THATS IT!! UD stuck a FORK in ME!!

[mofo88]

Hey guys I opened a case of Ice tonight and THAT'S IT!! I'm done!! No more i'm so choked.

This year i've opened in cases!!:

3 cases of UD 1
1 case Black Diamond
1 case of SPX (I was short 5 autos in 5 boxes!!)
1 Fleer Ultra BRUTAL!
5-6 SP GAME USED
2 UD 2
1/2 Beehive
3/4 Trilogy
2 SPA

Some of these cases were just brutal, missing autos in the SPX, tons of damaged cards in BD, Ultra, UD 2, and many missing cases hits!!

So tonight I open my Ice case and what did I have so much to complain about?

Well no case hit Signature Swatch, no patches, no rc's #/99. I mean one of the boxes had 4 Cam Barkers #/1999, yes four in one box!!

Cmon UD QUALITY CONTROL!!

So that's it I am DONE, forget about Rookie update, I am doing ITG Ultimate and maybe one of THE CUP, everything will be sold over now til the end of the year. I HAVE TONS AND TONS of stuff, it's all going on ebay and I AM DONE!! This isn't any fun anymore and it's too exspensive and its more frustrating more than anything. I am gonna finish my SPA patch set and that'll be all!!

Sorry for making you guys listen to my whining but that's the last straw!! I was doing real well too I had opened 7 boxes previously and I should hav estopped, over 7 boxes from different places I get 4 patches, a Brule #/99 and a Sig swatch. I was expecting not to do as well with the case but this is ridiculous!!

 

[Nick2317]

sounds like me my one box of UD2 had 4 young guns in it thats it ...no gu no nothin

 

[sens555]

Ouch, rough break.

Just a question though... If your other breaks ****ed too, why do you keep opening more stuff?

 

[staal_12]

email upperdeck and see if they'll help you

 

[crankshaft]

I can understand your frustration as my one case of SPx that I opened was like that too and my one case of Upper Deck Series 2... no case cards in either one of them and it really ticked me off. I DID email Upper Deck after the SPx case and they were nice enough to send me a free box of SPx and a Flashback Fabrics card that I should have got out of a case. It was nice, but it still ****ed...

I know what you are going through... you have the stuff there and it wasn't selling and you thought, well, why not open it up and get some good stuff and move that stuff and get some money back out of it and WHAMMO, you get slapped in the face for just trying to recoup some of your money you invested...

I have had some regress like that too and have honestly thought about giving up on opening up products this year too, because its definitely a feast or famine year with Upper Deck being the only show in town... and its just really bad for the hobby...

Rod

 

[mofo88]

That's exaclty it Rod you know exactly what I am talking about, This hooby used to be fun I remember the 03-04 year it was great loaded with good products with good odds. Now with UD with a monopoly they think the y can jus tstick it to us. It's not just one or two products either it's been like that all year and not just me numerous others too. When I had that happen with my SPX I called and talked to Chris Carlin basically he told me no stated odds no guarantees blah blah blah and to send in the box tops and possibly get comped a few packs, whoppdeedoo!! I never even bothered to send the tops in not worth the hassle. I am gonna call them again thi sweek and see what they say about this case of ICE, does anyone know if there is anybody to talk to than Chris Carlin he's done nothng for me ever! I hear the stories people getting free boxes and nice high end replacement stuff but nada for me, I have invested about $30,000 this year into this hobby and it's gonna end. It's just not fun anymore, like I said I like the SPA patch set and I will finish that an dI like to crack a box of ITG ultimate and possibly the Cup looks interesting but after that no more! Next year if I keep my wholesale account for wax I will be selling it all. This is a very sad state the hobby is in right now all thanks to the attitude of UD being the only game in town.

On another side note I hope everyone uses this board more often Beckett boards have gotten so strict it;s unreal, no more posting links, no more selling or even a hint at buying or listing what you want to buy anymore. I know the Sell/buy area and dealers paying all the corporate BS but really it's like a nazi interment camp over there you can't even whisper the words ebay on there anymore let alone HI, and with Clint leaving that leaves us with Al and you all have your own ideas about him. Anyhow sigh I am done ranting again maybe something good will happen and I will get back into but for now it's gonna all go on the bay slowly but surely, if you guys get a chance gander on over and check out my ebay store site I will be listing everything from 25 cent cards to my high end. Thanks for listening guys!

 

[bunny89]

Sigh...this is sad to see. Not to beat a dead horse, but I came to the same conclusion about my hobby habbits (say that 5 times fast!) this weekend. I took a good look at the junque I got from the 05-06 products and felt like I had wasted alot of good money. Not "case" money, but "several boxes" money; either way it still hurts when you don't get squat out of a box - especially at the inflated rates that this year's products are getting.

