Archive for Catching Up With Collecting
Catching Up With Collecting: Mark Shaunessy
Posted by: | CommentsAs I teased last week, Mark showed me around the coolest area of our building for this interview: the game-used department. If you’re reading this, and you’re a sports geek, this is your mecca. Here’s your look behind the curtain at Upper Deck.
UpperDeckBlog: So what’s your official job title?
Mark Shaunessy: I’m the Game-Used Room Senior Inventory Control Clerk.
Another day at the office for Mark.
UpperDeckBlog: And what goes on here? There’s all this cool memorabilia, must be a lot of work to keep track of it.
Mark Shaunessy: Basically, what we do is hold the inventory for all the game-used sports memorabilia and cut signatures. That means items go between us and the actual card production, and we need to make sure we’re keeping track of all the pieces and where they’re going. Make sure they go to the right places.
UpperDeckBlog: So this is the storage facility for the cool stuff, more or less?
Mark Shaunessy: Pretty much, it’s like one big place to store all our “used laundry” for our sports guys.
UpperDeckBlog: And this has to be the coolest place in the building.
Mark Shaunessy: Without a doubt, I have the coolest job in the company.
UpperDeckBlog: What would you say is the most enjoyable part of all of this?
Mark Shaunessy: Just some of the items we get in, especially now that we’re starting to try some new stuff. Not just signatures or jerseys, but things like pieces of movie memorabilia too. We’ve recently got a piece of the Golden Gate Bridge and coal from the Titanic. These are some of the different items we’re putting out there that aren’t just sports.
UpperDeckBlog: What would you say is the coolest item that’s come through here?
Mark Shaunessy: Well I’m a big Bears fan, so when I first got here, we had a signed Walter Payton jersey. He was the reason I got into football, the one guy. For something that isn’t sports related, a few years ago we did signatures of Presidents, and we got in a George Washington signature. That’s something you don’t see too often outside of Washington D.C.
UpperDeckBlog: It kind of feels like it doesn’t get old being around this stuff all the time. I mean there’s a lot of it, and you’re around it all day, but it sounds like there’s always something new and exciting coming in.
Mark Shaunessy: There’s definitely always something new and exciting. My job, being the way it is, some items you can only see so much of, but things stay fresh and exciting with the new stuff that’s always coming in.
UpperDeckBlog: And I know that we’ve given some tours too. Like when Logan Millard won the sweepstakes he visited this area, right?
Mark Shaunessy: Yes, we’ve been able to show some of our inventory to people outside our industry including sweepstakes winners, Boy Scout troops, and even some sports players.
UpperDeckBlog: What’s that like, to show people what it’s like behind the curtain?
Mark Shaunessy: It’s a lot of fun. Even within the company, there are only a small handful of people even allowed in this area. So to be able to show someone what we do and see their eyes light up is great. Especially if we know who their favorite players or teams are, we can pull out some stuff for them that people don’t normally get to see or touch. If you pull a jersey card, you’re getting a piece of a jersey (which is great), but here we can show you an entire jersey before it gets cut.
UpperDeckBlog: And I see you put together a bit of a spread for the readers, so why don’t you walk us through that a bit.
Mark Shaunessy: Sure. This jersey (on the left) is actually one of the ones Mark Wahlberg wore in the movie Invincible.
UpperDeckBlog: That’s really cool.
Mark Shaunessy: Definitely. That’s some of the movie memorabilia we’re doing now. This is a headband from Hannah Montana, which we’re starting to cut up for cards. These are pants that Farrah Fawcett wore and signed.
UpperDeckBlog: And you mentioned this is coal from the Titanic? As in the boat?
Mark Shaunessy: It’s actually the Titanic. They went down a few years back and brought back pieces like this.
UpperDeckBlog: And this looks like a Walter Johnson signed baseball?
Mark Shaunessy: It is. What we’ll do here is cut out the sweet spot out of the ball, so you’re not just getting a signature, but the ball it came from too.
UpperDeckBlog: Really cool, thanks for showing this stuff to us! Anything else you want to add?
Mark Shaunessy: We have a lot of fun down here. It’s great to be on the front lines of how Upper Deck is constantly introducing new items to the collecting world. Every day we get to see something new.
