Upper Deck has always taken great pride in partnering with the biggest names in sports. With apologies to Sidney Crosby, there is no name much bigger in today’s hockey world than Alex Ovechkin. He has been named the NHL MVP the past two seasons and brings an excitement to the ice that has galvanized fans in Washington, D.C., and around the world. We’ve been working with Alex for a number of years and recently on Saturday, Oct. 2, we had the opportunity to do a meet-and-greet event with him in our nation’s capital.
Would you like to add this signed Ovechkin card to your collection? Just read on...
For this event we invited members of our Diamond Club, members of the Upper Deck Volunteer Alliance and some of the biggest Alexander Ovechkin collectors we knew. Members began arriving into town on Friday night and as I met up with some of them, there was a palpable air of excitement about getting to spend time with Alex the following night. What I love so much about events like this however is bringing together a community of collectors who just love to collect. For the staff here at Upper Deck it’s really great to be able to give back to collectors through an event like this and make our trading cards come to life for them. Their contagious smiles are testament to how much they appreciate the unique opportunity to meet a player of Alex’s caliber.
On Saturday we took the majority of the group to the 2nd Annual Washington Capitals Convention and that was crazy. I don’t live in a hockey town and to see so many die-hard fans rocking the red and getting pumped for the start of the season was awesome to witness. The Capitals unveiled the uniforms they’ll be wearing for the 2011 Winter Classic game at Heinz Field against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Our guests were running around like kids in a candy shop, sitting in on panels and getting players to sign different items for them. It was a great event, but for our collectors, it was just a warm-up.
I felt like a member of the team when I went to the Capitals Convention.
Another Upper Deck staff member and I headed over to the venue at Washington D.C.’s District Chophouse & Brewery. We had a private room downstairs in what used to be part of a bank vault. Seeing the three small tables set up, it made me realize just how intimate this experience was going to be for our fans as they would be sitting down to dinner with one of the biggest stars in the game today.
Our guests began to arrive and it was very clear the group was pretty fired up for what was about to happen. To help release any tension, we played a round of pack wars where the top eight collectors who pulled the highest numbered rookie cards would advance to the final table. At this final table Alex would stop at, we would play another round of pack wars with high-end packs like Ultimate Collection, O-Pee-Chee Premier and even a pack of The Cup up for grabs.
Guests chatted and got to know each other better before Alex arrived.
We explained the rules of the Pack War event to guests in attendance.
Guests were seated and then right on schedule Alex arrived to applause from the group. We brought them up one by one to get a photo with Alex where they didn’t need to be coaxed for a smile. Then Alex spent time with guests at each of the three tables and his fans were able to ask him questions. What I found really interesting was that Alex almost had as many questions for the collectors as he was fascinated by how passionate they were about the hobby. He was in great spirits and was just having a lot of fun with the group.
Ovechkin posed with members of the group.
Alex seemed to be genuinely interested in what members of the group collected and the trading card hobby in general.
Alex even talked to a group member's son who was unable to make the event.
As he moved on to the last table, there were a few really unique moments. We had the eight collectors play another round of pack wars where the collectors who pulled the best cards would win some pretty unique packs. The collector who won the pack of 2009-10 NHL The Cup, got to have Alex Ovechkin open it for him. The group gathered around to see what Alex was pulling.
Members at the last table finished pack wars and received some great prizes like packs of high-end Upper Deck products.
The winner of the pack war event won a tin of 2009-10 NHL The Cup, which Alex than opened with him.
The group gathered around Alex Ovechkin as he opened up a pack of 2009-10 NHL The Cup as collectors gave "Ooohs" and "Aaahs" at the cards that came out of the pack.
After Alex opened the pack he said, “Let’s open some more.” The collectors eagerly handed Alex pack after pack that he happily opened and shared with the group what he thought of the cards. Then he pulled a redemption card of himself and Evgeni Malkin. The group laughed at the irony of this and Alex got in on the fun as well by signing the actual redemption card later for the collector.
One of my favorite moments from the evening came when one of the biggest Ovechkin collectors I know of got to head over and open a pack of 2009-10 NHL O-Pee-Chee Premier with Alex. The cool thing about it is that Alex actually knew how big this guy’s collection is and even added an inscription to the photo he signed later of this particular collector that read: “To Lee, The owner of everything.”
Alex signed each picture he took with the collectors.
Alex showed off his sense of humor with this inscription to one of the bigger Ovechkin collectors in the industry.
When all the packs were opened, Alex personally signed each of the photos for the group and left again to thunderous applause. It was a really magical evening for this group of Alex Ovechkin fans and a great way for us to thank them for all their support. But who knows? Perhaps we missed one of his biggest fans. There are a lot of collectors out there and we don’t know everyone who enjoys cards of Alex Ovechkin. That being said, we have a SP Authentic Sign of the Times autograph card available to give away to an Alex Ovechkin fan. Just comment right here with at least two sentences as to why you like to collect Alex Ovechkin Upper Deck cards and we’ll randomly select a collector to send it to on Tuesday, October 19 before the Capitals take on the Bruins. Just another example of how Upper Deck gets you closer to the game’s biggest stars.
