window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'UA-12381093-3'); A Cardboard Problem: What is Upper Deck doing?

April 17, 2010

What is Upper Deck doing?

At this point, I'm surprised Upper Deck is still a company. Perhaps it's just a building with one man behind the desk running the entire operation, but it's hard to believe with the layoffs, the lawsuits and all their financial problems that this company will exist for much longer.

The New York Times wrote an article on Friday stating the MLB Players' Union has urged its members to stop signing autograph cards for the company and not enter any new contracts because Upper Deck is way behind on its payments to the players.

So, if you have any redemptions you have been waiting for, stop waiting. They're probably not coming.

When does a company finally file for bankruptcy?

If Upper Deck does come back from all of this, will collectors still want to purchase their product?

With myself, with Upper Deck no longer having a baseball license, I am all but done with their company. I'm also just greatly disappointed they allowed this to happen. Upper Deck didn't suffer because of the bad economy and lost their business because no one was spending money.

They blatantly were involved illegal practices with counterfeiting the Konami cards and ignoring the fact they didn't have an MLB license. While I am sad to see competition leave the market place, I do not feel for Upper Deck.

6 comments:

  1. 100% agree with you. It makes me wonder how far behind they are on NHL and other payments.

    I hate to see them go, because they did do some great things for the hobby, but right now it's a train wreck. It's like they WANT to go out of business.

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  2. I'm worried about the NHL line, as UD's cards were far superior to Topps's.

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  3. Puttin off debts like that is not the way to go! If you have a redemption and it's not in stock to ship, get one that is in stock! If UD can ever get back into the baseball market, it will probably be a miracle! It's sad, because that is the professional league they started in!

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  4. What is UD doing? Probably digging their grave. Poorly run companies find their way out of business... eventually.

    What UD should do is file for bankrupcy reorg, fire Tricky Dick and other suits, hire a CEO, analyze what they did well in the industry up to about 5 years ago when things started becoming boring and uncreative, commence new discussions with sports leagues -- even if just the UFL to start -- to have a license to begin to start producing cards again, and produce cards in a way that makes economical sense and with creativeness so they can eventually become a major player in the industry again under a CEO who will run the company well.

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  5. It's extra weird seeing a company do up in flames in this era of social media-ness... Seeing them still posting on Twitter and stuff is kind of like hearing someone speak from beyond the grave.

    -Andy

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  6. That's exactly my mindset as well. I feel badly for people who collect high end products and only Upper Deck, but I had a love/hate relationship with Upper Deck that was mostly hate as of late. They still produced some great looking cards, but all Upper Deck releases were too expensive in my opinion. If I'm not going to buy boxes of it then it loses a lot of appeal to me. If I'm just going to buy singles after the fact they may as well be Broder cards from the 80s.

    What I really hope is that Topps is able to scoop up the people who do high end sets for Upper Deck to strengthen their brand and lessen the impact on the hobby. Collectors shouldn't have to suffer for Upper Deck's stupidity.

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