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Below is the press release that Panini sent out highlighting the 2010 Certified Hockey Product, and #1 pick Taylor Hall’s accomplishments.

The quick timeline of the most meaningful accomplishments in the young NHL career of Taylor Hall goes a little something like this:

· In June’s 2010 NHL Entry Draft, the Edmonton Oilers made the 18-year-old wunderkind the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft
· Last Thursday, the supremely talented LW made his NHL debut against his hometown Calgary Flames in a 4-0 victory that also include the rookie debuts of Hall teammates Jordan Eberle and Magnus Paajarvi.
· Next Wednesday, Hall’s history-making first NHL Rookie Card will be included in the highly-anticipated release of 2010-11 Certified Hockey.

Hall is one six future superstars – along with Tyler Seguin, Brayden Schenn, Jeff Skinner and Oilers teammates Eberle and Paajarvi – who made their NHL debuts in early October and, as a result, will appear on their first Rookie Cards with the launch of Certified Hockey next week.

“There was a lot of anxiety among the collecting community when we announced that we were moving the Certified release date,” says Al Muir, Panini America’s Hockey Brand Manager. “But it was a calculated decision we felt was worth the risk. Not only did the benefit of extra time allow us to get additional top-flight autograph content into the product, it afforded us the opportunity to produce the first Rookie Cards of the NHL’s next wave of superstars.”

Panini America is putting its best possible skated-foot forward with its celebrated return to hockey. Certified, which began packing out today, will deliver four autograph or memorabilia cards per 10-pack box (including at least one autograph guaranteed).

The product also includes on-card autographs of timeless hockey legends such as Bobby Hull, Darryl Sittler, Bernie Parent, Mario Lemieux, Ray Bourque and Jim Craig.

Upper Deck Rare Champ’s Hockey Fossil Cards Have Begun Shipping

Revolutionary new insert set makes its way to eager collectors

North Las Vegas, NV (April 28, 2009) – When Upper Deck announced it would be producing trading cards with rare fossils from prehistoric creatures inside its 2008-09 Champ’s Hockey release, collectors were excited about the secondary-market potential of these cards. Upper Deck shared some of the finished cards last week at the industry’s annual trade show in Tampa, Florida and veterans of the hobby were blown away. “Beautiful” was all that many in attendance could muster as they carefully examined the cards.

The cards are extremely thick, roughly ten times the thickness of a normal card so it was necessary to make them available as “exchange” cards so they could not be detected and cherry-picked in packs. Lucky collectors who found and registered the exchange cards with Upper Deck, are now starting to receive their cards.

“There has never been anything like these cards before, especially the cards with the teeth,” said Josh Zusman, Upper Deck’s hockey brand manager. “The cards are very thick and it is almost as if the specimen is showcased in a miniature shadowbox. Everyone who has seen the cards has been enamored by the clean, classy presentation and the uniqueness of the fossils. It’s exciting for Upper Deck to be able to bring something so innovative to the industry.”

Collectors can find packs of 2008-09 Champ’s Hockey in stores now.

Upper Deck Gives Back at the Toronto Sport Card & Memorabilia Expo

NHL’s Sole Trading Card Licensee Unveils Impressive ‘Priority Signings’ Checklist

Las Vegas, NV (April 22, 2009) – Once again, the Upper Deck Company and hobby retailers in the U.S. and Canada have enjoyed a successful season of hockey card sales and now it’s time to give something back to those collectors at the upcoming NHL Spring Expo in Toronto (May 1 through May 3). The NHL Spring Expo extravaganza at the Toronto International Centre attracts thousands of rabid hockey collectors from all across North America, as well as Europe and Asia. And Upper Deck is making sure to thank collectors for another great year of sales.

The most exciting portion of Upper Deck’s involvement this year is the semi-annual wrapper redemption program where collectors who open one box of either 2008-09 Ice, 2008-09 SPx or 2008-09 SP Game-Used Hockey at the Upper Deck booth will receive a random NHL “Priority Signings” autograph card. Upper Deck has pulled out some of the biggest names in hockey to help make this one of the most exciting sets in show history. Each card is sequentially numbered and limited to varied amounts. This promotion is limited to one card per person per day and will only be available while supplies last.

Redemption hours at the Upper Deck booth will be on Friday, May 1, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, May 2, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.; and on Sunday, May 3, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. A full checklist of the cards in this year’s set is listed below:

