Archive for Ask UD
My name is Kelly Woodruff and over the past few weeks I have enjoyed getting the opportunity to speak with many of Upper Deck’s customers over the phone and connecting through email. I am Upper Deck’s Customer Care Supervisor and I recently moved to California for the position after working for Upper Deck’s Operations Department for a little over two years in North Carolina. I sincerely look forward to helping address any and all issues that arise within our customer base and our Customer Care Team is excited to be a helpful resource for collectors. As a long time sports fan I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to work in the sports industry.
You may have met UD's new Customer Care Supervisor, Kelly Woodruff, at the Stanley Cup Final last year.
I am excited to help Upper Deck improve in terms of engagement with our customers around the world. One of my greatest successes thus far has been helping to initiate the fulfillment of redemption cards for customers at trading card shows like the Spring Expo. Look for more of that in the future! I also want to help by sharing answers to some frequently asked questions here in our Customer Care group by bringing back the Ask UD segments.
Here are some of the questions we’ve received recently here at Upper Deck:
Ask Upper Deck: I have seen some customers getting their 2011-12 NHL Artifacts rookie redemption cards, but I haven’t received mine yet. When will I be getting my cards?
Kelly Woodruff: We added a new level of collectability with the 2011-12 NHL Artifacts set with the inclusion of the autographed versions of these cards. We had less subjects for the autograph cards and thus were able to start the process of getting those cards produced and signed much earlier. We were able to send out everything pending back in April for the autograph versions and then the unsigned versions came in after that. The unsigned versions took longer to get produced because we had to wait longer for rookies to skate and even then, some teams did not have a rookie skate by the time we had to go to press (Dallas Stars & Boston Bruins). For those teams who did not have a rookie skate (a NHL requirement for producing rookie cards), those redemption cards immediately became “wild cards” good for top tier rookies from other teams.
Autograph rookie redemptions certainly added more value, but added time to the shipping process for all Artifacts redemption cards.
With the inclusion of the autograph cards, we were a little late in starting the process of shipping out the unsigned cards. In years prior, we sent those out one by one, but this season we wanted to take the time to pull all the cards for each request and send them together so customers are not wondering where the rest of their cards are. This takes a little more time, but it appears to be the preferred method of delivering these cards based on feedback from our customers. We also allowed customers who were waiting on these cards the opportunity to pick them up at the 2012 NHL Spring Expo in May.
Eric Dion, these cards are for you! All seventeen of your Artifacts redemptions are being shipped together!
Our staff have been working diligently to get through the remaining outstanding redemption requests for these cards and it has been good to see excited collectors share their mail days for these cards on Facebook and Twitter in particular. Unfortunately there are thousands and thousands of cards to be sent, but we are working hard and logging overtime to get the shipping process completed in the next couple weeks. Keep checking the mailbox, we are in the homestretch here and we appreciate everyone’s patience!
Hundreds of packages containing Upper Deck Artifacts redemptions are shipping out each week to collectors. We are getting closer and closer to completing the shipping process.
Ask Upper Deck: I checked my account for an older redemption and it shows it mailed, but I never received it. What can I do?
Kelly Woodruff: First please check your address and make sure we have the correct address on file. Frequently collectors move and in those cases the cards are usually returned to us. If it is an address issue, update it online and give us a call so we can resend the cards to you. Additionally, please make sure you provide us with your accurate phone number and email address so we can reach out to you. Your information will never be shared and you will not be contacted unless there is a problem with delivering your redemptions to you.
Sometimes collectors move and do not change their information online or have a way for us to get a hold of them. Make sure all your information is updated on your online account!
If the address is correct, we’ll need you to fill out an affidavit so we can submit a claim and on occasion have the shipping company do a driver follow-up with you to review what may have occurred. Send an email to QA@upperdeck.com with all the key information and we will send you the affidavit. We must hear from you within six (6) months of shipping the card or else we cannot issue a claim and resend the card(s).
Ask Upper Deck: I understand there is a relatively new process for customers to get assistance on warranty issues for new Upper Deck products. What can you tell me about that?
Kelly Woodruff: Yes there is. We are happy to assist with issues on new Upper Deck products purchased from Certified Diamond Dealers for one (1) year from the product release. In order to assist customers with warranty issues on new Upper Deck products we will need a receipt from the Certified Diamond Dealer for hobby products or a receipt from the retailer for retail products. Additionally we need the UPC from the box or packs where there were issues.
After confirming you have that information handy, please call us at (800)873-7332 or email us at QA@upperdeck.com and share all the pertinent information regarding your warranty concern including your name, address, phone number and email address. If the claim is validated, Upper Deck is willing to provide assistance on issues with factory damaged cards, insert ratios, collation and redemption offers that have not expired. We will provide you with a case number to allow you to check the status of your claim and provide instructions on how to send your information in to receive assistance.
Ask Upper Deck: I want to buy some older product, but I’m worried I may pull a redemption that has expired and you can no longer honor. How do I protect myself from that?
Kelly Woodruff: Due to recent licensing changes with leagues, we are aware that there are collectors looking for older Upper Deck product that deliver good value, but we have made it very clear that if customers pull expired redemption cards, especially for leagues we no longer have a license for, we would not be able to assist with fulfilling those items. We encourage collectors who are looking to purchase older sealed cases, boxes and packs to contact us first so we can let you know if the redemptions are still valid and if we can honor those cards. You can reach us at (800)873-7332 and for more information about expired redemptions, please view this previous “Ask UD” post.
Could there be expired redemptions in the box you are about to buy? Contact us first to find out.
Ask Upper Deck: I have seen some box breaks where people are pulling more autographs than stated from 2012 Upper Deck College Football Legends. Some are buybacks from the original 1997 set. Which players are included?
