Why Does It Take Ages To Get A Redemption

johnse27

johnse27

Verified Trader,
Joined
Jul 24, 2013
Messages
2,584
Reaction score
392
Location
London/Collingwood, ON
Just wondering why it takes so long to get some redemptions of lesser known players. I have probably 18 Redemptions that would help me complete some of my SP Authentic sets and they are of players like Daniel Sprong, Malcolm Subban, Ben Hutton, Brady Skjei and Connor Hellebuyck. Now I understand that these players are busy but can someone from Upper Deck not track them down and get these things done. Some of mine are going on 2years and I know they aren't expensive so not that important to many people. But I would like to complete some of these sets and for sure don't want replacement cards. When I had a Austin Matthews redemption it arrived to me within 2 weeks.

Anyone else feeling this type of issue?
 
Auston Matthews probably makes much more money per auto than the other guys you listed, and surely UD goes the extra mile to get his autos done quickly since they count on him to move product. The lesser players only getting a buck or two per sig probably take one look at a box full of thousands of autos and say 'ain't nobody got time for that'.

And there's always the factor that some players just aren't interested in signing, are too busy, etc. UD can't hold a gun to their heads. And I'm sure they hate redemptions as much as we do because all that extra shipping and handling to get redemptions out costs money. Not to mention the costs and responsibilities of running the redemption site (we saw what can go wrong there, didn't we).
 
FrozenInferno said:
Auston Matthews probably makes much more money per auto than the other guys you listed, and surely UD goes the extra mile to get his autos done quickly since they count on him to move product. The lesser players only getting a buck or two per sig probably take one look at a box full of thousands of autos and say 'ain't nobody got time for that'.

And there's always the factor that some players just aren't interested in signing, are too busy, etc. UD can't hold a gun to their heads. And I'm sure they hate redemptions as much as we do because all that extra shipping and handling to get redemptions out costs money. Not to mention the costs and responsibilities of running the redemption site (we saw what can go wrong there, didn't we).
Click to expand...
Couldn't have put it better myself. That's the reality right there.
 
Good points but if I was a player what better way to get yourself some ink then by having the cards out there for kids to collect(some adults too)! Pretty short sighted. Thought it might make sense for UD to go to the player occasionally if close to one of their outlets wherever they may be.
 
Oh, they do. They invest a hell of a lot of effort into getting stuff signed.

IIRC, in a 04-5 UD product (I think it was Legends - the one with Summit and Miracle autos), there was a player with looooong outstanding redemptions. UD forwarded the emails to the player's wife, who sat him down and made him clear his backlog.
 
johnse27 said:
Good points but if I was a player what better way to get yourself some ink then by having the cards out there for kids to collect(some adults too)! Pretty short sighted. Thought it might make sense for UD to go to the player occasionally if close to one of their outlets wherever they may be.
Click to expand...

In the middle of the hockey season and you only get one CBA mandated day off every couple of weeks, or the bye week - are you going to spend a few hours signing cards? Particularly if you're already pulling down $5M+/year?

And if it's the middle of summer and you're in the Okanagan at your cabin - do you want to go into town, spend two hours signing cards and labels for peanuts relative to the multi-million salary you're pulling down or would you rather go out on the lake, work out, get in 36 holes or play with your kids?

It might be short sighted in your eyes, but when you've spent 8-10 months doing your job and you don't have the opportunity for a real vacation in that time, being on the clock for something pretty tedious isn't all that high on one's list of priorities. UD can only push for the signatures so hard, but if it's at the risk of cutting off any chance of signatures in the future, it isn't worth it. Truth is, they are at the mercy of the players and their representatives more often than not. If the PA won't help enforce agreements that have been made, there's only so much that can be done without alienating a player and/or an agent with a full stable of clients.
 
odjickfan said:
Maybe we should get back to how it was done 15 years ago. I remember the days there were only 20 different FWA in SPA, and they were all live.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Look at the values of those cards. They are still up in price. Plus not every player should have an autograph.
 
Look at last year's checklists, and the rookies specifically.

I'll use Thomas Chabot as an example. Hardly a huge name, but not a scrub either.

Looking at all of his autographed cards.... if I add up the serial numbered cards, I get 4,821. There was also 5 other cards that are signed, but not serial numbered.

I think it's probably safe to say he signed 5k cards (or stickers) for Upper Deck last year. Maybe not an exact number... but close.

What was he paid for that? $2 a signature? Not enough for most players to see that pay cheque and get overly excited.

Rookies, in particular, are likely being pushed by the PA to do these autograph deals... but the money is a drop in the bucket for them, so it's not really a driving factor.