Favorite Athlete: Walter Payton
Favorite Sport: Football
Favorite Team: Chicago Bears
Popularity: unranked [?]
Catching Up With Collecting: Tim Doull
Posted by: | CommentsNext up in our series, I talk to Tim Doull, who works on autographs for our products. These signatures make up some of the most popular content we have, not just on cards, but some of the remarkably cool and creative products released by Upper Deck Authenticated.
But how do we collect these autographs anyway? Our interview was actually delayed a week, because Tim had flown out to do a signing session with Albert Pujols. Once he got back, I was eager to hear about how that went, and what it’s like to work with so many top athletes in person.
UpperDeckBlog: So what’s your official title?
Tim Doull: Athlete Relations Manager.
UpperDeckBlog: And that means autographs.
Tim Doull: Yes. For memorabilia and trading cards. Anything autographed for all Upper Deck product lines comes through us.
UpperDeckBlog: One thing I’ve seen from readers of the blog as we’ve picked up general sports fans is that people who haven’t followed the hobby for the last ten or fifteen years maybe weren’t even aware of autographs, or at least where they are now. What would you tell someone like that to catch them up?
Tim Doull: The variations we do are really impressive, and you’d be surprised at some of the uniqueness. I mean you said ten or fifteen years ago, there was maybe one standard autograph every few boxes, pretty basic stuff. But these days, we specialize in the pen, we have them inscribe special cards sometimes, like with the LeBron 08-09 MVP card you posted to the blog a few months ago. We’re definitely trying to stay unique and give the collector something new.
UpperDeckBlog: And you just got back from a Pujols signing last week! What was that like?
Tim Doull: With all of the top tier athletes we partner with, it’s really special to work with their foundations and product lines. A lot of the guys are really vested in and care about what’s going into the market. In Albert’s case, he may arguably be the best right handed hitter to ever play the game when all is said and done. This year he’s probably MVP.
We did the signing, and he hit two home runs the next day. It’s just really cool to be in the moment with these guys, and it’s something you can look back on, maybe tell your grandkids about it.
UpperDeckBlog: And how does that go? You show up where the athlete is, and what happens next?
Tim Doull: There’s a lot of preparation and rehearsal that goes into it. It’s a private setting, and we set everything up hours before he gets there, whether it’s memorabilia or trading cards. So when the athlete gets there, everything is ready. There’s nothing they need to do, other than to sit down and start signing.
So our Athlete Relations team, we make sure to take care of everything. Due to busy schedules, the athlete may be late from time to time, but we’re always prepared in the event they come early.
UpperDeckBlog: I’m sure a lot of collectors wonder what that’s like, I mean you’re sitting there watching Albert Pujols sign cards.
Tim Doull: It’s a professional setting, so I’m not asking for pictures or going “Wow, what a hit last night!” They get enough of that from the media and fans. I try to relate more on music and entertainment, golf, or something not related to their sport that they might be interested in.
UpperDeckBlog: Has there ever been one athlete where you couldn’t help yourself?
Tim Doull: Well, there’s some cool access you get. Like the Lakers, you might get the whole team together in one private room after they’ve won the championship, and get to hear some of the banter that goes on between them in that moment. So that’s very cool.
UpperDeckBlog: So once they sign the items, what happens next?
Tim Doull: Well, we all wear white gloves and handle the cards very carefully, we check them for quality, organize and store them until it’s time for the product release.
UpperDeckBlog: Do you have any cool personal stories about one of these signings?
Tim Doull: Well, you take a guy like Tiger Woods, after winning the 2008 US Open in June of 2008. He was kind enough to give us something called a quick turn signing, three days after winning his 14 Major Championship. And just to see him limping around right after winning, before surgery, and to see the smile and glow on his face even though he was in pain, that’s definitely a great memory.
Another unique story from the signings was gathering signatures for our 2008 Boston Celtics team championship product lines. We had Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and others all in a room together signing. This was the first time some of the players were able to see images from the 2008 Finals games and you could see in their faces how proud they were of their accomplishments as a team.
UpperDeckBlog: Is there anything you think an average collector might not consider when they open an autograph in a pack, in terms of how it gets there?
