- Details
- Created on Saturday, 06 October 2012 01:55
| Becoming a sports card manufacturer would be tough. Could you imagine going up in front of the investors on Shark Tank pitching a new line of sports cards? You'd probably be laughed off the floor. Considering that entry into the major sports card market is regulated, meaning, if you don't get a license with one of the leagues, NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL...... best of luck to you. The trail of bankrupt card companies from the last 20 years is long, and even some that had a license couldn't gain traction in what is now a very niche market. And only a few companies remain in a very low competition environment. Stop The Madness Initiative The Godfather of Baseball Cards, Topps, enjoys the fruit of no competition more then most. MLB Baseball cards generate the most revenue despite not being the USA's most popular sport. A huge % of the sports card pie lies in the baseball card category. But there is very little incentive for MLB Properties to allow anyone other then Topps to produce licensed trading cards. Competitor Panini America does have a license with the MLBPA (Major League Baseball Players Association) as does Topps. But Panini does not have a MLB Properties (MLBP) license and can only show player images but not team names, uniforms, logos etc. MLBPA licensed cards are less popular with collectors. The MLBP has seen, not just with trading cards, what the over dilution of licenses/products can do. Topps had a plan back in 2007 they dubbed "Stop the Madness", a long-term strategic initiative intended to put a stop to the crazy amount of products and licenses that boomed during the late 1990's - early 2000's. Instead of Topps seeking out licenses and throwing mud at the wall in hope some sticks, Topps wanted to reduce the number of licenses they had and also stamp out some of the little competition left. Chief Operating Officer (at the time) Scott Silverstein puts the sports business in perspective in the 2006 Q3 Call: "In 1997 you had a big part of the sales and profits coming from the sports card business which had relatively few releases and was very high margin. Last year (2005) we did over 60 product releases with an incredible amount of complexity that both shrunk gross margins and increased overhead because of the complexity." Topps began reducing the number of sports licenses shortly after 2007. In 2009-10 they released NBA Topps and Topps Chrome before Panini wiped everyone out of the NBA market with what has been called a whopping bid to land the exclusive. In reality 2008-09 was Topps' last year with a full run of Basketball cards. Topps hasn't produced NHL cards in many years. A Topps employee recently said at the NSCC Collector Panel that they would "love to (produce cards) in every sport" but that kind of decision moves far up the food chain and statements like that are just wishful employee speak. Topps made a business decision to limit the amount of licenses many years ago and focus on the cash cow (Baseball) portions of their product lines. Buy Back Program: Not Cards Silly, Company Shares! The Topps Company makes money. Make no mistake. Even in the difficult years of sports cards, post 1994, Topps made healthy earnings per share from 1990-2005 (note: 1997 was essentially flat). Sure some of that EPS is not exclusive to sports cards. Pokemon was owned by Topps, and it was a huge part of their business in the late 1990's. But Pokemon fell off quick. The candy business was so-so. Wisely, the company stacked cash - upwards of $158 million in the bank at one point (and no debt). Instead of returning that cash to shareholders (owners), the company decided in 2001 to "buy back" it's shares to try and create value for owners who held on during the lean years. Buying back shares is a simple idea. Think of it like this: if there were 100 copies of a 2011 Bowman Bryce Harper Card and Topps goes out, buys back 50 copies and burns them on YouTube, suddenly there are only 50 Harper cards left. The price of the 50 remaining Harper cards should go up. Same idea with a stock buyback. Topps buys back many millions of shares of it's own stock in hopes the shares left will be worth more. Management Blunders Stock Buy Back, then Sells Company Cheap The stock buy back was perhaps a great idea in theory, but Topps was sold just six years after the buy back program started, for less then what they were buying back shares for. Oops. By most accounts, Topps was led by poor management pre-2008 and the buy back blunder speaks to that. When the company was sold they had roughly $80 million in cash in the bank (off from reported highs of around $158.74 million pre buy back), and no debt. Still great numbers. An "$80 Million discount" to whomever bought it. So when Michael Eisner and Madison Dearborn partnered and got it for around $385 million, that number is very deceptive. Because they got the keys to the bank account with the $80 million in straight cash. Essentially getting $80 million back right when they bought the company. A great deal, because they also got a company that can create an estimated average of $30 million in free cash flow each year. Granted, we haven't seen any balance sheets since 2007, but there is little evidence that anything has been run into the ground in New York. In fact, Topps eliminated some competition, Upper Deck, in both the MLB and NFL markets since 2007. While Panini has entered the NFL market, they remain on the outside looking in on the cash cow that is the MLBP license. Topps is an iconic brand. An iconic American brand. Synonymous with the words baseball card. And that has huge value that can't be measured by money in the bank. Competitor Upper Deck Guns to Buy Topps The Topps brand is strong but the only known competing bid in 2007 to Eisner & Dearborn was from Upper Deck. At the time UD appeared healthy. Gaining market share on Topps, who was clearly their main competition in the sports segment. Upper Deck was the standard for innovation in the sports category, something that for Topps is not a main focus (more on this