Please Read this Upper Deck Blog!

[MatsSundin13Rocks]

I got really extremely angry after reading this blog and I think you will too.


Here’s the deal: I’ve been around this hobby for 20 years and have worked at Upper Deck for 12. I used to be the editor of Trading Cards magazine during the hobby’s heyday in the early ‘90s and spent ample time comparing, reviewing and writing about innovative sports card products. I watched price guides go up and down; industry trade shows catch fire with more and more excited collectors; and products being unveiled that made people stop and take notice. And more often than not, Upper Deck was the company that made people say: “Wow.” Very simply, they had products worth crowing about.

read more http://upperdeckblog.com/2010/03/wil...ation-be-lost/


Here is the killer: Major League Baseball believes that collectors are now the real winners with its decision to limit the playing field to just one licensed manufacturer. But does the collector really win in the end?

That is insane to me. Really insane. I'm so furious I can't think properly!!! Exclusivity if of course bad for collectors yet the NHL thought it a good idea for Upper Deck to have an exclusive license to the NHL hockey cards and that is exactly the same thing the Panini is doing with Basketball and Topps is doing with Baseball right now and Upper Deck is crying yet they've done the exact same thing to the hockey card market and us collectors have suffered greatly!

[cnshockey]

Not going to read the whole thing but this whole debate will go on until ITG can get a license. To a lot of people, ITG is far more respected than UD. I could go on and on about how great ITG is but it's all been said before and won't stop being reiterated until they get a license. all I know is, is that this hobby won't get better until change is made.

[Jaso1199]

And more often than not, Upper Deck was the company that made people say: “Wow.” Very simply, they had products worth crowing about.

No they forgot the second half, it goes like this: "Wow, i cant believe i spent $80 on this piece of absolute garbage!" Or "Wow, i cant believe they are still making this garbage!" Or, my personal opinion "Wow, i have completely lost faith in mankind". I think they just took a bit of poetic liscense on those quotes. Upper Deck in my own opinion has almost killed the hockey card market. I have to give it up to ITG who actually cares about the customer, and values what the collector wants. Unlike UD customer service, who make people wait 2 years for a crapshoot of RCs for a 300 dollar card.

Bravo UD, Bravo

[dherm360]

I have zero sympathy for UD. McWilliams is a crook, I have no idea how that clown keeps his job with the things he has done. I havent purchased an UD product since the fiasco of the legendary cuts where they saturated the autos with some jockey.

Competition is good, monopolys are bad and make companies stagnat. But Upperdeck is so unbelievable unethical, they have lost the trust of the collecting community, the hobby would be better without them in the picture at all

[MatsSundin13Rocks]

I have zero sympathy for UD. McWilliams is a crook, I have no idea how that clown keeps his job with the things he has done. I havent purchased an UD product since the fiasco of the legendary cuts where they saturated the autos with some jockey.

Competition is good, monopolys are bad and make companies stagnat. But Upperdeck is so unbelievable unethical, they have lost the trust of the collecting community, the hobby would be better without them in the picture at all

I completely agree with you on everything. The writer of the blog has worked at Upper Deck for 12 years and the blog is so biased and just laughable it the arrogance of it!

I wish us hockey collectors had an option but we don't right now other than the unlicensed ITG which is a top notch company but without the license there are issues with cards not holding value and no rookie cards or cards pictured with NHL logos. Upper Deck has been our only option for too long. It sucks but hopefully it will change.

[MatsSundin13Rocks]

And more often than not, Upper Deck was the company that made people say: “Wow.” Very simply, they had products worth crowing about.

No they forgot the second half, it goes like this: "Wow, i cant believe i spent $80 on this piece of absolute garbage!" Or "Wow, i cant believe they are still making this garbage!" Or, my personal opinion "Wow, i have completely lost faith in mankind". I think they just took a bit of poetic liscense on those quotes. Upper Deck in my own opinion has almost killed the hockey card market. I have to give it up to ITG who actually cares about the customer, and values what the collector wants. Unlike UD customer service, who make people wait 2 years for a crapshoot of RCs for a 300 dollar card.

Bravo UD, Bravo

More like this: "WOW I just spent $120-$200 on this piece of worthless trash!"

As for poetic license those weren't even quotes at all just the Upper Deck employee's view who wrote this piece of garbage blog that makes me puke.

