UPDATE: Upper Deck announces SP info for GTS, Universal cards
By Susan Lulgjuraj | Beckett Hockey Editor
GTS and Universal are giving hockey collectors a chance for exclusive cards.
GTS, U.S. distributor, and Universal, a Canadian distributor, partnered with Upper Deck to create a 30-card set featuring players such as Chris Kreider, Steven Stamkos and Alexander Ovechkin, with the opportunity to get gold foil parallels and autographs.
To get one three-card pack, order a box of 2012-13 NHL Upper Deck Series 1 or 2012-13 Black Diamond from the respective distributors. Ordering a box of 2012-13 SP Game Used will yield two GTS packs.
Collectors that have already ordered these boxes don’t have to worry, they are already included in the offer.
Autographs of 27 of the 30 players are available and fall at a rate of 1 in 36 packs. Autographs of Jakob Silfverberg, Jason Zucker and Tyler Cuma are not available.
Update: Gold parallels are included in the exclusive set, falling at a rate of 1 in every four packs.
As for autographs there are four levels of scarcity in the product. Group A (1:495), Group B (1:310), Group C (1:563), Group D 1:47).
Here is the checklist for the set, including the autograph group of the respective player.
P1 Alexander Ovechkin Washington Capitals (Group A)
P2 Adam Henrique New Jersey Devils (Group C)
P3 Taylor Hall Edmonton Oilers (Group B)
P4 Bobby Orr Boston Bruins (Group A)
P5 Phil Kessel Toronto Maple Leafs (Group B)
P6 Eric Lindros Philadelphia Flyers (Group A)
P7 Dion Phaneuf Toronto Maple Leafs (Group B)
P8 Evander Kane Winnipeg Jets (Group B)
P9 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Edmonton Oilers (Group A)
P10 Steven Stamkos Tampa Bay Lightning (Group B)
P11 Nikolai Kulemin Toronto Maple Leafs (Group A)
P12 Jean Beliveau Montreal Canadiens (Group A)
P13 John Tavares New York Islanders (Group B)
P14 Patrick Kane Chicago Blackhawks (Group B)
P15 Thomas Vanek Buffalo Sabres (Group C)
P16 Chris Kreider New York Rangers (Group D)
P17 Chet Pickard Nashville Predators (Group D)
P18 Jaden Schwartz St. Louis Blues (Group D)
P19 Jake Allen St. Louis Blues (Group D)
P20 Jakob Silfverberg Ottawa Senators (No auto)
P21 Akim Aliu Calgary Flames (Group D)
P22 Tyson Barrie Colorado Avalanche (Group D)
P23 Jussi Rynnas Toronto Maple Leafs (Group D)
P24 Sven Baertschi Calgary Flames (Group D)
P25 Scott Glennie Dallas Stars (Group D)
P26 Jason Zucker Minnesota Wild (No auto)
P27 Tyler Cuma Minnesota Wild (No auto)
P28 Casey Cizikas New York Islanders (Group D)
P29 Carter Ashton Toronto Maple Leafs (Group D)
P30 Cody Goloubef Columbus Blue Jackets (Group D)
Susan Lulgjuraj is an editor of Beckett Hockey. You can email her here with questions, comments or ideas. Follow her on Twitter here.
What i don’t think Upper Deck ,Topps, Panini ,and the other card companies out there understand , is that over the last 3-4 years they have weeded out most of the small time collectors and people who enjoyed the hobby and now are left with majority of people that are all about the high risk high reward. Not many people, especailly in this economy , can afford boxes that are higher than $100, and those $100 boxes have such a small amount of high reward in them ,they are not even worth opening at this point. Stinks to open those boxes and end up with $20 sell value 99% of the time. So to try and entice a person to buy your products by giving them a free pack of some limited edition set, and then probably make those autographs within that set impossible , it entices noone and noone really cares. the small time collecter knows they probably won’t get an auto, so they won’t care, and the high risk high reward person probably won’t buy the small product in the first place, and a pack of base cards (with a long shot at an auto) will not entice them to go down that road. In my opinion there are only 3 types of card people out there: 1) rich people who have the money to buy whatever they want , 2) people who are and have been addicted to the rip (me) also should call the gamblers anonymous hotline (also these are the people who are keeping this hobby from total death), 3) those people who buy regular topps baseball to put that set together. Bottom line is, with out a NHL hockey season this year , the interest in hockey cards will drop dramatically , and people are not gonna open up as much as they usually would, so if you want to try to entice people to buy this stuff ,offer up something a little more attractive !
what about the other three distributors????? Why did they get screwed along with their dealers?
Heath,
The other option you did not mention is this will make the so-called little people go on Ebay and pick up cards for a fraction of the cost. Just because there is no hockey doesn’t mean people stop buying. Why pay $100 for a box knowing full well the re-sell value is $20 when you could pick up what you want on line. I don’t like Upper Deck and Panini is starting to piss a lot of people off as well with redemptions upon redemptions piling up with no end in sight. I have a card that’s over a year old and this is what Panini told me “The player responsible for signing does not make the time to sign, his agent has to set up a time for the player to sign”. What a load of garbage. I for one can afford to buy high end products but I pick and choose. Did not buy any of The Cup this year. Did not buy Exquisite Basketball ($700) almostly a joke. What a sad state for collectors who truly appreciate putting sets together. Since rookies were numbered, it’s almost impossible to make a complete set.
It’s only an $80 box or less. I think there is some value in the product. I opened some and it’s better than one might think. You never know how the rookies are gonna pan out in the product. They might not be A-list stars 3-5 years from now, but it’s unlikely that out of a roster of 50 Young Guns, they’ll all stink up the joint.
I find it ironic that one can talk about collecting, and then in the same breath, talk about market/sell value. The first question is, are you in the hobby for keeps or for making money? If it’s for making money, then this is absolutely the wrong avenue. You’re almost never gonna make much money from cracking wax.
agreed, to Tony G’s comments
I happened to buy a box of 12/13 series 1 today only because I had opened about 10 packs previously and this years set, although no “A-List” rookies as some might put it, looks absolutely amazing. I would have to say that this set is 10 times better then the 2 or 3 previous years.
Now, upon my surprise, I got a pack of these cards and I pulled a Ryan Nugent-Hopkins Auto card. Now I thought I would search the internet to find how many of them are out there and came to this page. I am so excited that I happened to pull this auto from 1 pack. I am a collector and this promotion has peaked my interest even more.
Thanks UD and Universal/GTS Promo for this opportunity.