Carlsbad, CA, Friday July 17, 2009
For years Upper Deck’s SP Legendary Cuts Baseball “Cut Signature” set has provided some of the most exciting chase cards in the industry with signatures of deceased legends embedded in the card. These extremely rare cards provide a lot of excitement when pulled, but many collectors abandoned the idea of putting together the set since there were so many cards limited to as few as one total version. The 2009 SP Legendary Cuts Baseball “Cut Signature” set is different however, as there is no card limited to less than five total versions.

“We know collectors who used to attempt putting this set together, but they were put off by the fact that so many of the extremely limited cards would end up in personal collections and usually never see the light of day again,” said Grant Sandground, Upper Deck’s baseball brand manager. “For the 2009 set we made sure we had at least five authenticated cut autographs for each player in the set. To entice collectors to try to put this set together, we came up with a very special promotion.”

The first collector who puts together the entire 2009 SP Legendary Cuts Baseball “Cut Signature” set will be awarded a special cut signature card that pays homage to the Legendary Pioneers of each major sport. This 1-of-1 card will include authenticated signatures of Abner Doubleday (Baseball), Dr. James Naismith (Basketball), Knute Rockne (Football) and Frederick Stanley, a.k.a. “Lord Stanley” (Hockey). If no collector can put together the entire set by December 15, 2009, the card will be awarded to the collector who is furthest along with completing it.

“It’s certainly going to be a challenge, but by offering up something this unique, we hope it will inspire collectors to join the race,” said Chris Carlin, Upper Deck’s sports marketing manager. “We have talked to enough collectors to know there is interest in putting the ‘Cut Signature’ set together. We made it a little easier to do so by having more versions of the cards in the market and since there’s a great prize going to the first person to finish, we anticipate there will be a good amount of interest. Like we saw with our Yankee Stadium Legacy set, we do not expect everyone will try to put this set together, but there are people who will and we believe it is important to recognize their efforts.”

With over 320 different subjects in the 2009 SP Legendary Cuts Baseball “Cut Signature” set, officials at Upper Deck are unsure if someone will be able to put the set together.

“The great part about this promotion is that someone doesn’t necessarily need to put together the entire set to be awarded ‘The Legendary Pioneers’ card,” added Carlin. “If someone doesn’t put it together, whoever contacts us who is the closest to completing it will receive the card. This will boost every card’s value as a Ted Williams signature card could be just as important as a Ted Lyons signature card for those who are trying to complete the set.”

To participate in the program, collectors need to simply follow these easy step-by-step directions:

Contact Chris Carlin, Upper Deck’s sports marketing manager at (760) 603-7548 or chris_carlin@upperdeck.com once you have completed the set.
Contact Carlin by December 1, 2009 if you think you may be one of the collectors farthest along with the set.
Directions will then be given to submit the set for validation.
Upper Deck will award “The Legendary Pioneers” card featuring authentic signatures of Doubleday, Naismith, Rockne and Lord Stanley to the first collector who completes the set and contacts Upper Deck for validation or the collector who is farthest along in completing the set following validation.

One of the most unique cards Upper Deck has ever produced will be awarded to one lucky collector. Will it be you?



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