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  1. #1
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    Why 13-14 stuff before all the 12-13 is done?

    After the last couple of summers, I don't think anyone should be surprised by it.... but in the past we heard that 'product delays' were the reason, not so much a planned way of doing things.


    But am I the only one that thinks this new trend of releasing the new year's products, before all the old ones are done, is wrong?


    First UD announces Trilogy will be out in July. Now Panini has pegged score for a July release too. I can only assume that this means OPC and a mid-end Panini product will be out in August.

    I get that these guys want to be competitive with each other. No new RCs this year means they want to be get next year's rookies out as soon as possible. To me though, this is a horrible trend.

    The NHLPA needs to step in, and put an end to this. They need to lay a very clear timeline for what "hockey card season" is. If they want to reset to the new year in July, fine, but the manufacturers should be held to that reset date. (I would think September 1st makes the most sense, but whatever). Releasing 12-13 products and 13-14 products at the same time shouldn't be allowed. I hope this is the last time we see it.

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    I agree 100% it makes no sense

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    how is this wrong ?
    if they can do this legally it means, that a lot of LCS's will survive because the "hot" rookies will be around.

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    Outside of it perhaps mildly confusing some people, what's the issue?

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    12-13 = suckage
    13-14 = golden stud of opportunity

    You do the math on what you'd want to promote more.

  6. #6
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    It is goofy, I agree on that. However, the 2012-13 season will be done by July, and Brian Gionta will have been awarded the Cup by Gary Bettman, and so when that happens I think that it's not inappropriate to switch the calendar and start releasing products with 2013-14 in mind. It is definitely strange to be getting 2012-13 products well after that, but it's not out of the ordinary due to all the delays one has come to expect with The Cup.

    It would be nice if the PA stepped in and forced the licensees to step it up so that everything is concise and flows naturally, but their main driving force is dollars much moreso than calendars. As such, get ready for confused eBay sellers marking cards with the wrong years!
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    It is goofy, I agree on that. However, the 2012-13 season will be done by July, and Brian Gionta will have been awarded the Cup by Gary Bettman, and so when that happens I think that it's not inappropriate to switch the calendar and start releasing products with 2013-14 in mind. It is definitely strange to be getting 2012-13 products well after that, but it's not out of the ordinary due to all the delays one has come to expect with The Cup.

    It would be nice if the PA stepped in and forced the licensees to step it up so that everything is concise and flows naturally, but their main driving force is dollars much moreso than calendars. As such, get ready for confused eBay sellers marking cards with the wrong years!

    Fully agree!

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    It is goofy, I agree on that. However, the 2012-13 season will be done by July, and Brian Gionta will have been awarded the Cup by Gary Bettman, and so when that happens I think that it's not inappropriate to switch the calendar and start releasing products with 2013-14 in mind. It is definitely strange to be getting 2012-13 products well after that, but it's not out of the ordinary due to all the delays one has come to expect with The Cup.

    It would be nice if the PA stepped in and forced the licensees to step it up so that everything is concise and flows naturally, but their main driving force is dollars much moreso than calendars. As such, get ready for confused eBay sellers marking cards with the wrong years!



  9. #9
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    Obviously they're doing it legally (if they wern't allowed, they wouldn't be doing it) but that's sort of what my point is: If the rules set by the PA allow this, the PA should change them.

    Both Upper Deck & Panini are licensed 11 products per year. Why can't those products be released in order, instead of having "next year's" releases inserted three quarters the way through the season?

    My problem with the whole thing, is confussion. Not my own... and by extension, not really the confussion of most members here (or similar sites). Fact is, we all follow this hobby enough and know where to find information if we need it. Its the less "hard core" correctors that will get confused..... the ones that make up a huge portion of overall sales.

    I get that 13-14 products will be more popular than 12-13 ones were. People are want those new RCs, and the manufacturers don't want to wait until September to start cashing in. I just don't see how its going to make much of a difference to them. Does anyone really think that UD will sell more or less Trilogy if its released in July vs September? It will like get a boost being the first product with the new rookies.... but wouldn't that boost also apply if the first product of the new season was released much later?

    As far as the "saving the LCS", I get the theory - but I don't buy it. Yes, I would imagine sales are down considerably considering the lack of product, and that lack of star-rookie power in the few that have been out. Next year's products should sell much better. But I'd be surprised to learn that sales from hockey cards are ever particularly good in the summer (if an LCS owner wants to correct me, I'd love to hear it). Sure the highest end products (The Cup) come out then, and dealers can move through that stuff pretty quickly.... but again, we're talking about the most hard-core collectors only, only a portion of the whole hobby.


    Its the implications on Rookie Cards (and the confusion it will create) that I don't like. These companies have produced sets all year that feature rookies like Chris Krieder. We're going to see at least 1, probably 2 or 3, set(s) before the final Chris Krieder RC comes out.


    30 years ago it was easy. First card of a player was his RC. Even in recent times.... it's pretty simple. Player has a "Rookie Year" and all his "regular" (i.e. not an 'insert') cards are Rookie Cards, becuase they came out in that year.

    But where does the line get drawn? We get 13-14 Products in July of 2013..... but we probably won't see 12-13 The Cup until August or September. What if we're talking October for the last 12-13 product? What about "in time for the Expo" in November? When does the gap become too big?

    The lines between what is a rookie and what isn't, I think, are going down the path of becoming blurred. Not their yet... but its coming.


    This is the scenario that I'm waiting for.... and these jumbled up release dates make me think its only a matter of time before it happens (and let's pretened I'm talking about the 13-14 / 14-15 releases, only to illustrate a point):

    Upper Deck's last release of 2013-14 season is The Cup. It comes out in late August of 2014. Amoung the rookies included in this set is a Player who made his debut in January of 2013 (we'll call him John Smith) but did not appear in any other 2013-14 products, from either Upper Deck or Panini. He wasn't considered a big name... only got a single game call up in January, but got back to the NHL in April, and had a Paul DiPietro-esque run in the playoffs.

    Before The Cup is released, Upper Deck puts 2014-15 Trilogy out in July of 2014, and OPC in early August of 2014. John Smith has a base card in the OPC set.

    Panini gets 14-15 Score out in July of 2014, Certified in mid-August, and Crown Royal in late September. All three of these sets feature John Smith in their Rookie Subsets.


    How many TRUE rookie cards does John Smith have?


    And there in lies the problem. Upper Deck included him in a 2013-14 set, and since that was his only RC that season.... it must be his RC. But Panini called all their John Smith 2014-15 cards "Rookies" and a few actually hit shelves before Upper Deck's last 13-14 card. If his 14-15 Panini cards count as RCs, then wouldn't his 14-15 UD cards count too??

  10. #10




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    I don't see why John Smith had his debut in early 2013 and finally got his RC in August 2014. Why wouldn't he get it in August 2013? And why would he have a base card in 14-15 OPC while getting the RC treatment in other 14-15 products such as Score, Certified, and Crown? Shouldn't his OPC card be an RC as well?

    I think you may be making things out to be more confusing than they are.

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