Kelly Woodruff: We felt that including some original 1997 Legends Football cards would help create some good buzz for this product and they were seeded as an incremental hit above and beyond the autographs you are slated to receive on average. These are a true bonus and we have included top players like Joe Theisman, Billy Sims, Jim Plunkett and Fran Tarkenton to name a few. Worthy of note, every autograph card in the set is hard-signed on the card!
Ask Upper Deck: I keep looking for Upper Deck’s Avengers Assemble trading cards, but I cannot find them. Where can I pick up some boxes of packs of this product?
Kelly Woodruff: Much like the film, Upper Deck’s Avengers Assemble trading cards have been a huge hit and we have sold out of our allotment on the Upper Deck Online Store. If none of the Certified Diamond Dealer or retail locations in your area carry the product, please try our network of Authorized Internet Retailers who can ship directly to you. Click HERE to review that list of stores. You may also want to check out some of Upper Deck’s other Marvel products.
We are currently interviewing for a new Customer Care Supervisor so until we have selected someone, I wanted to provide some updates to general consumer queries. The Ask UD segments we do here can be a lot of help for answering questions collectors have, so hope you find this helpful.
Here are some of the questions we’ve received recently here at Upper Deck:
Ask Upper Deck: I know you sent some groupings of the 2010 Exquisite Football TBD redemptions in the past, but there hasn’t been much movement on them. I’m still waiting to receive mine. What is the latest with those cards?
Chris Carlin: Well first we want to apologize to our customers who pulled these cards for the delays tied to them. We understand this is a premium product and fans have been very patient for us to get them done. This particular redemption program has been one of the top programs our executive team reviews during a weekly redemption meting and we have been pushing hard to get them completed.
One of the reasons we used a new system where we didn’t share exactly who the players were was so if there were issues in getting them done in time, we could swap them out with other players and move on. We are now at the point where we are going to be walking away from deals for some of the players and working to create new cards with new players in some cases; predominantly with the rookie cards. It is important to us to move forward there in those circumstances to there are no holes in the set. The good news is that most of the premium rookies were completed and live in the product like Sam Bradford, Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy, Rob Gronkowski, Jahvid Best, Ndamakong Suh, Ryan Mathews and Dez Bryant. The rookie redemption cards were for regular autograph rookies and the players were more middle of the road players. By working to secure new deals and produce new cards, we are targeting new players that have performed a little better from that rookie class.
Additionally we have had some success with getting signing sessions done over the last few months which has freed up over 700 autograph cards from some of the better players in the set that we can now send out from this product. We will be sending those cards out over the next two weeks that should help bring closure to this redemption program for most of our collectors waiting on these cards.
After we ship this next lot, fans will have two choices if they are still waiting on these cards. If a customer has not seen the status on their redemption change by Monday, February 20 they can now request to have their card exchanged should they wish to no longer wait on them. We are in the process of establishing set values for these redemptions to use in exchanging these cards based on what they have sold for in the secondary market. Should a customer wish to have their card exchanged starting on Monday, February 20, they can send an email to time2swap@upperdeck.com listing out the card(s) in question from their account they want exchanged and what teams/players they have interest in. The customer should also be specific if they only want their card replaced with other Exquisite Football cards from other years. We have a good amount of stock of premium football autograph cards from other brands, but we know that some Exquisite fans prefer to have their card replaced with one from the same brand. From there we will work dutifully to swap those out through the end of February and March.
Fans do also have the option to continue to wait on these cards as we are going to be producing cards to fill in this set. That process will take time however as we need to reprint new cards to get signed by these athletes. We will continue to provide updates on that process for fans desirous of getting the cards needed to put the set together.
Ask Upper Deck: I’m trying to update my address on UpperDeck.com for my redemptions and I keep getting an error message.
Chris Carlin: We recently did some updates to our servers and became aware of some issues customers were having with their online accounts after that took place. Our IT team has been working hard to fix this issue and we are happy to report it has been resolved. Please feel free to log on today to update your address or register for a new redemption account!
Ask Upper Deck: I have been trying to call Upper Deck Customer Care, but I keep getting messages the team is not available. How can I speak to someone on an issue I am having?
Chris Carlin: We unexpectedly lost some key members of our Customer Care team and are in the process of sourcing for replacements. Unfortunately it is not very easy to go out into the job market and hire someone who knows a lot about our products so it takes awhile to find the right match. If you are a fan of Upper Deck Sports Cards living in the Southern California area and would love the opportunity to join the team with an entry level position with our Customer Care group, we encourage you to apply today by clicking here.
In the meantime the Customer Care staff has been working dutifully on answering emails received from consumers and we are dedicating other resources to help them out. We anticipate representatives will be back to taking consumer calls in the next 2-3 weeks and we will provide an update once they are back on the phones full-time.
Ask Upper Deck: I keep hearing chatter that Upper Deck may honor expired redemptions. Is there any truth to that?
Chris Carlin: No there is not. We have spoken to that subject before here on the Upper Deck Blog. We absolutely cannot honor expired redemption offers for leagues we no longer have the licenses for like MLB, NFL and NBA. We urge collectors to be careful when purchasing older sealed Upper Deck product because if there are issues with damage, collation, insert ratio or expired redemption offers, we unfortunately will not be able to assist there. If you choose to buy that product, you are purchasing it as is, similar to buying an item that is no longer under warranty.
In fact, we are in the process of closing out all those outstanding redemptions programs for those leagues starting with MLB. For fans currently waiting on redemptions from those leagues, we hope to complete that process of fulfilling or swapping out cards for those sports that were redeemed in time over the next few months.
Should collectors have a redemption card that has expired from NHL, CLC or MLS products, we will check to see if we still have inventory on the card and assist if possible, but we certainly cannot make any guarantees. As a general rule, if a card has been expired for over a year, collectors should not anticipate we will be able to assist with it.
Ask Upper Deck: What happened with the Stick Kid at the NHL All-Star Skills Competition? That was such a neat story!
