Washington DC Wizards Fan Pack

In the mail today was a fan pack from the Washington DC Wizards, which makes this the first NBA fan pack yet. In the large bubble package that had multiple 'air mail' stamps across it was a collection of items, including a stress ball shaped like a basketball, 5 pocket schedules, a pencil, a window decal, a magnetic schedule, and a large team card. The window decal and stress ball were definitely unique and are really great ideas to include in a fan pack. Overall, a pretty cool package to get in the mail!

To order your own Wizards fan pack, visit: http://www.nba.com/wizards/contact/feedback.html

Second Box of Score 2011/12

A few days ago I picked up second box of Score 11/12. The first box revealed an autographed rookie and a short printed rookie, along with a stack of nice looking base, glossy parallel, and subset cards. Score is one of the most affordable products in the realm of hockey cards and offers some good value. This second box left me scratching my head and was the opposite of what the first box offered.

The biggest problem with the second box was that I was left with a mountain of doubles. The product's base set includes 500 cards and an additional 50 rookies. A second box for a product with such a big base set should never leave you with a mountain of duplicates, but Score 11/12 did. Additionally, the second box even had duplicates within it -roughly 6 duplicate base cards and 1 duplicate rookie card. I really do not like finding duplicates within one box, let alone finding a mountain of duplicates for cards I busted from just one box previously! In the case of the rookies, I found a total of 17 rookies in the second box. Sixteen of these cards were duplicates from what I had previously pulled! This demonstrates poor random placement of cards in Score boxes. Also, I found 2 duplicate rookies in the second box itself. You should never find duplicate rookies in the same box, and I had never had this happen in last year's Score product. Overall I am not impressed with Score after busting this box!

Word glossy not included around #.

Upon looking at the glossy cards I pulled from the second box I noticed that not all of the cards said glossy on the back. Glossy cards from the 11/12 Score product should have the word glossy above and below the card number on the back, along with the front actually being glossy. I noticed that all of the Boston Bruins cards had the glossy front but did not have the word glossy on the back. I searched various web sites to see if this was a known error or perhaps a variant short print, but thus far I have not come across anything about this, except for a message board on Beckett cards where people think it is a misprint and seems to have occurred to all the glossy Boston cards.. It would seem that this is an error that occurred on all the Bruins' glossy cards. To me, this is a sign of poor quality.

I picked up roughly the same number of subset cards in the second box, expect did not find any NHL Shield Die-Cuts or First Goal Cards. I believe the Shield cards are not found in every box, much like the snow-dome of last year's product. However, I did find a Score B subset card which I believe falls one per every other box like the Shield cards. Score B is a nice looking card with a black and white photo of Brodeur on the front and a small blurb about him on the back, however I have no idea why this subset is called Score B. It seems pretty random. It seems even more out of place considering that all the other subsets have themes that are logical to what is shown on the card, for instance Making an Entrance depicts how marquee players are shown coming onto the ice prior to a home game.

Sateri Front

Sateri Back: # should be at top left.

The best card from the second box of Score was a short-printed Harri Sateri rookie card. This short print appears exactly the same as the other rookie cards but the number on the back is missing. According to various web sites, this is a purposeful error by Panini and were short printed to somewhere under 100. While it's nice to pull a short printed rookie, I'd much rather have it be stamped with a serial number, marked with a higher number like the Landeskog I pulled earlier, or have a completely different look to it (foil trim or different graphics).

Despite pulling a short printed rookie I am very disappointed with this second box of Score. The only saving grace is that the product is so cheap that I can afford to take another chance on it.

Syracuse Crunch Fan Pack

Yesterday's mail included a fan pack from the AHL team, the Syracuse Crunch! Inside the large white envelope were two small felt pennants, two programs, and a large stitched patch from the Outdoor Classic game that was held back in February of 2010. I'm guessing these patches did not sell too well as they are giving them away in their fan packs, but to find one in the fan pack was quite the surprise for me! The patch looks really cool and is the first one I've seen included in a fan pack. The felt pennants were also a surprise and had not been found in previous fan packs. This was one of the better fan packs I've seen thus far.