Tim Doull: If you look at it from the athlete’s perspective, penmanship is something to mention. A lot of autographs you’ll see elsewhere look like a squiggle, or just a line. But most of our autographs, especially our exclusive partners, they take the time to give you a legible autograph. It’s great that they can be consistent, and give you a solid autograph every time.
Something else the average collector may not consider is the time commitment it takes for the athletes to sign. Outside of game days you can expect players in all sports to be regularly signing cards to hit our product release deadlines. They do their best to meet our dates even if it means signing during a playoff run, between playoff series’, or maybe they just had a child, etc.
We focus a lot on quality, like changing out pens constantly during a session to keep it fresh. We want to try and make sure every collector gets the same autograph, so we pay attention to details.
UpperDeckBlog: Anything else you’d want to add?
Tim Doull: I think one really unique thing we’re doing now is the inscriptions, like the LeBron card. We’re starting to think a bit outside the box with more items like that.
UpperDeckBlog: It sounds like a bit of evolution there, giving the customer something extra and unique, because they’re demanding more than just standard autographs.
Tim Doull: Yes, and I think the cards themselves have really evolved too. If you’re just coming back to the hobby, you should pick up a few packs and see what we have to offer. Autographs, game-used memorabilia, all kinds of added value and we’re always coming up with new ideas.
Favorite athlete: Tiger Woods
Favorite sport: Golf
Favorite team: San Diego Chargers
Popularity: unranked [?]
Catching Up With Collecting: Martin Welling
Posted by: | CommentsIn case you missed the first parts of this series, I previously met with Chris Carlin and Gary Tolle, in an effort to catch up to where the sports collectibles industry is in 2009, and where it’s heading. Next up: Martin Welling, Vice President of Creative Services.
Vice President of Creative Services Martin Welling
UpperDeckBlog: So what’s your job title?
Martin Welling: I’m the Vice President of Creative Services.
UpperDeckBlog: And what does that mean? You have different teams you manage, so what do they do?
Martin Welling: We’ve got a diversified group. We have graphic artists, designers, art directors, photo and type editors and pre-production specialists. We’re engaged in product development for sports trading cards, trading card games, plus signed and unsigned collectibles.
For graphic arts, basically we have three separate teams: one does Entertainment, one does sports and one does collectibles. Their job responsibilities are nearly identical, but their focuses are very different. Basically, one uses sports photography, and the other uses fantasy art. For our collectibles products, the work they do is more fine art oriented: composition, layering, Photoshop treatments. They have to be considerate about how those pieces will be assembled and displayed.
Hard hitting football is no problem for Lindsey’s deft design skills.
UpperDeckBlog: So in terms of process, they get the photos and it’s their job to design the card around it?
Martin Welling: For sports trading cards there is a collaborative process that joins design and photography. We also have an art acquisition team that commissions the art we use in our entertainment products – both illustration and sculpting. They work with outside artists directly and manage that workflow and those relationships. And on the sports side, our photo group works with freelance photographers in the same way.
Michele shines on our entertainment brands.
UpperDeckBlog: For a sports fan who may dream of working here, is that a job for example? Like you’ve got thousands and thousands of photos for let’s say, Derek Jeter, and it’s someone’s job to sift through those and manage them for cards?
Neal hard at work directing art for sports trading cards.
Martin Welling: That is a job – we have a number of photo editors. Each is very knowledgeable of who the players are, what the team dynamics are. There are a lot of photos that go through the group each day, and we need to produce at a specific rate to keep things moving. We also have writers who do all the bios, so they’re the ones who put together the copy.
So a diversified, talented group of art directors, designers, photo editors, type editors . . .
Baseball stats are not a problem for Barnaby.
UpperDeckBlog.com: Everything that goes on a card, basically.
Martin Welling: Everything that goes on a card. That’s the preliminary piece of our group, and the other is that everything needs to be assembled, and put together digitally. So all those inputs, the text, photo, design, those come together in our pre-press group. That’s where the final assembly happens. So they assemble or link the card design, photography, the team logo, colors, whatever the background and frame are. This is our pre-press group with thousands of inputs, they’re sort of like our nuclear reactor.