Chris Carlin: We thought so too. Here’s more on Currie Giesler who was named Upper Deck’s Stick Kid for the NHL All-Star festivities. Long story short, he had an amazing time. Check out some of the images of him at the event and the thank you letter he sent:
Ask Upper Deck: I have been waiting on a Wayne Gretzky autograph for a long time now. Any updates on when he will sign?
Chris Carlin: A player like Wayne typically likes to sign just a few times a year which unfortunately causes us to use redemptions on occasion. We apologize for the delays these cause, it is our intention to have these cards live in the pack, but unfortunately that does not always happen. But the thrill of receiving an autograph from “The Great One” is really an experience that is second to none. Today was exciting for us as we received a whole box of autograph cards signed by Wayne Gretzky that we will be sending over to our Redemption headquarters, having them review for quality, package and ship out to fans who have been waiting on them.
Here is more on some of the cards we received:
My goal as Upper Deck’s Customer Care Supervisor is to help educate our collectors and fans so they can have a better experience with our collectible products. I’ve found that we get a lot of similar calls into our call center so it is beneficial to share what those questions are and provide answers in a public format here on the blog. You will find some really great information about our industry just by going through some of these “Ask UD” segments here on the blog. If you have questions yourself, please feel free to leave a comment and “Ask UD!”
Ask Upper Deck: I pulled an expired redemption, can you still honor it?
Gregg Cacioppo: We have talked before about why redemption cards expire and all the things Upper Deck does to avoid using redemption cards in the first place, but there are circumstances where fans may come across expired redemption cards.
This is a pretty frequent question as of late because due to licensing changes many fans are going back to older Upper Deck products for MLB, NBA and NFL to get the value they have come to expect from those products. Unfortunately because of those licensing changes, our hands are really tied on expired offers for those sports in particular. We cannot honor those cards any longer and we have worked to get most of them out into the market through redemption exchanges. Additionally we are working diligently to clean out some of those older MLB, NBA and NFL redemptions to get collectors taken care of on them.
We really want to caution our fans to be careful when purchasing packs, boxes and cases of those older products. You can get a good deal on them in most cases, but it is usually because the sellers realize that if there are issues with damaged, insert ratio or expired offers, there is little we can do to help unfortunately. If you are purchasing older Upper Deck product, please understand you are purchasing it as is. Any special offers contained therein are no longer valid and cannot be honored.
Are there exceptions to the rule? Yes. Should a customer pull a recently expired redemption card from a product line we still have a license for (NHL, CLC or Soccer) we may be able to help. Customers can contact our Customer Care division after the first of the year at (800)873-7332 and we will review your situation to see if we still have the card in stock or may be able to assist with at least a little something. We will assign fans a case number and work with them on a resolution. Given the amount of claims we are currently processing, we will not process any new claims on expired offers until after the first of the year to give us time to work through existing claims.
For fans who currently have a claim in with us on an expired redemption card and have received a case number, please be patient. Our main priority is getting our current redemption cards and turning around replacement requests on current product for our customers. Processing expired requests come after those projects and those projects will keep us very busy as we head into the holidays.
Ask Upper Deck: There are some great autograph cards in 2011 NHL Parkhurst Champions. Will you be sharing a short print list for them?
Gregg Cacioppo: We are really happy with the initial feedback on the product. It is a set that autograph fans in particular are really enjoying. We are not sharing exact print runs on the autograph cards in the checklist, but are releasing group ratios with odds on pulling some of these cards. The breakdown on the 2011 NHL Parkhurst Champions autograph cards is listed below:
BASE SET AUTOGRAPHS (1-100)
Overall Odds 1:14
Group A Odds 1:696
Group B Odds 1:523
Group C Odds 1:206
Group D Odds 1:110
Group E Odds 1:56
Group F Odds 1:28
| Card # | Player |
| 1 | Wayne Gretzky C |
| 2 | Gordie Howe C |
| 3 | Bobby Orr D |
| 4 | Mario Lemieux A |
| 5 | Patrick Roy A |
| 6 | Bobby Hull A |
| 7 | Jean Beliveau A |
| 8 | Mark Messier A |
| 9 | Guy Lafleur A |
| 10 | Ray Bourque A |
| 11 | Phil Esposito A |
| 12 | Stan Mikita A |
| 13 | Mike Bossy A |
| 14 | Denis Potvin B |
| 15 | Ted Lindsay C |
| 16 | Bobby Clarke C |
| 17 | Brett Hull A |
| 18 | Red Kelly B |
| 19 | Larry Robinson B |
| 20 | Jari Kurri C |
| 21 | Marcel Dionne B |
| 22 | Johnny Bucyk B |
| 23 | Gilbert Perreault C |
| 25 | Joe Sakic A |
| 26 | Peter Stastny C |
| 27 | Grant Fuhr A |
| 28 | Andy Bathgate B |
| 29 | Cam Neely B |
