you know it, they picked Tim’s Baseball Cards as one of the four businesses to be featured in the advertisement.
“It really hasn’t sunk in that this is real,” said Tim Herron on being selected. “It’s a real fun commercial, real simple, nothing fancy. Everyone was being themselves, no acting or anything.”
Herron will be appearing alongside the Miller High Life delivery truck guy, Windell Middlebrooks. But make no doubt about it, Tim will be the star.
You can see some teaser footage for the advertisement and see Tim talking about the shoot on Miller’s website at www.millerhighlife.com (note: you need to be 21 or over to view the content).
Tim’s shop has everything collectors love from new unopened wax to vintage product. He’s got singles to help collectors put sets together and memorabilia as well. What he’s really going to need though, in all likelihood, is more space.
He’ll be hosting a big party the day before the game on Saturday from 12:00-4:00 and Upper Deck has sent him a lot of prize support to help out. The party will be one you don’t want to miss, “There will be food, drinks, raffles, giveaways and the first sixty people are going to get a box of cards FREE,” said Herron. “Everyone is coming out so we just want to have some fun and give back to the customers for being loyal. I have no idea how this will help business, but nothing is bigger than commercials on the Super Bowl.” He’s right!
“There’s a lot of nonsense ads out there about talking babies and dancing monkeys and different things. We just wanted to be just a true High Life commercial that gives it back to the guys that live it every day,” said Abegg.
In these difficult economic times, it’s refreshing to see a billion dollar company adopt an approach like this and give back to the little guy. Kudos to you Miller High Life!
So if you are in Chicago, love sports and want to help out one of the “little guys,” visit Tim’s Baseball Card Shop the day before the big game, or any day for that matter: he’s open seven days a week. Maybe he’ll even give you an autograph.
Popularity: 47% [?]
Collector of the Month: Josh Mattson
Posted by: | CommentsEvery month, Upper Deck will spotlight one of our valued collectors to showcase their collection. The great thing about sports collectors is that they are all very different in what they collect, how they collect items and what they do once they have them. One common trait is the passion they share that is seldom found in any other group.
On Veteran’s Day, Upper Deck announced the “Million Pack March for the Troops” program to encourage collectors to donate sealed packs to troops serving overseas. Upper Deck started off the program by donating 100,000 packs last month. So, to help get a little more exposure for this program, this month we are spending some time with Josh Mattson from Killeen, Texas close to Ft. Hood. He served in the U.S. Army for 13 years and retired in December, 2007.
Josh with his family.
We all have that moment when we saw a player who just blew our mind and made us question if we actually really saw what they just did. For Josh Mattson, that player was Barry Sanders. The former Lion great would routinely make plays that would make a Lion fan out of almost anyone (except maybe the team he was playing against). It was Sanders who made Mattson a die-hard fan of the Detroit Lions. It was Sanders who made Mattson want to collect trading cards and he’s been enjoying the hobby ever since.
Josh showing off two of his favorite Upper Deck Barry Sanders autograph cards.
“My favorite pull from Upper Deck NFL products would have to be my Exquisite Barry Sanders autograph serial numbered 02/30,” shared Mattson. “My prized possessions include my Barry Sanders and Matthew Stafford autographs along with the complete 2008 NFL SP Authentic set, including short-printed rookies. My dream card would be a Barry Sanders one-of-one autograph card, but those are VERY hard to come by.”
Josh showing off his complete 2008 NFL SP Authentic set.
About three years ago Mattson was deployed to serve in Iraq (November 2005-November 2006). We asked him what he could do during downtime and he shared, “It is kind of rough. Downtime is pretty rare as is, but when you get it, you try and watch movies, call home, spend time on the internet, just anything to try to take your mind off all the stress related to combat.”
“It’s difficult to watch games over there and keep up with your team,” said Mattson. “You are just so busy, the games come on at such odd times, and it just gets difficult to try to keep track of. I can remember staying up until about 3:00am on my second deployment to Iraq in order to watch Super Bowl XL between the Steelers and Seahawks.”
Josh in front of his truck.