For your own Syracuse Crunch fan pack, e-mail the organization at info@syracusecrunch.com

Bowman Platinum 2011 Redemption

I had previously opened a few packs of Bowman Platinum 2011 and discussed it here. In the box was a redemption for a Relic Auto card that I had contacted Topps about in early January. About 3 weeks later the redemption arrived in the mail. This was the first redemption I have ever had through Topps and I have to admit I am pretty happy with the process. Ideally you never want to find a redemption because they are time sensitive (can expire), can take months or longer to arrive in the mail, and because when you buy a box of cards you should expect all the cards promised on the package to be in the box and not contingent on you contacting the company. Redemptions can be an especially painful process because they are often auto or memorabilia cards, where it is that card that holds all the value in the box of cards you just bought. Thus far, the Topps redemption was painless much like my experiences with Uppder-Deck. Panini, however, is horrible. I have been waiting months for a redemption to be fulfilled and am annoyed that I see that some collectors had received their redemptions (for the same card I am requesting) months ago! Furthermore, my e-mails about the redemption have never been asnwered by Panini. Boo Panini! Yay Topps!

back

front

OK, so back to the Bowman Platinum 2011 redemption. The card I received was an autographed memorabilia card from Angels' pitcher, Trevor Bell. The card features a sticker auto signed in blue with a moderate sized memorabilia swatch. The fabric is all white, but that's common for baseball jersey swatches. The card has a great gloss /shiny design that matches with the rest of the base cards. The card is serial numbered out of 1166, which is really high for a card of this sort. 

Overall, the card looks fantastic but the drawbacks are in that it has a sticker auto and the print run is exceptionally high. I greatly appreciated how quickly the card was shipped and that it was nicely /securely packaged. Any concerns I had over Topps' redemptions are now gone, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to be over the moon when I find one because I'd rather have the card inserted in the pack rather than contacting the company for it.

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Widevision Movie Cards

A week ago I went to a liquidation sale that featured comic books, comic book related statues, and sport cards. While I found some excellent sales on comics and statues, there wasn't too much there for cards. This was kind of expected since most comic book collectors /sellers tend to offer early 90's sport cards and random /bizarre collectors cards such as Desert Storm cards; cards from the early 90's were vastly over manufactured so their worth is negligible and their rarity is non-existent. However, I did come across one box of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Widevision Movie Cards. The vendor sold me the box for about $10 and I knew that one out of every 2 boxes included a signature card from someone that had appeared in the movie. Most of the signatures feature a very minor actor, but regardless this would be pretty neat since I am a massive Star Wars fan.

Example auto card, which I did not find :(

I did not find an autograph in my box. However, I did pull 4 chrome subset cards and compiled the entire base set. An average auto from this product (manufactured by Topps by-the-way) goes for between $5 and $20. The average chrome subset card goes for between $1 and $8, and the base set is under $10. Considering all this, I wouldn't pay much more than $20 for another box of this product. I am also less inclined to purchase this product again since I would be left with a mountain of double base cards and run a 50/50 chance of finding an auto card. The most expensive of the auto cards is Samuel L. Jackson's signature, which averages 1 in almost 3,000 packs, which would be about 1 in every 1,500 boxes! Not exactly great odds for finding a valuable auto.

Chrome cards

From what I pulled, the chrome cards are exceptionally sharp looking. Each card features production art from a particular scene from the movie. The chrome is nicely added so that the card does not bend too much and it does add a nice affect to the image. The back of the card does not have chrome, but instead a blurb explaining the front image. To the side of the back text is another production illustration, this time of a sketch instead of a fully rendered painting as is shown on the card's front.

Base cards

The base set consists of 80 2.5x4.75" cards. Busting a box will provide you with the full 80 card set, plus another 40 or so duplicates. The design is pretty generic in comparison to other movie trading card sets, but still looks sharp. The back of the card has text explaining a scene in the movie and includes a small photo from that scene. The front of the card has a crystal clear, widescreen photo from the scene in question. The resolution on the cards is fantastic and each side has a nice, almost semi-gloss to it. The front of the cards also have a tasteful amount of silver foil, used for the set's name. Overall, the base set is very nice looking.

Overall, a box of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Widevision Movie Cards, delivers a nice looking base set and a handful of chrome subset cards. An auto would've been nice to have been included in each box and the lack of an auto in each box is what would keep me from spending a lot on the product. At $10 though I really can't complain with what I got. A lot of fun to break too!