25 Comments
OV’s Upper Deck cards are always over the top which is why I like collecting them. Cool event. They should do more of these and put invites into packs maybe.
Alex The Great is the best and so is upper deck, nuff said!
Just read the first comment on top, and yes I agree, it would be awesome for Upper Deck to do these type of signings and insert invites in packs. Or some king of redemption where you can send in a personal item and have it signed by Ovi.
That is great that Lee got that inscription of AO. Lee, I’m sure AO knows that you’re stalking him! 🙂
i like to collect his cards why? if your gonna collect something why not have the best of that something. he is the best player in the world, his personallity is the best example- (the all star game)he just had fun with it and tried to make all people happy.his cards will always be worth money so why not collect and spend money on a product that will keep and grow value. sidney was born where hockey was created making him the poster child. alot of collectors are from canada and they love their own is the only reason sid cards are worth more at times. alex is hands down the better more exciting player to watch. alex is the man this is why i pick him to collect.
Haha….glad to see Lee had a good time. I guess Ovy’s restraining order expired.
Ovechkin has a unique signature that is not sloppy or lazy. He’s also the best player in the game today, making it very valuable for buyers and sellers alike.
i would like to say the biggest fan is not a person who has unlimited funds to buy his cards or only upper end product. my son is the biggest fan in the world and not because i can afford all this big money product. it is because he has him as a role model. wants to play like act like be great like that to me is the biggest type of fan alex should wanna meet as well. nothing against any great collector such as myself it is more then cards though was my point. thanks
Lee truly is “THE OWNER OF ALL THINGS OVI!!!” That’s so great!!
I also love that Alex signed the redemption !!!That’s great!! He’s earned my respect. I don’t have a Ovechkin collection, I keep pulling that Sidney guy from my boxes instead.
Really got back into hockey cards in Ovechkins rookie season… His electric goals, and his on and off ice presence seems larger than life.
I like to collect him because number one in my opinion he is the best player in the league. I think he is very similar to Lebron in that he has had to do more with less than other stars in the league. Number two he is a great guy and role model as far as I know. He’s never getting into trouble off the ice. He plays hard and clean plus he puts up numbers. I like to collect his upper deck cards because upper deck makes the best hockey products period.
Ovi is a dynamic player…..it is great to see that players get involved in events like this…..just by watching him throughout his career you know he is very intense and has a great sense of humor…he reminds me a lot of another hockey great with his break out speed and skills which is Yvan Cournoyer…..I am a huge hockey fan and have been my whole life I was fortunate one year to pull an Ovi auto which was out of a low end product Fleer (signing day) I was in shock when I pulled it and happy behond imagination…..
Crosby will forgive you guys. 😛 Great guy, it’s cool to see him open the packs and things, hope everyone enjoyed it. I like to collect his cards because of his great personality and he’s an awesome player when it comes to value!
sorry i missed the event. what a great time for all!
AO is one of the true greats of the game today. Not only does he have that magic scoring touch but he is not afraid to throw his body around. Now Alex, no more redemptions since you got a taste of it first hand! BTW let us know when Alex finally gets his duallie with Geno!
The only rush bigger than opening a pack of Upper Deck product in a pack war, is to win the war because you pulled an Alexander Ovechkin autograph! But what if it was AO across the table from you during a pack war? Whoa!
My son is actually the big OV collector in the family despite us being Bruins’ fans (he’s named after Bruins’ great and now president Cam Neely). He loves the way OV celebrates the game with his cocky yet fun attitude. I wish more players showed that they were having fun out there like OV…and that he played for our Bruins!
The NHL always seem to want to make Sidney Crosby the face of the NHL and while I have nothing but respect for Crosby, the real symbol of the NHL in my opinion is Ovechkin. He plays hard, shows the will to win and is not afraid to have fun playing the game he loves. He wears his heart on his sleeve and that’s why I like him. UD does a great job in portraying just that on all of his cards, which is why he is a favorite of mine to collect, hands down (besides Gretzky, naturally)!
I’m an enormous hockey fan. I watch every game I possibly can, no matter what teams are playing. The one thing that is apparant when watching Alexander Ovechkin play is that he loves to play, score, and win. He loves the fans, and appreciates them greatly. This is why I love to collect Ovechkin. Some players make it look like playing in the NHL is a chore. Ovechkin is like a kid, he looks like he’s always having fun (At least when he’s winning). When I look back on my Alexder Ovechkin collection, I want to remember the memorable moments and great games. With AO, there are plenty of memories.
OV was really great. A good time was had by all. Lee is still in jail in Washington waiting for someone to bail him out.
Everyone has to admit that Ovechkin has incredible skill and just raw talent. He shows that every game he plays. I admire the person himself. He loves the game of hockey. Young at heart,always having fun,honest on and off the ice. He had the most original and hilarious All-Star game break away challenge ever. Even during interviews he seems to be having fun. Kids can look at him as a role model and so could most NHL’ers. That’s why I collect Ovechkin.
I may be wrong, but wasn’t Henrik Sedine the league MVP last year?
AO cards are always a great pull! Glad he got some time with the DC.
alexander the great need i say more
Congrats to Jon Duteau on being selected to receive the Alexander Ovechkin Sign of the Times card!!! Please contact us at [email protected] Jon!