later). Upper Deck even offered more money then Eisner & Dearborn. But not enough. The board of directors and shareholders of Topps had no reason to deal with Upper Deck when the FTC would be on their doorstep blocking a deal. Just like Google can't buy Yahoo. Verizon can't buy At&t. It's a simple term called a monopoly. And even in a niche as small as sports cards, the FTC would have unquestionably stepped in. And Upper Deck's offer was too low to be considered anyhow. The value of owning the Topps brand is worth, potentially more then the $80 million in cash sitting in the bank. Way more I would argue. Hundreds of millions in 'goodwill' value to a company like Upper Deck. Upper Deck Innovates. Dearborn & Eisner Milk Cash Cows But Eisner and Dearborn aren't looking at the Topps business from Upper Deck's (2007) perspective. The 'goodwill' value of the brand meant something to them, but not as much as it would to competitor Upper Deck. Eisner and Dearborn saw a company in Topps they could buy at a $80 million discount and that rakes in maybe $30 million or more in straight cash each year. No debt either. They didn't come in to buy Topps to revolutionize the industry, they bought it to milk the cash cow business. Nothing wrong with that. That is not a negative reflection on Topps. That's business. That's Madison Dearborn Partners specialty. That's the type of business I'd invest a portion of my pie in. Topps Doesn't Innovate. Because it's NOT Smart Business to do so. Game used jersey cards didn't start with Topps. Autographs didn't either. Serial Numbering didn't either. Topps didn't jump into the "video card" hype a couple years ago. Sets like 2012 Topps Archives are popular, because they look like the old cards. The brand. The iconic brand of Topps sells cards. Card designs made many moons ago are used. Topps doesn't innovate in the sports card segment. They don't think of very many new ideas. Because they don't have to. And it would be a dumb business move to try and innovate (actual numbers listed, keep reading to "The Pit"). What is the incentive innovate? Spend a bunch of money to innovate a stagnant hobby? To compete against whom? And in the largest cash cow segment of the industry, the MLB, why do that? It literally makes no sense. Milk the potential average of $30 million coming in annually from the overall business. Run a lean business. Cut headcount down to only the minimal amount. It's sounds awful from a hobby/collector perspective but that's business. And in reality, that's smart business. Could Topps spend a bunch of money on technology, talent, and marketing to grow the sports card business? Sure they could. But that's gambling. People like Dearborn and Eisner don't gamble. They see Topps is in a low to no competition niche market. They have a low priced product (for the most part). And did I mention is an iconic brand?! Throw in the $80 million discount. And oh yeah, when people thought the baseball card industry was dead - Topps was still a profitable no debt business! Heck yeah, I think Dearborn and Eisner got a great deal back in 2007. It's why they still have the company. In present day 2012 - I'd be stunned if they didn't run a profit and have several million in the bank. Anything to the contrary would speak to mismanagement. MLB Cards. The Cash Cow Sports Segment Topps makes money on their MLB line. I'd fall out of my chair if they didn't. Every metric seems to suggest there is profitability there. How much money? Who knows. Even when Topps was a public company they didn't divulge "this is how much money we make specifically on MLB, NFL, etc." Packs used to cost $0.01-$1.00 up until about 1994-ish. The move to premium cards was aided by competitor Upper Deck. Pack prices soared and the market shifted from a fun kids hobby to more serious collectors buying cards that at times are described as investments. It's a smaller market now then it was in the early 1990's. What was a billion dollar market is now rumored to be in the hundreds of millions today. Of which Topps gets a huge chunk. Before selling to Dearborn and Eisner there were talks of Topps innovating in the sports segment. They started the now defunked eTopps and was the original owner of The Pit. Perhaps they saw back then a way to capitalize on the huge, massive secondary market of cards (that California's NASDAQ: EBAY has proven can be a large revenue stream). Websites like eTopps and The Pit require a lot of time, headcount, some decent money, and some innovation. Topps reported a loss of $3.7 million from The Pit in Q3 2006. You can guess that the potential losses on eTopps was more. All of which flies in the face of what made Topps a solid business back then, and on the outside looking in, what makes it a good business today. Is there upside in having websites like The Pit and eTopps? Maybe, but again, it's gambling and remember, that's not what Eisner and Dearborn bought this company for. NFL Can Profit, but More Risky The NFL is different. I could see them having some profit swings in this segment. Even going back to old conference calls, 2006 was a big year for NFL cards because of rookies Reggie Bush, Matt Lineart, and Vince Young. While all of those guys flopped to an extent since, back then they were the hottest thing going. Old employees in conference calls mentioned that some 2006 NFL card sets sales rose upwards of 50% over 2005 levels. That was all from the hype of Bush, Lineart and Young. 2005 featured a then struggling Alex Smith and an Aaron Rodgers who was sitting on the bench behind Brett Favre. NFL sales, more so then MLB believe it or not, are rookie card driven. As collectors have seen in 2012 Topps Football sets, autographs of Robert Griffin III and Andrew Luck are much more rare then other rookies. This all points to the rising costs of obtaining signatures of top NFL rookie stars. It wouldn't surprise me at all if Topps had to spend more, per autograph, for Luck and RGII, then autographs they purchased of MLB player Bryce Harper. The NFL is more popular in the USA as a sport, but Football cards are not nearly as popular as MLB cards.
