How many get signed

[cnshockey]

Ah yeah of course, funny I did that originally then changed it. It's late here on the east coast. Even so, thats still 15,000 boxes, no? That's a lot.

You have to remember that for SPA its two FW autos and one SOTT on average. Then factor in Patch autos, multi-auto cards, etc and with no known print run on the SOTT cards, it's almost impossible to know how many boxes there are of one product. Plus, UD may hold some FW autos as replacements for damaged ones.

At the end of the day, it seems there are so many people who don't trust UD. I don't want to get this into a UD vs ITG thread but all I'm going to say is that UD really needs to make changes to help with the customers they are losing to ITG, and that includes being accurate in print runs.

[agold2121]

Right, the whole FW thing was just an example. I mean there would have to be an inordinate amount of autos they are putting out if they are in fact numbering just those to 999. I mean, these things shouldn't be worth a dime.

[RGM81]

LOL You're just saying that because you want to get your Stamkos FW RC for super-cheap. :D

I would venture to guess that UD packs out the majority of the cards when they are received, and holds on to a small but significant minority of them for damaged card replacements, redemption replacements, NPNs, and so forth. The players are contractually obligated to sign all of the cards that UD requests, so if Tavares were to only sign 237 of the 999 he's required to sign for his SP Authentic rookie card he could land in hot water if somebody were to pursue that to any degree.

As somebody posted above, the rookies are made to sign a ton of cards. I think it might be part of their "initiation" into the NHL. It also helps explain why so many of the newer stars begin their careers with lovely signatures and by their 3rd year in the NHL it's barely recognizable.

[andrewconnors9]

i dont see how u can say they shouldnt be worth a dime, as each players FW for example is 1 in 15 boxes (15000 boxes / 999 cards of that player), thats a case and a half, so its not so easy to pull one specific players card

[habscards]

Easiest way for me to put it is in one word: MONEY!!

So any player in the NHL has a league minimum of $550,000.(most rookies)
Any first rounder gets an extra $300,000 tacked on as a bonus.($850,000 to all first rounders)
Any top 5-10 pick can have a bit of an extra bonus to it.

So just say that you are only making $550,000 for the year and you are up in the NHL for the whole year. Well if you get payed every other week,(I am not sure how often NHL players get their pay cheques) you would make $21,153 before taxes. That is a pretty nice pay cheque for two weeks worth of work. I am pretty sure that you could sign a few thousand autographs especially cause most of them would be sticker autos on bigger sheets.

Now who I would feel more sorry for are the guys like a Justin Pogge or Ben Maxwell who spent most of the year down in the AHL and made a lot less and still had to sign all of those cards.

[andrewconnors9]

yes but im sure they get a bonus from upper deck for signing all those cards

something to ponder, i wonder if any players who gradually play worst during their rookie year have it happen due to carpel tunnel from all the signing

[FuriousD82]

Not sure I understand OP's theory at all. even if there are 999 of these cards out there per player (I built the set and posted it in another thread if you want to see what the complete set looks like), these cards hold tremendous value. They are the first on-card autographs from 50 rookies. Design is always sharp, some of UD's best work in my opinion.

Players receive compensation for signing these cards. it is part of the NHL and NHLPA contracts with Upper Deck.

They might not get much; but most of these guys would certainly sign for 2-3 hours straight if they were given a free lunch, free drinks and $5,000 check.

[agold2121]

Ok here's the problem I have. It all comes back to the fact that more than 15000 boxes would have to be produced if all the cards were packed out, and thats just the FW autos. It's just too much.

Edited to add: my question has nothing to do with money, I'm more interested in figuring out how many of these things actually get signed simply from a quantity standpoint.

[FuriousD82]

That means 1250 cases (15000 / 12 boxes per case)

Which sounds very right to me. There is probably 25x that amount of series 1 out therè

[agold2121]

Yes, but that 15000 is before we factor in the unnumbered SOTT's, Rookie Reviews, penned perfections and any other auto's that they may insert into those boxes.