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It seems like a lot of people have heard the rumors that Percy Harvin is done with UD over a money situation or something similar. I wouldnt be so quick to jump on the bandwagon, as I have not seen any reason to believe that this rumor is true.
I contacted Upper Deck to get a comment on the situation, and they gave me a pretty staunch response that he will sign when they can catch up with him. They denied any money issues between them and any football players with outstanding stuff, and were confident that they would be able to redeem the cards soon.
Of course, this could be a line from the people who stand to lose out if Harvin is indeed feuding over money with them, but I still file this under pure speculation. It was a rumor started by a user on Blowout's forum, and yet people are taking it as gospel. Although Baseball and UDE are done over in Carlsbad, I would believe that the football side should not have many problems that would lead to a situation like this.
People have cited the cancellation of UD Draft Football as a sign of the Upper Deck apocalypse, but I think it was more of a positioning mechanism for the newly revamped Sweet Spot, and an issue of redundancy and low sales from last year. Plus, when the CLC license kicks in at the end of next month, its going to be tough for any other company to compete with a product like Sweet Spot while not infringing on copyrights.
Basically, my suggestion is simple. If you like Harvin and want to pick up some of his stuff, but are afraid of the rumors, then wait. Despite the fact that speculation doesnt usually turn into anything when it comes to players signing their shit, you can easily wait for the live cards to show up. However, if you do wait, expect a 20-30% premium on the live cards due to the popularity of Harvin and the popularity of SPA. If 100 bucks isnt that big of a deal to you, and you pulled the card or got it another way, there is not a reason yet to say that the rumors are even close to being true. Either way, you should get a nice replacement even if he doesnt sign.
Personally, I dont see much change coming in the way Upper Deck functions in football. They have made investments in the prosperity of this brand, and I think they will pay off. There will be hiccups like UD Draft, but Im not afraid at this point, regardless of speculation. They may have laid off much of their now defunct UDE brand, and baseball is probably next, but trimming the fat will be necessary when there is nothing going on in those arenas.
As for Harvin, dont let message board speculation get the best of you. However, as always, patience is a virtue if you can afford it.
Glad to see everything went ok!
ReplyDeleteOn a side note I'm really sick and tired of these morons on the Beckett boards and on the forums starting stuff just so they can get attention.
While rumors are just that, rumors, until they are confirmed, Upper Deck's history suggests that this rumor may be true, as they have been notorious for not paying up when they are supposed to. Remember their settlement with MLB? It included having to pay MLB money they owed them for licensing fees. There was also the battle DeWayne Buice had with them in court in 1990s to get paid after he helped them secure the MLBPA license after they wouldn't pay him. So yes, while it is a rumor, there is a better chance of it being true than if this were say Panini.
ReplyDeleteAs for your statement:
"Either way, you should get a nice replacement even if he doesnt sign."
There are a number of people on the card forums who would disagree with you vehemently.
Good to see that you are back on your feet, though it's not good to see that you are back to spreading Upper Deck's propoganda for them.
While I don't agree with Alex's views on UD as a whole, nor his snark against your (Gellman's) likes/dislikes for whatever card company... I do agree that UD doesn't always give out nice replacements. Exhibit A: Duke Snider auto redemption netted me a Rickie Weeks auto. Yeah.
ReplyDeleteI think in a situation where the offensive ROY doesn't sign in their premier product, it would warrant a different approach to fulfilling the requests.
ReplyDeleteI would imagine a seperate/special card would be made and sent out in its place.
I think that is the impression Gellman was leaving. Not one based on a random redemption here or there. Cause in those cases, as other companies do, they send an auto with the same Beckett value. As silly as that is.
But I am sure there are some people on some board that disagree with that as well. So why even bother.
I think they're running out of inventory, or at least that's the automated message I got when I tried to redeem a 2004 SPX baseball card last week. It was like "We're sorry, but we can no longer offer a replacement for that card due to our depleted inventory" or something along those lines.
ReplyDeleteI wrote UD a message on facebook. Here is there response:
ReplyDeleteUpper Deck commented on your wall post:
"These athletes have a lot on their plate. We work diligently to get them to sign, but with so many releases throughout the year and so many hard signed cards, it can be difficult for them to block off time to sign. We'll get it taken care of though, Percy's a good guy."
Well, sounds good to me?