In addition to assembly, they enhance all of our photography. They neutralize the whites, match the team colors to the style guides we have. They improve skin tones, brighten up the backgrounds so the grass gets greener, and the sky gets bluer. For instance, the basketballs are tinted to all look the same. Lighting can be very different in varied venues – whether it’s morning or afternoon, in an open-air stadium or a dome.
Tim puts the finishing touches on photography color enhancements.
UpperDeckBlog: Sounds like a lot of monumental steps that most people take for granted, or don’t really think about. Myself included sometimes, I mean you open a pack, you see a card. It’s all there.
Martin Welling: Absolutely. Giving tours is always fun, because you can see the lightbulb go on for them. They have no idea how much collaboration and coordination needs to exist from start to finish. People may think, “Well, it’s just a trading card”, but when you think about it: you need to get a photographer into the event, get them on the sidelines, get those images shot and back to the company, sort them, get them into our digital asset management database, get a photo selected and color correct it, the card designed, type added, pre-production accomplished including separating the different finishing features like decorative foil, die cutting, numbering, etc. All of that pre-engineered and pre-arranged, and then sent off to the manufacturer in an efficient manner.
Vincent discusses the pros and cons of team colors in card designs.
UpperDeckBlog: In terms of design and creative, if I’m a collector who hasn’t been in touch with the industry for the last five, ten, even twenty years, what do you think they’d be most excited by that they’re not aware of?
Martin Welling: That’s a great question. I’d say that print lithography hasn’t made many huge leaps forward, and that’s how we reproduce our cards. There’s lots of print technical stuff that’s been improved in terms of efficiency, quality and speed, but it’s not exciting to the average consumer.
Everything that we do is now done digitally, and that gives you the freedom to do almost anything in terms of design. You can get so much more dimension in the designs you create, and this didn’t exist in years past. So for me, the design tools that are available and have been enhanced are the biggest change. It used to be that when we hired graphic artists, they had to be great designers, knowing color, composition, typography, etc. But now when we interview, you still need to look for those skills, but you also need to find the technical ability to use the software we have. When you combine talent with the digital tools, some amazing things happen.
Never short on words, Roger anticipates yet another type deadline.
UpperDeckBlog: That’s great stuff, thanks Martin. In closing, I’ll ask your favorite athlete, sport and team, which we’re doing with everyone.
Martin Welling: It’s hard to work here and not have an affinity for Kobe and the Lakers (note: this interview was conducted just as the Finals were starting). They’re kind of local. I’ve had the opportunity to meet Kobe a few times in business meetings, as Upper Deck works closely with him. What’s impresses me when any our spokesmen come in or appear at events for us, is that they are very charismatic but personable. They’re at the top of their sports, and that comes through in their personalities. Very self-assured, very confident, but they have the ability to make you feel important as well. The first time Kobe shook my hand, he acted like we were long lost friends, and we were just meeting each other for the first time.
So when Kobe sits in a business meeting here and talks about some of the ideas he has, it never comes across as him versus us. It’s always complimentary. So I have an affinity for him, and the other athletes I’ve had the opportunity to meet. They come across as real, very talented, sincere people who are happy to be a part of Upper Deck.
So to answer the question, I’d have to say my favorite sport is basketball, because it’s always faced paced, with action up and down the court. Something exciting can happen on every possession. I used to live in Utah, so I have an affinity for the Jazz. Years ago, I was at the NBA All-Star event and Stockton walked by with his young family in tow. Once again, top of his game, legendary guard and yet a normal dad. It’s fun to try and capture the heroic nature of sports on cards.
Popularity: unranked [?]
Catching Up With Collecting: Gary Tolle
Posted by: | CommentsIn case you missed the first part of our Catching Up With Collecting series, I highly recommend clicking here to . . . well, catch up with this column itself!
Wow, was that cheesy.
The first individual in the building Chris recommended interviewing on my journey was Creative Sports Manager Gary Tolle, who supervises the whole operation where our photography is concerned. I think most fans, including myself, are guilty of taking these photos for granted. I mean, you look at a card and anticipate seeing a photo of the athlete, so it’s easy enough to not think much about them. But as it turns out, there’s a lot that goes into this process, where the end result is busting open a pack to see a high quality action shot of your favorite athlete doing his thing. And who knew sports photography was a full contact sport in itself? Read on . . .
Creative Sports Manager Gary Tolle
UpperDeckBlog: So what’s your job title, and how long have you been here?
