One of my favorite shows of the year is the Fall Sports Card & Memorabilia Expo in Toronto. The weather is usually not very nice, but the collectors we meet at the show are always warm and friendly. We brought a great crew of Upper Deck staffers to the show this past weekend who were fired up to spend time with collectors and without a doubt, the team succeeded in bringing a lot of smiles to many hockey fans’ faces. And with Upper Deck’s 2010-11 Series One Hockey hitting store shelves the week before, collectors were fired up to break open packs over the weekend. In case you didn’t make it out to the show, here’s what you missed.
An aerial view of the 2010 Fall Sports Card & Memorabilia Expo in Toronto.
Things You Don’t See Every Day
There are a variety of booths with unique offerings throughout the show, but what makes it so much fun is when you see things you don’t see every day. I had a long-time collector stop by the booth on Sunday who let me know he just got a case of 2005-06 NHL The Cup, one of Upper Deck’s most famous NHL releases ever. Cases frequently sell for about $4,000 so when he informed me he was going to open it, I had to check it out. While he didn’t pull a Sidney Crosby or Alex Ovechkin rookie, he did okay and definitely had a lot of fun, even though his hands were shaking with excitement as he opened each pack.
An exciting trading card opportunity – opening a case of 2005-06 NHL The Cup!
Getting a Peek Behind the Curtain
Upper Deck has made a common practice of holding a collectors’ roundtable at this show every year where we gather up savvy collectors and spend time with them, providing a behind-the-scenes feel for what we do to help enhance their collecting experience. It’s a great opportunity for us to get some great feedback, but the collectors in attendance really enjoy getting a chance to see what we are coming out with next and getting the chance to ask questions to key Upper Deck staff. We want to thank all the collectors who took part in the program.
Interacting with our collectors through roundtable discussions is a great way for Upper Deck to remain at the top of its game.
Taking a Card to the Game
We ran a very successful wrapper redemption program at the show for an autograph set of cards called “Upper Deck Priority Signings” at the show. To help promote the program, we produced six oversized cards of players from the set. One was of Nazem Kadri, the highly touted rookie for the Toronto Maple Leafs. We were invited by Grosnor Distribution to the Leafs game on Saturday night to get to spend time with some of the hobby shops they service. And wouldn’t you know it, Kadri was called up to be in the starting lineup for the game that night. So I thought it would be fun to bring this huge card to the game. Leafs fans got of a kick out of seeing this huge card as we showed it off during the game. We even ended up giving it to the stadium so they could display it there. Although Kadri didn’t have the best game, we had a lot of fun showing off his life-sized Upper Deck card.
Leafs fans got a kick out of seeing a life-size Upper Deck card at the game this weekend.
Exposing the Hobby to the Next Generation of Collectors
Throughout the weekend we saw lots and lots of younger sports fans at the show who were excited to open packs of new Upper Deck cards. They were even more excited when they received an “Upper Deck Priority Signings” card. Check out some of the smiles from the next generation of sports card collectors.
"Whoa! Can you believe we got this cool hockey card from Upper Deck?"
"Check out these sweet hockey cards, courtesy of Upper Deck!"
Watching Fathers Connect with Sons
I grew up collecting with my father and brothers so I know firsthand how special that experience with family can be. It was so heartwarming to see fathers and sons have a great bonding moment with each other at the show over the weekend. Whether they were completing a huge set, winning a great prize from Upper Deck or celebrating moments after pulling a great autograph card, I feel like we really helped create some very memorable moments for fathers and sons this weekend at the show.
A father lifts up his son to celebrate the Bobby Orr autograph they pulled at the Upper Deck booth.
Giving Back to Loyal Collectors
Upper Deck held a series of four raffles at the 2010 Fall Sports Card & Memorabilia Expo where the company gave away more than 100 prizes as a way to thank its great fans. These raffles drew huge crowds and plenty of faithful UD fans walked away with smiles and great prizes including trading cards, memorabilia and apparel. The most memorable moment from the event was when a very excited collector won a pack of 2009-10 NHL The Cup. More over 50 fans watched with great anticipation as he opened his pack of super high-end trading cards. He pulled some great autograph and memorabilia cards and everyone got the chance to see what it is like to open a pack of cards valued at approximately $350.
