Update on Devante Smith-Pelly Stamped Autograph RC's

[RGM81]

Collectors may recall that it was discovered that DSP had allegedly taken a stamp to a number of his cards that were intended to be hard-signed for several products. Well, today confirmation was given that he did indeed not properly sign the cards. Courtesy of gomaz over at HI:

I was contacted by Martin McQuaig who is the Manager, Retail Licensing of the NHLPA.

He called to advise regarding the Devante Smith-Pelly stamp autograph cards.

Martin confirmed that Smith-Pelly was using a stamp and that only the following brands were impacted:

Panini Contenders
Panini Prime
Upper Deck SP Authentic
Upper Deck Ultimate
Upper Deck The Cup

He went to say that the NHLPA takes this seriously and that when they learned of this rumor they conducted their due diligence and concluded that the rumor was fact.

He mentioned that Upper Deck and Panini will be making announcements on their blogs regarding their plans to rectify the situation with collectors.

And indeed UD has already done so:

http://upperdeckblog.com/2012/11/201...ard-situation/

This is to address the recent discovery that a number of cards distributed by Upper Deck in select 2011-12 NHL trading card releases and purporting to be “hand-signed” by NHL rookie Devante Smith-Pelly were not, in fact, “hand-signed” by the player. Upon discovering that cards of Anaheim Ducks player Devante Smith-Pelly included in select 2011-12 NHL products may have been marked by a stamp instead of being hand-signed, Upper Deck immediately contacted the player’s agent and the NHLPA. After confirming the cards were not signed by Devante Smith-Pelly, Upper Deck immediately began the process of remaking his signed trading cards for 2011-12 NHL SP Authentic, 2011-12 NHL Ultimate Collection and 2011-12 NHL The Cup. Devante Smith-Pelly will autograph these remade cards.

Collectors who pulled these cards simply need to contact Upper Deck’s Customer Care group at (800) 873-7332 or by emailing QA@upperdeck.com. Upper Deck staff will provide instructions on how to send in your card to have it replaced. Additionally, Upper Deck will provide some relief on shipping costs for collectors affected in the form of two (2) new Upper Deck packs sent back with the replacement card.

[Kessel_fan_87]

I for one have ZERO intrest in any of his autos, for now, forever

[centrehice]

He should be thrown out of the NHLPA and have his contract revoked and torn up.

[13stepper]

I just pulled his Future Watch auto redemption, this will be the ultimate test for Upper Deck, will they send me a stamped card or a newly signed card?

[blacksheep]

i wonder if any of the stamp autos were sent into beckett or psa/dna for grading. would those guys have caught the stamp... or would the autograph been given a grade. makes me wonder.

[pwaldo]

i wonder if any of the stamp autos were sent into beckett or psa/dna for grading. would those guys have caught the stamp... or would the autograph been given a grade. makes me wonder.

They've authenticated cards that had an autograph printed onto the card's design before so I wouldn't be surprised to see a stamp go through. They don't have much common sense when authenticating they just look for a legit looking autograph and give it the thumps up.

[Yzerfan]

Well that's just great, my first pack pulled 1 of 1 had to be of a guy who would try to cheat. Now my card is probably worthless since it was the 11-12 Contenders Rookie Patch Auto Gold. How much will this affect the trade/sale value of my card?

[durangatang]

Just seems lazy! It must suck to sign all those cards, but c'mon, some players sign way more than he does and I'm assuming he was compensated for his time.

[jogesc2]

Do the players have to sign all these cards? If they decided that it's just not worth their time to do it can they just say no or does the NHLPA make them?

[durangatang]

Do the players have to sign all these cards? If they decided that it's just not worth their time to do it can they just say no or does the NHLPA make them?

I am under the impression they are obligated to as part of the CBA or something. At least for a set like BAP where you sometimes see players who don't sign a lot.