The Future of Topps. Stick With What Works They have a very simple business from the sports segment side. Try and limit the licensing to competitors. When you keep competition low it allows you to not innovate and just milk the iconic Topps brand. Topps is also limiting the sports licenses they have as well. Should Topps produce NHL, NBA, Lingerie Football League, Golf cards? They don't and I'd argue they are right in staying away. Of course if the money is right on a licensing deal, then they will most certainly take advantage, but none of those sports are the cash cow that is MLB Baseball. Again, sounds awful to the average collector who doesn't care about the balance sheet. But this on the surface appears to be a great business. Sure, not a business with a lot of upside. At all. But I can see exactly why Dearborn and Eisner bought it for the steady stream of cash flow annually, not to mention the $80 million discount. It's also a low risk business if they keep operating costs down (that's why you see low innovation, and low headcount). MLB has no reason to get rid of Topps as a partner. They have been married since the 1950's so why the heck would that change? That bodes well tremendously for Topps. Could the MLB open up licensing? Perhaps, but that would seem probable they (the MLB) did research to suggest that the market is growing. Topps, by running a low innovation, low expense business actually helps keep the MLB baseball card market relatively flat. Could Dearborn and Eisner eventually sell Topps? Sure they could. Dearborn just sold a company in the week this was written. But the line to buy a sports card company, even as iconic as Topps, is a much shorter one then the collector line at the NSCC for the exclusive Topps card sets. If it's still true that the company spits off $30 million in free cash flow each year...... by around 2017 Eisner and Dearborn can have their entire original investment ($385 Million) they made in 2007 - realized in cash profits (taking into account the $80 million in cash discount they got when they bought the company). In reality it's very difficult to know the overall health of Topps. But Dearborn and Eisner aren't dumb. Dearborn is one of the leading private equity firms out there. They knew what they were getting into back in 2007. That is clear. Back then there were rumblings that Eisner was going to revolutionize the business. He's smarter then that. Don't work hard. Work smart. Topps when he bought it was a profitable business with no debt, nearly $100 million in cash, and little to no competition. Just milk that sucker. That's what I would do. That's a great business. When Topps was a public company (TOPP) I held no shares in the company. Leading up to the 2013 Las Vegas Industry Summit. I will chronicle Topps, Upper Deck's and Panini's business. Look for future installments soon. Send comments here: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. |
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- Created on Saturday, 11 August 2012 18:02
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2012-13 O-Pee-Chee Hockey Wrapper Redemption Available @ Certified Diamond Dealers in Canada Product Release Date: 8/14/2012 Product Checklist: 2012-13 Upper Deck O-Pee-Chee These are limited! Per Wrapper Redemption Pack: 5 Red Border Parallels - (From O-Pee-Chee Base Set) 1 All-Star Insert Card - 50 Total Cards 50 Wrapper Needed For Each Pack |
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| 2012-13 Upper Deck O-Pee-Chee Hockey will feature a wrapper redemption program available to collectors in Canada through UD's Certified Diamond Dealers. Here's what you do: turn in 50 empty pack wrappers of 2012-13 O-Pee-Chee Hockey to a Certified Diamond Dealer located in Canada and they will send those wrappers in. Shortly after Upper Deck will send the Certified Diamond Dealer one redemption pack that features five red bordered parallel cards and one All-Star insert card. The CDD will contact you to pick up your redemption pack. The five red bordered cards in the redemption pack are a random selection of cards from the 600 card base set in 12-13 O-Pee-Chee Hockey. Because this promotion is only available to collectors and dealers located in Canada the secondary market for these cards should be strong. The redemption packs are also very limited so you will want to act quick in order to get some packs. |
