The previous post is exactly what my boss signed. So it looks like she will be receiving sealed boxes, but will not be allowed to sell sealed boxes.


I'm curious to see what this contest will be handled. Even with the tight reigns on UD sales, how will they know exactly who is pre-ordering the first 1000 boxes of Kree/Skrull War? Unless, the give-away is directly through UD.

May I pose the following questions

Are Upper Deck going to issue Promo cards?

If so how is it going to work under the parameters already outlined?

Will the promo cards given to UD dealers for distribution then have to be accompanied by a receipt in case the person they are given to wants to ask UD Customer services a question?

quote:

Originally posted by JOHN LEVITT:
May I pose the following questions

Are Upper Deck going to issue Promo cards?

If so how is it going to work under the parameters already outlined?

Will the promo cards given to UD dealers for distribution then have to be accompanied by a receipt in case the person they are given to wants to ask UD Customer services a question?

At this time there are only promo cards for the Kree/Skrull series.

An inbound uncut 9 card sheet in this months Previews.

And a 10 card promo pack at this weekends Wizard World.

quote:

Originally posted by Nicnac:

quote:

Originally posted by Scifi Cards:
"Breaking" Dealers can buy wholesale from the Upper Deck Authorized Distributor. However, these boxes will have the shrink wrap removed...

This is awesome. I am waiting for the first report from someone who orders 12 cases to break, and finds the authorized dealer has switched out all the hot packs...

This whole deal smacks of a new insane lawyer having recently being hired by UD and thinking to 'improve' their business model.

Or a "breaking" dealer who claims the distributor replaced all the hot packs but actually pulled them himself. The reason for sealed product is to prevent fraud. This policy is just asking for trouble.

quote:

Originally posted by Chrisahend:

quote:

Originally posted by Nicnac:

quote:

Originally posted by Scifi Cards:
"Breaking" Dealers can buy wholesale from the Upper Deck Authorized Distributor. However, these boxes will have the shrink wrap removed...

This is awesome. I am waiting for the first report from someone who orders 12 cases to break, and finds the authorized dealer has switched out all the hot packs...

This whole deal smacks of a new insane lawyer having recently being hired by UD and thinking to 'improve' their business model.

Or a "breaking" dealer who claims the distributor replaced all the hot packs but actually pulled them himself. The reason for sealed product is to prevent fraud. This policy is just asking for trouble.

Awesome. I love it.

Let's start a betting pool on how long it takes for this new policy to be redacted and a lawyer finding a new job.

quote:

Originally posted by Tattoox:
7. You may not take any action which diminishes the value or reputation of Upper Deck or the Upper Deck Products. If you have an issue pertaining to Upper Deck or its products, please contact us directly.

Don't get me wrong, this whole thing sucks... but nothing gets my blood boiling more than some "law" that says you can't be critical about the people forcing you into said agreement.

quote:

Originally posted by Tattoox:
7. You may not take any action which diminishes the value or reputation of Upper Deck or the Upper Deck Products. If you have an issue pertaining to Upper Deck or its products, please contact us directly.

UD shouldn't worry about their distributors and retailers. The company is doing this quite nicely on its own. I'd like to know how it's notifying collectors about all of the new rules and regulations. There will be a lot of complaints from people who bought boxes just as they always do, but won't get any help from UD unless they have a receipt and bought from an authorized dealer. It doesn't make sense to punish the end user.

This really looks like a ploy to distract from the fact that they were caught out with the Yu-Gi-Oh farce and are trying to make everyone else look like the bad guys. Who, in this age of recession, would restrict people from buying their products?

I saw on another site yesterday that people where speculating a cheap set, since there's basically no incentive cards, unless the sketches are going to be one or more per box.

Well, I just found a pre-sell price. Hopefully this is a high retail price.


Was: $71.76
Your Price: $57.40

quote:

Originally posted by kbmum:
It doesn't make sense to punish the end user.

Actually although it doesn't make sense, in this day and age, it's quite common. Whether it be Sony locking out users from PSN AFTER the data is already stolen and then hiding that their info is 'out there'. Or, Microsoft selling machines with a failure rate approaching 35% for over a year...
We, as customers continue to take more of the burden of poor business practice and we 'enjoy it.'

quote:

Originally posted by Nicnac:

quote:

Originally posted by kbmum:
It doesn't make sense to punish the end user.

