Unboxing Upper Deck’s Random Acts Of Kindness Package

A big thank you to Upper Deck for sending me one of their Random Acts Of Kindness Packages. I still can’t believe all that was in the box. Shirts, blanket, card album, calendar, USB drive, break mat, jumbo Gritty Young Guns cards, pennant, lanyards, Wayne Gretzky LA Kings Funko Pop! figure, and cards!

Sealed boxes I received include 2020 Goodwin Champions, 2020-21 Trilogy Hockey, 2020-21 SPx Hockey, 2020-21 Upper Deck NHL Hockey Star Rookies Box Set, and 2020-21 SP Game-Used Edition Hockey. I can’t wait to open them.

Enclosed with the note were (3) single cards. Ryan Garcia 2020 Upper Deck Diamond Dealer Fleer Greats of the Game Auto #’ed/75, Wander Franco 2020 Upper Deck Summer Promotion Auto #’ed/25, and a Barry Sanders 2018 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions Goudey Certified Diamond Dealer Auto. That’s totally insane!

Thank you again Upper Deck!

Upper Deck’s 2019 National 5-Card VIP Set

VIPs attending the 2019 National Sports Collectors Convention will find a 5-card set within their welcome package.  This set includes Prominent Cuts cards of Tiger Woods, Ben Simmons, Wayne Gretzky, Serena Williams, and Deandre Ayton.

Upper Deck’s 2018 NSCC 5-Card VIP Set

VIPs attending the 2018 National Sports Collectors Convention will find a 5-card Prominent Cuts set in their swag-bag thanks to Upper Deck.  That’s not all, Upper Deck has tons of fun activities planned for collectors who visit their booth.  Lots of interesting autographs will be found inside their wrapper redemption packs.  I pulled a Kevin Smith autograph while attending the show in Atlantic City in 2016.  Monumental boxes are making a return too.

For a full rundown of Upper Deck’s plans, and which products qualify for their promotions, check out this press release from the National.  As of right now, my favorite Upper Deck product is Goodwin Champions.  Its like their version of Allen & Ginter.  2018 Goodwin Champions doesn’t come out until the National is over.  So I probably won’t be taking part in any of Upper Deck’s programs this year as the products that you do need to open are 100% hockey.

Upper Deck’s 2017 National Sports Collectors Convention Plans

Upper Deck continues to make great products.  I just don’t open them very often mainly because they’re hockey and entertainment driven.  During the National in Atlantic City, NJ last year I opened a box of Goodwin Champions at their booth and pulled a Kevin Smith autograph #’ed/25 from a promo pack.  That was the first time I had pulled anything major while taking part in their wrapper redemption program.

VIPs visiting the ’17 NSCC will receive a 5-card Prominent Cuts set from Upper Deck.  The set includes: Michael Jordan, Connor McDavid, LeBron James, Ben Simmons, and Patrick Kane.

Upper Deck announced all of their plans for the National over on their blog.  They’ve got tons going on.

Upper Deck’s 2016 National Complete 5-Card VIP Set

Upper Deck just keeps churning out their plans for the 2016 National Sports Collectors Convention.  Below you’ll find a complete gallery of the 5-card set VIPs will receive.  A lot more National news to come!

Collectors Give Upper Deck’s e-Pack Warm Welcome

When it comes to digital cards, I’m not a huge expert.  For the past few years, Topps has been the king of digital cards.  The main reason why I haven’t gotten into them is because I don’t have a device that supports their apps.  I’m probably the last person in the world that doesn’t have a smartphone, but I haven’t had the need for one yet.  You have to admire the attention and respect that collectors have given to digital cards though.  Many people have spent a lot on these digital cards that don’t even physically exist.

Upper Deck has thrown their hat into the ring, but it comes with an added twist that we haven’t seen before.  Its called Upper Deck e-Pack.  Simply put, it takes a product that physically exists and allows you to open it in a digital way.  I’ve given it a try, and the site is very easy to use.

Sign up is totally free.  Upon signing in you can choose which product you’d like to open.  Right now the only product available is 2015-16 Upper Deck Series 1 Hockey.  You can open a single pack, box, or even a case right there on the site.  Upper Deck provides a free 3-card pack each day to open.  All of your cards are stored in your account.  If you wish to sell or take possession of the cards you pulled you can export them to your Check Out My Cards account.

I don’t like to compare Upper Deck’s e-Pack to the stuff Topps is doing.  Even though the e-Pack has some exclusive cards, the real innovation here is the way to digitally open a physically existing product and get the cards to you.  With the rise in popularity of digital cards that Topps has brought us, it makes you wonder if cards printed on cardboard will one day be a thing of the past.  All of these new mediums raise a lot of questions.  Perhaps cardboard still has a future.  Maybe collectors were just looking for a modern way of opening a product and storing it.  The e-Pack sure helps manage all of those pesky base cards that you may not have room for.  Then again, the e-Pack could be a momentary thing that holds us all over under virtual cards are the norm.  I do agree with Upper Deck when they says its hard to appreciate an autograph and/or relic card that can only be viewed within an app.  To me, a digital “hit” like that will never compare to holding the real thing.