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| In addition to the five red bordered parallel cards that come in the wrapper redemption pack you also get one All-Star insert card randomly inserted. There are 50 total cards in the All Star insert set. The red bordered parallel cards and All-Star inserts are not available in regular packs of 2012-13 O-Pee-Chee Hockey. Upper deck has stated that the wrapper redemption packs are already completed and ready to be shipped out to CDD's. The turnaround time to obtain your pack should happen fairly quickly but be sure to check with your dealer for the actual times and the process of obtaining your pack. Listed below are some known CDD's located in Canada, if you know of any other hobby shops participating in the wrapper redemption program feel free to contact me:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
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| Maple Leaf Sports Bay #8, 2404 Centre St. NE Calgary, AB T2E-2T9 (403) 338-0668 www.mapleleafsports.ca |
Superstars 1885C Portage Avenue Winnipeg, MB R3J 0H3 Canada (204) 831-9001 www.superstarssports.com |
Wayne's Sports Cards 17020 90 Ave NW Edmonton, AB T5T 1L6 Canada (780) 483-3177 www.waynessportscards.com |
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| HOW TO GET A PACK: 1. Open packs of 2012-13 O-Pee-Chee Hockey and collect 50 wrappers. 2. Turn in your 50 wrappers from 2012-13 O-Pee-Chee Hockey to a Upper Deck Diamond Dealer located in Canada. 3. The CDD will then submit the 50 wrappers to the Upper Deck Canadian fulfillment center. 4. Upper Deck will then send one 5-Card pack for each 50 rappers that they received. Be sure to package your wrappers in groups of 50. 5. The CDD will then contact you to come pick up your pack when they have arrived at the shop. Special Bonus: If you are one of the first people to complete the 600-Card O-Pee-Chee Hockey red border set, then you will win a 50-Card Red Border set that will be in 12-13 UD Series 2 Hockey. If you completed the set, email a picture to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and they will give you information on how you can submit the set for verification to get the UD Series 2 set. |
| 2012-13 Upper Deck Hockey Canada Wrapper Redemption 6 Cards Per Pack - |
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| 1 Marian Gaborik 2 Matt Moulson 3 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 4 Justin Williams 5 Luca Sbisa 6 Duncan Keith 7 Martin Brodeur 8 Johnny Boychuk 9 Kris Versteeg 10 Marco Scandella 11 Bryan Bickell 12 Anton Stralman 13 Mikael Backlund 14 Alex Goligoski 15 Todd Bertuzzi 16 Carl Hagelin 17 Oliver Ekman-Larsson 18 Miikka Kiprusoff 19 Blake Geoffrion 20 Thomas Vanek 21 Jaroslav Halak 22 Mark Stuart 23 Jared Cowen 24 Michael Grabner 25 Alexandre Burrows 26 Dan Ellis 27 Tim Gleason 28 Vaclav Prospal 29 Tom Pyatt 30 Ryan Whitney 31 Rostislav Klesla 32 Eric Staal 33 Kari Lehtonen 34 Marcel Goc 35 Devin Setoguchi 36 Torrey Mitchell 37 Dmitry Orlov 38 Zdeno Chara 39 Nathan Gerbe 40 Max Pacioretty 41 Carl Gunnarsson 42 Kyle Brodziak 43 Daniel Winnik 44 Teddy Purcell 45 Erik Condra 46 Patric Hornqvist 47 Dave Bolland 48 Ed Jovanovski 49 Andrew Ladd 50 Brett Connolly 51 Jean-Sebastien Giguere 52 Brayden Schenn 53 Raphael Diaz 54 Marc-Andre Gragnani 55 Kristopher Letang 56 Steve Mason 57 Jhonas Enroth 58 Loui Eriksson 59 Alex Tanguay 60 Willie Mitchell 61 Arron Asham 62 Karl Alzner 63 Jamie McBain 64 Patrick Marleau 65 Jonas Gustavsson 66 Milan Michalek 67 Patrik Berglund 68 Marc Methot 69 Mason Raymond 70 Stephane Robidas 71 P.K. Subban 72 Henrik Sedin 73 Sean Couturier 74 David Clarkson 75 Chad LaRose 76 Ryan O'Reilly 77 Saku Koivu 78 Dion Phaneuf 79 Nathan Horton 80 Jonathan Ericsson 81 Shawn Horcoff 82 Mark Fayne 83 Scott Hartnell 84 Dennis Wideman 85 Matt D'Agostini 86 Ryane Clowe 87 Mike Smith 88 Jason Garrison 89 Al Montoya 90 Alexander Radulov 91 Tobias Enstrom 92 Chris Kunitz 93 Shane O'Brien 94 Teemu Selanne 95 Sergei Bobrovsky 96 Ryan Callahan 97 Rob Scuderi 98 Johan Franzen 99 David Legwand 100 Steve Ott 101 Nikolai Khabibulin 102 Matt Read 103 Pascal Dupuis 104 Mike Richards 105 Derek Roy 106 Johnny Oduya 107 Tomas Kaberle 108 Andrew MacDonald 109 Ryan Jones 110 David Backes 111 Chris Phillips 112 Tomas Fleischmann 113 George Parros 114 Alexander Steen 115 Shea Weber 116 Niklas Backstrom 117 Jaromir Jagr 118 Erik Cole 119 David Krejci 120 Brad Richards 121 Milan Hejduk 122 Andrei Kostitsyn 123 Jonathan Toews 124 Corey Perry 125 Josh Bailey 126 Antoine Vermette 127 Matt Greene 128 Kyle Okposo 129 Douglas Murray 130 Shawn Thornton 131 Brent Seabrook 132 Trevor Daley 133 James Reimer 134 Craig Smith 135 Dan Boyle 136 Benoit Pouliot 137 Zach Bogosian 138 Jannik Hansen 139 R.J. Umberger 140 Taylor Hall 141 Jeff Skinner 142 Ryan Malone 143 David Perron 144 Kyle Clifford 145 Jordin Tootoo 146 Brent Burns 147 Brandon Dubinsky 148 Robyn Regehr 149 Boyd Gordon 150 Kyle Turris |