While I understand that box breaking is a risk, it didn't seem to be this accute in years gone by. I'm not sure what changed - the company producing stuff, my own perceptions of value, or what - but it isn't fun to do this anymore. I'm not going to abandon the hobby, but I certainly am going to redirect my focus on the stuff that I do enjoy and consider banishing the other stuff to Ebay. Having actively been in this hobby - and enjoying it each day - since 1991, this revelation made me kind of sad...and seeing other dedicated collectors come to a similar resolution doesn't speak real well about what the hobby has become in 05-06. I don't wish to paint with too broad of a brush, but it does seem that the general perception of or little group of collectors is different from even a year ago. Sigh...

Good luck with trying to get some kind of compensation for what truly sounds like a dreadful case break.

 

[MIKEYSLEAFS]

hey mofo i hear ya,i am there also,i know a store owner that just finished his 5th case and no rookie out of /99,and rookies numbered to 2999 in a 80-90.00 box is just crap,i don't care if there is 10 rookies a box if they are out of 2999 it is crap,i opened a case of ud2 and every pack had 3 cards that were cut so you could see 2 cards on it,upperdecks answer was send them back 40 a time,thats 864 cards they wanted me to send back 40 a time,they are insane,and the minute another company can produce cards upperdeck can kiss my a_s,sorry to rant on your thread but i am with you,we are in the same boat as i too have opened 25 cases of _h_t this year.upperdecks response oh well odds over the run,i have yet too see people raving so who is getting the odds,upperdeck being the b_s_ards they are they are bandits getting the odds as they are not in the boxes.sorry done ranting

 

[mofo88]

Yes Bunny it is a very sad sight to see the way things have been this year, UD has just taken us for a ride. I feel the exact same way you did about the past years it used to be fun, I remember near the end of 03-04 Parkhurst rookies, rookie update, premier all quality stuff with quality pulls. I miss things like Bowman Draft picks, and Parkhurst rookies, and not just sittig back waiting for one good product only to be disappointed.

Mikey no problem on infringing on my rant I applaud and appreciate the rants from others too to see where we all stand, I just hope this gets back to Upper Deck somehow.

Thanks!

 

[Khabby]

Yes Bunny it is a very sad sight to see the way things have been this year, UD has just taken us for a ride. I feel the exact same way you did about the past years it used to be fun, I remember near the end of 03-04 Parkhurst rookies, rookie update, premier all quality stuff with quality pulls. I miss things like Bowman Draft picks, and Parkhurst rookies, and not just sittig back waiting for one good product only to be disappointed.

Mikey no problem on infringing on my rant I applaud and appreciate the rants from others too to see where we all stand, I just hope this gets back to Upper Deck somehow.

Thanks!

The only way Upper Dreck would respond, was if they were on the NASTY END OF A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT!!!

 

[Meth68]

Funny part is if someone had the nuts to start one i bet a class action could be filed based on quality control. stated odds are just that odds so they can avoid any issues there (notice no more odds per pack anymore?) but selling damaged goods = a no no. get a case of ultra and start cracking i bet 10%+ of the cards are either damaged or cut incorrectly. same goes with the usual suspects, black diamond, ud2, victory update..

 

[crankshaft]

I emailed Chris Carlin when I complained about the SPx because I was sooo mad that I couldn't handle being put on hold, I had to just email him... he responded and told me to send the box tops in like he told you and he said they would send me something but it probably wouldn't be what I was hoping for... well, I decided to do it anyways, to at least get SOMETHING. I was actually surprised when they sent me a full box and a Flashback Fabrics card in the mail. I also had about 5 boxes where I got no rookie auto/jersey in the box....

The way everything has gone this year you are doomed if you have pre-ordered wax it seems. If you bought it directly then you would think you got it at a good price, but it's just not like that this year with the amount they have produced. You have to have your stuff sold in a matter of a week or less otherwise you start losing money on it already and then have to sell the boxes cheaper than what you bought them for... OR ... You do what we have been doing... well, I'm not gonna sell the boxes cheaper than what I paid for them, I'll just open them and hopefully hit something big to recoup the money..... then - WHAMMO - the situation just got worse, because you didn't hit any big cards at all...

Its a sad state this hobby is in and Upper Deck better be very careful because the hobby is losing big time collectors on a daily basis it seems... I think I am just gonna let everyone else open up the stuff from now on and just buy what I want, or buy the boxes about a month after it comes out for half the original price!! Pretty sad, but it just seems to be the way this year... The first couple products were pretty good (Black Diamond for instance) but not any of this other crap they are putting out!! Nice stuff, just too much of it...