With so many different people from so many places serving in the military, there were bound to be some strong opinions on whose team was better. “When I was deployed, my roommate was a big Vikings fan so there was definitely some verbal sparring since the Lions and Vikings are in the same division,” said Mattson. “I cannot tell you the amount of time soldiers discussed football, sports and players over there. We would spend hours debating who was the better quarterback, running back, etc.”
Whether you agree or not with the United States’ conflicts abroad, there is no debating the courageous service the men and women of the U.S. Military provide. When you think about how stressful your job is, just think about how much more stressful it would be to serve in harms way thousands of miles away from your family and friends.
Upper Deck believes that we should do whatever we can to make being deployed a little easier for our heroes abroad, which is why we came up with the “Million Pack March for the Troops.” Through a strategic partnership with Operation Gratitude, a non-profit organization that sends care packages to U.S. Military serving overseas, we are hoping to get 1,000,000 packs of sealed trading cards donated by Veteran’s Day 2010. In an effort to reach this goal, Upper Deck will match every pack donated by patriotic Americans.
“Everyone I knew in Iraq who collected really enjoyed it,” said Mattson. “Opening packs and trading cards in Iraq made you feel like you really had a piece of home with you and it was great to be doing something that wasn’t combat related. I had my friends send me some packs while I was deployed and when you receive them it’s an awesome feeling. It really takes your mind of everything and you’re actually excited.”
Josh showing off some of the best items from his Detroit Lions collection.
“Collectors should donate to Upper Deck’s ‘Million Pack March for the Troops’ because when you are deployed overseas, there is really no way to collect. You have no hobby shops, no way to get cards and certainly no reminders of the sports you love over there. Your donations could serve to make a lot of soldiers happy, to help provide them a real thrill, to help make them feel closer to home, and most importantly to take their mind off everything going on around them.”
Josh with a compatriot in Iraq.
Sadly, during his service in Iraq, Josh Mattson was injured by a roadside bomb on May 15, 2006. The bomb detonated about three meters from the front passenger side of the truck and shrapnel pierced the armor and was lodged in his left leg. Josh also suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and a broken left knee in the explosion. Josh continues to receive treatment at the VA hospital while he does physical therapy on his leg. He is working hard at his recovery and doing well. He medically retired as a Staff Sergeant due to his combat injuries December, 2007.
Oddly enough we found Josh when he contacted us because he was thinking about those he left behind. He was looking to work with us on getting care packages to other soldiers serving abroad, before he knew about the “Million Pack March for the Troops.” With your help, Josh can focus on getting better and his own collection while we work on getting packs to the troops. We encourage you to donate sealed packs of Upper Deck trading cards for this program by sending them to the following address:
Operation Gratitude/California Army National Guard
Attn. Upper Deck’s Million Pack March for the Troops
17330 Victory Boulevard
Van Nuys, CA 91406
If you are looking to trade out your Lions cards or would just like to thank him for his service, Josh Mattson can be reached at jmattson76@yahoo.com.
Popularity: 37% [?]
Retailer of the Month: Fox Sports Cards
Posted by: | CommentsWhen I first met Dan Fox in person at an industry show he greeted me like we were old friends and immediately gave me a Fox Sports Cards hat (which I still have today). I could tell right away he was one fired up guy: and when you visit Fox Sports Cards, you’ll be able to see his passion immediately as he does a lot to keep his customers engaged. That’s one of the reasons why Fox Sports Cards is our Retailer of the Month.
Fox Sports Cards
1100 Tower Square
Marion, IL 62959
618-997-3800
Website: http://www.foxsportscards.com
Facebook: Fox Sports Cards
Email: foxsportscards@hotmail.com
I’ll let Dan take it from here:
We opened Fox Sports Cards in December 2006 to provide a customer-friendly, collector -oriented card store. We wanted a place where collectors would feel at home opening their boxes at the shop, and sharing in group breaks with other collectors. We wanted a card store that ran trade nights a couple of times a month with some pack wars, trivia, group case breaks, and card trading among collectors mixed in. We wanted to provide a place where a collector would be comfortable making a purchase, rather than from some unseen online reseller. We knew if we got all the collectors in the area to know each other, we could accomplish great things as a group. All of this and more has happened since we opened.
