Archive for Products
Collecting Dinosaurs: A Hobby for the Whole Family with Rare Fossils & Artifacts
Posted by: | CommentsCollecting trading cards has been a great hobby for families to enjoy together. However, with younger kids, sometimes they are not all that interested in sports so parents who enjoy collecting cards have to wait until their kids get older to share the hobby with them. One thing that kids do enjoy is dinosaurs, especially boys. From books to television shows to movies, kids gobble up dinosaur content and this summer youngsters will enjoy “The Good Dinosaur” movie from Disney & Pixar and older kids will find “Jurassic World” from Universal Pictures totally polarizing.
Upper Deck has produced some trading card sets that feature dinosaurs in the past that cater to youngster and the young at heart. Fans have absolutely loved them. Here’s some feedback on what collectors have thought about these dinosaur themed trading cards from Upper Deck.
“I got a Wooly Mammoth molar, I love the design! Thanks Upper Deck.” – Brian Koester
The 2008-09 Champ’s Hockey had rare fossil artifact cards that included a piece of a prehistoric fossil.
“I think these cards are awesome. I think people get tired of regular sports cards and they need something special to shake them up a little. These cards sure do that!” – Matt Coudriet
The Champ’s fossil inserts were so popular, we continued using them for the next few years.
“Pretty unreal what you are doing with cards now. Very cool that you’re able to share history like that.” – Luke LePlant
Less expensive dinosaur cards were available in Champ’s that catered to younger fans for educational purposes.
“I think this is a great idea and you guys have always been known for pushing the envelope and being one of the best most innovative card companies around! I would love to pull one of these unique cards! “ – Nick Gauder
The theme for the Champ’s fossil cards was, “Where the Ice Age meets the Ice,” as these cards could be found in a hockey release.
“I love these cards!” – Dustin Heino
These prehistoric artifact cards were pretty rare and some sold for several hundreds of dollars in the secondary market.
“These cards are just amazing. It’s like owning a museum piece…” – Derek Chaiken
Champ’s cards that featured fossils of teeth and claws from dinosaurs were, and remain, incredibly popular.
“It’s great to have something to get my kids excited with the past. Great job Upper Deck!” – Ernie Villalobos
Animal Kingdom & Origins of Species patch cards in the Goodwin Champions brand from Upper Deck are incredibly popular too. This card sold for over $200!
Another summer blockbuster featuring dinosaurs will come courtesy of Upper Deck where the entire set will include content from the world of dinosaurs called appropriately enough; 2015 Upper Deck Dinosaurs. The product will have something for everyone with a version in a lunchbox catered to the youngsters and a hobby version primarily for serious dinosaur collectors.
Here are some of the key cards and inserts to look for from the set!
Look for incredible original art with tons of fun facts about the different types of dinosaurs who once ruled the earth.
Kids will love dinosaur stickers randomly included in packs!
Shadowbox cards on creatures from the sea will have a 3-dimensional look.
Cool patch cards for the dinosaurs are colorful and rare!
Now hear this! There will be booklet audio cards that feature the sounds of these ancient beasts when you open them up.
Super rare fossil cards will have actual prehistoric dinosaur fossils embedded in them.
Artists are creating incredible one-of-one sketch cards that will be found in packs with different themes. These cards are designed primarily for a younger audience, but they are pretty incredible that an artist can create works of art like this on such a small canvas (a 2.5” x 3.5” trading card).
Don’t miss 2015 Upper Deck Dinosaurs when it arrives in stores in May 2015!
Upper Deck’s 2014-15 NCAA March Madness® Collection Basketball set features everything serious collectors love like:
Stunning Action Photography
Amazing Player Selection
Autograph Cards from College Basketball’s Legends
It includes something else however that will really excite college basketball fans with our new Bracketology game cards where fans can register their cards on Upper Deck’s website to score awesome prizes. Collectors can expect to find plenty of Bracketology game cards as they fall frequently in packs (average of 6 per hobby box and 2 per retail blaster box) and the game couldn’t be easier play. Simply redeem your game cards by following these steps:
- Pull one of the Bracketology game cards and scratch off the code on the front.