Rod

 

[chakhae1]

****. all those cases and nadda of nothing. the one word of advice that i can say to people that plan on buying cases is to wait until prices go down. just look at how far SPA has sunk.

the bottom line is that UD is just acting like a business. if a product sells, then they will continue to jack up the price and so will dealers. if not, such as with SPA, prices will continue to fall.

in an ideal world, if UD wasn't the only game in town and they had some competition then they wouldn't be able to pull the crap they have. but the bottom line is people will continue to buy their product no matter how crappy certain breaks are and how high prices are.

i am starting to get frustrated though and, i have resorted (finally) to focus on specific needs and not bust anymore wax. it just isn't worth it. it took 5 blah boxes of SPA for me to notice this, but better late than never i suppose.

 

[Gretzkycards]

I came to the same conclusion about UD wax at the Spring Expo. Rarely do I see a solid, entertaining break that a collector could have fun opening, while also having some sort of value attached to a good portion of the cards. It has come down to you either need to pull the dozen "money cards" or end up with 10-15% of the box price (if you're lucky).

I also began comparing In the Game's booth vs. Upper Deck's booth at the Expo. Obviously, UD apparantly does not feel that hockey collectors are important enough to show up at the biggest hockey show twice a year, and when they at the Expo, the difference between the two are like night and day. I know a few of the members here have had problems at In the Game's booth, and I am in no way saying they are 100% perfect but I am speaking in an overall, general sense. At the ITG booth, the collector opens each pack and is able to view and examine all of his/her cards. If the collector has been at the booth on previous occasions, there is a good chance that the people working the booth can and will have a legitimite conversation regarding how your collection. Overall, they are very collector-friendly, and encourage collectors to come back as they are felt welcomed.

As for the UD booth, for those that remember, rush you through the line. There is hardly any time management, and one can get the feeling that they just wanted to get you out of the way. I understand that the line was long, but measures could have been taken to manage the lines. However, collectors were not permitted to even look at or enjoy the cards that they pulled from the boxes. Rather, UD agents "helped" collectors who weren't opening their packs fast enough open them so they could get you out of their booth. On a personal level, I pulled a Crosby YG, and did not know that I had the card until later that night. Overall here, there was very little collector contact and appreciation on their part.

I have, as a result, stopped buying UD boxes from all years. I still buy Gretzky cards, but I am now very specific in what I pay for them. I have seen drastic price drops in his cards, due to the overwhelming amount of cards that he has out. Of course, that's just my two cents, and getting to the original topic, I am sorry to see you go as I have enjoyed seeing your case breaks (although when there is something legitimitely good in the case, it makes it even more enjoyable). It is a shame to see all of these excellent collectors dropping out or cutting back significantly. At least there are only four more years (at least) of this nonsense

 

[PenaltyMan]

If UD wants the Rush Rush factor, they could just open the UD shrink wrap and give you the card. Of course, I am someone who thinks, so naturally I cannot be listened to by UD

 

[MASTERP]

I know plenty of people have been going nuts on the potential of product and rookies to come out this year. I couldnt wait till stuff came out and then I didnt bother to open till SPX came out. I got my case at $95 a box and bought two more boxes. In all I got 20 auto/jersey rookies in 16 boxes and all were good except three and they were two colored common auto/jersey rookies. Other than that I have been buying H&P and have had more great boxes than bad. I wanted to see ITG Signature Series and Parkhurst Rookie again, but four more years wont cut it for me. I cant talk retirement, but Bowman makes some great products in baseball. Maybe a change of course is in my future till UD makes a quality brand again. Oh and ITG gets out of the five year fighting major for being a good card company. That would be a good tee shirt.

Upper Deck is like a 16 year old who is given a Porshe or Ford Festiva. They have one of the nicest gifts to use and they beat it up and run it into the ground and have no feelings in return. So what product will be a quality best bang for your buck this year is the question now ? To me SPX (early spx) has been the only one in my eyes and H&P.

I know alot of people are blowing out their credit cards or abnk accounts on this years product and not getting anything in return. Thats too bad. Maybe just spend the money on singles and such even though that pack rush feels soooo good when you get something nice. Or Upper Deck can insert medications or talk to your doctor about getting a medication for nausea and vomiting. Zofran,Phenergan,Ketorolac, and Zantac to name a few. This will help with that feeling after spending $130-$200 dollars on a box of cards or more and you get that upset stomach feeling and ask "why did I spend $30 on a pack of SP Game Used and i got a sweet $8 jersey". I thing we all know that feeling and it's happening more this year than others. H&P makes me feel like going out and getting Mexican after a box break. I dont get that sick feeling from them. Maybe I have a allergy to Upper Deck ?????

 

[penguinfan]

it seems like the patches in 03-04 UD ice were an easier pull than 05-06 I've pulled one patch in 8 boxes...it would be ironic though since they are numbered to 50 this year and probably a lot more players now with the stupid photo shoot patches...I am still deciding on what I will collect from this set