| 30 | Claude Lemieux D |
| 31 | Tony Esposito A |
| 32 | Luc Robitaille B |
| 33 | Denis Savard B |
| 34 | Darryl Sittler C |
| 35 | Steve Shutt B |
| 36 | Borje Salming B |
| 37 | Ron Francis A |
| 38 | Milt Schmidt E |
| 39 | Dale Hawerchuk C |
| 40 | Doug Gilmour C |
| 41 | Dino Ciccarelli C |
| 42 | Johnny Bower C |
| 43 | Glenn Anderson B |
| 44 | Adam Oates E |
| 45 | Clark Gillies C |
| 46 | Guy Carbonneau E |
| 47 | Ron Hextall B |
| 48 | Igor Larionov A |
| 49 | Rogie Vachon A |
| 50 | Alex Delvecchio D |
| 51 | Wendel Clark A |
| 52 | Neal Broten C |
| 53 | Joe Mullen B |
| 54 | Brad Park C |
| 55 | Richard Brodeur D |
| 56 | Bill Ranford D |
| 57 | Reggie Leach F |
| 58 | Bernie Federko C |
| 59 | Terry O’Reilly C |
| 60 | Harry Howell D |
| 61 | Bill Barber F |
| 62 | Anton Stastny C |
| 63 | Rick MacLeish F |
| 64 | Ken Morrow D |
| 65 | Tony Twist F |
| 66 | Wilf Paiement E |
| 67 | Doug Wilson F |
| 68 | Dave Schultz C |
| 69 | Ken Hodge F |
| 70 | Thomas Steen D |
| 71 | Duane Sutter E |
| 72 | Mike Liut D |
| 73 | Bernie Nicholls F |
| 74 | Brent Sutter E |
| 75 | Dave Taylor D |
| 76 | Ron Sutter E |
| 77 | Rejean Lemelin F |
| 78 | Steve Larmer D |
| 79 | Don Beaupre F |
| 80 | Darryl Sutter E |
| 81 | Mark Howe F |
| 82 | Russ Courtnall F |
| 83 | Tony Tanti C |
| 84 | Tim Kerr F |
| 85 | Mike Foligno E |
| 86 | Marty McSorley D |
| 87 | Danny Gare F |
| 88 | Basil McRae F |
| 89 | Brian Sutter E |
| 90 | Rich Sutter E |
| 91 | Stan Smyl E |
| 92 | Al Iafrate F |
| 93 | Jim Neilson E |
| 94 | Pat Stapleton F |
| 95 | Mike Gartner F |
| 96 | Rick Middleton A |
| 97 | Willi Plett D |
| 98 | Gilles Villemure F |
| 99 | Wayne Gretzky A |
| 100 | Gordie Howe A |
WIRE PHOTO AUTOS (101-120)
Overall Odds 1:354
Group A Odds 1:2,145
Group B Odds 1:1,247
Group C Odds 1:642
| Card # | Player |
| 101 | Wayne Gretzky B |
| 102 | Mario Lemieux A |
| 103 | Gordie Howe C |
| 104 | Bobby Orr C |
| 105 | Brett Hull A |
| 106 | Mark Messier A |
| 107 | Patrick Roy A |
| 108 | Luc Robitaille C |
| 109 | Marcel Dionne B |
| 110 | Bobby Clarke C |
| 111 | Ray Bourque B |
| 112 | Denis Potvin B |
| 113 | Red Kelly C |
| 114 | Phil Esposito A |
| 115 | Johnny Bower C |
| 116 | Mike Bossy B |
| 117 | Ted Lindsay C |
| 118 | Larry Robinson B |
| 119 | Jean Beliveau A |
| 120 | Wendel Clark A |
WIRE PHOTO MULTI-PLAYER AUTOS (121-130)
Overall Odds 1:2,093
Group A Odds 1:24,000
Group B Odds 1:2,293
| Card # | Player |
| 121 | Larry Robinson/Dale Hawerchuk B |
| 122 | Brad Park/Bill Barber B |
| 123 | Wayne Gretzky/Gordie Howe B |
| 124 | Mark Messier/Jari Kurri B |
| 125 | Gordie Howe/Johnny Bower B |
| 126 | Bobby Hull/Stan Mikita B |
| 127 | Ted Lindsay/Gordie Howe B |
| 128 | Tony Esposito/Bobby Orr B |
| 129 | Phil Esposito/Bobby Clarke/Bobby Orr A |
| 130 | Phil Esposito/Johnny Bucyk/Bobby Orr A |
RENDITIONS COLOR AUTOS (131-150)
Overall Odds 1:614
Group A Odds 1:11,993
Group B Odds 1:1,353
Group C Odds 1:1,241
| Card # | Player |
| 131 | Wayne Gretzky B |
| 132 | Bobby Orr C |
| 133 | Gordie Howe B |
| 134 | Mario Lemieux A |
| 135 | Brett Hull A |
| 136 | Patrick Roy B |
| 137 | Mark Messier B |
| 138 | Guy Lafleur B |
| 139 | Stan Mikita B |
| 140 | Mike Bossy B |
| 141 | Bobby Hull B |
| 142 | Bobby Clarke B |
| 143 | Ray Bourque B |
| 144 | Dale Hawerchuk C |
| 145 | Cam Neely B |
| 146 | Rogie Vachon C |
| 147 | Peter Stastny C |
| 148 | Darryl Sittler C |
| 150 | Gilbert Perreault C |
RENDITIONS BLACK & WHITE AUTOS (151-160)
Overall Odds 1:3,214
| Card # | Player |
| 151 | Patrick Roy |
| 152 | Bobby Orr |
| 153 | Guy Lafleur |
| 154 | Phil Esposito |
| 155 | Mark Messier |
| 156 | Jean Beliveau |
| 157 | Bobby Hull |
| 158 | Gordie Howe |
| 159 | Mario Lemieux |
| 160 | Wayne Gretzky |
CHAMP’S MINIS AUTOS (1-45)
Overall Odds 1:80
Group A Odds 1:1,645
Group B Odds 1:808
Group C Odds 1:413
Group D Odds 1:334
Group E Odds 1:191
| Card # | Player |
| 2 | Denis Savard B |
| 3 | Stan Mikita A |
| 4 | Adam Oates E |
| 5 | Alex Delvecchio E |
| 8 | Don Cherry B |
| 9 | Andy Bathgate C |
| 10 | Borje Salming B |
| 11 | Clark Gillies C |
| 12 | Dale Hawerchuk D |
| 13 | Denis Potvin C |
| 15 | Duane Sutter E |
| 16 | Gilbert Perreault D |
| 17 | Jari Kurri D |
| 18 | Cam Neely C |
| 19 | Larry Robinson C |
| 20 | Marcel Dionne C |
| 21 | Red Kelly E |
| 22 | Scotty Bowman A |
| 23 | Rogie Vachon B |
| 24 | Ted Lindsay D |
| 25 | Terry O’Reilly D |
| 26 | Doug Gilmour C |
| 27 | Johnny Bucyk C |
| 28 | Luc Robitaille B |
| 29 | Tony Esposito A |
| 30 | Steve Shutt B |
| 32 | Mark Howe E |
| 33 | Darryl Sittler B |
| 35 | Igor Larionov A |
| 36 | Ron Francis A |
| 37 | Willie O’Ree E |
| 38 | Wendel Clark A |
| 39 | Ron Hextall B |
| 40 | Glenn Anderson B |
| 41 | Joe Sakic A |
| 42 | Ray Bourque A |
| 43 | Peter Stastny C |
| 44 | Johnny Bower D |
| 45 | Grant Fuhr A |
CHAMP’S MINIS SHORT-PRINT AUTOS (46-57)
Overall Odds 1:1,115
Group A Odds 1:12,005
Group B Odds 1:2,183
Group C Odds 1:2,814
| Card # | Player |
| 46 | Bobby Hull B |
| 47 | Patrick Roy A |
| 48 | Mark Messier B |
| 49 | Brett Hull B |
| 50 | Bobby Orr C |
| 51 | Phil Esposito B |
| 52 | Bobby Clarke C |
| 53 | Mario Lemieux A |
| 54 | Guy Lafleur B |
| 55 | Mike Bossy C |
| 56 | Gordie Howe B |
| 57 | Wayne Gretzky B |
Ask Upper Deck: Will Upper Deck be attending the Fall Expo and running your Priority Signings wrapper redemption program and have other fun giveaways like you have in the past?