- Log on to UpperDeck.com and redeem the code underneath the scratch off box to your online account. If this is your first time logging on you will just need to register and make sure your city and state are entered correctly when you click “Submit.” If you do not have internet access, you can call your codes in to enter them at (800)873-7332.
- After you enter the code, you will then see the position for your card online, for example, “Kentucky – #1 Seed Midwest Bracket.” From there, you just to wait until Selection Sunday on March 15, 2015 when the brackets are assigned. Then, review your account and if Kentucky is the #1 Seed in the Midwest Bracket as we saw in our example, that card is active and eligible to earn the owner prizes. If the position doesn’t match where your team is in the bracket, that card IS NOT active and eligible for prizes.
- After reviewing which of your cards are active, you just need to sit back and cheer for your teams.
Here’s what you could win:
If your activated card for your team makes the NCAA Sweet 16 – You will receive a limited-edition 12-card exclusive NCAA March Madness® Basketball pack featuring cards of Bill Russell, Christian Laettner, Jerry Stackhouse, Shabazz Napier, Bill Walton, David Thompson, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Grant Hill, Larry Johnson, David Robinson and Michael Jordan. One of the cards in this group of 12 will be autographed!
If your activated card for your team makes the Men’s Final Four – You will receive a limited-edition 6-card exclusive NCAA March Madness® Basketball pack featuring cards of Bill Russell, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Larry Johnson, Grant Hill or Michael Jordan. One of the cards in this group of 6 will be autographed!
If your activated card from your team wins the Championship Game – You will receive an incredible autograph memorabilia piece from one of the game’s greatest players showing him cutting down the nets from the 1982 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship game.
To find the most up to date college basketball rankings to know which Bracketology game cards you’ll want to chase, visit the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball website. College hoops fans can grab Upper Deck’s 2014-15 NCAA March Madness® Collection Basketball boxes and packs at hobby and retail locations throughout North America. Additionally, fans can also score the product through Upper Deck’s network of Authorized Internet Retailers and UpperDeckStore.com.
The Biggest NHL® All-Stars Sign for Upper Deck
Posted by: | CommentsFor players selected to be a NHL® All-Star, they are in store for an action packed weekend of events. Upper Deck Athlete Relations staff are busy during the weekend to secure signing sessions with some of the biggest NHL® stars for upcoming releases. Check out some of the players our guys tracked down during the weekend!
Tyler Seguin shows off one of his signed O-Pee-Chee Platinum die-cut cards.
Before he scored the hardest slap shot at the NHL® All-Star Skills competition, Shea Weber used his muscles to sign some autographs for new Upper Deck hockey releases.
John Tavares takes some time to sign autograph cards for new and older trading card sets.
Anze Kopitar shows off a recently signed card showing him with the Stanley Cup.
Carey Price give us a “Price-less” expression as he shares his new autograph O-Pee-Chee Platinum card.
Upper Deck brought in the #1 Draft Pick in the 2014 NHL® Draft, Aaron Ekblad to sign FREE autographs for fans in attendance.
Obviously with such tremendous demands on their time, not all the players were able to take time out to sign. However, by being on site and active throughout the weekend, we were able to connect with agents and player reps. We had very productive conversations about athletes we are still chasing for autographs like Vladimir Tarasenko and about other players we may do deals with in the future.
Upper Deck Statement Re: Collegiate Trading Card License
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In 2010, the Collegiate Licensing Company and Upper Deck announced an exclusive trading card partnership that revolutionized the college trading card market. That exclusive partnership is still in effect today, and will continue through March with several compelling licensed collegiate products releasing in the coming months.
