Redemption vs Update - Premier

[lmanson85]

I’ve always been curious, how does Upper Deck determine if a player auto card will be a redemption when a set is released, or if the auto will get put in a later set as an “update”?

I messaged QA about this already but didn’t get a response….

Thanks

 

[quincy]

I can hazard an educated guess:
If it's someone with whom they have contract and good relations - say Crosby, or Gretzky - and it's a matter of timing, they likely opt for redemption. I would include here folks like players still covered under rookie contracts, though the relationship may not be as robust. If there is anything less than a high degree of certainty that they'll get autographed materials back in a timely manner, I think they leave it out and include it later as updates.

 

[FrozenInferno]

The bigger the name and the more reliable the signer is the more likely it packs out as a redemption, IMO. Looks better to have those big names on a checklist so people aren’t asking why there’s no Crosby, McDavid, or “insert big rookie here” autos in the product. Meanwhile if a guy like Matt Duchene doesn’t get his autos back in time nobody is going to throw a fit because he’s not on the checklist. You can “update” those out later.

There are exceptions where bigger names come out later, sometimes years later, as updates. Panarin comes to mind for example. I’m guessing he’s on the unreliable signer list so UD doesn’t chance it.

 

[will-411]

I’ve got to think some of it depends on how the product is built. If they need to include a certain number of autos, they’re going to look at what they have on hand from previous releases, how much they’re still waiting on to come back from the current product, and the overall value of content. Or it’s just randomly haphazard and any of us giving them credit for a plan has caused great bouts of laughter in the UD back rooms.

Cory

 

[thorn]

They saved a lot of signed Bedard cards for 2024/25 products since they did not trust the 24/25 rookie class. Sad but true.