Card #
Player
Team City
Team Name

PS-AE
Andrew Ebbett
Anaheim
Ducks

PS-AO
Alexander Ovechkin
Washington
Capitals

PS-AT
Alex Tanguay
Montreal
Canadiens

PS-BO
Bobby Orr
Boston
Bruins

PS-DG
Doug Gilmour
Toronto
Maple Leafs

PS-EM
Evgeni Malkin
Pittsburgh
Penguins

PS-GH
Gordie Howe
Detroit
Red Wings

PS-HZ
Henrik Zetterberg
Detroit
Red Wings

PS-JC
Jeff Carter
Philadelphia
Flyers

PS-JE
Jonathan Ericsson
Detroit
Red Wings

PS-JI
Jarome Iginla
Calgary
Flames

PS-JT
Joe Thornton
San Jose
Sharks

PS-KT
Kyle Turris
Phoenix
Coyotes

PS-KV
Kris Versteeg
Chicago
Blackhawks

PS-MB
Martin Brodeur
New Jersey
Devils

PS-MD
Matt D’Agostini
Montreal
Canadiens

PS-MF
Marc-Andre Fleury
Pittsburgh
Penguins

PS-MP
Michael Peca
Columbus
Blue Jackets

PS-MR
Mason Raymond
Vancouver
Canucks

PS-OP
Ondrej Pavelec
Atlanta
Thrashers

PS-PE
Patrik Elias
New Jersey
Devils

PS-PK
Patrick Kane
Chicago
Blackhawks

PS-PR
Patrick Roy
Montreal
Canadiens

PS-RB
Rene Bourque
Calgary
Flames

PS-SC
Sidney Crosby
Pittsburgh
Penguins

PS-SM
Steve Mason
Columbus
Blue Jackets

PS-SS
Steven Stamkos
Tampa Bay
Lightning

PS-TG
Tom Gilbert
Edmonton
Oilers

PS-TV
Thomas Vanek
Buffalo
Sabres

PS-WG
Wayne Gretzky
Edmonton
Oilers

According to Upper Deck, Woods signed cards with brown-, purple-, blue- and black-ink backs. The cards were inserted as redemptions. This already was one of the highest anticipated cards in the product already and there being different variations will raise the demand even more.

North Las Vegas, NV (March 17, 2009) – This is the week that hobby shop owners across North America may want to think about reinforcing their shelves because Upper Deck’s 2008-09 Champ’s Hockey product is hitting with its wide array of rare fossils and artifact cards. The mammoth set is sure to create a fever-pitched frenzy amongst hockey card collectors as this product will take hockey enthusiasts back in time in more ways than one. Besides featuring unique cards boasting bones from creatures like the Woolly Mammoth and Woolly Rhinoceros, this unusual collection will transport people to a simpler time when pond hockey was the game people gathered to watch and keeping warm was priority number one.

“With its historical value and legacy, Champ’s Hockey is a terrific brand of hockey cards to collect,” explained Josh Zusman, Upper Deck’s Hockey brand manager. “And with this year’s launch being Upper Deck’s inaugural effort with the Champ’s brand, we’re very excited that we were able to include some extraordinary artifacts cards of pre-historic proportions. Now the chase is really on.”

Late last year, Upper Deck started to acquire rare dinosaur bones and teeth to its headquarters. Instantly there was a buzz in the air as many office personnel gathered to see the rare artifacts up close. An incredible assortment of bones and teeth from ancient dinosaurs, all to be cut down to size for inclusion right on top of Upper Deck’s 2008-09 Champs Hockey card fronts. Using special diamond cutters, the bones were carefully cut.

A woolly mammoth femur, Tyrannosaurus Rex tooth, Triceratops vertebrae, you name the ancient piece, Upper Deck officials sought them out. Some of the tooth cards collectors will find in 2008-09 Champ’s Hockey also include the Spinosaurus and the Pterosaur.

The 200-card regular set, with NHL rookies falling at a rate of 1:2 packs, is further supplemented by a 480-card mini-set within a set (2⅝” high by 1⅝” wide) that features an extensive Natural History Collection of endangered species. Some of those endangered species include the bald eagle; the great white shark; the California condor; the clouded leopard; the Chinese alligator; the black widow spider; even the King Cobra. In addition to the fossils and artifacts, Champs Hockey will also yield signatures from some of hockey’s greatest names from the past like Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky as well as current superstars like Martin Brodeur, Eric Staal, Jarome Iginla and Jonathan Toews.

Mini Hall of Legends sports memorabilia cards (1:240 packs) are also included and showcase actual tourney- or game-worn threads of hockey legends like Patrick Roy and Gordie Howe, as well as golfing great Tiger Woods!

“The 2008-09 Champ’s Hockey product is the perfect vessel by which to deliver something truly unique to the hobby,” added Zusman. “When we saw these incredible pieces coming in, everyone was in awe. The inclusion of these cards in this hockey release helps connect the Ice Age to the ice.”

Collectors can sink their teeth into 2008-09 Champ’s Hockey by visiting their local hobby shops this week. There are five cards per pack (three regular-sized cards and two minis), and 24 packs per box.

As you can see it was a big hit with the fans, and they got some amazing looking cards signed. I have always been a huge fan of the NFL Logo or MLB logo cards, but the NHL Shield cards are definitely some of the nicest looking cards I have ever seen.

Some amazing hockey cards from Upper Deck lately. We will have a report from them on the NHL All Star game and some amazing pictures of the Ultimate Logo Patch cards that were signed at the All Star game. I have got to get me a Bobby Orr on card auto!

It is the first ever 600 Home Run Club card, since he has been the face of Upper Deck since they first released back in 1989, they are releasing a 600 Home Run Club card of Ken Griffey Junior. So this should be a huge year for those rabid Griffey fans out there, there are 89 buyback rookies inscribed 20 years, plus we also had the exclusive announcement that Upper Deck will be inserting some buyback unsigned Ken Griffey Jr. rookies in to their 2009 set.

The final new piece of news coming out of our interview was about the 20th Anniversary set from Upper Deck. It will be a 2500 card set akin to the Yankee Stadium Legacy set last year. Listen to the podcast for all the details on this product!