Gary Tolle: I’m currently Creative Sports Manager in charge of supervising photography, and I’ve been here sixteen years.
UpperDeckBlog: Wow, that’s impressive! So you’ve seen a lot. If I haven’t been following the industry for the last sixteen years then, what should I know about the photography?
Gary Tolle: The biggest change in the time I’ve been here is that the photos were traditionally shot on film. In 2001, Upper Deck transitioned to 100% digital, which gives us flexibility in what we shoot, and how we shoot it. There are some added cost savings there, with not having to buy film, and the number of images we can shoot. Some of the technology in today’s cameras allow for greater flexibility with low level light situations.
So the switch in technology has been really important. Back in say, 1993, we’d shoot 25 to 30 rolls of film at an event, at 36 frames per roll. Now, it’s pretty much unlimited. For example, at this year’s NFL Rookie Photo shoot, we walked away with almost 17,000 images from one day.
Nate Davis & Kyle Tolle (waterboy) playing catch.
UpperDeckBlog: Wow! And on that subject, I have to imagine that technology allows for both a greater volume of photos, not to mention better quality. How has that changed things?
Gary Tolle: Basically, as far as the quality goes, in transitioning to digital I worked closely with our core group of photographers, and the equipment we used to determine the basic criteria for camera settings. We wanted to optimize the end result for our products. Upper Deck has a very high standard of quality versus a newspaper, or a magazine. Magazines are typically 72 dpi for a resolution, and for a trading card, let’s just say it’s well over 300 dpi.
Back in the day, we’d give film to photographers, they’d shoot, send it to us, it would go to a lab, it would be edited. Now, we’re able to take advantage of the internet, where games are played today, uploaded via our FTP site the same evening, and we can put the photos into product tomorrow. So we’re able to react much faster to trades, call-ups, and events that take place in the various sports we cover.
UpperDeckBlog: How often does that happen, where you’re getting photos so soon after a game or event? That’s a pretty cool element of photography here that I bet most people don’t consider.
Gary Tolle: I would say that on average, a game shot on Monday, I’ll have the pictures in house within three days after the photographers do a preliminary raw edit. If it’s something I need quickly, where they need to come in tonight, we can make that happen. That happens periodically throughout the year, as we always want to have the latest in trades and acquisitions for all of the teams. We need to make sure our product is as current as possible.
There have been times where we’ve been ready to go to press, and someone has been traded, or a rookie gets called up, and we can get the images in house, ready to print and in the product in under 48 hours.
UpperDeckBlog: That’s amazing.
Gary Tolle: It’s possible, but we hope it’s not the norm (laughs). That kind of situation affects lots of groups, not just mine. Pre-press, marketing, and so on.
UpperDeckBlog: So when something big goes down like a trade, you’re sort of at the front line it sounds like, and everything filters down from there.
Gary Tolle: Absolutely. In that scenario, I need to schedule and credential a photographer, ensure he’s got travel arrangements made if necessary; the event gets shot, transmitted to our Upper Deck FTP site, then once in house we upload to our digital archive solution. Then the editors go in, pick and crop the image for the card and then on to pre-press for color correction and final assembly, and so on. It can happen within the course of half an hour if necessary.
UpperDeckBlog: So which trade would you say caused the craziest turnaround in your sixteen years here?
Gary Tolle: Oh shoot. You kind of stumped me! Honestly, it’s tough to say, because there hasn’t necessarily been a particular trade that brings things down to the wire, it’s more so the timeframe. Depending on where the product is in development, if they want to include this trade in there, and so on. Because even though we may not shoot it ourselves, we have external sources I can use, depending on the sport, from various stock houses all the way up to the team photographer. So even though I may not necessarily have it scheduled, I can call on my sources or even the team photographer and say, “Can you get me this in an hour?”, depending on the sport and league requirements.
So I can get these pretty quick when necessary, and I don’t think there’s ever been one that’s stumped us, or caused a big whirlwind. My philosophy since I’ve started here has always been, “If a picture exists, I can find it.” That’s paid off, as I’m here sixteen years later (laughs). The three things I can’t control are the weather, who plays the game, and which players get to play. So for games I select in our scheduling, it’s a calculated risk overall. For example, we will often track pitching rotations to have the ability to cover various pitchers when needed. But things generally work out well for us in that regard.