Roughriders Fan Pack

Hands down the heaviest and largest fan pack yet arrived in the mail today. This fan pack came from the Saskatchewan Roughriders, a CFL team who I don't exactly cheer for (as in not at all) but am now very impressed with how they treat their fans. Within the fan pack was a photo card, a tattoo, a bookmark, and a 256 page media guide. That's right, they sent me a frigging BOOK that features stats about all the players, staff, former players, HOF inductees, what the team does for the community, and a brief history about the team itself. The shipping itself was over $3 to mail this hefty tome and it has left me very impressed with their organization. In contrast, the Edmonton Eskimos sent me a mitt full of pocket schedules and a few stickers, while my hometown team (Stampeders) has yet to send me anything!

To request your own Saskatchewan Roughriders' fan pack, e-mail them at stevem@saskriders.com

Originally posted Jan 20th, 2012

Signed Plekanec Card in the Mail!

The other day I received two autographed cards in the mail from Tomas Plekanec of the Montreal Canadiens! On November 26th, 2011, I had mailed out cards to various Canadian hockey teams such as the Canadiens. I had previously received an autographed card from Rene Bourque, of the Calgary Flames. This time, about one and a half months later, Plekanec mailed me back the two cards I sent him but with his signature on them. As a collector of sport cards, and virtually everything else, I am definitely encouraged to keep mailing cards in the hopes of having them signed!

To try having your own cards signed by a Montreal Canadiens player send a small note, a self-addressed envelope, and the card of your choice to the address below.

[Name of person]
c/o The Montreal Canadiens
1909, avenue des Canadiens-de-Montréal
Montreal, QC, CANADA
H3C 5L2

Originally posted Jan 19th, 2012

No Fan Packs from Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment?

The major sport franchises in Toronto, consisting of the Marlies, Raptors, Leafs, and the Toronto FC are all adjoined in a conglomerate called Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE). Bell and Rogers are the key stakeholders in this group, following their recent buyout from the Toronto Teacher's Pension Plan (Toronto Sun article about this deal). Since these teams are all linked, it means that they all share the same policies. One of these policies is to not offer fan packs.

For the past few months I have been contacting numerous sport franchises in regards to fan packs. This has been met with varied success as one can see from the posts I've created on this blog. For the most part, each team I looked into had a way in which fans could connect to their team. The vast majority of teams contacted me electronically and the greatest barrier to receiving mailed items was that they did not send materials internationally (I live in Canada while the team is located in the United States). 

The MLSE do not offer a way to electronically contact their franchises. Each of their franchises have a website that includes a 'contact us' portal, but this portal brings you to a general MLSE page that lists all their teams. For each of their franchises, they list three contact methods: Twitter, Facebook, website, or phone. There is no information provided for e-mailing and some of their franchises outright refuse to offer fan packs (Leafs). While I realize that a fan pack represents free stuff, and one cannot be upset over not receiving free stuff, the concept of a fan pack represents (to me) the thoughtfulness a team has for their fans. To outright discourage fans from asking for fan packs is a sign of over-confidence and a disregard for one's fan base. Every team I have looked into while on my quest for fan packs had a way to contact them electronically, whether it was a web portal or an e-mail address. In contrast to other franchises, this omission makes the MLSE look even more out-of-touch with their fan base and the way in which sport franchises interact with their fans!

Carolina Hurricanes Fan Pack

Earlier this week I received a fan pack from the Carolina Hurricanes. In the regular sized envelope were two stock photo cards, a 2011-12 schedule, a waterless tattoo, and a sticker. Both the sticker and tattoo featured the team's logo. Tattoos are not something I have found before in fan packs but it is a neat idea, and it seems every team sends out logo stickers which I quite like. The schedule, again, is something virtually every team sends out, but the two photo cards were pretty weak as they were bent in half (leaving a sizable crease down the middle). One of the cards features an unknown player with his head cropped out of the photo and the plain text 'Carolina Hurricanes' at the bottom; I don't really understand how such a generic photo card would get someone excited about a team, especially when it looks like garbage after being sent through the mail. The second card was worse as it again looked like garbage with a massive crease down the middle from being folded to fit inside the envelope. The worst part is that it features a minor player from the 2006-07 Hurricanes roster -Chad LaRose. I suppose the Canes want their fans to be excited about what they had accomplished in the past and not what they are attempting to do this year? Perhaps even more puzzling is why they wouldn't feature their big star, Jeff Skinner, who started his first year in the NHL with the Canes last year and finished the season off by winning the Calder trophy? Bizarre.

