Upper Deck and the Curious Case of Lost Originality

When Upper Deck burst onto the scene in 1989 they revoltuionized the hobby with the slick cardstock, holograms and buck-a-pack pricepoint. Over the past couple of decades they've been in the middle of some the hobby's biggest innovations: in-pack autographs in 1990, winking holograms in the mid-1990s, jersey swatches in 1997 (although I believe it was Press Pass that first had memorabilia cards a year-or-so earlier), the intorduction of the mega-premium "pack" with the launch of Exquisite. The list is a pretty big and respectible one.

But today I'm disgusted by their lack of originality and their insistance on copying their main competitor and dancing around the fact that they're doing so. I'm pretty stocked about 2009 O-Pee-Chee Baseball, but I also recognize that while the parallel inserts may mimic the O-Pee-Chee design, one also has to acknowledge that these were originally Topps designs. It's a blatant rip-off in my books, even if they do own all things O-Pee-Chee.

After opening a couple of packs of 2008-09 O-Pee-Chee Update Hockey, the ripoff status has reached an entirely new level. Not only do you get a 1978-79 Retro variation in every pack (another old school Topps/OPC ripoff) but the composition of the set is exactly like the Topps Traded sets from 2001 and 2002. Every pack has a second parallel named OPC Metal. Topps Chrome anyone? And what's Topps Chrome without your refrectors. But wait, the refractor name is copyright. So instead they're Metal X parallels. Sounds an awful lot like the format for 2001 Topps Traded Baseball. Actually, that's exactly like 2001 Topps Traded Baseball. Who are they trying to kid that "Chrome" is different from "Metal"?

Give me a break! Following hobby trends is one thing. Creating entire sets that copy just about everything from your competitors is lazy, boring, insulting and just plain lame. Does Upper Deck not understand that by "borrowing," "paying homage," "tributing," whatever polite term you want to call it, from your competitor and their history that you make yourself look like a joke. It only makes what they do seem better.

Upper Deck needs to understand that they need to balance building from ideas and just plain taking others' ideas. By copying Topps to this extent they're losing their own brand identity. Topps has the market for nostalgia and history sets. Get over it and do your own thing. Upper Deck has built a fanbase for their high-end products. That's their angle. And just like Upper Deck normally fails at "old time" sets, Topps often does the same with high-end product.

My venting comes partially from the fact that this year's cards are pretty boring. There's nothing new going on in any of the sports that I can see. With the economic downturn and several licenses coming to pass, the era of risk-taking is gone. Instead it's A throwing B's poop against the wall, pretending it's C's and hoping that some of it sticks.

I want to see a little risk-taking for once. Something that doesn't involve Photoshopping in a politician. Something that doesn't copy a competitor. Something that's been missing for a while now - originality.

2008-09 O-Pee-Chee Update Hockey:

You've got your base cards, Metal parallel and Metal X. Seems familiar.

2001 Topps Traded Baseball:

 

base cards, Metal Chrome parallel, Metal X Refractors (or Retrofrators as Topps called them for a year or two)

My First and Second-to-Last Post on Brett Favre

By now you know that football legend Brett Favre has been a busy guy these past few months. After getting knocked out of the playoffs he went home and decided to hang 'em up - as in retire. Somewhere in the next couple of months he found his smile again and decided he still wanted to play. His former team, the Packers moved on. But Brett stomped his feet a couple of times. His no comment comments to the media were filled with meaning, which fueled more news stories. And wouldn't you know we had a soap opera on our hands that couldn't have been scripted better by Vincent Kennedy McMahon and the folks at WWE.

Long story short, Favre kicks dirt long enough to get a trade that sent him (and his now tarnished legacy) to New York where he's instantly become the biggest name quarterback for the Jets since "Broadway" Joe Namath.

My feelings about the whole saga can be summed up in one word:



But when you have a soap opera story and a big-name player going to a new team you just know that the card companies are going to be racing to get the first to get Brett the Jet. If I were updating my Facebook status, it'd read

Upper Deck and Donruss both seem to have it figured out with the first cards of Favre holding a Jets jersey already in production. But Upper Deck got a one-up on the cute factor (read: don't care). They've created a "By the Letter" manufactured letter patch insert set where collectors can spell:

In case you're wondering, the patch letters will be out later this month with 2008 Upper Deck Icons football. His first in-uniform Upper Deck card won't be available for a couple of months.

And for all you puzzle fans out there's combinations galore. In honor of Brett, the Jets, Madden '09 and the Topps Favre card with him cutting the lawn, there's going to be a contest posted tomorrow. So get your thinking caps ready.

Bad Hair Day

A warning for those of you planning on busting 2008 Upper Deck Piece of History Baseball starting next week. If you pull a redemption card that says it's good for a "Hair Cut Signature" card, you're only going to get the "Hair Cuts". Upper Deck announced today that they made a small copy error in the redemption cards and that the "Hair Cut Signatures" program was only for 2008 SP Legendary Cuts Baseball.

So instead of getting a creepy card that's been made tolerable by a sweet autograph, you just get a creepy card.

A Little Piece of Canadian Identity Sold to the Highest Bidder

What does it mean to be a Canadian is something I constantly ponder. It's something I probably always will. Canada hasn't existed as a nation for a long time. We're young and we're still developing our identity. A little piece of the identity that did exist was sold off today as CTV (one of Canada's big broadcasters of mostly American shows) bought The Hockey Theme song, which for the past 40 years has been synonymous with Saturday-night Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts on public broadcaster CBC.

Here's CBC's side of the story. Here's CTV's. Here's a guy playing it on his organ:

If you want to rile up our southern neighbors' patriotic fervor, you do something to the flag. If you want to see Canadians get pissed, you mess with our hockey traditions. Damn you, CTV for using your bottomless pockets. To make a lame wrestling analogy, it's like Triple H going and giving someone Undertaker's tombstone - you don't steal another's moves because it makes both of you look bad.

For those who don't know, CBC is a government-funded station. Canadian tax dollars fund it so there's limited resources. If they paid $3 million for a song, there'd be that much less money for health care, schools or lavish trips abroad for our politicians.

Here's hoping Stompin' Tom takes over the Saturday-night duties.