Actually although it doesn't make sense, in this day and age, it's quite common. Whether it be Sony locking out users from PSN AFTER the data is already stolen and then hiding that their info is 'out there'. Or, Microsoft selling machines with a failure rate approaching 35% for over a year...
We, as customers continue to take more of the burden of poor business practice and we 'enjoy it.'

I agree with what you're saying in general but there's a clear difference between the two situations, the companies you describe were reacting to mistakes they made while for UD this is a long term policy they're implementing. Sony is still dealing with the fallout but Microsoft at least had the good sense to offer fairly generous warranty support which has cost them millions and they did fix the problem 2 or so years ago.

In the card world I'd have to put this up there as the biggest stupid decision I've seen in a while, the last one was also from the same company so hey at least we can't complain they're not consistent!

As a consequence even though I'm a huge fan of DC/Marvel cards I'm going to be spending the absolute minimum I can on their products. Hopefully I can do this through dealers who aren't diamond whatever status nonsense.

Just when I thought we'd heard everything...

Upper Deck goes to court to prove their distribution policy is legal...

Upper Deck Goes to Court

Had to link the article as it's copyrighted by the site.

I think the policy is dumb, but I really believe any company can sell or not sell to anyone they want. But now a court will decide I guess...

Ed

Here's a lawyer's look at UD's move: http://www.cardboardconnection...-distribution-policy

Now if I understand the contents of the previous two posts correctly (especially the content in the links) does it mean that if I buy from an official UD seller two boxes of cards and then decide to sell one on the internet then that official UD seller could end up having its authority to sell UD products revoked by UD itself. If so then that is crazy as surely if I have purchased a product I can then do what I like with it.

I remain convinced that UD hired a new attorney last year who had some 'smart' ideas on how to grow the business. And we are now seeing the results.

In short, their ideas are not improving product, or picking up new product. It's messing with the supply chain and suing anyone who doesn't fall in line. I just hope they don't take website vendors down in the effort.

Makes me want to buy a couple of boxes each from all their "authorised" dealers and then sell them all on Ebay.Hopefully some dimwit at the company will then ban them all from buying future releases and Upper Deck will have nobody to sell to.

On the other hand it's probably less work to just never buy anything they produce again.Not very hard to do considering the quality of there last few non sport attempts.

quote:

Originally posted by Triple-Frog:
On the other hand it's probably less work to just never buy anything they produce again.Not very hard to do considering the quality of there last few non sport attempts.

Aside from a couple of autos in Thor, anything from that release and Captain America is just waiting to be dumped on the market in upcoming months/years.

quote:

Originally posted by Nicnac:
Aside from a couple of autos in Thor, anything from that release and Captain America is just waiting to be dumped on the market in upcoming months/years.

If that is a fair prediction, and I pretty much think that is, it kind of destroys the idea put forth by some that Marvel will sell no matter what goes into the cards.

Ironman 2 and Thor were released before the new distribution system, Captain America is one of the first to be in it. All 3 share the same basic model consisting of loads of costume cards, a few sketches, and very long odds on autographs. Captain America is even skimping on the costume cards by providing manufactured patches as substitutes for actual memoriabilia and has no major actors as autographs.

Forget about the inequities of the distribution system, if this is the UD set composition it will not sell well with collectors. There are other hobby boxes out there that give better value for the money.

Now retail sales at big name chain stores might move better for Captain America, but Thor and Ironman 2 are old news, so if people are right that product is ready to be dumped that means the retail end didn't hold up well either. That is just speculation of course with no hard data, but here's a fact.

UD can make a rigid distribution system work to its advantage as long as it has hot products that card collectors and the general public want badly. UD made its name in sports cards back in the early 90's doing something similar to this after all. But these last 3 Marvel sets don't come close to being hot. UD needs to improve its non-sport card products or it won't matter how they are distributed.

This then goes back to their terrible finances. It seems like they simply cannot afford to beef up these releases with full cast autos, clothing patches, and better odds.

I can't wait to buy dumped UD product!