Archive for Hockey
Winnipeg Jets Fans Love Superstars Sports Collectibles
Posted by: | CommentsI’ve known Al Franklin, the owner of Superstars Sports Collectibles, for quite awhile now and he is one of the best store owners I have ever met. I feel this way primarily because he works very hard to provide his customers with a store that is very well maintained and an experience they will not find with many other shops in the area. He also makes it a point to set up at shows as well and recently I was able to catch up with him at the Sports Cards & Collectibles Expo.
And here is a little more about them:
Superstars Sports Collectibles
1885C Portage Avenue
Winnipeg, MB R3J 0H3
(204)831-9001
Email: collect@superstarssports.com
Click HERE to “Like” Superstars Sports Collectibles on Facebook and click HERE to follow them on Twitter.
Hours: Mon-Weds: 10:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m., Thurs-Fri: 10:00 a.m. – 9:00 p.m., Sat: 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Sun: 12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Superstars Sports Collectibles was established in 1990 by Al and Kyle Franklin when they opened their first store at 1885C Portage Avenue in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Both Al and Kyle are lifelong sports fans so it was easy to convert their love of all things sports into a successful business which has grown rapidly and continuously over the last twenty plus years.
The team at Superstars are always available to help their customers locate what they need.
They have been at the same location for the entire time, but have undergone three major renovations including a substantial expansion to increase the size of the store a couple of years ago. They believe it is necessary to put back some of their gains to improve the service levels they provide their customers and show them they are here for the long term.
Superstars carries tons of inventory on all the latest trading cards and even vintage products.
They are open sixty hours a week, with partners Kyle and Al, manager Jason Hinther and part-timer Tyler manning the store. They are presently working on replacing the outside signs on our building to give us a fresh and more pertinent look, with emphasis on being an Upper Deck Certified Diamond Dealer and Authorized Internet Retailer.
Inside the store they have twelve hundred square feet of space devoted to sports cards, collectibles and memorabilia. They carry every brand of sports cards released by the major manufacturers in the four major sports as well as a good selection of non-sport and gaming cards. Their customers appreciate the fact that they carry a good inventory of all new releases and they are able to get their product on any visit to the store.
Superstars carries just about everything a sports fan could want or need and has it all very organized.
They have over half a million cards in stock, all sorted by product and number to facilitate easy access for their customer’s want lists. They have spent a lot of time to make sure finding what you are looking for is a very easy experience.
UD will sometimes work with Superstars to provide some prizes for events they throw to thank their customers for their support and loyalty.
Throughout the year they hold a number of events, draws and contests to create and maintain additional interest in the hobby for their customers. For the last two years they have also held a specific Upper Deck customer appreciation night tied in to the release of one of Upper Deck’s major releases (this year was SP Authentic Hockey). Over fifty people attended for a fun night of pack and box breaks, free draws and prizes. Superstars Sports Collectibles also provide pizza, pop and lots of sports card hobby talk. Special thanks to Upper Deck for their contribution to the event.
Fans love the events Superstars holds for them!
As of late there has been a tremendous interest in all things Winnipeg Jets and Superstars Sports Collectibles is one of the best places to shop for Jets collectibles and apparel. As an Authorized Internet Retailer for Upper Deck, Jets fans throughout Canada can visit their website and pick up their favorite items. Go Jets Go!
Remember to visit Superstars Sports Collectibles for National Hockey Card Day as well where they always have tons of giveaways for their customers including free packs from Upper Deck!
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Do Moms Collect Upper Deck Trading Cards? You Better Believe It!
Posted by: | CommentsWith Mother’s Day coming up this weekend we asked our Facebook fans if there were any mothers out there who like collecting Upper Deck cards and we were surprised to receive so many responses. Having a mom that collects has got to be a dream come true for their kids and such is the case with Erica Jackson of Kingston, Ontario. Here is her story:
“Being a mother is one of the most amazing and rewarding feelings a woman can have. Collecting hockey cards was something I actually stumbled into. I was searching a local website and I found a huge lot of hockey cards up for sale. I thought it would be interesting to see what was in this collection. After buying and sorting the lot, and of course a trip to the store for the Beckett book, I was hooked.
One of our favorite moms; Erica Jackson shares some of her favorite Upper Deck NHL cards!
