ITG’s Made To Order Program Coming To An End

[pwaldo]

http://www.beckett.com/news/2014/09/...ing-to-an-end/

For over a decade, some of the most desired cards among hockey collectors have been from the Made To Order program that was a major part of several In The Game brands.

Made To Order was a true game-changer as it allowed collectors to submit the redemption cards to In The Game and they would receive a special 1/1 card featuring a player of their choosing. The cards began to appear in 2001-02 as part of Ultimate Memorabilia 2nd Edition and the program expanded over time to include varying themes over a wider array of products that included Between The Pipes, Heroes & Prospects and Sportkings.

“All redemption programs must come to an end and with the amalgamation between In The Game, Inc. and Leaf Trading Cards, now was the time for the Made To Order redemption program,” said In The Game’s Dr. Brian Price. “Remember, some of these cards are more than ten years old.”

While the physical cards do not have an expiration date on them, expiration dates had been posted on the In The Game website in recent months. All Made To Order cards from before the 2008-09 season had expired on May 1, 2014 and the remainder of the cards were given an expiration date of December 31, 2014 with the intention of wrapping up the program.

Due to collectors not being widely made aware of the change, Price made the decision to extend the expiration dates of all Made To Order cards, regardless of the year they were issued, to the latter date. He encourages collectors to submit their Made To Order redemption cards as soon as possible.

“I can’t speak for Sportkings but that is the case for the In The Game, Inc. cards,” he noted. “For any new information on Sportkings redemptions you would have to contact Leaf Trading Cards, but I do know that the Series F Made To Orders expire on December 31, 2014.”

It should also be noted that player and memorabilia selection is limited to those that are still available.

Redeemed Made To Order cards have gathered an impressive following due to the strong selection of game-used memorabilia pieces. Since they often go into the hands of private collectors, they only occasionally come up for sale. They leave behind an fine legacy that Price is pleased with.

“I feel that the Made To Order cards are some of the best cards in hobby, but then again, I am biased,” he said. “The cards are collector-driven and filled the specific needs of the collectors who had them made.”

[ravens_creed]

Truly a sad day. Is this the death of ITG? The merge with Leaf has left me feeling like a one-time great company and product is now being put in the hands of a a football/baseball-knowing bunch of people who can't and won't continue on with ITG's great product releases. The ITG people had a true intimate knowledge of hockey and its players. I'm not so sure Leaf will offer the same. Tell me I'm missing something here...
Anyhow, ending the MTO program is like losing one of the best things that exist for hockey card collectors. A sad day indeed.

[30ranfordfan]

I'll wait and see what this Leaf / ITG merger ultimately means for the ITG products I've really liked over the years.... but ending the MTO program is too bad. Best card idea ever, IMO. Happy to have one in my own collection, and why I use it as my avatar here.

[ravens_creed]

Seriously, how many cards out there generate the kind of excitement and storytelling and ultimate satisfaction that your MTO brought you? I'm not sure why they'd decide to cancel it, there must be a reason we don't know about yet.

[subban7677]

Perhaps the stock of vintage memorabilia for certain guys is beginning to dry up?

[theboxbreaker96]

I just don't understand why they would merge with Leaf. To me they were never in any real trouble money wise. They showed a warehouse full of stuff a little while ago.

Im wondering what caused them to make the merge with leaf. I personally never had one because they were to expensive. I love ITG for the vintage memorabilia and basically all of the retired players autos and jersey pieces. I really hope ITG Memorabilia still comes out its one of my favorites!

[mortuus]

Starting to nothing but dislike they went partners with leaf..ughh soon everything unique and cool what itg stood for will be gone..

[joecoolio]

I just don't understand why they would merge with Leaf. To me they were never in any real trouble money wise. They showed a warehouse full of stuff a little while ago.

Im wondering what caused them to make the merge with leaf. I personally never had one because they were to expensive. I love ITG for the vintage memorabilia and basically all of the retired players autos and jersey pieces. I really hope ITG Memorabilia still comes out its one of my favorites!

Panini making cards since 2010 was likely very hard on the ITG bottom line. Dr. Price is likely tired of fighting for industry fairness as well, plus he may be looking to retire. Leaf will likely have full control over the ITG brand over the next year or two and will likely only continue with ITG branded hockey products if they are profitable. It's too bad really... ITG really did put out some nice indepedent stuff.

[brian045]

DR. Price hasn't updated his blog since MAY! Do we go the route, "no news is good news" ? I think ITG Ultimate will be similar to Prime this year....With more HOF players

[JTPens58]

DR. Price hasn't updated his blog since MAY! Do we go the route, "no news is good news" ? I think ITG Ultimate will be similar to Prime this year....With more HOF players

Not sure I'd say no news is good news in this case, considering the MTO news that has come out isn't positive. The MTO was the only redemption you could actually get excited about landing; it's a shame to see it end.