151 Drew Miller 152 Tyler Bozak 153 Lauri Korpikoski 154 John Carlson 155 Josh Harding 156 Christian Ehrhoff 157 Scott Clemmensen 158 Dustin Byfuglien 159 Shane Doan 160 Derek Mackenzie 161 Nick Leddy 162 Jiri Tlusty 163 Olli Jokinen 164 B.J. Crombeen 165 Ian White 166 Marc-Andre Fleury 167 David Jones 168 Alexander Ovechkin 169 Jake Gardiner 170 Tanner Glass 171 Braydon Coburn 172 Kevin Bieksa 173 Andy Greene 174 Darren Helm 175 Brandon Prust 176 Brooks Laich 177 Guillaume Latendresse 178 Jan Hejda 179 Brandon Sutter 180 Jay Bouwmeester 181 Mike Commodore 182 Johan Hedberg 183 Marc Staal 184 Pavel Datsyuk 185 Travis Moen 186 Tim Thomas 187 Curtis Sanford 188 Anze Kopitar 189 Eric Brewer 190 Ryan Kesler 191 Cam Fowler 192 Brenden Morrow 193 Craig Anderson 194 Mike Green 195 Stephen Weiss 196 Matt Stajan 197 Matt Niskanen 198 Fedor Tyutin 199 Nicklas Lidstrom 200 Ilya Kovalchuk 201 Matt Martin 202 Raffi Torres 203 Mikhail Grabovski 204 Jason Chimera 205 Corey Crawford 206 Logan Couture 207 Valtteri Filppula 208 Ryan Suter 209 Blake Comeau 210 Nikolai Kulemin 211 Ville Leino 212 Brian Rolston 213 Ruslan Fedotenko 214 Ray Whitney 215 Kyle Wellwood 216 Manny Malhotra 217 Joel Ward 218 Jamie Langenbrunner 219 Francois Beauchemin 220 Chris Kelly 221 Cam Ward 222 Jonathan Quick 223 P.A. Parenteau 224 Kimmo Timonen 225 Michal Handzus 226 Bobby Butler 227 Ryan Getzlaf 228 Stefan Elliott 229 Evgeni Malkin 230 Patrick Kane 231 Derick Brassard 232 Jamie Benn 233 Lars Eller 234 Michael Cammalleri 235 Toni Lydman 236 T.J. Oshie 237 Paul Martin 238 Matt Ellis 239 Steven Stamkos 240 Jakub Voracek 241 Jack Johnson 242 Gabriel Landeskog 243 Mark Giordano 244 Jim Slater 245 Drew Stafford 246 Cody Franson 247 Mathieu Darche 248 Tom Gilbert 249 Marc-Andre Bergeron 250 Mike Fisher 251 Jeff Carter 252 Brent Johnson 253 Milan Jurcina 254 Ryan Smyth 255 Brian Gionta 256 Adam Larsson 257 Andrej Meszaros 258 Chris Higgins 259 Steve Sullivan 260 Colin Greening 261 Brian Lee 262 Daymond Langkow 263 Devan Dubnyk 264 Erik Gudbranson 265 Roberto Luongo 266 Hal Gill 267 Tuukka Rask 268 Nicklas Backstrom 269 Adam Henrique 270 Nick Johnson 271 Corey Potter 272 Vernon Fiddler 273 Nik Antropov 274 Filip Kuba 275 Joey MacDonald 276 Jamie McGinn 277 Thomas Greiss 278 Viatcheslav Voynov 279 Artem Anisimov 280 Braden Holtby 281 Brad Marchand 282 Jay Harrison 283 Victor Hedman 284 Jiri Hudler 285 Daniel Carcillo 286 Radek Dvorak 287 Matt Cullen 288 Henrik Lundqvist 289 Jason Arnott 290 Mattias Tedenby 291 Daniel Alfredsson 292 Jose Theodore 293 Niklas Hjalmarsson 294 Matthew Halischuk 295 Mike Santorelli 296 Anthony Stewart 297 Simon Gagne 298 Nick Foligno 299 Matt Cooke 300 Lubomir Visnovsky |
301 Bryan Little 302 Chris Butler 303 Ryan Miller 304 Brett Clark 305 Erik Christensen 306 Mike Komisarek 307 Joe Corvo 308 Evgeni Nabokov 309 Derek Dorsett 310 Rene Bourque 311 Antti Niemi 312 Evander Kane 313 Brian Boyle 314 Henrik Zetterberg 315 Dustin Penner 316 Cory Schneider 317 Wayne Simmonds 318 Eric Belanger 319 Sean Bergenheim 320 Peter Mueller 321 Petr Sykora 322 Mike Ribeiro 323 Mikko Koivu 324 Matt Hendricks 325 Mark Letestu 326 Kyle Quincey 327 Jason Spezza 328 Paul Stastny 329 Ryan McDonagh 330 T.J. Galiardi 331 Sheldon Souray 332 Tyler Seguin 333 Steve Staios 334 Peter Budaj 335 Alexander Semin 336 Clarke MacArthur 337 Chris Stewart 338 Maxime Talbot 339 Andrei Loktionov 340 Patrice Bergeron 341 Niklas Hagman 342 Roman Horak 343 Pierre-Marc Bouchard 344 Ryan Johansen 345 Marcus Johansson 346 Pekka Rinne 347 Niklas Kronwall 348 Dwayne Roloson 349 Andrew Cogliano 350 Alex Pietrangelo 351 Keith Yandle 352 Marian Hossa 353 Tomas Kopecky 354 Derek Stepan 355 Erik Johnson 356 Dan Hamhuis 357 Zenon Konopka 358 Jussi Jokinen 359 Zbynek Michalek 360 Tomas Holmstrom 361 Drew Doughty 362 Luke Adam 363 Sam Gagner 364 Martin St. Louis 365 Luke Schenn 366 Tom Wandell 367 Henrik Tallinder 368 Sidney Crosby 369 Marc-Edouard Vlasic 370 Bobby Ryan 371 Zack Smith 372 Brad Boyes 373 Daniel Briere 374 Josh Gorges 375 Nick Spaling 376 Theo Peckham 377 Chris Mason 378 Martin Hanzal 379 Darroll Powe 380 Curtis Glencross 381 Rich Peverley 382 Alexander Burmistrov 383 Barret Jackman 384 Brian Campbell 385 Michael Del Zotto 386 David Booth 387 Marek Zidlicky 388 Tyler Kennedy 389 Steve Downie 390 Nikita Nikitin 391 Ray Emery 392 Jordan Leopold 393 Derek Morris 394 Zach Parise 395 Mark Streit 396 Phil Kessel 397 Michael Ryder 398 Daniel Girardi 399 Sami Salo 400 Joni Pitkanen 401 Tyler Myers 402 Cody McLeod 403 Tuomo Ruutu 404 Matt Carle 405 Brooks Orpik 406 Radim Vrbata 407 Daniel Sedin 408 Eric Nystrom 409 Nino Niederreiter 410 Patrik Elias 411 James Wisniewski 412 T.J. Brodie 413 Erik Karlsson 414 Claude Giroux 415 Dan Cleary 416 Shawn Matthias 417 Dainius Zubrus 418 Zack Kassian 419 Jonas Hiller 420 Ron Hainsey 421 Dominic Moore 422 Steve Montador 423 Milan Lucic 424 Mathieu Garon 425 Colin Wilson 426 Matt Beleskey 427 Chris Neil 428 Joffrey Lupul 429 Anton Volchenkov 430 Dustin Brown 431 Alexander Edler 432 Cody Hodgson 433 Dennis Seidenberg 434 Martin Biron 435 Martin Havlat 436 John Moore 437 James van Riemsdyk 438 Jarome Iginla 439 Martin Erat 440 Tomas Plekanec 441 Frans Nielsen 442 Troy Brouwer 443 James Neal 444 Jared Spurgeon 445 Matt Duchene 446 Dmitry Kulikov 447 Ilya Bryzgalov 448 John Tavares 449 Ondrej Pavelec 450 Jarret Stoll |