[steen101984]

Id like to say im surprised by their arrogance but really are you that surprised? After the konami thing they essentially blamed it on konami!?!!? Even their lawyer called them a crook how terrible are you when a lawyer says that? lol

[MatsSundin13Rocks]

Id like to say im surprised by their arrogance but really are you that surprised? After the konami thing they essentially blamed it on konami!?!!? Even their lawyer called them a crook how terrible are you when a lawyer says that? lol

You are pretty darn terrible when you lawyer will call you a crook. These people running Upper Deck are evil it seems. Honestly I hope the company goes broke, they lose everything and the go under for good.

[RGM81]

There is a lot of living in the past in there, but to me there's a bitter and ironic pill found in these words:

"Upper Deck’s debut baseball release also introduced the industry’s first-ever anti-counterfeit hologram on each of its cards. It was groundbreaking. That security device would revolutionize the industry, put competitors on notice, and force card counterfeiters out of business."

Who among us would have thought that Upper Deck themselves would be counterfeiting their products and hurting their own business and ethical standing to the degree that many would like to see *them* out of business?

Here's the rub, from my perspective: Upper Deck has created a lot of the problems within the hobby today, problems which negatively affect long-time hobbyists and how they feel about collecting. Yes they were highly innovative 20 years ago. Yes they continue to have some very nice innovations in their current products. However, they have single-handedly made the word "redemption" into a perjorative. Two years to acquire a single autograph for a 1/1 card. Printing more redemption cards than cards to be redeemed, thus necessitating the printing of more cards. Same product, the next year, taking until April to announce the list of cards. Providing collectors with a list saying that Redemption X corresponds to Rookie Y, then shipping the wrong cards. When collectors give up after waiting for two years for a card, they are sent replacements that are often diametrically opposed to what they asked for. Quality control is an issue. Customer service is an issue. Stagnant products and redundant checklists are issues. To sum up, UD has been a significant disappointment in recent years.

However, something can only be a disappointment if it offers great hope, and doesn't deliver on it. We all know what Upper Deck is capable of (especially those of us who have read the article) and that when they are on top of their game, they do make some top-notch products. Think The Cup Draft Boards, the SPx Shadowbox, the Black Diamond Hardware Heroes. These are all sets that have been released within the past 12 months. Clearly there is some good to emanate from Upper Deck.

So here's what I want to come out of this: I want Upper Deck to do well and to do good by us collectors. I hope that they do something to turn the corner and get the ship back in order. People are abandoning them because they know UD can do better but seemingly chooses not to. I hope that the NHL and NHLPA have been paying attention in recent months so that when the decision is made to grant licensing for products in 2010-11 and beyond, they put Upper Deck on probation by giving both UD and In The Game a license. I say that it puts them on probation because it's a clear demotion from having exclusivity while at the same time giving their biggest competitor a legitimate and fair chance to show what they've got. UD will at that time either step up or get stepped on. If they want collectors to truly win, give us their best.

[qwas]

Quoted from RGM81

"So here's what I want to come out of this: I want Upper Deck to do well and to do good by us collectors. I hope that they do something to turn the corner and get the ship back in order. People are abandoning them because they know UD can do better but seemingly chooses not to. I hope that the NHL and NHLPA have been paying attention in recent months so that when the decision is made to grant licensing for products in 2010-11 and beyond, they put Upper Deck on probation by giving both UD and In The Game a license. I say that it puts them on probation because it's a clear demotion from having exclusivity while at the same time giving their biggest competitor a legitimate and fair chance to show what they've got. UD will at that time either step up or get stepped on. If they want collectors to truly win, give us their best."




Thank-you, I am glad that you came and qualified the original response with this. I for one do not want Upperdeck out of the business either. I would, however, like to see them pick it up again and get back to where they once were.
On a good note as well I have had problems with a damaged card since the beginning of November. I did a little complaining after they denied that they even got the card ( I was able to provide a tracking number and who signed for the card). A certain someone ,Chris Carlin, got hold of me through facebook and asured me that he would look into it. Well long story short he did, they got hold of me and my replacement is now, supposedly, on its way to me.
So you see there is good in Upperdeck and there are good people within Upperdeck so to say we want to see the demise of Upperdeck is probably very short sighted on our part when we really mean we want improvements and accountability.