Huge crowds gathered to watch the winner of an Upper Deck raffle open a pack of 2009-10 NHL The Cup.
Making Our Customers a Priority
With a red-hot rookie class this year including Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, PK Subban and others, collectors were already planning on opening tons of packs of 2010-11 Upper Deck Series One Hockey. But we decided to make things a little more exciting by offering a very special wrapper redemption called the “Upper Deck Priority Signings” set. Collectors who opened a new Upper Deck box at our booth received one of these very special autograph cards. With names like Gordie Howe, Wayne Gretzky, Sidney Crosby, Alexander Ovechkin, Bobby Orr and more included in the set, collectors were definitely fired up about the program.
Gordie's the man: Yet another happy customer at the Upper Deck booth in Toronto.
We know not everyone could make it up to Toronto for this year’s event. So as a thank you to our other loyal collectors, we’d like to give you the opportunity to get one of these cards. Just add a comment below about a time when Upper Deck made you smile and we will randomly select three of you who will receive one of these Priority Signings cards. We’ll select names on Thursday morning, Nov. 18, so share your story today!
77 Comments
I had a huge smile when I open a blaster of black diamond last year and I pull a Vincent Lecavalier (PC player) quad jersey onyx /10.
Seeing Upper Deck cards makes me smile because I remember when I was younger and my dad would buy me Hockey cards and it was a great bonding experience. Every time I open a pack of Upper Deck Hockey, I remember these great times.
I pulled a Brady/Bledsoe Ultimate auto redemption at a show that had expired 1 week before. I called UD customer service and they were great. The card I had pulled was never made and they replaced it with a card that was just as nice. Thanks Upper Deck 🙂
I’ve been smiling everytime I open a pack, none more then the first time I opened a pack and realized that there were pictures on the back of the cards too.
When I suprize my hubby with a box, his childish glee brings a smile to my face.
When I was a little kid my dad me my first pack of cards (Upper Deck Series 1). In that pack I got my favourite player, Mats Sundin at the time, and was so happy even though it was just a base card. Makes me smile about how even the simple base cards makes kids days. Thanks Upper deck for giving me the experiences of collecting cards.
I get a smile any time I go back home with a box of cards excited at the prospect of opening the packs inside. The ride home from my LCS takes about 15 minutes. A very long 15 minutes when you can’t wait to find out what’s in there.
Upper Deck gave me another big wide smile last time I bought a blaster pack of UD Victory. I hadn’t followed the rookie draft and didn’t quite know who was hot this year except for Taylor Hall. I didn’t get HIM, but I pulled some guy named Nazem Kadri. Then later I found out the guy’s got a lot of potential!
Did I mention it was the red parallel? 🙂
Why just today Upper Deck’s customer service made me smile! Extremely happy with James from customer service as he was very nice, helpful, and professional. He set up a case # for me and was able to help me with the issue that I had! Thanks James and thanks Upper Deck for having a great employee like James working for your company! Have also dealt with a few other great people from Upper Deck customer service department in the past 3 or 4 years that I have be seriously collecting.
Also thanks Upper Deck for this amazing give away.
Upper Deck had made me excited since I pulled a 1989 Upper Deck Dale Murphy reverse negative card when the premier baseball product came out. I recently bought one again for my personal collection now that I am older, and I beam at it for the memories,not it’s value.
Upper Deck makes me smile every time I open a pack of cards and pull a PC card. Plus redemption maildays always make me smile!
When I first heard that Upper Deck was going to make a special set commemmorating 100 years of the Montreal Canadiens, that definitely made me smile! Probably my best-ever pull is from that set: a dual autograph featuring Carey Price and Andrei Markov. Just a fantastic card and I had so much fun breaking that product. Cheers UD!
I bought a redemption for my first Lebron James autograph and after waiting about 9 months requested a replacement card. Upperdeck sent me a 05-06 sp authentic autograph jersey /50. Needless to say i was ecstatic.unfortunately I had to sell it because I was going on a trip to Europe and needed some money. Then About 4 months later I received a phone call from my mother telling me I got another package from upperdeck but this time it had was beat up and had my country listed as Afghanistan. I asked her to open it and proceeds to tell me (in her own words) its card with a piece of ball looking thingy on it that is signed by “Labaron James”.