Gregg Cacioppo: Yes, we will be attending the 2011 Sportscard & Memorabilia Fall Expo in Toronto on November 11, 12 and 13. We will have our popular Priority Signings program taking place as well, but fans will need to make sure they are purchasing their boxes of 2011 NHL Parkhurst Champions, 2011-12 NHL Artifacts or 2011-12 NHL Upper Deck Series One from a Certified Diamond Dealer in attendance at the show. Those retailers will be providing customers with special vouchers they can redeem at the Upper Deck booth for Priority Signings cards as customers open up packs. We will be sharing a lot more information on this show the week before it takes place.
Upper Deck has a lot of great activities at the Expo to keep fans fired up throughout the weekend. Don't miss it!
Never been to the Expo before? Take a look at what you can expect if you make it out by clicking here.
Ask Upper Deck: I’m excited about the new Biography of a Season program, but I’d love to see some of the actual cards. Especially the card of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins!
Gregg Cacioppo: We love that we have been able to engage our fans and have them help contribute to the cards that will be found in the 2011-12 NHL Biography of a Season set. We did run into one issue with regard to one of the cards we planned to produce which was a tribute to the former NHL players who passed away in the offseason. There was no way to really showcase all the players who passed away and do justice to them on one trading card. Additionally there were other licensing challenges we were faced with. We had to replace that card with a card highlighting the NHL’s return to Winnipeg which we think collectors will enjoy since that is such a huge story. We apologize to fans who were looking forward to seeing the commemorative card, we just were not able to pull it off. In the meantime, check out some of the images of some of the other cards in the set!
My goal as Upper Deck’s Customer Care Supervisor is to help educate our collectors and fans so they can have a better experience with our collectible products. I’ve found that we get a lot of similar calls into our call center so it is beneficial to share what those questions are and provide answers in a public format here on the blog. You will find some really great information about our industry just by going through some of these “Ask UD” segments here on the blog. If you have questions yourself, please feel free to leave a comment and “Ask UD!”
Ask Upper Deck: When will we know who the Young Guns will be in 2011-12 NHL Upper Deck Series One?
Gregg Cacioppo: Well the season is now underway which is awesome. Sean Couturier of the Philadelphia Flyers played last night so he is clear to use and there are a variety of key rookies who will hit the ice this weekend allowing us to make cards of them. Our hockey team is in for a busy weekend monitoring who skates and then compiling the checklist for the 2011-12 NHL Upper Deck Series One Young Guns set. We should have that checklist finalized within the next 1-2 weeks so look for details on that soon!
There is always a lot of excitement about which players will be in the Upper Deck Young Guns set!
Ask Upper Deck: I think your new University of Texas and University of Oklahoma Football card sets are really cool, but when will you make a card set for my college football program?
Gregg Cacioppo: These sets have really captured the imagination of college football fans and that is what we were hoping for. We are excited about launching them with two storied programs like the Texas Longhorns and Oklahoma Sooners. And we know that college football fans are very passionate so you can expect that UD will produce trading card sets for some of the other larger programs in the future. Additionally, you can still plan on seeing players from smaller schools throughout our other mainstream college football sets like SP Authentic and the new College Football Legends set coming out towards the holidays this year. Feel free to share what programs and players you would like to see us target for future sets in the comments section below.
Ask Upper Deck: I was hoping you could share some print run information on 2011-12 NHL O-Pee-Chee autograph and memorabilia cards.