“Collecting cards allows me to have something I enjoy now, and my daughter can enjoy in her future. I will have something to leave to my daughter and her children when my time comes to leave this world. She will be able to keep them and continue to collect or she can sell them and use the money to pay for whatever she may need or want. I have been collecting for about three years now and I am very proud of my collection.
“Unfortunately a lot of my friends and family do not share my passion for cards. They know I collect, but do not understand anything about it. They have really never seen the sheer mass quantity and quality of my collection. I had to purchase a safe to keep everything protected, and I may have to buy a second!
Erica also has a very nice collection of signed memorabilia on display throughout the house.
“I am a Canadian girl so I like Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver, but I am also partial to the Detroit Red Wings. There are of course a few cards that I would still love to add to the collection and someday I hope to have them. Until then, I will continue to enjoy my collection and adding to it!”
Erica clearly chases the biggest names in the sport and she has a collection that would make most serious collectors jealous.
Wow! How cool it that? Thanks so much for sharing your passion with us Erica. Your daughter is very lucky! Look for a special Mother’s Day present from Upper Deck soon to thank you for taking the time to share your collection with our fans! Happy Mother’s Day!
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Brag Photo: Show Us Your Hits at the Sports Cards & Collectibles Expo
Posted by: | CommentsWhen Upper Deck sets up at the Sports Cards & Collectibles Expo in Toronto, collectors bring by UD product in bulk to open at our booth to score rare Priority Signings autograph cards. Often collectors also bring other stunning Upper Deck pieces they have discovered in packs over the years or purchased on their own. Throughout the weekend we saw some absolutely amazing items and wanted to share a gallery of collectors showing us their hits. Enjoy!
The NUGE is HUGE!
A Tiger Woods & Michael Jordan dual autograph card from the Upper Deck World of Sports set.
Patch perfection from The Cup!
Two dual autograph cards from 11/12 NHL SP Game-Used!
Boston love!
What an amazing Team Canada patch card!
A very nice Letter Marks card of Maxime Talbot.
Some great pulls came out of 11/12 NHL SP Game-Used!
Ovi & Crosby!
Bourque & Clarke!
Bobby Hull!
Can I have my 11/12 NHL SP Game-Used case with extra Boomsauce please? Thank you!
Bourque & Roy!
Another St. Patrick!
Sweet Wire Photo autograph card from Parkhurst Champions!
More sweet pulls from 11/12 NHL SP Game-Used!
A Wayne Gretzky Masterpiece art card from Parkhurst Champions was pulled!
Both Sidney Crosby cards back together again! 1/2 and 2/2!!!
Sitting pretty with an amazing patch card!
Stay tuned, we will show off fans with some of their big pulls from the Priority Signings set soon!
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Upper Deck Markets to Kids at the Sports Cards & Collectibles Expo
Posted by: | CommentsThe Sports Cards & Collectibles Expo in Toronto is a show that always brings in thousands of fans during the weekend. And Upper Deck has been a mainstay at the show bringing a variety of giveaways and promotions for collectors young and old. This last weekend however, Upper Deck staff really spent a lot of time engaging kids as they are truly the future for this hobby.
Trading card shows provide Upper Deck with a great opportunity to share trading cards with young kids and see their smiles as they instantly become engaged in the hobby.
It’s never too early to expose kids to trading cards. Yes, if you get them too young, it is almost a certainty that the cards will end up right in their mouth, but maybe, just maybe, trading cards can help with teething. We loved seeing the look on youngster’s faces as they held Upper Deck trading cards for the first time over the weekend.
Two brothers and one sister competed head-to-head-to-head in the Upper Deck decoy toss where they tried to get the most decoy cards in a target.
The winner was thrilled and those who came up short, well, they had their own ways of getting revenge...
We scheduled some times where kids could compete in a decoy tossing game at the booth where they went head to head against each other or Upper Deck staff to win prizes like new Upper Deck packs. I’m pretty sure they would have competed just for the fun of it though. It was awesome to see the smiles on the faces of brothers, sisters and friends as they competed in this exciting game as supporters cheered them on.
This young man scored a FREE box of Upper Deck cards at the Expo raffle.
Hopefully this happy winner shared some packs with his sister!
