Who believes UD is using fake stuff?

[Prime B]

btw anybody know when the exclusive liscence ends?

"Supposedly" after this upcoming year, 09/10..................honestly, I don't think UD has the money to make a run at "buying" off the PA or NHL again.

The reported $5 mil per of the previous contract is WAY out of their budget now, they are hurting.............BAD.

[weasel-king]

I think UD uses legitimate swatches and jerseys simply because of what would happen to them as a company if they didn't. They would literally sink as no distributors would buy their products. As soon as you taint one sport all the others fall with it. Then the other branches they are involved with go as well (gaming/non-sports/UDA, etc).

I know they keep cut-up pieces essentially in little baggies with the players names, so yes, sometimes there will be errors. As a collector the Barker screw up is a travesty, but as a company they are not going to reprint a small batch of cards. I don't like it (and I'm not a Barker collector), but from a business standpoint it costs them less to worry about those fans than it does to reprint/put the stickers/send out for corrected versions, etc.

As for the verbage on the backs, it's not a conspiracy theory but some clear legal positioning to allow for loopholes. They buy jerseys from Meigray and teams individually, among other places, so I'm sure it's just a generic statement.

But I do miss the little things, like when Pacific stated the team on the back and whatnot. And I would have loved to have seen from UD was for the Game Dated parallels to contain a piece of the jersey where the photo was taken. With Meigray, at least, they tell you what set so you can usually get the games, especially if using something like Getty and photomatching it.

[roy.the.greatest]

The problem is we cannot be sure if a piece of memorabilia is real or not. Same issue with autographs not made in presence of a representative. We have to trust UD, same thing for ITG.

[roy.the.greatest]

"Supposedly" after this upcoming year, 09/10..................honestly, I don't think UD has the money to make a run at "buying" off the PA or NHL again.

The reported $5 mil per of the previous contract is WAY out of their budget now, they are hurting.............BAD.

I hope what you say is true. However, I hope Panini wouldn't get the exclusive after UD!!!!

[deankal]

Yeah I also miss the back of the card where it had all the little details. UD has gone so vague about where the jerseys are from on their cards to not even letting you know what's in a box anymore with the "on average" quotes on any new products.

[bidds55]

I'll toss in my 2 cents....

I believe it has been proven (although not in court, nor is there any pending lawsuit or anything) that the Minnesota Wild have sent jerseys never worn by anyone, but literally from the Xcel Energy Center team shop to Upper Deck, as "certified to have been used in a game by..." a number of players.

I know there are a number of Gaborik collectors out there who know much more than I do, and if I have mis-spoken I will gladly stand corrected.

That said, I suspect that may be, at least in part what lead to the change.

[Prime B]

I'll toss in my 2 cents....

I believe it has been proven (although not in court, nor is there any pending lawsuit or anything) that the Minnesota Wild have sent jerseys never worn by anyone, but literally from the Xcel Energy Center team shop to Upper Deck, as "certified to have been used in a game by..." a number of players.

I know there are a number of Gaborik collectors out there who know much more than I do, and if I have mis-spoken I will gladly stand corrected.

That said, I suspect that may be, at least in part what lead to the change.

Ah, that was a funny one. There's a few other good stories floating around out there but I like to ration them out........unless I get more soon.

I think I am fairly justified in my beliefs about UD's game used practices.

[pmc336699]

This is what Paul is talking about...



Left patch no way, right patch legit.

I've been a Wild fan since day one, and I've never seen them use a jersey in an NHL game that has that odd gold and maroon color. The real color should be tan and red. Furthermore, I've never even seen one like that for sale in the Hockey Lodge at the X. I can't comment on where the heck UD got them from, but I don't believe that they are legit. And if you want to say that the patch may have been switched after the fact, explain why there are so many Gabby (as well as Mikko Koivu) cards using those odd colors. It's rather pathetic. I think I need to find a new hobby.

[pmc336699]

Maybe this is a better comparison.....


Bogus patches...legit patches....

[lumm0x]

While I agree with so many sentiments in this thread, one comment I cannot help but make is that as collectors, we (not everyone, so have stopped due to these issues) have shown the card manufacturers that the integrity of the memorabilia comes second to visual appeal. Hence the introduction of photo shoot jerseys and non-NHL game memorabilia as well as manufactured patches. We have basically said, if it looks good we'll pay more for it. The authenticity of the product comes second to how good it looks. This is proven by the exponential difference in sales between a one color and a 3-4 color rookie patch. It's all photoshoot garbage. SPGU has made a living the last few years by adding Lettermarks, Numbermarks and Teammarks to the sets. These aren't even from a jersey the player touched.

A massive uproar is heard whenever a patch faker is exposed (and rightfully so, I don't condone it in the least), yet we essentially let the manufacturers get away with it.

We as customers permit so many things for the manufacturers to save money and effort. The jersey pieces as stated, sticker autos, redemptions, the same photography across a dozen different product lines, lack of design difference year after year across certain brands, etc. Meanwhile the price point continues to rise and the integrity continues to drop.