Category: News & Views

A joint press release — issued by Upper Deck, the NHL and the NHLPA — hit the hockey card industry like a ton of pucks yesterday when it was announced that Upper Deck has signed an exclusive, multi-year deal with the NHL and the NHLPA.  The agreement, which starts in the 2014-15 season, makes Upper Deck the sole manufacturer of licensed NHL trading cards. This is a huge win for Upper Deck, a huge loss for Panini America and In The Game — and a bit of both for hockey card collectors.

In short, it will be nothing but Upper Deck, more Upper Deck and only Upper Deck when it comes to NHL trading cards over the next several years.

Panini America, whose agreement with the NHL and NHLPA expires on June 30, was quick to respond. CEO Mark Warsop, issued a press release of his own yesterday, stating his discord:

“We are disappointed to learn of the NHL and NHLPA’s decision to go in another direction in the trading card category…During the term of our agreement we faced many challenges, including a late start to the agreement and an NHL work stoppage. Through all of the challenges we established trading card hockey brands that collectors came to love and look forward to…” (link)

I think what the Panini CEO really wanted to say was:

“Thanks for nothing, jerks! Our licensed started later than we wanted — in October 2010 — so Upper Deck still got to be first to market with the 2010-11 cards. We also had to put up with last year’s lockout, and then the absolute dearth of rookie cards due to the NHLPA’s mercurial decision. But we’re not bitter…”

In The Game — who has not had an NHL or NHLPA license since the 2003-04 season — is also shut out once again.The company applied for a trading card license with the NHLPA in October 2013. Getting one seemed possible, since it was the NHLPA who first offered In The Game a trading card license in 2012 — one they wisely turned down — for the 2012-13 season. We all know how that year played out for hockey card collectors and card companies.

So, why would the Players Association first want to expand their licensees, then go to just one two years later? In an interview with Beckett Hockey Editor Susan Lulgjuraj, NHLPA director of licensing Adam Larry stated that the exclusive deal was to cut down on products in the marketplace.

“Of the benefits, one of the big ones is being able to control number of products a little better,” Larry told Beckett Media. “One of the things we were hearing is there was probably a little too much product out there right now.” (link)

What does this all mean to hockey card collectors? If you like Upper Deck cards, then you have nothing to worry about. We will get plenty of those, like Artifacts, the return of MVP as a standard set, and Upper Deck Series One and Two. Personally, I am glad that UD Series One and Two will continue for its 25th year. It is consistently my favorite set, and is currently the longest-running active set.

But if you like competition, then this is very bad. Don’t get me wrong — I like some Upper Deck Sets and dislike others. What I really like, though, is the innovation that happens when you have competition. Why skate hard for the puck if there is no one to beat you to it? Why try to make better hockey cards when no one else can make them?

Granted, I did not like too many of Panini’s hockey card sets over the years, but at least having Panini in the picture made Upper Deck work harder. Their flagship set (Series One and Two) is always a cut above anything else, while sets like Fleer Retro and Parkhurst Champions have been among my favorites during the “two-company race” we’ve enjoyed the past four years. Would Upper Deck have even attempted a set like Parkhurst Champions if they didn’t have to compete with Panini for our hobby dollars?

Then again, maybe without pressure from direct competition, Upper Deck will double down, innovate, and transform hockey card collecting — much like T.J. Oshie got to work his magic during the shootout in the Olympics, with unlimited time and room and no defender trying to knock him down.

So, just how long is this deal anyway? The press release does not say, and Upper Deck Sports and Social Media Manager Chris Carlin was not at liberty to tell me. The NHLPA did not answer my email inquiry, either.

The previous exclusive that Upper Deck held was for six years (2004-05 to 2009-10). Perhaps the length of the deal is being kept a secret because it is variable, based on Upper Deck’s performance. Do well, and keep your exclusivity. Do poorly, and everyone from Topps to Press Pass will get a license. Of course, this is pure speculation on my part.

In the interest of full disclosure, Upper Deck does provide products to this blog for review purposes. However, all opinions on this blog are my own.

National Hockey Card Day returns once again in both Canada and the U.S. It will take place in both countries Saturday, January 18, 2014. Hockey fans who visit a participating retailer will receive a special, five-card pack of Upper Deck hockey cards. National Hockey Card Day (or NHCD as us cool kids  call it) started in Canada in 2009 and in 2012 in the United States. But this year, there are a few new twists. Continue reading “National Hockey Card Day is this Saturday, January 18”

This year, I recycled a few old Christmas “cards.” Longtime readers of this blog (and all-around hockey card geeks) will recognize the two trading cards pictured above. If not…search this site and you’ll find out more about them.

Anyway, thank you very much to everyone who visits this website, reads what I write and encourages me to keep going.

Hockey collectors looking for a good read on an obscure hockey collectible might want to pick up the November 2013 issue of Beckett Hockey Magazine (#255), available at newsstands now.

“Ahead of Its Time” (pages 6-8) is an article I wrote about a set of 13 different Montreal Canadiens figurines sold at Provigo grocery stores during the 1989-90 season.

I must extend a special thanks to fellow blogger Sebastien Hell (Hell’s Valuable Collectibles), who collected these figures “back in the day” as a 10-year old boy and spoke to me at length about them. His firsthand experience purchasing these toys was invaluable in putting together my article.

How I first discovered these figures has an interesting story. I used to frequent this collectible toy store in Elmwood Park, a suburb of Chicago, in the mid-to-late 1990s. One day, in the summer of 1997 (or was it ’98?) I found a Mats Naslund figure there, sitting in a display case with some M.A.S.K. and My Little Pony toys. Poor Mats had quite a bit of paint wear — must have been one heck of a season — and looked so out of place with the other toys. I bought the Naslund figure for $5, hoping one day to learn more about this mysterious figure that predated Headliners and even Starting Lineup figures.

Eventually, I found these figures on eBay, and picked up a few sets.  I even displayed them on my shelf with my other hockey toys. I might be from Chicago, but the 1989-90 Montreal Canadiens was a pretty good team. And the Provigo Canadiens figures are a pretty cool set.

The October 2013 issue of Beckett Hockey (#254) has not one, but TWO articles I wrote. I feel that I really raised the bar in this issue.

First, I interviewed Jeremy Roenick (“It’s Roenick – He’s Good,” pages 6-8). The video game NHL ’94 is celebrating its 20th anniversary, and Jeremy Roenick is considered the best player in the game. “I wish I was as good in real life as I was in that video game,” says J.R. in the interview. Besides his NHL ’94 legacy, Roenick also discusses what it is like to be a video game cover athlete, being name-dropped in the film Swingers, and lots of other cool stuff. Roenick is a lot of things, but he’s never dull.

If an interview with a video game (and real life) legend is not enough, I also wrote about the 2013 Chicago Blackhawks Convention (“Puck Powwow,” pages 16-18). The Blackhawks are one of the few NHL teams to hold a summertime convention, where fans can get autographs, attend panel discussions and participate in other cool activities. Several attendees and a dealer share their experiences from the weekend, while numerous photographs give you an inside look.

I know that some card shops have stopped carrying Beckett publications for one reason or another. I suggest checking a bookstore like Barnes & Noble, since they tend to carry almost everything in their magazine seciton. Or look online. Many dealers sell Beckett Hockey on Ebay.for less than the $10 cover price, and sometimes even include free shipping.