While I appreciate receiving a fan pack, this is one of the poorest fan packs I have received thus far. The Hurricanes would be much better off sticking to the tattoo, sticker, and schedule.

Send an e-mail to communityrelations@carolinahurricanes.com to request your own Carolina Hurricanes fan pack.

Originally posted Jan 15th, 2011

Vancouver Canucks Fan Pack Has Arrived!

It took a little while, but the other day I found a Vancouver Canucks fan pack in the mail! The fan pack consisted of a typed (stock) letter, a very sharp looking window decal, and 5 unique 'we are all canucks' 9.5x14 cm player cards that are dated to the 2011/12 season. This is also the first non-electronic fan pack I have received from a NHL team.

You can contact the Vancouver Canucks on their website for a fan pack of your own.

Originally posted Jan 6th, 2012

Boston Red Sox Fan Pack

Along with the White Sox fan pack was a package from the Boston Red Sox! This is hands-down the coolest fan pack yet! Inside the package was a hand written letter of thanks, a Red Sox wrist band, a logo sticker, two photo cards, and A BAG OF FENWAY PARK DIRT! The bag of dirt blew me away with its originality and thoughtfulness. It only makes sense that if you are asking for a fan pack, chances are you do not live anywhere near that team, so why bring a piece of the park to them! Truly awesome!

For your own Boston Red Sox fan pack, and bag of Fenway Dirt!, e-mail them at: fanfeedback@RedSox.mlb.com

Originally posted Dec 19th, 2011

Chicago White Sox Fan Pack

In the mail today was a fan pack from the Chicago White Sox! Included was a publication order form, a very cool White Sox logo sticker, and two 2011 season schedules. Pretty darn cool!

You can order your own White Sox fan pack by e-mailing them at: fanfeedback@WhiteSox.mlb.com

Originally posted Dec19th, 2011

Houston Astros Fan Pack Arrived

Earlier this week a fan pack from the Houston Astros arrived in my mail box. The fan pack was sealed in a legal size envelope, and within it was a 3.5x5.5" photo of their catcher, J.R. Towles. In addition, there was a 3x4 sticker of their team logos. Unlike the Athletics and other organizations, there was no letter included with the fan pack. Pretty cool that they sent this!

For your own Houston Astros fan pack, e-mail their organization at fanfeedback@astros.mlb.com

Originally posted Dec  18th, 2011

Rene Bourque Signed Card in the Mail!

As part of my attempt at receiving fan packs, I also mailed out a few NHL cards to particular players. I picked one player from each Canadian hockey team (except for the Leafs since they do not do this), and mailed the card to there team's address with the envelope saying 'attention: player's name'.

The first of these cards came in the mail today. I had originally sent a Rene Bourque off to the Calgary Flames on November 26th, and today the 15th of December, I received the card signed by him! I am really encouraged by this and will be sending off a few more cards to different players!

 

Originally posted Dec 15th, 2011

Oakland A's Fan Pack

Earlier last week I received an Oakland A's fan pack. The package they sent included a colour photo of Daric barton, a bumper sticker, a letter about the A's Elephant mascot, and (randomly) a 2006 Upper-Deck card of Eric Chavez.

To order your own Oakland Athletics fan pack, send an e-mail to: fanfeedback@athletics.mlb.com

Originally posted Dec 12th, 2011

Detroit Fan Packs

Received two fan packs on Friday. Both were from Detroit teams: MLB Tigers and NFL Lions. The Tigers fan pack included 2 schedules, 2 player photographs (Cabrera and Peralta), and a letter of thanks. The Lions fan pack included a sheet of stickers, a schedule, a key chain, a pencil, and a letter of thanks with an order form for photographs on the back. Pretty swanky stuff!

 

For ordering your own fan pack, e-mail the Detroit Tigers at fanfeedback@tigers.mlb.com, and the Lions at lionsfans@fans.detroitlions.com. 

Originally posted December 12th, 2011

Buffalo Bills Fan Pack Arrived!

Wow! Three days in a row I've received fan packs! I better not get used to this...