Upper Deck continues to be fully committed in creating the most innovative, high quality collegiate trading cards ever produced. Previously, collegiate cards were only interspersed into professional trading card sets by the major trading card manufacturers, and referred to as “Professional prospect cards.” Over the last 4 years, Upper Deck has taken collegiate cards to a whole new level, creating comprehensive school-specific trading card sets, releasing the first-ever college video trading cards, introducing never-before-seen college mascot patch cards, producing NCAA helmet cards, rare Shadow Box cards, high-value master collections and countless others. In addition, Upper Deck has expanded well beyond the boundaries of traditional college sports to include a wide array of both men’s and women’s athletic programs that have never been featured on trading cards.
As an exclusive trading card partner of the CLC, Upper Deck has been able to responsibly manage the category, limiting releases and production so as not to saturate the market or jeopardize the steady growth and solid foundation that has taken years of hard work to build.
Upper Deck strives to bring collectors high quality products, and to deliver collegiate cards that are continuously recognized for holding some of the highest market values across the entire trading card market.
Recent collegiate licensing changes have already sparked serious concerns from collectors, store owners, distributors and others in the trading card industry. Mismanagement of the collegiate trading card license could destroy the stability that this market has come to rely on, and flood the market with an excess of products that hold little or no value. Upper Deck has worked very hard to keep this from happening and remains committed to the collegiate category and more importantly, committed to collectors and hobby shops that have come to expect the best with regards to quality collegiate trading card releases. Upper Deck has agreed to terms on an exclusive multi-year deal with the University of Notre Dame and plans to continue looking at opportunities in the collegiate market.
It’s always interesting to watch online auction sites like eBay the day before the Hall-of-Fame announcement and the day after. Sellers almost run to their computers after the announcement it made to post cards of the newest members of the Hall-of-Fame and collectors jump online as well to pick up keepsakes from their favorite players. Today is no different as tens of thousands of baseball cards from just four players are available through the online auction site eBay.
Here is the activity we are seeing on the recent Baseball Hall-of-Fame inductees.
Craig Biggio – Close to 6,500 trading cards are up for sale for this Houston mainstay today. Here are some of our favorites!
Biggio’s Upper Deck rookie card is a must have for any baseball collector.
There are a couple of these sweet autograph cards available of Biggio from Ultimate Collection.
The bat design behind this card really sets off the patch piece used to make this a very special card.
This buyback autograph card from SP Authentic is rare and very unique!
This dynamic duo were fan favorites in Houston and most believe Bagwell will make his way to the Hall someday.
John Smoltz – Close to 7,000 trading cards are up for sale for this Atlanta Braves icon. See some of his best UD cards!
Here’s a key Upper Deck rookie card of Smoltz that is often under appreciated.
Smotlz represented his country with USA Baseball and Upper Deck commemorated that with this special autograph card.
Here’s a very nice patch of a key piece of the Atlanta Braves’ “franchise history.”
Although they went on to play elsewhere, these three pitching greats will always be linked to their days in Atlanta.
I love this classic autograph card has Smoltzy’s signature on the diamond.
Pedro Martinez – Close to 7,500 trading cards are up for sale of this dominant Dominican pitcher. Check out some of his better cards up for grabs!
This is the one that started it all for Pedro Martinez!
Pedro’s 1992 Star Rookie card is a little easier to find at a lower price.
Collectors who chased this set know this card wasn’t easy to find, a real gem!
Clemens missed the vote this time, but this card shows both pitching greats together with game-used baseballs embedded in the card.
Pedro was one of the premier pitchers of his day and this card definitely speaks to that.
Randy Johnson – Close to 14,000 trading cards are up for sale for this strikeout king. Feast your eyes on the ones we thought serious fans need to have in their collections.
After the Ken Griffey Jr. Rookie card, this is likely the most desirable rookie card in that incredible 1989 set.
I love the HUGE patch swatch in this card, these were a VERY tough pull back in the day.
These two definitely struck out their fair share during their playing days, very cool to see them paired with their jersey swatch and autograph all on one card.
Randy Johnson has a great nickname and it is cool to see it on a manufactured patch card like this.
There weren’t many pitchers as buttoned up as Randy Johnson and this card contains a button from one of his game-worn jerseys!