Gregg Cacioppo: We do not make it a practice to share print run information on cards that are not already sequentially numbered. We will on occasion release some groupings however with odds of pulling the cards and we are happy to do that now with 2011-12 NHL O-Pee-Chee. Here is the list of the different groupings in that set:
| O-Pee-Chee Signatures | ||
| Card # | Subject(s) | Ratio |
| OS-BB | Brian Boyle A | Group A 1:103,626 |
| OS-AH | Ales Hemsky B | Group B 1:8,726 |
| OS-AO | Alexander Ovechkin B | Group B 1:8,726 |
| OS-MO | John Moore B | Group B 1:8,726 |
| OS-NB | Niclas Bergfors B | Group B 1:8,726 |
| OS-DB | David Backes C | Group C 1:5,527 |
| OS-KV | Kris Versteeg C | Group C 1:5,527 |
| OS-PM | Peter Mueller C | Group C 1:5,527 |
| OS-AL | Andrew Ladd D | Group D 1:937 |
| OS-AS | Alex Stalock D | Group D 1:937 |
| OS-DS | Drayson Bowman D | Group D 1:937 |
| OS-JO | Jim O’Brien D | Group D 1:937 |
| OS-JV | Jakub Voracek D | Group D 1:937 |
| OS-KD | Kaspars Daugavins D | Group D 1:937 |
| OS-KS | Kevin Shattenkirk D | Group D 1:937 |
| OS-AK | Arturs Kulda E | Group E 1:307 |
| OS-BM | Brett MacLean E | Group E 1:307 |
| OS-JA | Jamie Arniel E | Group E 1:307 |
| OS-JM | Justin Mercier E | Group E 1:307 |
| OS-MA | Jacob Markstrom E | Group E 1:307 |
| OS-MT | Mattias Tedenby E | Group E 1:307 |
| OS-MZ | Mats Zuccarello E | Group E 1:307 |
| OS-PB | Patrik Berglund E | Group E 1:307 |
| OS-RB | Richard Bachman E | Group E 1:307 |
| OS-RM | Ryan McDonagh E | Group E 1:307 |
| OS-TM | Thomas McCollum E | Group E 1:307 |
| OS-TT | Tomas Tatar E | Group E 1:307 |
| O-Pee-Chee Team Canada Signatures | ||
| TC-AC | Andrew Cogliano A | Group A 1:1,836 |
| TC-AP | Alex Pietrangelo A | Group A 1:1,836 |
| TC-BO | Bobby Orr A | Group A 1:1,836 |
| TC-BY | Brayden Schenn A | Group A 1:1,836 |
| TC-DD | Drew Doughty A | Group A 1:1,836 |
| TC-EK | Evander Kane A | Group A 1:1,836 |
| TC-HA | Taylor Hall A | Group A 1:1,836 |
| TC-JE | Jordan Eberle A | Group A 1:1,836 |
| TC-JT | John Tavares A | Group A 1:1,836 |
| TC-LC | Logan Couture A | Group A 1:1,836 |
| TC-MD | Matt Duchene A | Group A 1:1,836 |
| TC-MT | Maxime Talbot A | Group A 1:1,836 |
| TC-PM | Patrick Marleau A | Group A 1:1,836 |
| TC-PS | P.K. Subban A | Group A 1:1,836 |
| TC-SC | Sidney Crosby A | Group A 1:1,836 |
| TC-SG | Simon Gagne A | Group A 1:1,836 |
| TC-SS | Steven Stamkos A | Group A 1:1,836 |
| TC-WG | Wayne Gretzky A | Group A 1:1,836 |
| TC-CH | Cody Hodgson B | Group B 1:1,407 |
| TC-GL | Guillaume Latendresse B | Group B 1:1,407 |
| TC-JC | Jared Cowen B | Group B 1:1,407 |
| TC-KA | Karl Alzner B | Group B 1:1,407 |
| TC-SD | Stefan Della Rovere B | Group B 1:1,407 |
| TC-TH | Travis Hamonic B | Group B 1:1,407 |
| TC-BS | Brandon Sutter C | Group C 1:944 |
| TC-CA | Jordan Caron C | Group C 1:944 |
| TC-MS | Marco Scandella C | Group C 1:944 |
| TC-PC | Patrice Cormier C | Group C 1:944 |
| TC-TE | Tyler Ennis C | Group C 1:944 |
| O-Pee-Chee Souvenirs | ||
| OPC-#1#2 | Wayne Gretzky/Mario Lemieux/Sidney Crosby/Alexander Ovechkin A | Group A 1:37,404 h |
| OPC-GR8 | Mario Lemieux/Mark Messier/Joe Sakic/Steve Yzerman A | Group A 1:37,404 h |
| OPC-PIM | Colton Orr/Daniel Carcillo/Matt Carkner/George Parros B | Group B 1:29,923 |
| OPC-CAPS | Alexander Ovechkin/Nicklas Backstrom/Alexander Semin/Mike Green (Wa Capitals) C | Group C 1:14,962 |
| OPC-DET | Henrik Zetterberg/Johan Franzen/Nicklas Lidstrom/Pavel Datsyuk D | Group D 1:2,494 |
| OPC-LBBR | P.K. Subban/Carey Price/Tomas Plekanec/Michael Cammalleri D | Group D 1:2,494 |
| OPC-PENS | Evgeni Malkin/Jordan Staal/Sidney Crosby/Marc-Andre Fleury D | Group D 1:2,494 |
| OPC-BLUES | Jaroslav Halak/Patrik Berglund/David Backes/David Perron E | Group E 1:156 |
| OPC-BOLTS | Steven Stamkos/Vincent Lecavalier/Martin St. Louis/Victor Hedman E | Group E 1:156 |
| OPC-BOS | Zdeno Chara/Patrice Bergeron/Tuukka Rask/Tim Thomas E | Group E 1:156 |
| OPC-BUF | Thomas Vanek/Tyler Myers/Nathan Gerbe/Tyler Ennis E | Group E 1:156 |
| OPC-CBJ | Derick Brassard/Rick Nash/Jakub Voracek/Nikita Filatov E | Group E 1:156 |
| OPC-CGY | Jarome Iginla/Miikka Kiprusoff/Jay Bouwmeester/Rene Bourque E | Group E 1:156 |
| OPC-CHI | Jonathan Toews/Patrick Kane/Marian Hossa/Brent Seabrook E | Group E 1:156 |
| OPC-DAL | Jamie Benn/Brad Richards/Loui Eriksson/Alex Goligoski E | Group E 1:156 |
| OPC-FLYER | Daniel Briere/Jeff Carter/Scott Hartnell/Daniel Carcillo E | Group E 1:156 |
| OPC-LAK | Jonathan Quick/Drew Doughty/Anze Kopitar/Ryan Smyth E | Group E 1:156 |
| OPC-NASH | Pekka Rinne/Shea Weber/Ryan Suter/Patric Hornqvist E | Group E 1:156 |
| OPC-NJD | Travis Zajac/Patrik Elias/Zach Parise/David Clarkson E | Group E 1:156 |
| OPC-NUCKS | Roberto Luongo/Alexandre Burrows/Ryan Kesler/Alexander Edler E | Group E 1:156 |
| OPC-NYI | Josh Bailey/Matt Moulson/Kyle Okposo/Rick DiPietro E | Group E 1:156 |
| OPC-NYR | Henrik Lundqvist/Marc Staal/Marian Gaborik/Derek Stepan E | Group E 1:156 |
| OPC-OTT | Jason Spezza/Nick Foligno/Daniel Alfredsson/Sergei Gonchar E | Group E 1:156 |
| OPC-POE1 | John Tavares/Cody Hodgson/Jordan Eberle/Evander Kane E | Group E 1:156 |
| OPC-POE2 | P.K. Subban/Tyler Myers/Alex Pietrangelo/Keith Aulie E | Group E 1:156 |
| OPC-POE3 | Patrice Cormier/Jamie Benn/Stefan Della Rovere/Zach Boychuk E | Group E 1:156 |
| OPC-SABRE | Derek Roy/Ryan Miller/Drew Stafford/Jason Pominville E | Group E 1:156 |