451 Kevin Shattenkirk 452 Chris Campoli 453 Adrian Aucoin 454 Patrick Sharp 455 Brad Stuart 456 John-Michael Liles 457 Tim Jackman 458 Jaroslav Spacek 459 Carey Price 460 Tomas Vokoun 461 Kevin Klein 462 Marcus Kruger 463 Sergei Gonchar 464 Travis Hamonic 465 Tim Connolly 466 Joe Thornton 467 Jordan Staal 468 Kris Russell 469 Michal Neuvirth 470 Dany Heatley 471 Blake Wheeler 472 Viktor Stalberg 473 Ladislav Smid 474 Justin Faulk 475 David Desharnais 476 Grant Clitsome 477 Jordan Eberle 478 Semyon Varlamov 479 Vincent Lecavalier 480 Mikkel Boedker 481 Jim Howard 482 Cal Clutterbuck 483 Lee Stempniak 484 Ales Hemsky 485 Sergei Kostitsyn 486 Brian Elliott 487 Joe Pavelski 488 Brad Richardson 489 Tim Brent 490 Nick Schultz 491 Richard Bachman 492 Rick Nash 493 Nate Thompson 494 Jason Pominville 495 Mikael Samuelsson 496 Checklist 497 Checklist 498 Checklist 499 Checklist 500 Checklist 501 Bobby Orr 502 Cam Neely 503 Johnny Bucyk 504 Milt Schmidt 505 Phil Esposito 506 Ray Bourque 507 Bobby Hull 508 Denis Savard 509 Doug Wilson 510 Stan Mikita 511 Alex Delvecchio 512 Red Kelly 513 Ted Lindsay 514 Bill Ranford 515 Mark Messier 516 Paul Coffey 517 Ron Francis 518 Jari Kurri 519 Marcel Dionne 520 Rogie Vachon 521 Dino Ciccarelli 522 Mike Modano 523 Neal Broten 524 Guy Lafleur 525 Jean Beliveau 526 Larry Robinson 527 Claude Lemieux 528 Scott Niedermayer 529 Brent Sutter 530 Bryan Trottier 531 Denis Potvin 532 Duane Sutter 533 Mike Bossy 534 Andy Bathgate 535 Brad Park 536 Bill Barber 537 Bobby Clarke 538 Dave Schultz 539 Eric Lindros 540 Tim Kerr 541 Peter Stastny 542 Brendan Shanahan 543 Brett Hull 544 Tony Twist 545 Curtis Joseph 546 Wendel Clark 547 Markus Naslund 548 Richard Brodeur 549 Mike Gartner 550 Dale Hawerchuk 551 Checklist 552 Carter Camper RC 553 Maxime Sauve RC 554 Lane MacDermid RC 555 Torey Krug RC 556 Michael Hutchinson RC 557 Travis Turnbull RC 558 Sven Baertschi RC 559 Akim Aliu RC 560 Jeremy Welsh RC 561 Brandon Bollig RC 562 Tyson Barrie RC 563 Mike Connolly RC 564 Dalton Prout RC 565 Cody Goloubef RC 566 Shawn Hunwick RC 567 Ryan Garbutt RC 568 Reilly Smith RC 569 Brenden Dillon RC 570 Scott Glennie RC 571 Riley Sheahan RC 572 Philippe Cornet RC 573 Colby Robak RC 574 Jordan Nolan RC 575 Kristopher Foucault RC 576 Jason Zucker RC 577 Tyler Cuma RC 578 Chay Genoway RC 579 Gabriel Dumont RC 580 Robert Mayer RC 581 Chet Pickard RC 582 Aaron Ness RC 583 Casey Cizikas RC 584 Matt Donovan RC 585 Chris Kreider RC 586 Brandon Manning RC 587 Michael Stone RC 588 Matt Watkins RC 589 Tyson Sexsmith RC 590 Jake Allen RC 591 Jaden Schwartz RC 592 J.T. Brown RC 593 Carter Ashton RC 594 Ryan Hamilton RC 595 Jussi Rynnas RC 596 Joe Sakic 597 Mario Lemieux 598 Patrick Roy 599 Pelle Lindbergh 600 Wayne Gretzky |
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2012-13 Upper Deck Hockey All-Star Inserts Found inside Wrapper Redemption Packs |
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| AS-1 Alexander Ovechkin AS-2 Bobby Hull AS-3 Bobby Orr AS-4 Brad Marchand AS-5 Brett Hull AS-6 Bryan Trottier AS-7 Carey Price AS-8 Claude Giroux AS-9 Curtis Joseph AS-10 Daniel Sedin AS-11 Dominik Hasek AS-12 Ed Belfour AS-13 Eric Lindros AS-14 Evgeni Malkin AS-15 Henrik Lundqvist AS-16 Henrik Sedin AS-17 Henrik Zetterberg AS-18 Ilya Kovalchuk AS-19 Jarome Iginla AS-20 Jean Beliveau AS-21 Jeff Skinner AS-22 Joe Sakic AS-23 John Tavares AS-24 Jonathan Toews AS-25 Jordan Eberle |
AS-26 Mario Lemieux AS-27 Mark Messier AS-28 Martin Brodeur AS-29 Matt Duchene AS-30 Mike Gartner AS-31 Nicklas Backstrom AS-32 Nicklas Lidstrom AS-33 Ondrej Pavelec AS-34 P.K. Subban AS-35 Patrice Bergeron AS-36 Patrick Kane AS-37 Paul Coffey AS-38 Rick Nash AS-39 Roberto Luongo AS-40 Ron Francis AS-41 Ryan Miller AS-42 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins AS-43 Sidney Crosby AS-44 Steven Stamkos AS-45 Taylor Hall AS-46 Tim Thomas AS-47 Tyler Seguin AS-48 Wayne Gretzky AS-49 Zach Parise AS-50 Zdeno Chara |
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{module 65}
- Details
- Created on Friday, 10 August 2012 23:48
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2012 NSCC Show Topps Wrapper Redemptions Long line....of dealers.... More 2012 #NSCC Show Coverage: Day 1 Links - Photo Albums - Video - More Day 2 Links - Photo Albums - Video - More Day 3 Links - Photo Albums - Video - More |
