Archive for Brag Photo of the Week
Brag Photo of the Week: Freedom Card Board Awards
Posted by: | CommentsAt Upper Deck we work very hard to deliver the best trading card products to the marketplace. Our ability to leverage our endorsement deals with top athletes while remaining the most innovative trading card company in the industry, helps us to deliver on that goal. At the recent 2010 National Sports Collectors Convention in Baltimore, we got to spend some time with Chris Gilmore and the rest of the Freedom Card Board team which had some exciting news for us.
Freedom Card Board is a very popular online community of trading card enthusiasts. The site provides product previews, updates, checklists, sell sheets, video, tips, interviews and most importantly, a chance for collectors to engage each other through very active message boards. Gilmore, who runs the active hobby site, decided at the end of last year to have members of the site vote for their favorite products of 2009 and wouldn’t you know it, Upper Deck took home a whopping four awards.
Upper Deck’s 2009 Ultimate Collection Baseball took home two FCB Awards while Exquisite Basketball and The Cup Hockey also drew honors. What makes these awards so special to the staff here at Upper Deck is that they were voted on by the passionate trading card aficionados who love opening new trading card releases. To be able to rack up so many awards is a real thrill for all the staff at 5909 Sea Otter Place and honestly has us motivated to earn even more awards in 2010.
Even though Upper Deck has won its fair share of product awards since making its hobby debut 22 years ago, these definitely mean a lot to us which is why we have them positioned in front of all the other awards we’ve received. Thanks again to all the fans at www.freedomcardboard.com who voted. We appreciate it!
Popularity: 5% [?]
Brag Photo of the Week – The Hockey Hall-of-Fame Secret Sticks
Posted by: | CommentsSome of the team at Upper Deck made a trek up to Toronto this week as we prepare for the 2010-11 NHL season by meeting with some hobby shops, distributors and members of the NHL Players’ Association. We even had a little time to drop in on the NHL Hall-of-Fame which is always a lot of fun to visit in downtown Toronto. There’s plenty to see in this “Hockey Heaven” and it was awesome to check out displays on top Upper Deck exclusive signature card spokesmen like Wayne Gretzky, Gordie Howe and Bobby Orr among others.
The seal at the entrance to the Hockey Hall-of-Fame sends a signal to puck lovers that they are home.
Mr. Hockey signs trading cards exclusively for Upper Deck!
Looking for signature cards of the Great One? UD is the only company that can deliver.
If you want an autograph of the man who scored "The Goal," look no further than Upper Deck!
Upper Deck even sponsors a couple of sections at the Hockey Hall-of-Fame that are worth dropping in on if you get the chance. It’s quite an honor to have even a small place in the Hockey Hall-of-Fame.
Upper Deck sponsors some of the interactive games at the Hockey Hall-of-Fame.
Upper Deck also sponsors a Collector's Corner section showing off a long lineage of unique hockey collectibles.
On display at the Hockey Hall-of-Fame is a book showing many of Upper Deck's rare Wayne Gretzky cards.
What is really interesting to note is that not every piece of memorabilia is kept in the Hall-of-Fame. As we found when members of our team ended up at the “Hall-of-Fame Resource Center” in Etobicoke yesterday, there is an eye-popping collection of some very impressive items including meticulously organized program guides, photos, paintings, film reels, trophies, jerseys and more. It was hard to even absorb. What was really impressive was the collection of game-used sticks. What makes this collection so special is that each and every stick was used in a championship game or to score some type of commemorative goal. A few would be cool, but check out how many they have in this secret Hall-of-Fame stash.
What makes this crazy is that this is only half the racks. We couldn’t get a shot of the other half unfortunately. How do they acquire them? Believe it or not, the vast majority are donated by generous individuals. It was really something quite impressive to go from the Hall-of-Fame to then see all these game-used sticks within the NHL’s private reserve.
Are you going to be in Toronto any time soon? Do you want to check out the Hockey Hall-of-Fame compliments of your friends at Upper Deck? The first four people to e-mail us at UpperDeckMarketing@upperdeck.com with the subject headline “Upper Deck Hall-of-Fame Tickets” will receive a free pair of passes to check out the Hockey Hall-of-Fame in Toronto for absolutely free! Now that’s something to brag about.
Popularity: 8% [?]