| OPC-SJS | Joe Thornton/Dany Heatley/Patrick Marleau/Devin Setoguchi E | Group E 1:156 |
| OPC-VAN | Ryan Kesler/Henrik Sedin/Daniel Sedin/Cody Hodgson E | Group E 1:156 |
| OPC-WILD | Jose Theodore/Pierre-Marc Bouchard/Mikko Koivu/Niklas Backstrom E | Group E 1:156 |
| OPC-WPG | Dustin Byfuglien/Ondrej Pavelec/Evander Kane/Tobias Enstrom E | Group E 1:156 |
Ask Upper Deck: Any new redemption updates?
Gregg Cacioppo: Now that the NHL season is underway, we have a much better opportunity to track players down. We expect to see some movement on items from delinquent signers over the next couple months so make sure to watch your redemption account for when new products come in.
In terms of what the redemption team is working on right now, the main project is the Goodwin Champions Entomology cards. These are all different sizes so packaging them takes a lot of time, but its worth so that our customers have a great mail day when their specimens arrive! Those are all in the process of mailing right now. Additionally, the Derrick Rose autograph cards have been checked for quality and are in the shipping process. Next up are the P.K. Subban SPx rookie autograph cards that are currently in the production process and should be ready to ship in the coming weeks.
Ask Upper Deck: How do I get a job at Upper Deck?
Gregg Cacioppo: That can be a little tough. I actually started as an intern for Upper Deck which was great because I was able to get to know all the different business units and find out what I liked the best. I was offered a position while interning and the rest is history. It is very difficult for us to go out into the job market and find someone who knows a ton about our industry, so we do a lot of promoting from within. Most employment opportunities for Upper Deck are entry-level at our Carlsbad, California or Morrisville, North Carolina facilities.
Currently we are looking to ramp up our efforts with redemptions and we are hiring on a new Redemption Clerk for our Morrisville, North Carolina facility. Here’s the job description:
POSITION SUMMARY
Responsible for processing Upper Deck Company redemption cards into the on-line Redemptions system including pulling, quality checking, hand numbering, packaging and mailing out redemption cards to the customer. Update redemption inventory into Sam tracker. Organize the process flow of redemptions. Monitor and update expired redemption inventory when redemption cards expire. Responsible for linking every redemption created from Sam tracker to Redemptions manager application. Assist sports coordinators with post production verification of UDC product.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- Data entry; on-line redemptions.
- Fulfillment; pulling, quality checking, hand numbering, packaging and manifesting via FedEx, UPS and regular mail.
- Modifies and creates data associated with redemption card information.
- Receives and inputs completed redemptions into Sam tracker.
- Monitors and removes upcoming expired redemptions.
- Inputs card identification number from Sam Tracker into redemption manager for every redemption card created.
- Assists Sports Coordinators by verifying end of job sheets and confirming if inventory is needed.
- Qualifies customer physical mail against unique Salesforce.com case #’s to verify contents and issue reported.
- Open product, generate winner list and fulfill No Purchase Necessary program entries.
- Organize and sort EOJ and QA card allocations.
EDUCATION/YEARS EXPERIENCE
- High School Diploma.
- 1+ years of experience in the field of shipping, receiving, or logistics.
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES
- Basic knowledge of commonly used shipping/receiving industry concepts, practices, and procedures.
- Competent oral and written communication skills in English; additional languages a plus.
- Strong organizational skills with the ability to handle multiple, high priority projects with a keen attention to detail.
- Professional demeanor; team player orientation.
- Relies on instructions and standard operating procedures. Works under immediate supervision while exercising minimal independent judgment.
- Hands on, energetic and motivated self-starter.
- Basic data entry abilities.
- Proficiency in the following software or systems: MS Office (basic Word and Excel); manifesting; FedEx and UPS.
If you are in the North Carolina area and interested at getting your foot in the door with our organization, you can email your resume and cover letter for this position to UpperDeckMarketing@upperdeck.com. Good luck!
My goal as Upper Deck’s Customer Care Supervisor is to help educate our collectors and fans so they can have a better experience with our collectible products. I’ve found that we get a lot of similar calls into our call center so it is beneficial to share what those questions are and provide answers in a public format here on the blog. You will find some really great information about our industry just by going through some of these “Ask UD” segments here on the blog. If you have questions yourself, please feel free to leave a comment and “Ask UD!”
Here are some of the questions we’ve received recently in Customer Care:
Ask Upper Deck: I redeemed my 2010 Exquisite Football redemptions some time ago, but I haven’t received them yet, nor do I know who I will be receiving. When will I get these?