| During the 2012 National Sports Collectors Convention held in Baltimore, MD - August 1-5, one of the most popular promotions for collectors are the wrapper redemption programs that companies like Topps, Panini, and Upper Deck hold throughout the five day show. It's an opportunity for collectors to purchase a box or some packs at the show, take it to the corresponding company booth, open them in the presence of a company employee and receive a special prize such as a pack or set of cards. Topps had three types of wrapper redemption promotions going on at the NSCC. Including one that involved their brand new 2012 Topps Mini Baseball card set. In addition, you could also open any three packs of 2012 Topps Football/Baseball and receive one card from the National exclusive 2012 Gypsy Queen 9-Card set. But quite possibly the most popular wrapper redemption program that Topps was offering were the 25 card 2012 Bowman Platinum Baseball set where the cards were serial numbered #/499. The set included big names such as Bryce Harper and Yu Darvish rookie cards. Topps had just 100 of these sets to give away each day. Several days after the show these 25 card sets were selling for around $50-$60 on eBay. Dealers at the show were selling 2012 Bowman Platinum baseball boxes for over $100 - many in the $108-125 range. It made for a great deal buying a Bowman Platinum box because if you were one of the 100 people who got one of these sets on each day, it made for great value. |
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| The main problem Topps had in distributing these wrapper redemption cards and sets was that the line at their booth to wait and obtain these cards was long and started before any VIP or paying customer was allowed into the building. This meant that dealers were the ones who were able to obtain these sets. On Saturday I personally counted 35 people standing in the Topps line for the wrapper redemption before the doors to the show even opened for VIP guests. VIP attendees were allowed in 30 min. before the general public each day. Part of the perk in buying a VIP pass to the NSCC show is being able to stand in line early to obtain these wrapper redemption cards. There were probably some VIP guests that were not able to get a Bowman Platinum redemption set because there were upwards of 40 dealers who got a set before they were allowed in. Let's take a look at some ways Topps could possibly improve upon their wrapper redemption program at the 2013 National Sports Collectors Convention that will be held in Chicago, Illinois. First and foremost, VIP guests should be the very first people with the opportunity to obtain any kind of wrapper redemption set or cards. The fact that there were over 35 people already standing in line before a single VIP guest was allowed in would have irritated me if I had purchased the VIP package. Each person who attends the NSCC is given a special badge that they must wear around their neck when they enter the show. VIP, dealers, staff and media badges are clearly marked. It would have been very easy for the employees at Topps or any of the booths to distinguish what type of attendee was standing in their line. The line for the wrapper redemption should only start after the VIP guests have been allowed in. I personally do not think dealers should have the opportunity to obtain a wrapper redemption set or cards before VIP guests are allowed in. Besides, they are typically able to buy the packs and/or boxes necessary to redeem for the redemption at a lower cost than the average customer paying to get into the show. Perhaps Topps or any of the companies could produce a special set to either give or sell to dealers and then (the dealer) could do whatever they want with the set or cards including selling them or giving them away at the show. |
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One of the other problems with the line at the Topps booth was that it would move very slowly. Remember, you had to purchase an entire box of 2012 Bowman Platinum baseball in order to receive one of the special Platinum sets at the show. That means at the very least, employees at the Topps booth wanted to see you rip open each of the packs in the box. You didn't have to open and go through each of the cards but at the very least you had to rip open each pack. Typically I only saw two Topps employees working this section of the booth each day. |
| One way for Topps to speed up the process of handing out the wrapper redemptions is getting more help at their booth. I know that personally I would be willing to stand for an hour each day and help Topps give out the sets to collectors. Free of charge. And I wouldn't even promote my website while doing so. I honestly think it would be fun to see some product getting opened and also get an opportunity to talk to collectors. Some other suggestions I got from Twitter followers were that you give out tickets to people standing in line and they are then able to come back when the line has died down and get a set or cards. This would help especially when they only have 100 sets to give away as was the case with the Bowman Platinum sets at the 2012 NSCC. Instead of standing in line why not pass out 100 tickets to those people so they can come back at a later time and enjoy the booth when it is less crowded. They may also be able to actually open the boxes or packs while at the booth instead of trying to go through them so quickly. Topps could even take this opportunity to get tweet pics to use on their favorite social media venue. |
