Upper Deck Basketball Products Update!!!

[Cisco69]

So over the weekend I had the privilage of attending Comic Con in San Diego. While their I grilled one of the main people at the Upper Deck booth regarding upcoming products. I spoke to a lead designer for sometime who was in charge of creating the new basketball sets. I promised to not release his name due to the info that was released.

First things first I asked about Retro. Retro will be coming out, and will be released in September. He also stated that they will contain Michael Jordan video cards (auto?) inserted (not sure of rarity) into the product.

Second is all time greats sports edition will be releasing roughly the same time as Retro (Dumb idea if you ask me). He apologized for having Hulk Hogan as he stated he was not for having him in the set.

So what are they working on right now? He finally let me know that they are working hard on exquisite, and...all time great basketball 2. He stated that those two products will be mindblowing, and the designs are amazing. He also stated basketball 2 will "contain players people haven't seen in a long time" He did name drop specifically Karl Malone. It will be a checklist like the years prior but with a MUCH stronger name of players.

Last but not least he wanted to apologize for the horrible product that is SP Signature baseball, he admitted it was a sticker dump, lol.
Also I asked what are the odds that they get any rights (NFL, MLB or NBA). He stated they are really/mainly pushing to get NBA back because Panini's contract is up soon. Though he admitted that it may be difficult due to the money that Painini has compared to them. All in all that is the most important of what was said. He did seem very enthusiastic when speaking about exquisite and all time greats basketball 2, so I'm looking forward to seeing Upper Deck get back in Basketball to destroy Panini.

[AlabamaSlamma]

great info, but sadly, i wont believe any of it until i see it.

[chrismiller81]

Sweet********

[oshmeehan]

Originally Posted by AlabamaSlamma

great info, but sadly, i wont believe any of it until i see it.

Well, someone did make a thread earlier today about this card. Alec Burks posted it on his twitter page apparently. So there actually are physical cards already printed and signed for Exquisite

[EMD34]

Originally Posted by oshmeehan

Well, someone did make a thread earlier today about this card. Alec Burks posted it on his twitter page apparently. So there actually are physical cards already printed and signed for Exquisite

Burks kindof f'd up the card by signing so small though

[AlabamaSlamma]

if thats really the new exquisite...the design is amazing.

[Kodiak10]

Thank you for sharing.

[XARZY]

I agree alec f'd with the small auto, i dont like the numbering being so close to the text tho. but I guess it wouldnt matter as much if alec signed real big.

if they include Patrick Ewing I dunno what Ill do...

[Cocheese45]

I wonder if there'll be any game used patches in Exquisite since they can't use NBA items. Maybe they'll put NCAA patches...or maybe the product will only have autos and manufactured patches.

[NJNets24]

I don't think they look good at all. They look like a rehash of the 05-06 RC touched up a little bit. Also, that numbering is in a very, very werid place. It just looks off.

[MikeMamba]

ehhh........

[SportsItUpCards]

Originally Posted by NJNets24

I don't think they look good at all. They look like a rehash of the 05-06 RC touched up a little bit. Also, that numbering is in a very, very werid place. It just looks off.

I agree.

Also, it looks butt ugly to me.... hahaha

[bettydaw1970]

Originally Posted by MikeMamba

ehhh........

yea..college uni exquisite?
ud getting greedy..
people will buy it though..so why not.. they are in this thing to make money..

[MikeMamba]

Originally Posted by bettydaw1970

yea..college uni exquisite?
ud getting greedy..
people will buy it though..so why not.. they are in this thing to make money..

just dont understand the hype. It doesnt come out till 2014 and Retro keeps getting pushed back...
And yes college unis ruin it.

[dmogull]

Seems like an honest guy you spoke with. Hard to match the bid for an NBA license against a global conglomerate (well hobby conglomerate) like Panini. They gross close to $2bn a year! Unless Panini does not want the NBA license, there is almost no possibility they won't get.

[tristan20]

Panini makes more than the NBA? 2 BILLION a Year? LOL impossible!

[vc15jrich23]

so they get a lawsuit from players because they did not get paid for signing auto's now they are getting big name guys like Karl Malone? How can they not afford some no name person but they can afford the mailman?

[kobe824]

Originally Posted by tristan20

Panini makes more than the NBA? 2 BILLION a Year? LOL impossible!

He said Gross which is not what they actually make. Net would be what they actually profit.

[AMAballa801]

I know in Football Exquisite they used NFL memorabilia and just college pictures. I rather them take off the logos of NBA jerseys, at least you got the Team colors and a feel for NBA. Don't know if thy can or not!?

[Nsingerma11]

I would certainly prefer if they were NBA and not college...but they don't look bad...on card autos with a nice clean look? Best rookie cards I have seen so far this year as far as design.

[Knicker_Please]

they do look pretty good based on that one card...can't be any worse than SPA...which IMO was the worst basketball product ive ever seen. i liked all time greats a lot tho, so hopefully exquisite will be good. college uniforms aren't ideal but if the cards are nice enough and of good enough players its ok...

[Cisco69]

Originally Posted by dmogull

Seems like an honest guy you spoke with. Hard to match the bid for an NBA license against a global conglomerate (well hobby conglomerate) like Panini. They gross close to $2bn a year! Unless Panini does not want the NBA license, there is almost no possibility they won't get.

Yeah he was, and I was think the same thing about them getting the license back. Well as collectors we can only hope.

[Cisco69]

Originally Posted by Nsingerma11

I would certainly prefer if they were NBA and not college...but they don't look bad...on card autos with a nice clean look? Best rookie cards I have seen so far this year as far as design.

Agree 100% with this. Where are Panini rookie cards at? Nowhere to be found, but upper deck will have be the standard when it comes to resell as well as quality of design.

[77ncaachamps]

This: Also I asked what are the odds that they get any rights (NFL, MLB or NBA). He stated they are really/mainly pushing to get NBA back because Panini's contract is up soon. Though he admitted that it may be difficult due to the money that Painini has compared to them.

Means no more UD.

Thank God.

At least they crop the pics and use college unis instead of airbrushing the pictures.

[byronscott4ever]

Originally Posted by Cisco69

Agree 100% with this. Where are Panini rookie cards at? Nowhere to be found, but upper deck will have be the standard when it comes to resell as well as quality of design.

UD had one good year with a rookie product because they own the exclusive on NCAA cards and could put out a basketball product. Panini probably decided that if they couldn't get NBA jerseys on their rookies, they'd wait. It appears that Panini will have several products out before UD gets anything out. As for these future products, it sounds like a lot of what they've done already. To echo earlier posts, I'll believe it when I see it on new players, sets, etc., and that's a blanket statement towards all manufacturers.