Question about SPGU from a newbie

[philhelm]

Ok, so I dont claim to know a lot about hockey card collecting - I just started a couple of years ago. I see a lot of passionate fans on this board, which is great.. hopefully someone can answer this:

I dont understand the 10-11 SPGU set. For example, the team marks inserts: 8 different penguins, 8 different red wings, 6(?) sharks, ... but a whole lot of teams without even 1 player represented.

Im guessing here, but UD wants to move product, so they pick the most popular teams (or the best teams?) and flood the market with these? Wouldnt it make more sense to cover a larger number of teams? I am sure fans of the non-represented teams in any of the insert sets will think twice about purchasing any packs/boxes/etc, but i could be wrong.

Thoughts?

[reoddai]

Im guessing here, but UD wants to move product, so they pick the most popular teams (or the best teams?) and flood the market with these?

Yes

Wouldnt it make more sense to cover a larger number of teams? I am sure fans of the non-represented teams in any of the insert sets will think twice about purchasing any packs/boxes/etc, but i could be wrong.

Maybe. Certainly if trading between markets is the goal. But really, Ud's goal is to sell product, not encourage trading. Plus, you also have to consider who will collect these players. Compare how many penguin collectors there are on the boards vs how many nashville collectors?

It could also be logistical. Some players don't want to sign.

[philhelm]

Yes



Maybe. Certainly if trading between markets is the goal. But really, Ud's goal is to sell product, not encourage trading. Plus, you also have to consider who will collect these players. Compare how many penguin collectors there are on the boards vs how many nashville collectors?

It could also be logistical. Some players don't want to sign.

i sort of doubt that 8 members of both pens and wings signed and several teams had all members refuse.

true, there are a boatload of pens and wings fans these days as compared to 5-10 years ago when the pens were the laughing stock of the league. guess things go in cycles. thanks for the response.

[reoddai]

i sort of doubt that 8 members of both pens and wings signed and several teams had all members refuse.

true, there are a boatload of pens and wings fans these days as compared to 5-10 years ago when the pens were the laughing stock of the league. guess things go in cycles. thanks for the response.

I admit people refusing to sign is not the most likely reason. I just threw it out there as an alternative. Check out BAP and see how many people sign that and no where else. Luongo is a prominent one, but other Vancouver members do sign. Its just hard to tell if other people who are in BAP but not elsewhere is because Ud doesn't want them or they don't want to sign.

[RGM81]

It's all about that monayyyy.

Teams that win naturally garner larger followings and have the most demand. This is why Upper Deck created an entire product dedicated to the Montreal Canadiens that sold out at the hobby level within a month...and why they made a 15-card Maple Leafs set to give away at the Toronto Expo. I kid, I kid.

It's a cost/benefit thing for them to decide as to whether to include many players from a single team at the expense of any players on other teams. Pittsburgh Penguins sell. Detroit Red Wings sell. So you load it up with Yzerman, Mario, Howe, Sid, and you leave out the David Booths and JP Dumonts of the world. You'd think that after having released 312 autographed cards of Sid that sales would slow down...but they don't. People just keep coming back for more of the guy. If Sid's name is on the product sell sheet, orders go up. Leave him out...orders go down. Not too many people base their decision on whether to buy a box at the inclusion/exclusion of Stephen Weiss. The core fanbases of the hobby will always be covered...I don't need to worry about not having my team represented in spades. Those fringe teams, however, will always be underrepresented so as to fit the needs of the greater number of people with the deepest pockets.

[theboxbreaker96]

yes as a pens fan and no offense to talbot and kunitz collectors but if i were UD i would make sure that i would get at least 2 players per team. as a pens fan crosby good malkin good staal good talbot bad kunitz bad rookies tangradi and nick johnson good fleury good

but yes they should get all teams represented the pens i can see 4 sid, malkin, staal, fleury maybe 5 a rookie

my point is that there are uncessary players in there like kunitz (i dont know one kunitz collector) when you can represent all teams

[philhelm]

yes as a pens fan and no offense to talbot and kunitz collectors but if i were UD i would make sure that i would get at least 2 players per team. as a pens fan crosby good malkin good staal good talbot bad kunitz bad rookies tangradi and nick johnson good fleury good

but yes they should get all teams represented the pens i can see 4 sid, malkin, staal, fleury maybe 5 a rookie

my point is that there are uncessary players in there like kunitz (i dont know one kunitz collector) when you can represent all teams

exactly. i wasnt making the point that crosby or malkin or jimmy howard or lidstrom should be excluded - but the 2nd/3rd tier pens could easily be replaced with reps from other teams that have 1 or 2 stars and the pens fans would still flock in droves to buy the cards with crosby/malkin/staal/fleury first tier stars still in place.