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- Created on Sunday, 05 August 2012 15:26
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Day #5 At The NSCC Sunday August 5, 2012 |
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NSCC Location: 1 W Pratt Street - Baltimore, MD 21201 - Google Map According to the NSCC Official Website - The Sunday Show Hours Are 10am - 5pm EST |
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 Sunday August 5th Autograph Signers |
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| Mike Tyson 10:45 AM Bob Griese 11:15 AM Fergie Jenkins 11:15 AM Ralph Kiner 11:30 AM Joe Morgan 11:30 AM Robin Yount 11:30 AM Tommy Lasorda 11:45 AM Phil Niekro 12:00 PM Pete Rose 12:00 PM Ivan Rodriguez 12:15 PM Johnny Bench 12:30 PM Kevin Nash 12:30 PM Tony Perez 1:00 PM |
Cesar Geronimo 1:15 PM Billy Williams 1:15 PM George Foster 1:45 PM Gaylord Perry 2:00 PM Larry Sheets 2:00 PM Dave Concepcion 2:15 PM Goose Gossage 2:15 PM Ricky Sanders 2:15 PM Ken Griffey, Sr. 2:30 PM Brian Mitchell 2:30 PM Don Stanhouse 2:30 PM Bruce Sutter 2:30 PM |
 Photographs |
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| Sports Card Radio Ryan Tedards - Sports Card Radio |
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| All About Cards Baseball Nut - All About Cards |
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| Field Level View J. - Field Level View |
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| Panini America Panini Staff - Panini America |
 Day #5 Blogs From NSCC |
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| Back From The National August 5, 2012 - Sports Card Info |
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| Inspiration From The National August 5, 2012 - RJ Game Reviews |
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| Earl Weaver Affirms Jersey August 5, 2012 - Beckett |
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| Day 5 From National August 5, 2012 - Things Are Funner Here |
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| Scenes From The Panini Party August 5, 2012 - Panini America |
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| Saturday At The National August 5, 2012 - Sports Collectors Daily |
 Videos From NSCC |
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| Gregg Kohn From Upper Deck August 5, 2012 - FreedomCardBoard |
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| Tim From COMC.com August 5, 2012 - FreedomCardBoard |
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| 1989 ProSet Football S2 Pack August 5, 2012 - Sports Card Radio |
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| 2007 Absolute Football Blaster August 5, 2012 - Sports Card Radio |
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| 1989 Topps Wax Pack August 5, 2012 - Sports Card Radio |
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| 2011 Topps Value Box Break August 5, 2012 - Sports Card Radio |
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| 1986-87 Fleer Basketball Pack August 5, 2012 - Beckett |
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| Gregg Kohn From Upper Deck August 5, 2012 - Card Corner Club |
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| FCBSportsCards Live Breaks August 5, 2012 - FreedomCardBoard |
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| Blowout Cards Live Breaks August 5, 2012 - Blowout Cards |
 Audio From NSCC |
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| @SportsCardNews Interview August 2, 2012 - Sports Card Radio |
Cardboard Connection August 3, 2012 - Cardboard Connection |
| NSCC Highlights | |
| Day One Nightly Recap August 1, 2012 - All About Cards |
Wrapper Redemption/VIP Sets Panini America - Upper Deck - Topps |
| 2012 National Day 2 Report August 2, 2012 - Field Level View |
Topps Panel Discussion Notes Rayn Tedards - Sports Card Radio |
| Day #1 Link Portal August 1, 2012 - Sports Card Radio |
Day #3 Link Portal August 3, 2012 - Sports Card Radio |
| Day #2 Link Portal August 2, 2012 - Sports Card Radio |
Day #4 Link Portal August 4, 2012 - Sports Card Radio |
NSCC Location: 1 W Pratt Street - Baltimore, MD 21201 - Google Map
According to the NSCC Official Website - The Sunday Show Hours Are 10am - 5pm EST