Upper Deck will have wrapper redemption at the National

Posted Jun 28, 2012 by Bob D'Angelo

Updated Jun 28, 2012 at 08:55 PM

People who are fortunate to attend the National Sports Collectors Convention in Baltimore (Aug. 1-5) are certainly rewarded for their enthusiasm. In addition to browsing booths for card deals and buying tickets to procure autographs from an eclectic mix of athletes, collectors also can take advantage of promotions sponsored by sports card companies.

Topps already has unveiled its promotional cards, and Panini America and In The Game are expected to follow suit. On Thursday, Upper Deck jumped into the fray with a wrapper redemption program.

Collectors who buy five hobby packs of selected Upper Deck products from a Certified Diamond Dealer (they will have that designation at their booths) will receive a special voucher. When collectors bring the voucher and the packs to Upper Deck’s booth at the National, they will receive one promotional pack of cards created especially for the event.

Here are the products to buy: 2011-12 NHL SP Game-Used, 2012 UD Football, 2011-12 NHL SPX, 2011 College Football Legends, 2012 SPX Football, 2012 SP Signature Edition Baseball, 2011-12 NHL Authentic and 2012 UD Soccer.

There will be a different five-card set available each day. Collectors are limited to claim five redemption packs, per person, per day.

Here is the breakdown of cards:

Aug. 2 — Michael Jordan, Thierry Henry, Alonzo Mourning, Roger Staubach, Cody Buckel.

Aug. 3 — Wayne Gretzky, Robert Griffin III, David Robertson, Don Mattingly, Dwayne DeRosario.

Aug. 4 — Tiger Woods, John Kruk, Sidney Crosby, Landon Donovan, Trent Richardson.

Aug. 5 — LeBron James, Bobby Orr, Jack Morris, Brodie Merrill, Alex Ovechkin.

Some collectors will find randomly inserted, limited edition autograph cards.

Conventions like the National are events where sports card companies make it a point to be visible. So it makes sense for Upper Deck (and Topps, Panini and In The Game) to come up with something special for collectors. It looks like the National in Baltimore will have much more drama and excitement than that other big convention scheduled for late August in Tampa.

On the other hand, if the Republicans come up with promotional card packs with inserted autographs of Mitt Romney and others, well, that might be enticing enough to attend that Tampa event.