I am a huge fan of inscriptions. I think they add something to a piece of memorabilia. That’s why I like to attend signings. Sometimes (not always) you have to pay a little bit more but it is totally worth it. My Stamkos piece that says “2008 #1 Draft Pick” or my Gustavsson piece that says “The Monster” are both really special to me because they are unique and separate from just an ordinary autograph so when I saw that Upper Deck was going to be adding “Ultimate Nickname” cards (numbered to 25) to the 2009-10 Ultimate Hockey release, I was pretty excited.
This is right down my alley. Short printed cards inscribed by hockey’s elite such as Steve Yzerman, Gordie Howe, Mark Messier. You can’t go wrong. The set previews sounded amazing. This is straight from Upper Deck’s marketing materials prior to the release.
“Another cool aspect of this year’s Ultimate Collection Hockey set is the inclusion of both the “Ultimate Nicknames” and “Ultimate Achievements” insert lineups (both numbered to 25) that feature unique scrawls like Mark “Moose” Messier, “Lucky” Luc Robitaille, “Saint Patrick” Roy and “Super Mario” Lemieux.”
These cards sound and look pretty incredible don’t they? Except for one problem. I have yet to see a card since it has been released with an actual Nickname. How can this be? I’m a marketing guy so I wonder how you can promote this as part of the release and then not deliver on it. This is a big screw up in my mind. Ultimate is not a cheap product and a lot of people often pre-order this stuff based on what the marketing materials say is going to be included.
Have a look at a bunch of cards I pulled off eBay. Do they look like they are missing something? Not a trace of Nickname to be found.
So how should Upper Deck had handled this when they started to see all the Nickname cards come back without Nicknames? I think they should have notified people on their Facebook page and offer replacement cards to those who feel a little duped.
What do you guys think would have been the best solution for this one?
