Archive for Hockey
The Time of His Life!
Posted by: | CommentsWhen 12-year-old Zeke Estrada of Anaheim won Upper Deck’s 2010 NHL Entry Draft Runner contest earlier this month, he was asked to provide his top three choices regarding which NHL team he’d like to help out on Draft Day. In preference order, his answers were: New Jersey Devils, Montreal Canadiens and Anaheim Ducks.
Well, not everything turned out as planned for Zeke as he was instead recruited to assist the New York Rangers with their Draft-Day proceedings. But in the end, he didn’t mind one bit. As his father George Estrada put it: “Zeke had the time of his life!” Check out the pics below showing Zeke in action at L.A.’s Staples Center during last weekend’s NHL Entry Draft, courtesy of Upper Deck.
Besides being a part of NHL history, Zeke managed to score a few autographs along the way while the Rangers picked up another enthusiastic supporter. Nice job, Zeke!
Yep, that's NHL Hall-of-Famer Mark Messier posing with Zeke last weekend at Staples Center.
Here's Zeke hanging with his big brother, Dominik, prior to Zeke's excellent adventure on the inside of the Staples Center in Los Angeles last weekend.
Also, the Orange County Register did a story on Zeke’s experience as well, check it out!
Popularity: 7% [?]
Upper Deck Collector of the Month: Karine Hains
Posted by: | CommentsEach month Upper Deck spotlights one of our valued collectors in order that they can showcase their prized collection. The great thing about sports collectors is that they are all so very different in what they collect, how they collect and what they do once they have them. They all share a passion that is seldom found in any other group.
Most people think collecting sports cards is a hobby reserved just for men. However there are more female collectors out there than you might imagine. Some folks got into collecting as a couple, while others got into it with their fathers when they were younger, and some simply got into it because they are just very passionate about sports. Such is the case with Karine Hains, our Collector of the Month from London, England. I had the privilege of meeting her last summer at the National Sports Collectors Convention and I was very impressed with her knowledge of the industry and this hobby we all enjoy so much. We’ll turn it over to Karine to talk a little bit about her collection.
“My name is Karine Hains and I live in London, England. I was born in Québec, but moved here in 2002 and had to adapt to a whole new culture. However, I just couldn’t cope without Hockey and since I couldn’t watch any on the television back then (as it simply wasn’t aired), I decided to rekindle my love of the sport by collecting.
“Growing up, I was a goaltender and it only seemed fair to focus my collection on my idol: Patrick Roy. Since 2005, I’ve been collecting everything I could find of Patrick Roy from cards, jerseys, mini-masks and a variety of other oddball items. Anything I can find I am more than happy to add to the collection. My card collection is now nearing 800 different cards and includes base, inserts, game-used and autographs from all years and brands. I know I am far from having a complete collection, but considering the shipping costs and customs duties I face with each purchase, this is proving to be a marathon rather than a sprint.
“Last August, I attended the 30th National Sports Collectors Convention in Cleveland, Ohio and I really felt like a kid in a candy store. It was pure heaven to see so many cards everywhere (even though Cleveland wasn’t a hockey market)! I also bought a few sealed boxes of cards while I was there and pulled an autographed Sidney Crosby painting card numbered to just 87 copies which I of course traded for some amazing Roy pieces for my personal collection.
“When I went back home for Christmas in December 2009, I decided to take my Roy jerseys and try to get him to autograph them both. To do so, I attended a Québec Ramparts’ game and as luck would have it, after waiting until past midnight, I finally saw Patrick come out of the restricted area of the Colisée. It was worth the wait as he not only was willing to sign both of my jerseys but he also posed for a photo.
“I hope you enjoyed seeing some pictures of my favorite cards, my autographed mini-mask and jerseys as well as a picture of me with Patrick Roy.”
It’s always thrilling to meet your idols, but especially so when they turn out to be nice enough to give you an autograph and picture. Thanks for sharing Karine!
If you are looking to trade out some of your Patrick Roy items to one of his biggest fans, check in with Karine at karine@sportscardforum.com.
Popularity: 9% [?]
A Different Kind of Upset Letter
Posted by: | CommentsOne of the things I actually miss from my days managing the Customer Service group for Upper Deck is the letters I used to receive. I would on occasion receive appreciative letters about something I had helped a customer with which was nice, but more often than not the letters were concerning a problem.
What I appreciated about them was that the letters were always so different because collectors as a whole are very different. They all have their pet peeves and things that annoy them and luckily for us they are more than happy to share their opinions with us. We use that feedback to ultimately make a better product and to try to help them out. And now by embracing new social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and this blog, we can connect with them in new and exciting ways.