As many times as Upper Deck has made me smile, one of my favorites has to have been when opening packs of 2009 SP Threads Football. I pulled a James Davis Redemption, and ended up having to get it replaced. Rather than get some low-end autograph that didn’t fit in my collection, I was sent a gorgeous Paul Hornung Autograph /50, one of my favorite cards in my collection. Hockey-wise, it would have to be pulling a Steve Mason “Rookie Sensations” insert from a rack pack of Fleer Ultra. A limited card of my favorite player…does it get any better?
Easy. The time was during the 2005-06 season…….
I’ve been collecting hockey cards since I was 10 (way back in 1990). Stopped in the late 90s. Got interested in it again a few years later, around 2001. Kept mostly to buying single cards I liked, rather than breaking boxes though.
Fast forward to 2005. NHL coming out the lockout, very hyped Rookie Class. I thought I’d try my luck with 4 packs of Upper Deck Series 1 – and got the big hit. Was thrilled to pull a Sidney Crosby Young Gun. To this day it’s easily the best pull I’ve ever had.
That day kicked off a rediscovered love for the hobby though, and have been building Upper Deck Series 1 & 2 sets ever since.
Every time Upper Deck Series 1 comes out makes me happy,A new season of collecting “Let the trading begin”,
My dad and I started collecting hockey cards when UD released the 90/91 series and I have been hooked ever since. When I first heard that there would be retro cards featuring the same design from back then, I just knew I had to pick up a few boxes and break them with my dad. It was a great experience and defenitly brought back some good memories and put a smile on my face.
I had collected cards when i was kid but was out of the hobby for awhile as the Blues had made it hard to get excited. A couple years ago when the blues had started to pick up their play, my itch for collecting started up too. I went to my LCS and picked up a pack of 08-09 SPX and boom……. A Filatov spx auto/mem rc. I was back in the game whether I liked it or not and smiled the entire drive home 🙂
UD makes me smile, because it allows me to spend quality time with my dad. We love to collect them, and then sorting and organize them together. And we get lots so that means more quality time spent together. My dad loves rookie cards, so when we pull the rookie cards seeing his face light up like a little kid is the best!
Upper Deck makes me smile whenever I add another card to my collection. As a cash-strapped college student I don’t get much opportunity to open up packs of cards but every time I do it’s so much fun. Especially when I pull a player that I collect like Matt Stajan, Luca Caputi or Phil Oreskovic. To me there is nothing like opening a pack and getting exactly what you wanted. Getting the high value cards is all well and good but for me there is nothing better than opening a pack and seeing the name Stajan on the card.
05/06….bought 5 packs of series one. pulled a crosby young guns !! so i had to buy a box cause i was all jacked up. pulled two nhl generations and a big playmakers. love it. been collecting since 89/90 and upper deck is always the main set every year. sure they have alot of other good products but for me, nothing beats the original. keep up the good work u.d.
One time I had opened a pack that had a quad auto however one of the autos was missing, I called up Upper Deck and they came to the rescue, they asked me to send the card in and I got it back in less than a month with the sticker auto on it. I was excited as one of my favorite players was on the card, thanks for that one Upper Deck and keep up the good work.
This article made me smile. Hopefully someday, my daughter will want to collect cards with me too!
When I got a hobby box of 2009 Upper Deck Football for my birthday last year! I have had alot of fun putting a full set together, just missing some SP rookies.
Thanks to the 70+ fans who participated in our Priority Signings giveaway. The three people selected to receive a random Priority Signing card are Dave Cosgrove, Stacey “Daisy” Dauwer and Maxime Leroux. Congrats!!!
This promotion is now over, but feel free to keep sharing how UD makes you smile!
I bought a blaster box of 07-08 artifacts and recieved a chicago redemption, turned out to be Toews /100 and it was a month from expiring, and Upper Deck still had them in stock and sent my card within a month, one of my favourite cards to this day
I had a grin from ear to ear when I stopped at a gas station in Toronto in 2006. I filled up with gas and bought 1 pack of UD Series 1 and there was Crosby Young Guns in the middle. Still remains my best pull to date.
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