Today I received a fan pack from the NFL team, the Buffalo Bills. In the pack was a Bills Game-day publication, a photo of their quarterback (Ryan Fitzpatrick), a magnetic 2011 schedule, a mini schedule to attach to your key chain, and a pack of their player cards made by Panini. This was a terrific fan pack and thus far, the best one I've received yet!

You can order your own fan pack from the Buffalo Bills by sending them an e-mail at this address: guestservices@bills.nfl.com 

Originally posted Nov 30, 2011

Buffalo Bills Fan Pack.

Toronto Blue Jays Fan Pack Arrived!

Received another fan pack in the mail today, this time from the MLB Toronto Blue Jays! The envelope didn't include much, just a 7.5x11 print out of the 2012 schedule and another schedule printed on a thicker paper stock. Still a very quick response and something I may use as I would like to fly to Toronto next year to catch a game. Now I have to make the decision of which team I'd like to see them play against!

To contact the Toronto Blue Jays, you can write to them at: Rogers Centre One Blue Jays Way, Suite 3200, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5V 1J1, or send them a message through this link

Originally posted on Nov 29th, 2011

Toronto Blue Jays' Fan Pack (with their new logo!)

CFL Eskies Fan Pack Arrived!

The first fan pack arrived today! The fan pack comes from the CFL team, the Edmonton Eskimos. The request was e-mailed to them on November 23rd and arrived in a white envelope on November 28th! Inside the envelope were 6 stickers with the team's logo and 6 one page 2011 schedules. This isn't exactly a package of team products that gets one excited about the team but it was sent very quickly and the fact that something was sent at all is appreciated, especially at the cost of sending them an e-mail. The Edmonton Eskimo's e-mail address for ordering your own fan pack is: tickets@esks.com

This package originally arrive on Nov 28th, 2011.

Contents of Edmonton Eskimo Fan Pack.

Status Update on Fan Packs

After only a few days following my online requests for fan packs from various sport teams, I received 8 replies. I think I sent something like 70+ e-mails for fan packs, so I am currently sitting at roughly an 10% reply rate. Anyways, from these 8 replies only 2 said they would send me a fan pack, which is a bit more disparaging. What is truly disparaging though is that the principle reason most teams refuse to send out a fan pack is because I live in Canada! This is most common in MLB teams who refuse to send fan packs across the American border. I find this bizarre as it works counter to marketing ambitions of growing the organization's fan base. Furthermore, Canada HAS a MLB team and one would think that MLB as a whole would try to promote their product as much as they could in Canada so that there are more fans, a healthier fan base for the existing team (the Blue Jays), and eventually be able to expand the MLB teams to more areas in Canada.

From the 8 responses I received, the MLB teams Indians and Braves both said they cannot send fan packs outside of the USA. The Yankees however said I could mail a postcard to their team in exchange for a fan pack, but I feel that they forgot to mention that this applies to only US residents. I also received 5 responses from NHL teams. The Bruins wrote that they cannot send fan packs to individuals living outside of the US. The Senators said that they do not send out fan packs at all because of the high level of requests they have received in the past. The Predators took a different approach, where they wrote that they do not mail out fan packs but instead e-mail an electronic form of the fan pack, which included Predator printouts of their logos and other graphics, and a copy of their team schedule. Ending on a more positive note, the Canucks and Flames organizations wrote that they do offer fan packs and that they should arrive in 1 to 2 months time.

Some of the graphics that the Predators sent me in the electronic fan pack.

Fan Packs & Other Web Freebies

So I recently discovered that you can get free stuff over the internet! OK, I might be a little behind the times on this 'discovery', but it's still new to me! What I found out was that there are ton of organizations you can e-mail and ask for free 'fan packs' to be delivered to your doorstep. Not every organization will do so and nor will they arrive in the same space of time. However, I figured it was worth a shot.

I started my quest for 'free stuff' by e-mailing every NHL team, MLB team, CFL team, and the majority of the NFL teams to inquire about receiving fan packs. When and if these packs arrive in the mail I will photograph the contents of the package and post the information here along with the team's contact information so you can do the same!

I am also slowly spreading my web of catching free stuff by mailing letters to various celebs, including athletes and stage stars. Again, I'll post the success stories here! Wish me luck!

***The following posts about fan packs & such were originally posted on my other blog Pickled Peanuts, but I decided that it made more sense to have these posts on my Sport /Collectible Card blog. So here we go!