A colleague once asked me, “Don’t you get tired of hearing all the negativity?”
I responded, “It’s not negativity as much as it is an opportunity. Had they not taken the time to contact us, we may have lost their business forever. Now we have the opportunity to save them as a customer.”
I still believe that to be true. That being said, I’m not sure what to do with the letter we received today. The names have been blacked out to protect the customer, but this is just one that had a few of us in the office saying, “Really?”
Sports card and memorabilia collectors by and large are VERY passionate about their hobby and the sports they love. The vast majority of our core collecting base consists of males (94%) generally between the ages of 18 and 45. So it is not surprising the group that seems to be the biggest haters of this hobby and our products are the women they date or marry.
A couple of months ago I gave some tips to a collector who was looking for ways to balance his marriage and his love for the hobby, but I think it’s time to simplify that a bit by using some generalizations. I know that’s not a good thing to do, but it gets us to the answer the quickest.
At our core, guys can be a little stupid and women can be a little crazy. As this letter demonstrates, the husband was a little stupid for continuing to purchase cards, redeem items and for bringing in new memorabilia items that he knew his wife would hate. And in turn, she was a little crazy for writing a company blindly and telling us not to support our customer.
So where does that bring us? If you are one of the 94% in that age range that loves Upper Deck products, try not to be a little bit stupid because you will ultimately make your significant other a little bit crazy. And what does a crazy significant other do to a guy who is a passionate sports fan? Something like this…
Now that brings me to our real issue: How do we respond to this letter? Please give us your feedback in the comments section. We will give the person who provides the response we end up using a full box of 2009-10 NHL Be-A-Player and 2009-10 NHL ICE. We’ll even include this Upper Deck backpack for the lady in your life, because she never looks better than when she’s wearing a brand you love…
Popularity: 15% [?]
Bogus Autographs Still a Problem in Sports Memorabilia Industry
Posted by: | CommentsOver the past year, Upper Deck has been one of the industry leaders with regard to social media in the sports marketing industry. Through YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, our very own sports Blog and even LinkedIn, we have found a really great way to reach out to our customers to provide information on current and upcoming products, while also interacting directly with them in a more meaningful way.
A few months ago we created a Facebook page for Upper Deck Authenticated (UDA) and we’ve been really excited to see so many sports fanatics become fans of the page. The majority of the posts initially came from UDA until recently when we shared a very exciting promotion to find the Ultimate Man Cave.
As fans began to submit images and video of some of their private collections in which they’ve invested so much, I was alarmed to see that fraudulent autographs are still an issue. I saw some autographs from players like Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Ken Griffey Jr. and others that I knew were just not authentic. Upon showing them to our Athlete Relations Manager who conducts many, if not all, of the signings with our top spokesmen, he agreed. So we avoided posting some of those images on our pages.
Anyone can grab a sharpie and put their name on a jersey or ball, but UDA goes through painstaking steps to make sure the investment you are making in your passion is a sound one. When I saw some of the images coming in, I felt devastated for the collectors who thought they had something special from their favorite athletes. I guess having worked at Upper Deck so long, I just assumed that people would purchase items from well-known, reputable companies, but unfortunately sometimes a good deal comes along that is just too good to pass up.
Listen, there are some things you just do not want to bargain shop for. You might want to spend a little more on a mattress considering all the time you spend in bed. If you jog, you might not want to buy a quality pair of running shoes unless you enjoy shin splints, knee problems or worse. I’d recommend that if you are going to have an operation, you don’t bargain shop on a surgeon. And lastly, if you are going to make an investment in autographed sports memorabilia featuring your favorite athlete, you better make sure it is real. Remember: If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
There are a lot of things that make working at UDA great. The people are passionate about sports here and we have really worked to bring some innovative new products to market, rather than just the same old thing.
2010 NHL Stanley Cup Final MVP Jonathan Toews at an Upper Deck Authenticated signing earlier this season.
Upper Deck Authenticated's innovative NHL "Curve" Displays with Autographed Pucks.
But probably the most fulfilling aspect about producing our portfolio of UDA products is just knowing that we are bringing quality, AUTHENTIC products to market. We work directly with the biggest names in sports. And when it’s all said and done, it’s really rewarding to deliver their authentic game-used and signed items to their biggest fans.
Michael Jordan signing using Upper Deck's Pencam at a signing with Upper Deck Authenticated.
Upper Deck Authenticated's Michael Jordan Autographed 2009 Hall-of-Fame Collage
Popularity: 9% [?]
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% [?]