Brag Photo of the Week: Michael Jordan Curve™ Display
Posted by: | CommentsWhen you think of Upper Deck, the first two athletes that normally pop into your head are usually Ken Griffey Jr. and Michael Jordan. We are blessed to have relationships with some of the greatest athletes in sports, but those two have been with us since the beginning. And Upper Deck continues to bring you their authentic collectibles through innovative new products that no other manufacturer can bring to the table.
This week we conducted a signing with Jordan to get some trading cards signed, but also some compelling new memorabilia items for sale exclusively through Upper Deck Authenticated (UDA). MJ lent his legendary signature to a variety of unique items like shoes and game-used floor pieces during the session. Before this signing, he had only signed the 6”-x-6” floor pieces (shown below) which are limited to 123 and sell for $1,599.99.
There is a new item we are bringing to the market next week for “His Airness” called the Curve™ Display that we are very excited about. It features a custom-cut 3”-x-10” piece of the United Center Floor upon which MJ played during his career with Chicago and where he provided the Bulls’ faithful with some very memorable performances.
The game-used floor pieces are all guaranteed to be red, from a more premium piece of the floor. What’s more, 25% of the edition will be two colors and 5% of the edition will be three colors to enhance the collectible nature of these prized items. And they were all signed by Michael Jordan this week under the watchful eyes of UDA staffers.
The signed floor pieces will then be housed inside the clear Curve™ Display from UDA with an image of MJ doing what he does best: soaring to the basket. More limited than previous signed floor offerings, this edition will only have 100 copies available, but it will be significantly less expensive at just $999.99. These highly sought-after pieces of history will be available on the Upper Deck Store next week.
Popularity: 7% [?]
Brag Photo of the Week: A Mammoth Mail Day at Upper Deck
Posted by: | CommentsThe practice of incorporating fossils of dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures started last year in 2008-09 NHL Champ’s Hockey, a vintage set that boasted the catch phrase, “Where the ICE meets the ICE AGE…” The cards looked great and were a big hit with collectors with many selling for hundreds of dollars in the secondary market.
It was so popular, we brought it back again for the 2009-10 NHL Champ’s product. Acquiring some of these rare items is not always easy however and Upper Deck has gone all out to get some really unique pieces to include in the “Museum Pieces” insert set. Redemption cards for these unique inserts could be found 1:case on average.
So here are a couple items we received in today that we just had to share. The Woolly Mammoth femur is just huge and will be a little difficult to cut, but we have a special vendor we are working with to handle this. Check out a couple different images of this behemoth:
Here’s what the Woolly Mammoth looked like back in the day…
And then there is the giant prehistoric alligator tooth. This will be a one-of-one card as we likely will not risk cutting this artifact. It will be housed in a very thick card.
Here’s what the this creature looked like and an example of it’s skull compared to a regular alligator’s skull.
We are working diligently to acquire a few more unique pieces so we can begin the production process and get these out to collectors waiting on them this summer. We’ll share more images right here as these cards progress.
Leave a comment about what you think about these cards for your chance to receive a FREE box of 2009-10 NHL Champ’s. We will award one box to a lucky customer on Monday, June 14 at 10:00AM PDT.
Popularity: 14% [?]
Brag Photo of the Week: Big Daddy Kane
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s kind of interesting that the Chicago Blackhawks met up with the Philadelphia Flyers because these two teams have played in the last two NHL Winter Classic games on New Year’s Day. Both teams lost their Winter Classic games, but none of that will matter if they can bring home Lord Stanley’s Cup. As the exclusive NHL trading card manufacturer at the time, Upper Deck was there this January at Fenway Park when the Flyers took on the Bruins.
One of the cool things we had around the stadium were some huge blow-ups of some of the different players. I don’t think blow-up is really an accurate term. They were about 15-feet long. Anyway, I was down in the warehouse today and I saw the Patrick Kane banner being packaged to go to a distributor in Chicago to use for a promotion. I had to get them to lay it out for me so I could grab a few shots.
This will likely go to a hobby store owner in the Chicago area which is really cool, just as long as they have a wall that can fit it. The Flyers are starting to put up a fight to make this a series, but if this 10-foot Patrick Kane got in there, it would likely be over after Game 4 tonight…
Worthy of note, the 2011 NHL Winter Classic should be pretty awesome taking place at Heinz Field where Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins will take on Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. Should be a great game!
Popularity: 4% [?]
