according to other site panini joins the NHL License

Dr. Price I am terribly sorry. It just isnt fair. You will always have a fan in St Louis, licensed or not.

Panini.. welcome to the fickle world of hockey. I for one look forward to national treasures and some of the OLD Pacific retreads you will issue in the upcoming years!

UD.. if the rumours are true and you are going to lose football for non-payment of fees then you not only have one foot in the grave , both feet are touching dirt and the hole is filling fast! You will not be able to subsist on Hockey alone, Id bet my savings on it!

and if that happens then maybe the NHL/NHLPA will give our good friend Dr Price a fighting chance!
 
RGM81 said:
Official notice from the NHLPA: http://nhlpa.com/News/Media-Releases/Details.aspx?R=9C9EE781-E755-45FF-9957-DE863439DA2F

Score is to be the first Panini release. Also mentioned were Zenith and Crown Royale.
Click to expand...

Score? Zenith? Crown Royale? Excuse me, I feel the need to jam my finger down my throat.

If we're going to be subjected to this kind of foolishness for the next 5 years, then I've already bought my last card, piece of memorabilia, event ticket, merchandise, etc.

I watched a CNBC special the other night about the corporate history of Coca-Cola... the part that stood out for me was the release of New Coke. It was on the market exactly 3 months before enough people revolted and Coke was forced to re-introduce the old Coca-Cola, as Coke Classic.

Here we have a hobby industry revolting against an exclusive agreement with one manufacturer, and masses of people writing letters on ITG's behalf, and they enter into an agreement with PANINI? :|

Whatever happened to giving the people what they want? :|

The message from the NHLPA, in my mind, is VERY clear:

We're not listening.

My message back will be equally clear:

I'm not supporting you anymore.

/end rant
 
Since 2005, through its exclusive partnership with the NHLPA and the NHL, Upper Deck has taken the category and Upper Deck’s hockey brands to unimaginable levels.
Click to expand...

Well that this quote is semi-true. Unimaginable levels of redemptions, broken promises, and collector alienation.

I think this decision reflects poorly on the NHL and NHLPA. It seems they do not value their own brand, as a licensee's conduct reflects on the licensor. I can't for the life of me understand why they would want to associate themselves with an admitted counterfiter, yet distance themselves from the strong reputation that ITG holds within the collecting community.
 
bprice said:
For the public record.

We were never offered a license, so it was not a matter of not offering enough money.

We made our presentations and got NO follow up.

You decide if their intentions were honorable.

Brian Price
Click to expand...

Dr Price, i was rooting for you the whole way and am very very very disappointed to see this happen. I think its injustice to not give you guys a shot as your cards are hands down outstanding and majority will agree. Don't worry, its only a matter of time :)
 
Well, hopefully everyone enjoys sticker autos and manufactured crap in a dozen or more releases like just like Artifacts. Time to rethink the position within the hockey hobby.

Darren
 
This is disappointing news to all collectors. It doesnt change my buying habits however. Im buying ITG product, license or not.
 
Don't count UD to be standing on firm ground here very long, if the word about the NFL licensing is true.

I think it's on the Sportscard Uncensored blog, but UD has lost their NFL licenses due to unpaid fees.
 
Phaneufarama said:
Im buying ITG product, license or not.
Click to expand...

Hey, if they keep putting the attention to detail they always have towards products like BTP, H&P, UM, and Superlative then license or not I'll be buying ITG product too. Really, the NHL and NHLPA should be capitalizing on such quality stuff.

Best of luck to both UD and Panini with their new arrangements. It's the NHL & NHLPA that I'm not pleased with.
 
FrankToronto said:
when Dave McCarthy states “Having considered the input from all stakeholders", did our cries really get to him and Adam Larry or is this just lip service?
Click to expand...

Complete and utter lip service. I have sent several emails & letters to them discussing our displeasure with the exclusive (which potentially they heard) but also the collectors' views on ITG and Topps as well.

The poll we conducted last month was also included in those letters... the poll that showed that only 1.23% of collectors wanted a joint UD/Panini license. That poll that showed that a three-license grouping of UD/ITG & either Topps or Panini would appeal to 45.77% of collectors. That poll that showed almost 87% of voters wanted ITG involved in some way.

Idiots.

It all comes down to $$. They asked NO ONE about how the collectors feel. They didn't call hobby shops, they didn't call collectors. They relied upon information provided by UD & Panini. That's it. I'm sickened by this.

Brian... as I told you yesterday, last year 85% of my hobby money went to ITG and 15% to Rittenhouse. That will remain the case into the future.

And I like the idea of a Coke-style revolt...
 
Honestly as long as there is a new act in town I am somewhat happy. I will be buying Lucic cards from whoever wants to release them.

On a side not is there anyone that Panini can't release in their sets? If Crosby is signed with UD then can Panini even produce base cards of his?? I hope this is not the case.
 
Just goes to show at the end big money matters more. I continue to look forward to what UD/Donruss have to offer, but ITG not getting a shot at it is really disheartening.
 
Just because I have WAY too much time on my hands this week....

[conspiracy theory]

McWilliam (or appointed minion) waltzes into presentation to NHLPA and says "if you guys are even CONSIDERING offering ITG a licence, we pull out. NOW."

[/conspiracy theory]
 
bprice said:
For the public record.

We were never offered a license, so it was not a matter of not offering enough money.

We made our presentations and got NO follow up.

You decide if their intentions were honorable.

Brian Price
Click to expand...

Brian,

With all due respect, the PA is an organization where its members are, by omission, encouraging each other to take each others heads off to the point where they'll all be eating through straws by the time they're senior citizens.

The word "honor" and the NHLPA do not belong in the same sentence. Which unfortuantely means that today's result was an inevitable conclusion.
 
vegaspuck said:
[conspiracy theory]

Maybe the NHL or NHLPA just doesn't want to give Brian a license. Knowing he's been in production during the entire exclusive and making money off of NHL players past and present by using loopholes and paying individual players and not the union and not having to pay anything for any league licensing. While collectors find it a creative workaround, maybe the PA and League saw it as an attack at their exclusive agreement with their partner and hoped no one would try to compete with it. Maybe now they're getting back at ITG by not granting them a shot. Unless bridges were burned along the way, I really don't see why they shouldn't give ITG a shot at some sets.

[/conspiracy theory]

The exclusive is dead. We should all be happy. I think ITG should start chatting with Panini while they're in the spending mood. Probably the only real way we'll see NHL licensed cards in sets like BTP and Ultimate. Perhaps let Brian lead their ITG subdivision so they can see how much better the ITG branded items sell better than the Panini developed cards. They've already absorbed Playoff, Pinnacle, Pacific, and Donruss....ITG is definitely worth the buy.
Click to expand...

Dr Price has already brought this point up in another thread, but I dont know how serious he was talking, but it does seem like a good idea.
 
The two questions not answered by the press release that are of greatest concern to me...

1) How many products will each company be allowed to release? Upper Deck has been somewhere around 20 products for the past few seasons. If the NHL/NHLPA want to watch the market collapse under its own weight, they'll let both companies do the same and watch us end up with 40. A smart licensing agreement might limit things to, say, 12 products per company. I have little faith that is actually the case.

2) What is the length of the contract for new licenses? The speculation that Upper Deck's already about 3-feet-under won't get a single tear out of me, but does beg the question of how long the NHL/NHLPA have agreed to associate with them. If it's another 5-year deal, I'd certainly be rather upset if Upper Deck disappears and leaves Panini with an exclusive for the remainder of the contract.
 

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