Upper Deck has been rumored to be going out of business for years.  It certainly hasn’t happened yet.  They don’t make as much product as they use to though.  Hockey and entertainment properties in addition to their memorabilia business is what they do now.  I hope they stick around a for awhile.  It would be cool to see how the e-Pack pans out.  For all we know it could rejuvenate people’s interest in opening cardboard based products.  e-Pack I believe is a true game changer.  Keep your eyes on this.

Here is a link to Upper Deck’s official press release.

Upper Deck’s 2014 National Plans: Promos, Exquisite Golf, & FREE Cake

Upper Deck may have been quiet when it came to their plans for the 2014 National Sports Collectors Convention, but the silence is gone.  Upper Deck has fully unveiled what they have in store for collectors… and its a lot!

For a full run down on things, check out Upper Deck’s Blog.  But here are some of the things that stick out to me.  I’m going to do something I rarely do, and that’s copy and paste info from one blog to another 🙂  Upper Deck really says it best anyway.  One of these years I’d like to see Upper Deck make some National exclusive Precious Metal Gems parallels.  Its about time collectors see a high-end golf product like Exquisite.  I’m really looking forward to seeing what those cards look like.

Wednesday VIP Party – Upper Deck will help get the show started by making a special presentation at the Wednesday VIP Party to thank the company’s network of dealers in attendance at the show.  Fans in attendance will also score with a special 6-card VIP set produced exclusively for the National Sports Collectors Convention and they will also have the opportunity to win one of three sealed packs of the new 2014 Upper Deck Exquisite Collection Golf!  Immediately after the VIP Party fans are invited to visit the Upper Deck booth for birthday cake to help celebrate Upper Deck’s 25th Anniversary and an incredible FREE giveaway you will not want to miss!

Wrapper Redemption Promotion – Every year fans flock to the Upper Deck booth with new packs to score one of the exclusive wrapper redemption packs produced just for this show.  Randomly inserted into these packs are incredibly limited autograph cards of top stars from the world of sports.  Collectors just need to purchase five (5) packs of 2013 Fleer Retro Football, 2014 SPx Football, 2014 Upper Deck Football (Hobby), 2013-14 Fleer Retro Basketball, 2013-14 SP Authentic Basketball, 2013-14 NHL SP Authentic, 2014 SP Authentic Golf, 2014 Goodwin Champions OR one (1) pack of 2014 SP Game-Used Golf to receive one (1) 2014 Upper Deck National Sports Collectors Convention Pack.  EVERY 25TH COLLECTOR WILL RECEIVE A FREE FLEER RETRO AUTOGRAPH PACK FROM FOOTBALL OR BASKETBALL!  These packs must be purchased from a Certified Diamond Dealer who will provide collectors with an Upper Deck issued voucher for the redemption program.  The program will begin at 10:25 a.m. each day starting on Thursday and run as long as supplies last.  Collectors can take advantage of the promotion up to four times per person, per day.

Case Breaker Promotion – Serious collectors who like cracking cases are in store for a very good time during the show as well!  Collectors can open a sealed case purchased from a Certified Diamond Dealer at the show of 2013-14 SP Authentic Basketball, 2013-14 Fleer Retro Basketball or 2013 Fleer Retro Football without waiting in any lines at any time throughout the show to receive the following:

(10) 2014 Upper Deck National Sports Collectors Convention Packs (2 packs from each day)
(2) 2013 Fleer Retro Basketball Autograph Pack (3 autograph cards per pack)
(2) 2013 Fleer Retro Football Autograph Pack (3 autograph cards per pack)
(1) Case Breaker Raffle Ticket good for a random memorabilia item, premium hobby pack/box, trading card, or one of 25 premium National Autograph cards.  The item selected will be immediately available to the participant.
*Note: This promotion is only available to the first 75 collectors who choose to take advantage of it.

The Exquisite Case Break – On Friday at 2:00 p.m. fans in attendance will want to make their way to the Amazon.com Sports Collectibles Center Stage for an extremely special event.  Fans who are not at the show can watch through Upper Deck’s BreakersTV Channel.  Upper Deck will bring up two of the company’s Authorized Group Breakers to help out with this special event in Steel City Collectibles along with Dave & Adam’s Card World, but spots in the break will be absolutely FREE and awarded during a special raffle at the company’s booth on Thursday night at 5:25 p.m.  What will make this such an “exquisite” event is that Upper Deck will be breaking the company’s most premium products with 2013 Exquisite Collection Football and 2014 Exquisite Collection Golf.