Dan Fox pointing to a Derek Jeter autograph one of his customers pulled from an Upper Deck pack.
We not only accomplished all of the goals we had in opening the store, but found out very quickly that our customers had many great ideas of things we could do together. We mention often at trade nights that the very best things that happen in our store occur from the customer’s side of the counter. Collectors giving away cards to other collectors to help them finish sets, trading with each other, helping youngsters get started in this hobby the right way . . . our customers do all of these things with regularity. We even host nights for the Boy Scouts to teach them about the fun of trading cards.
Boy Scouts taking part in a trade night at Fox Sports Cards.
We knew the first priority in our shop was making sure that we had inventory of all new products available at our store on the release day. Therefore, we set up accounts to order direct from the manufacturers. It was important for collectors to know that all of these products were available to purchase on release day. We wanted them to feel that their town of 17,000 wasn’t too small to have Exquisite Basketball on hand, nor would they need to order SP Authentic Baseball elsewhere. We wanted them to know that rest assured, the newest products are ALWAYS available at Fox Sports Cards.
The customers in our area have responded to this commitment from us by showing up on release day and purchasing the new products. Many will buy some for the first time, so that they can experience the new product along with other collectors in the store. Building a sense of community among our collectors has been a strong focus for us. It provides them with more than just someone to share their hobby with; it gives them a place to trade cards instead of only having our store or eBay to determine what their cards are worth.
By getting to know each other, they have become connected in each other’s lives. We have had several surprise birthday celebrations during our trade nights, and many a friendship has grown from these events.
Another busy night a Fox Sports Cards.
When we have an athlete signing in the store, we have many volunteers to help us with the event to help make it happen . . . whether it is security, running a cash register, or catering, they have all offered up help to us, because they want to see THEIR store succeed. Our customers have a sense of ownership (deservedly so) in our store. They want a store like this in their area, and they want it to continue to grow, so they support us in all of our ventures. We do a food drive during the holidays each year for the local food pantry, and hold a silent auction of memorabilia and cards donated by our customers, with 100% of the proceeds going to the same food pantry. Any successes we have enjoyed are due to the wonderful collectors in our area.
New York Giants running back Brandon Jacobs stops by to sign some autographs at Fox Sports Cards.
Our trade nights have become a huge event with collectors traveling from other towns to take part. We average anywhere from 35-75 people on any given trade night. We play pack wars, offer trivia, card trading, and giveaways to the collectors for 2-3 hours every other Saturday night. A customer wanted us to start offering group case breaks at the store, so we added that and it’s been a huge hit as well. We now average a group case break at least once a month. We’ll have customers who don’t even purchase basketball (as an example) join in a basketball group case break just so that it will fill up with enough people to do it. We have customers who contact each other about doing a group case break of Exquisite or some other higher end break, and do it at the store so that we can all see it and appreciate it.
One of the younger collectors at Fox Sports Cards showing off a Eddie Murray one-of-one printing plate cards he won at a trade night.
We also will film these breaks for our YouTube account. YouTube is used extensively by our store to show as many box breaks as we can, as we feel the best way to know what each product is delivering is to watch a break or two on YouTube. The people who watch our videos also have built a sense of community from watching us online. We have customers who have traveled from Boston and Phoenix, JUST to get a video shot of them opening in the store. That not only makes us work harder to keep up the effort, but humbles us as well.
What will you notice on your first visit to Fox Sports Cards? We keep a clean store, we are not the flea market store with the cluttered feeling that many other shops have. We want you to feel comfortable here, get a box, and bust it here. We’ll protect all your hits with soft sleeves and top loads, and bag up the rest. We can even shoot you on video if you like. We will treat you and yours like you are our family. We want you to feel at home here, because, if you are a card collector, you ARE at home here.
One of Fox Sports Cards customers showing off an Upper Deck shirt he won at a trade night.
Popularity: 23% [?]