Gregg Cacioppo: We changed up the way we redeem some of these hard-signed cards for 2010 Exquisite Football to eliminate situations where customers are waiting on particular athletes to sign their cards for years. We produced less redemption cards so we could cut ties with players who are not signing in an expeditious fashion for us and begin fulfilling for collectors from the pool of cards we have received in. We now have enough cards in for some groups from the Exquisite Football product that we can begin fulfilling them.
Collectors who busted 2010 Exquisite Football will start to see a portion of their redemptions shipping shortly.
These cards will be shipped to collectors at random so those who redeemed them will not know which cards they will get until that envelope arrives at their door; kind of like opening a pack. We can however share a listing of some of the players available so collectors have a better idea of what to expect. Among the players we are currently sending out, collectors may find signatures from Ronnie Brown, Tony Romo, Ben Tate, Bo Jackson, Mark Sanchez, Matt Ryan, C.J. Spiller, Jahvid Best, Ryan Matthews, Bernie Kosar, John Capelletti, Charles White, Dan Marino, George Rogers, Jack Ham and Garrett Graham.
Will Tony Romo be arriving at your door?
Or will it be something even more rare like this triple signed card of Ryan, Sanchez and Romo.
The majority of the remaining content consists of 2010 rookies in particular. Great efforts are being made to get the remaining cards signed so we can begin shipping other groups of these cards later on this season.
Ask Upper Deck: I saw your previews of 2010-11 NHL The Cup on Facebook and want to buy some packs of these cards, but some dealers are saying the are already sold out and the product isn’t even out yet. How can I get some packs of this product?
Gregg Cacioppo: This is the most limited NHL trading card product we produce all season and it is in very high demand. We would love to just produce more of it to meet customer demand, but our business is different than most others since we are making a collectible product. If we were to number cards higher and make more packs, 2010-11 NHL The Cup would cease to be as collectible and would ultimately be less desirable. We would rather apologize for it being tough to find and loaded with great content, than to mass produce it and have collectors disappointed with what the received after opening packs.
NHL collectors cannot wait to get their hands on new packs of 2010-11 NHL The Cup which is set to release August 31.
Many shops pre-sell the product so even though 2010-11 NHL The Cup will not release in stores until August 31, there is the chance shops may have already sold through their allocation of the product. If you are looking to get the product, make sure to reach out to your shop owner now so he can get reserve a pack for you.
Collectors hope to find super-rare autograph inserts like these Legendary Cuts cards featuring authentic signatures of deceased legends.
Only Upper Deck can deliver Wayne Gretzky trading cards to collectors and there will be some "great ones" in 2010-11 NHL The Cup.
UD pulls out all the stops to make the release of The Cup memorable for collectors by loading it with great content. The only difficult part is tracking down the packs before they have all been sold!
That being said, we highly encourage collectors to be careful with where they purchase 2010-11 NHL The Cup in particular. Since it is such a high-end release, we have seen issues where people play games with the product by carefully opening the product, taking out the better cards and then trying to reseal it to sell to an excited collector who thinks they are getting a good deal. PLEASE make sure you are only purchasing a high-end product like this from Certified Diamond Dealers or our network of Authorized Internet Retailers. We cannot assist collectors with issues if the product is purchased from a non-authorized source.
Ask Upper Deck: I pulled a redemption card for Derrick Rose, when is he going to be signing?
Gregg Cacioppo: Great news, Derrick recently finished a signing session for us this week and we received autograph cards for redemption request from sets like 2011 All-Time Greats Basketball, 2011 SP Authentic Basketball, 2011 Goodwin Champions, 2010 SP Authentic Basketball and 2008-09 SP Rookie Threads Basketball. We are in the process of checking the cards for any potential quality issues then we will be packaging them and shipping them out to fans from there.
Ask Upper Deck: I saw previews of the 2011 Goodwin Champions Entomology cards at the 2011 National Sports Collectors Convention, but when will they all be done and ship out?
Gregg Cacioppo: I am pleased to share that Upper Deck has completed the production of the 2011 Goodwin Champions Entomology cards this week. The cards are in the process of being shipped to our redemption center where they will be checked for quality, packaged and shipped to customers in the United States who have redeemed them. Packaging these cards can take awhile as they are not traditional trading cards. Extra care is taken to make sure collectors get them in great condition. We anticipate they will begin shipping in early September.
There are quite a few new creepy crawly critters in the 2011 Goodwin Champions Entomology insert set.
Here’s more on the cards from UD’s Grant Sandground.
And here is the full checklist of Entomology cards in the 2011 Goodwin Champions set.
| ENT1 | Frog-legged Beetle |
| ENT2 | Fork Horned Rhino Beetle |
| ENT3 | Malachite |
| ENT4 | Silky Owl Butterfly |
| ENT5 | Painted Jay |
| ENT6 | Rainbow Jewled Beetle |
| ENT7 | Toothed Warior Beetle |
| ENT8 | Blue Stiped Weevil |
| ENT9 | Zebra Nymph Butterfly |
| ENT10 | Umbrella Horned Rhino Beetle |
| ENT11 | Ruddy Daggerwing |
| ENT12 | Blue Violet Jungle Glories |
| ENT13 | Fantsy Click Beetle |
| ENT14 | Teueros Birdwing Butterfly |
| ENT15 | Red Winged Grasshopper |
| ENT16 | Luna Moth |
| ENT17 | Festive Cicada |
| ENT18 | Giraffe Stag Beetle |
| ENT19 | Giant African Emperor Scorpion |
| ENT20 | Giant Water Bug |
| ENT21 | Giant Rice Paper Butterfly |
| ENT22 | Rusty Lace Wing Butterfly |
| ENT23 | Sapphire Damselfly |
| ENT24 | Dead Leaf Butterfly |
| ENT25 | Sunset Moth |
| ENT26 | Grand Owl Butterfly/Harlequin Beetle |
| ENT27 | Peanut Head Lanternfly |
| ENT29 | Snakehead Silk Moth |
| ENT30 | Flashing Walking Stick |
