Carlsbad, CA, Monday March 21, 2011
It’s almost here. The wait is nearly over. And the unveiling will truly be something to behold. The Upper Deck Company, the trading card manufacturer that time and again has reinvented the sports card category, will debut a never-before-seen insert card set inside its 2011 Upper Deck Football launch on April 12. What is it, you ask? Well, you’ll just have to wait and see.



“It’s highly proprietary and we’re not at liberty to discuss the details just yet,” said Jason Masherah, Upper Deck’s vice president of Marketing. “But suffice it to say that this upcoming unveiling will once again revolutionize the trading card industry as we know it today, in a way that only Upper Deck is capable of doing.”



Wishing to create buzz and excitement for football card collectors, dealers, distributors and fans, Upper Deck is currently running a series of online “Evolution” banner ads to create anticipation for the fast-approaching reveal and has a special landing page devoted to the product’s debut next month: www.UpperDeck.com/Evolution. To see the company’s new Evolution teaser video, click on the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rJJiJGsxOQ. The card set was produced through Upper Deck’s exclusive partnership with the Collegiate Licensing Company.



“Our partnership with Upper Deck has allowed us to bring our fans new and innovative products never before seen in the trading card market,” said David Kirkpatrick, CLC’s vice president of Non-Apparel Marketing. “We are excited to share in such an important launch, and are confident that collectors and college fans alike will embrace this revolutionary new product.”



Revolutionizing the sports card industry is nothing new to Upper Deck. When the company made its debut in 1989 with its Upper Deck Baseball product, the company introduced the hobby’s first-ever anti-counterfeit hologram on each of its card. Upper Deck’s use of premium card stock and UV coating quickly put its competitors on notice.



A year later, Upper Deck became the first trading card company to put autographed cards into its packs with its “Baseball Heroes” insert collection featuring greats like Reggie Jackson and Nolan Ryan. Game-used jersey swatches embedded on card fronts from gridiron stars like Joe Montana, Barry Sanders and Brett Favre followed in 1996 and, two years later, the company made headlines once again by introducing its controversial, yet hugely popular Babe Ruth “Piece of History” bat cards, which contained one-by-one-inch pieces of a game-used bat once swung by the Sultan of Swat.


“Next month’s introduction will definitely catch people by surprise. This is the most important trading card innovation since Upper Deck introduced the cut signature card in 1998, so it will certainly be worth the wait,” added Masherah.



Other hobby firsts pioneered by Upper Deck have included “PowerDeck” in 1999, which was the world’s first digital trading card that could be viewed on a computer’s DVD player and contained video footage of the featured player, along with music, photos, player profiles and statistics; “Haircut-Signature” cards in 2008, which sported actual strands of hair and cut signatures from deceased historical figures including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson; and oversized “Entomology” cards in 2009, which contained actual insects/bugs that were showcased in their entirety inside beautifully designed shadowbox cards.



About Upper Deck



Upper Deck is the leading sports and entertainment trading card and collectibles company. For more information on Upper Deck and its products please visit www.upperdeck.com.



About The Collegiate Licensing Company



CLC is a division of global sports and entertainment company IMG. Founded in 1981, CLC is the oldest and largest collegiate licensing agency in the U.S. and currently represents nearly 200 colleges, universities, bowl games, athletic conferences, The Heisman Trophy and the NCAA. The mission of CLC is to be the guiding force in collegiate trademark licensing and one of the top sports licensing firms in the country. CLC is dedicated to being a center of excellence in providing licensing services of the highest quality to its member institutions, licensees, retailers and consumers. Headquartered in Atlanta (Ga.), CLC is a full-service licensing representative, which employs a staff of 80 licensing professionals who provide full-service capabilities in brand protection, brand management, and brand development. For more information on CLC, visit: www.clc.com or www.imgworld.com.