UpperDeckBlog: If I’m taking a look at an Upper Deck card, what should I be looking for in terms of the photography? Is it the quality, the pose…it strikes me as something that fans or collectors might take for granted at first glance, but there’s a lot that goes into it.
Gary Tolle: There’s an awful lot that goes into it. My perspective versus an average collector is obviously going to be different: when I look at a trading card, or even a magazine, I’m looking at how the photo was shot. I’m critiquing the photographer, or learning from the photo and how it was taken. But for the average consumer, or sports collector, they’re looking for action. They’re not necessarily looking at the quality of the image in the same sense that I do. But they’re looking for the action of their favorite players. We are looking to show the game and take the fan down to the field (or ice) level, which is a whole new perspective for them.
But I think the key thing is how the card portrays the athlete. One of our main objectives is showing them in the best light. As a collector, that would be what I looked for in my sports heroes, I want to see them at their best. For example, I’m a huge Joe Montana fan, so when I’m looking at a photo of him I’m looking at his stance, the intensity he plays with that makes him Joe Montana. And I hope we do the same for our collectors’ favorite athletes.
UpperDeckBlog: Very interesting stuff, thanks Gary. Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Gary Tolle: I think one thing that people don’t factor in is the dangers of being a sports photographer, not to mention the skillset involved. Lots of people who pick up a digital camera think they’re a photographer, but the people who work for Upper Deck are true professionals. Not only do they need to be experts in photography, but they also need to be expert sports fans themselves. They need to be able to anticipate the play of the athlete. This is my favorite line: anyone can go to a game and take pictures. It takes a true professional photographer to create photos from the game. I have an elite group of shooters who do just that, and I don’t think it’s appreciated or acknowledged enough.
And the dangers, as I mentioned before: during a baseball game, the line coaches, the hitters, the baserunners, they’re wearing helmets. The defense has fielding gloves in hand, totally focused on the ball. But we’ve got a photographer on the first or third base line, primed to get a line drive right to the head or even take out his camera. I mean the primary lens we use costs about $9,000. So they’re sitting there with a camera that costs about $14,000 total, and a line drive comes right at them. Or in football, you’re on the sidelines and a 200 pound linebacker can take you out if you’re not paying attention. So I don’t think people appreciate that side of things: I’ve had photographers hit by baseballs, pucks, you name it. Even the most experienced shooter can take a hit, because they are constantly looking for that spectacular shot.
It’s dangerous. It’s a coveted job, but I don’t think people really understand the risk a sports photographer takes, and you add into that the skillset that’s needed. These days, you can put the average camera on “automatic”, and it can take some pretty shots. But these guys have to constantly anticipate the game, know the characteristics of the players and determine the best shot to take while also ensuring proper exposure and focus for the shot.If you’ve got a guy at first, the photographer needs to know if he’s known for stealing, who’s hitting, who’s pitching. And on top of all that, you need to always worry about safety in the back of your mind. They need to be well versed in the sport, and I think all these elements go largely unnoticed.
Gary’s Favorites:
Favorite sport: Football
Favorite athlete: Joe Montana
Favorite team: San Francisco 49ers
Popularity: unranked [?]
Catching Up With Collecting: Chris Carlin
Posted by: | CommentsAlright, I’ve got a confession to make: I’m a huge nerd.
I’ll be a bit more direct than that. See, Upper Deck makes a number of products in different genres, and you may not know we have a very large, award winning section of the company that makes games. Some of these include the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game, World of Warcraft Miniatures, Huntik and Dinosaur King. We regularly print new cards (or Minis) in sets (just like sports cards), and players put together decks from those collections to compete against each other. We also run tournaments (with prizes!) for our players at different levels, from local Battlegrounds and Seeker League to World Championships.
It’s a really fun part of the company, and I actually spent my first four years or so here focused almost entirely on it. But, as you can tell by the posts I’ve made on this blog, despite my gaming background I happen to be a pretty big sports fan too. So UpperDeckBlog.com became a new responsibility this year, and I’m very happy to also be involved on the sports side of things now.
