Upper Deck reveals its plans for the 2016 National Sports Collectors Convention

By Stephen Laroche | Beckett Sports Card Monthly Editor

Upper Deck has announced some major plans for the 38th National Sports Collectors Convention and collectors visiting their booth at the show in Atlantic City from August 3 to 7 have a chance to obtain cards that are exclusive to the show.

Plenty of promotional packs will be handed out in addition to a special set found only in VIP bags and there will be additional bonuses for case breakers plus many of the usual activities that tend to draw a crowd to the company’s booth.

The wrapper redemption program for the National will feature a 20-card Prominent Cuts base set which includes 10 NHL freshmen in 2015-16 Top Shelf Rookies, which is a concept that Upper Deck has brought back after a long hiatus. Both collections will have limited signed versions and there are some interesting names in that lineup like CM Punk, Kevin Smith, and Miesha Tate. Additionally, there will be some monumental pulls in the form of one-of-one cut signature cards from deceased legends such as American presidents.

Getting a redemption pack at the Upper Deck booth is a relatively simple process as collectors will only need to break open 10 packs of either 2015-16 Upper Deck Series Two Hockey or 2015-16 O-Pee-Chee Platinum Hockey or five packs of 2015-16 Upper Deck ICE, 2015-16 Upper Deck Contours Hockey, 2015-16 SP Authentic Hockey, or 2016 Upper Deck Goodwin Champions. Those opting to break open 2015-16 Upper Deck Black Hockey or 2015-16 Upper Deck Ultimate Collection will receive three redemption packs.

Collectors should note that the packs need to be purchased at the National from a Certified Diamond Dealer. Upon making the purchase, the dealer will provide a voucher that can be taken to the Upper Deck booth along with the packs. Upper Deck is restricting this promotion to four times a day for each participating collector.

Case breakers will receive greater incentives for busting at the National and those that break 2015-16 Upper Deck NHL releases like Contours, O-Pee-Chee Platinum, ICE, SP Authentic, UD Black, or Ultimate Collection or 2016 Goodwin Champions will get 10 of the redemption packs along with a case breaker raffle ticket. The prize is granted upon breaking and could include a limited autograph card, additional unopened product, or piece of memorabilia. Five collectors that are adventurous enough to crack open a box of 2016 Upper Deck All-Time Greats Master Collection will be eligible for 20 redemption packs, two case breaker raffle tickets, and a pair of passes to Upper Deck’s Diamond Club Member and Candidate Reception that will take place on Friday, August 5. Southern Hobby is sponsoring the Upper Deck Breaker Lounge and collectors can open their boxes and cases while enjoying refreshments.

As for show attendees that purchased a VIP package, they will be given an exclusive five-card set loaded up with big names in Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky, Martin Brodeur, and LeBron James.

Additional activities at the Upper Deck booth include the traditional Random Acts of Kindness scavenger hunt and free raffles. Over the weekend, young collector Brady Kahle will be accepting donations for his Cards for a Cause charitable efforts and Upper Deck has noted it will be paying tribute to National founder Mike Berkus as well.

2016 Upper Deck Prominent Cuts checklist

PC-1     Michael Jordan
PC-2     Tom Shields
PC-3     Miesha Tate
PC-4     Tom Glavine
PC-5     Tiger Woods
PC-6     Aly Raisman
PC-7     Robbie Maddison
PC-8     Martin St. Louis
PC-9     Martin Brodeur
PC-10     Wayne Gretzky

2015-16 Upper Deck Top Shelf Rookie checklist

TS-1     Connor McDavid
TS-2     Dylan Larkin
TS-3     Artemi Panarin
TS-4     Sam Bennett
TS-5     Noah Hanifin
TS-6     Jake Virtanen
TS-7     Connor Hellebuyck
TS-8     Oscar Lindberg
TS-9     Robby Fabbri
TS-10     Zachary Fucale

2016 Upper Deck NSCC Prominent Cuts Autographs

PCA-AR     Aly Raisman /50
PCA-CP     CM Punk /50
PCA-KS     Kevin Smith /25
PCA-MS     Martin St. Louis /25
PCA-MT     Miesha Tate /50
PCA-TG     Tom Glavine /15

2016 Upper Deck NSCC Prominent Cuts VIP Autographs

VIPA-WG    Wayne Gretzky /7*

2015-16 Upper Deck Top Shelf Rookie Autographs

TSA-CH     Connor Hellebuyck /25
TSA-JV     Jake Virtanen /75
TSA-NH     Noah Hanifin /25
TSA-OL     Oscar Lindberg /100
TSA-RF     Robby Fabbri /50
TSA-SB     Sam Bennett /100
TSA-ZF     Zachary Fucale /75
TSA-AP    Artemi Panarin /5*
TSA-CM    Connor McDavid/5*
TSA-DL    Dylan Larkin /10*

* – exclusive to case breakers

Stephen Laroche is the editor of Beckett Hockey, Beckett Basketball, and Beckett Sports Card Monthly magazines. Have a comment, question or idea? Send an e-mail to him at slaroche@beckett.com or follow him on Twitter @Stephen_Laroche.