Next we made sure we had kids involved in our raffle program on Saturday. Lots of kids were holding raffle tickets and since we had a lot of prizes, a good amount of kids won. It was great to hear their enthusiastic cries after they won as some of them took home their first ever trading cards and collectibles.
And sometimes we just got a little silly with the kids and came up with games for them on site. We had three brothers that were camped out at the Upper Deck booth on Sunday so we had the two older boys engage in a fun game for some packs while their younger brother Christopher looked on.
There is really no bigger thrill for me though as a new father than to see kids opening packs of Upper Deck cards with their fathers. It’s especially exciting to see a father teach his son or daughter how to open up the packs and their sense of wonder as they go through the cards for the first time. Through our redemption program, we saw a lot of kids coming through opening product at the Upper Deck booth this weekend. And some of them scored some pretty awesome Priority Signings cards!
This young man pulled a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Priority Signings autograph card and was all smiles!
We allocated some of the Priority Signings autograph cards to use with fans this week, but if you want to take them home, you’re going to have to work for them. In the comment section below, please share your ideas (must be at least four complete sentences) on what more the trading card industry can do to get kids interested in collecting new trading card sets. We’ll select our three favorite ideas to receive random Priority Signings cards. Comments must be received in by 4:00 p.m. Pacific on Wednesday, May 9, 2012.
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Brag Photo: Collectors Share Their Favorite Upper Deck NHL Cards
Posted by: | CommentsWe asked our fans to share some of their favorite Upper Deck NHL cards with us and we were blown away by all the awesome pulls our fans had to share. It was awesome to see that sometimes favorites were not just about the high-dollar cards like we saw with Matthew Gilman.
The card(s) I chose definitely won’t be as flashy as others, but they were my first Upper Deck Hockey cards so they matter. I had left hockey for awhile and held onto them. Then when I found Upper Deck’s Facebook page, I made a return. The cards are a Martin Brodeur 90-91 NHL Black Diamond Myriad Level 1 and a Wayne Gretzky 91-92 Upper Deck NHL hologram.
Ernest Hebert has a hockey card that is a little different from a set we put out called Champ’s, where the ice meets the Ice Age. He pulled a very rare exchange card for a Fossil card from the set and received one of the better ones in the product, check it out.
I can look and look through my collection and this card will always be my most coveted card. It is incredible and the center piece of my collection! Here is my favorite Upper Deck card with its two biggest fans. Every time my niece and nephew come over they always ask to see it. It goes to show how fantastic this card really is!!!
Dantre Tarperson shared a card that helped get him interested in hockey cards, take a look at this one!
This is my favorite UD NHL card I own. I got it for what I considered dirt cheap and it pretty much pulled me into collecting hockey cards. It is hard to beat a four-swatch card of four different players.
James Arthur had a VERY impressive card to share that would be the centerpiece of almost any NHL trading card collection.
My UD Black Game-Night Ticket Autograph Wayne Gretzky card (01/25) is an amazingly sharp hard-signed card commemorating one of the biggest moments of his career, March 23rd, 1994. The Kings played the Canucks and this was the game in which he scored 802nd career goal, breaking Gordie Howe’s record. It was an amazing moment beautifully remembered on an amazing trading card!
Collecting NHL cards really is a family affair and Mark Grof Jr. proved that when he shared a card his son pulled.
This is my favorite card not because of price guide value, but because of sentimental value. It was my son’s fifth birthday and on the way to the Lightning game in Tampa we stopped at Target. We bought a $20 blaster box of Upper Deck he pulled an autographed Steve Yzerman header card numbered 19/25. It was a big day for my little guy.
And with the 2012 Spring Sports Card & Collectibles Expo taking place this weekend, Collin Jennings’ card was our favorite of the submissions we received. Some would say he had beginners luck by scoring this card, but we’ll see as Collin will be back at the Expo again this weekend to try his luck again!
Here is a picture of my 2011 Spring Expo Priority Signings Sidney Crosby autograph card limited of five. I was enough to pull this at my first ever Expo. This is by far the most sought after card in my collection. The thing I love about the card the most is that I pulled the card myself and didn’t have to buy or trade for it. Also, it being a Sidney Crosby autograph doesn’t hurt either.
Thanks to all the fans who took time to post some of their favorite NHL cards on our Facebook page this weekend!
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