That being said, I have to admit that I fall into the same category as many mainstream sports fans where the trading card/sports memorabilia industry is concerned. Sure, I collected my share of baseball cards as a kid, but in recent years it fell off my radar a bit (especially as my interest, and subsequent career in gaming took off). Not to say that I haven’t picked up things through osmosis by simply being here, but my level of knowledge is not where I’d like it to be.
I recognized I needed to fix this, and figured, “Why not bring the readers along with me?” So, this is the first of many Catching Up With Collecting posts, where I’ll go around the building to ask people in different departments what they do, and what a collector needs to know. By the time I’m done, I think I’ll have a much better idea of where our industry, and Upper Deck are in 2009. Hopefully, you will too. Whether you’re an experienced veteran or need to catch up like me, it should make for an interesting read.
My first step on this journey had to be Chris Carlin. Chris is our sports Marketing Manager, and knows this stuff better than anyone. He was able to give me a good introduction to where the industry is today, in addition to giving me a list of people and departments to interview next.
Chris with Upper Deck mascot, Coach Cardman!
UpperDeckBlog: So if I haven’t been following collecting for say, the last fifteen years, what’s the most important thing I need to know?
Carlin: I would say that if you used to collect, and you’re collecting again, probably the biggest change is the hobby shop. There used to be three or four hobby shops in most cities you’d go to, and these days there may only be one, if that. It is a lot like the trading card industry itself, where there used to be six or seven baseball card manufacturers, and now it’s just Upper Deck and Topps.
So if you do have a local hobby shop in your community and you go there, odds are they’re running events, they’re helpful, they’ll help you list your items on eBay or give you an idea of what your collection is worth. They’ll provide you with all sorts of insight on what new products are coming out, and it’s just a much different, and more interesting experience than it was say, ten or fifteen years ago where there was the perception that the hobby dealer was trying to take advantage of their customers. The hobby shops remaining are very good.
UpperDeckBlog: And that’s most of what you do, staying in touch with these stores? What does that involve?
Carlin: Yeah. It’s critical for Upper Deck to support the hobby shop, because if you buy trading cards at WalMart or Toys ‘R Us, there’s no one who can explain to you why one pack is five dollars, and another is 99 cents. There’s no one who can tell you why a certain product is exciting, most of their staff probably haven’t even opened a pack.
What makes the hobby stores important to us is there’s a real community aspect to them, where someone can go, get educated on what’s in each product, and why they want to collect them. So it’s important for us to support those mom-and-pop hobby shops, and ensure collectors have a safe, fun place to go instead of just a retail outlet where that type of community doesn’t really exist.
UpperDeckBlog: Since we’ve started this blog and gotten visitors who have lost touch with the industry over the years, I’ve received emails or gotten comments because they’re surprised we have cards with hair in them, autographs, jerseys, and so on. It’s not quite you know, that cliché of “stale bubble gum in the pack” anymore. So if I’m one of these readers who is new to all of this and is thinking about getting back into collecting, what do I need to know about these new features?
Carlin: For sure, the next biggest thing about the industry today would be the products, because they are definitely night and day compared to even say, five years ago. There is a lot of autographed content in products these days. It used to be, even some of the first autographs we had, there would be maybe 1,000 to 2,000 for an entire product run. Now, there’s a couple hundred thousand potentially for a product run.
But beyond that, there are things that are pretty amazing to take in. Like a patch card that has a piece of a player’s actual jersey, or one of these more unique pieces like autographed cut cards of a deceased athlete. We’ll get it from a check or something along those lines, have it authenticated by a third party, then actually embed the signature in a trading card. So, obviously Joe DiMaggio isn’t signing anymore, but you can still get a DiMaggio autograph out of a new pack of trading cards, which is really exciting.
The biggest thing though, with all these inserts is that instead of having to wait ten or fifteen years for a card to appreciate in value, you can open up a brand new pack today and pull out a card that’s worth $500, $1,000, even $10,000, which is really amazing. It used to be about opening product, and waiting ten, twenty, thirty years to see if a card becomes valuable. But now, you can get that instant gratification of owning a valuable collectible right off the bat from a new pack of cards.
UpperDeckBlog: And I’m sure that these days, that’s looking a bit better than say, investing in the stock market for some people (laughs).