Most players seem to meet their commitments on time. Some (clearly) don't care as much. I would think cutting down on the number of signatures they're asked for would go a long way to getting they to do it.
 
Hama said:
In the middle of the hockey season and you only get one CBA mandated day off every couple of weeks, or the bye week - are you going to spend a few hours signing cards? Particularly if you're already pulling down $5M+/year?
Click to expand...
By the looks of most autographs nowadays, it would only take them 5 minutes to autograph their cards.....chicken scratch ugly autos. :|

Bring back the Mikitas and Beliveaus... players who took pride in their autograph! :beer:

--Curt
 
odjickfan said:
Maybe we should get back to how it was done 15 years ago. I remember the days there were only 20 different FWA in SPA, and they were all live.
Click to expand...

rvelligan said:
Exactly. Look at the values of those cards. They are still up in price. Plus not every player should have an autograph.
Click to expand...

This got me thinking about the ratio of autographs to normal rookies in the product, and how it's affected production. Obviously not everyone has an autograph now, but the checklist is a little out of control. There were 6 in 2001-02, 21 in 2002-03, and what's the number now? Does it really add value to chase down autographs of dudes who won't play 10 games in the NHL?
 
pathshot said:
This got me thinking about the ratio of autographs to normal rookies in the product, and how it's affected production. Obviously not everyone has an autograph now, but the checklist is a little out of control. There were 6 in 2001-02, 21 in 2002-03, and what's the number now? Does it really add value to chase down autographs of dudes who won't play 10 games in the NHL?
Click to expand...

When you're charging what they are for boxes - they have to maintain some sort of hit ratios to still justify the shot. At $175 CAD/box - having only one auto/box is pretty tough to swallow. Given that these are releases are what UD probably banks on as one of their mainstays - if the orders are down - their bottom line takes a hit
 
Hama said:
When you're charging what they are for boxes - they have to maintain some sort of hit ratios to still justify the shot. At $175 CAD/box - having only one auto/box is pretty tough to swallow. Given that these are releases are what UD probably banks on as one of their mainstays - if the orders are down - their bottom line takes a hit
Click to expand...

I remember in 02-03, there was 1 FWA, 2FW and 1 jersey per box, with the SOTTs and FWAP being tougher hits. The stuff was selling well, but from quick maths, there were about 20 000 boxes produced. How many are produced now? The FWA checklist is so long, you can guess on over 50 000 boxes. The odds of pulling a good FWA from a single box are much longer than they were.

In 02-03, on average, you got at least one of the top FWA in a single case (choose among Nash, Zetty, Spezza, there were 20 of them on the checklist, and 12 in your case). Now, there are like 80 FWA on the checklist, with one guaranteed per box, probably like 18 in a case. The odds of pulling a top four FWA from a case are much harder than they were.
 
Its frustrating to see players signing newer cards but the older card still sit unsigned. I really think that UD should change their policy of adding terrible signers to newer products until their backlog of cards are cleared up. It makes no sense to add to the mountain of unsigned cards for certain players that may never make it out to customers.
 
Still waiting on my Matt Murray Black Lustrous Auto RC. Could be why they cut out the true Auto rc's from SPX and OPC Platinum.
 
Hyogbog said:
Still waiting on my Matt Murray Black Lustrous Auto RC. Could be why they cut out the true Auto rc's from SPX and OPC Platinum.
Click to expand...

Probably because his debut was in December 2015 - right before the rookie cutoff for 15-16, which usually is about Christmas. That's why he was a late add to Upper Deck Update. That probably is why he wasn't in those sets - the checklist was probably finalized before then - likely in early October just after the season started. Remember that he was in the non-auto'd Future Watch grouping in SP Authentic, and UD called an audible and had him in as an FWA when he went on a roll when Fleury went down - because he only had base FWA and Black FWA - but no limited - just the non-auto/25 parallel exists - no FW ARP/100.

For all we know - what's out there for autos is all that he has sent back. Some players sign what they have in front of them or what box they've gotten around to completing and sending back. But I have seen that happen with some players - they will sign a box or two of what they have been sent and put the rest off for whenever.
 
quincy said:
Oh, they do. They invest a hell of a lot of effort into getting stuff signed.

IIRC, in a 04-5 UD product (I think it was Legends - the one with Summit and Miracle autos), there was a player with looooong outstanding redemptions. UD forwarded the emails to the player's wife, who sat him down and made him clear his backlog.
Click to expand...

Captain America, himself...Mark Johnson. That was such an amazing story.
 

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
389,542
Messages
2,233,476
Members
4,151
Latest member
barchamb13
Back
Top