Carlin: We always say that collectors are investing in their passion. Obviously, you want to do your homework, and know what you’re getting into with each product. But yeah, some people do make a living off buying, selling, speculating on players and rookies. And if you do your research, you can do ok with it.
But at the same time, most people appreciate and enjoy collecting because it’s fun. It’s something they did when they were young, and so much more exciting today than it was ten or twenty years ago. Because each pack you open, not only are the cards nicer and higher quality, but the content, some of the different chase elements such as autographs, game-used or deceased player autographs, it’s night and day from what it used to be.
UpperDeckBlog: So you sent me this list of employees and groups in the building to talk to next. Why did you pick these folks specifically, and what should the readers and I expect as we go through them?
Carlin: One of the reasons why Upper Deck has been able to stick around for so long is great photography, and that’s why I want you to visit Gary Tolle. He’s been with us for fifteen years or so now, and he’s seen it all. He can give you insight into what we look for: each brand has its own elements that make it unique, and he can explain how he picks photos that define them.
Martin Welling is our Vice President of Creative Services. Just an amazing guy. He can talk a lot about the different designs, what attributes we have for each brand. For collectors, one thing they may find is yeah, there may not be a lot of companies in the industry today, but we do produce a lot of different types of products. It’s kind of different strokes for different folks: if you’re looking to collect with your son, we’ve got a product for you. If you want to spend a lot of money and you’re really passionate about the hobby, we’ve got a product for you. If you’re on a budget but love sports, we’ve got a product for you. So he can share what their strategy is from a design and creative standpoint on each of those products.
Tim Doull has one of the most unique jobs in our company, and that’s chasing down all the different athletes’ autographs. His job has gotten exponentially more difficult as we put more autographs into packs, as obviously now he needs to chase down even more athletes. But I know he’s got a lot of different stories about tracking down athletes, and our spokesmen. We have some of the best spokesmen in the industry, and they’re all really great guys. He’s got a lot of stories about Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, etc.
Mark Shaunessy has the second coolest job here, I think, in working with the game used room. If you’ve ever been, you can practically spend the whole day there looking through all the game used memorabilia we have, checks, signatures and such. Even dinosaur bones! I’ve been there and seen it in his office. A lot of it is kept under lock and key, but hopefully we can open up the vault, so to speak, for readers of the blog.
Karvin Cheung works with the product development team, and he works very closely with hobby shops and distributors to find out what they like and don’t like, so they can make improvements to the products. He’s one of the creative geniuses behind what those next cool cards are, whether it’s hair from a deceased President or inserting cards from 1888 into new products, he drives the content for the products.
Bubby Johanson works with the checklists. It’s really important that we find the right players for each product. Especially hockey, I find collectors are really passionate about who does or doesn’t make checklists.
UpperDeckBlog.com: For those not familiar with the industry, what does that mean exactly?
Carlin: Well, we might only have 100 cards in a regular set, but some sports fans would like to see ten Leafs players in there. So it’ll be interesting for readers to see how he goes about choosing players. His group makes the decision on who will or will not be in the sets.
Jason Masherah is in charge of all our brands, and he’s got overview of the landscape of the hobby. Where Upper Deck stands, and where we’re going.
Kerri Kauffman can talk a lot about our initiatives to bring kids into the hobby, especially a program called UpperDeckU.
Jodi Wasserman does our events throughout the year, and there are a lot we do. So I think readers will be interested to find out where Upper Deck will be next and what we have planned.
William Estela manages our Upper Deck Retail Store in Huntington Beach. We feel that hobby stores are so important that we started our own, so we could learn what works and doesn’t firsthand.
Dave Sanders at Upper Deck Authenticated, where we cornered the market on providing authentic collectibles of the top tier athletes. We do some of the most amazing pieces, so it’s always interesting to see what they’re coming up with next.
UpperDeckBlog.com: Being that I’m still learning this side of the company, what do you think is the most critical thing for me to keep in mind as I go through this process and talk to these people?
Carlin: There’s a lot. There’s so much different information, especially if you haven’t been involved in collecting for a while. Keep an open mind, and obviously every product is not designed to appeal to every collector. We know that every collector is extremely different, and that’s why we provide a diverse portfolio to our customers. Find the things you like and collect!
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