Jason Maserah, President of Upper Deck is responsible for promoting the company's ongoing history of innovation in trading cards.Upper Deck, which was founded in late 1980s, brought the first-of its-kind innovation to sports trading cards industry. The company has continued to push the boundaries as the industry sees a new boom over thirty years. Jason Masherah (President of Upper Deck) and I spoke to each other about their history of innovation, digital efforts, and how they invest in the industry through local hobby shops.Dave Knox: Let's start with Upper Deck's heritage. What was the beginning of the brand?Jason Masherah, Upper Deck's founders were trying to solve a few issues in the 1980s. As the market started to grow, there were many forgeries and counterfeits in trading cards. They looked at trading cards again and thought this could be better. The cards have remained the same for 50 years. They believed there must be a better way of giving the cards a premium feel. To address this, the founders devised several innovative solutions. The anti-counterfeit hologram was created by them. It's still available on today's cards. The foil wrap was an indestructible way to wrap the cards. It allowed you to tell if someone had tampered with them. They then switched to premium stock with a high gloss finish that showed the vibrant colors of the game and made it more luxurious than any other. These same brand tenants are still with us today.Knox: Upper Deck has been innovative since the beginning. How can they continue to innovate in this industry?Masherah says: I think the team does an excellent job in coming up with innovative and new concepts. We have also done video embedded trading card. We have made memorabilia from game floor. There's always something new in our hopper.UpperDeckEpack.com is the most important thing the team has created over the years. It allows users to not only open physical cards, but also virtually. You can open up a pack of cards from anywhere in the world, 24 hours a days, seven days a săptămână. They can be managed online, and they are stored in a secure location in Seattle Washington. You can also ship them home. You can take possession of the item and send it home to be stored in your safe deposit box or closet. You can also bring it home to sell on eBay or to a friend. You can also take it home to set up in a card shop. It is the bridge between digital and physical that makes it so unique. It also allows you to trade and socialize with people around the world and create a community that is unlike anything else. Gamification is important. If you complete a set of cards or do certain tasks, you are rewarded. This free stuff is real and tangible.It is always challenging to do something so different from the norm. It was difficult for ePack because it is an online platform. Although it lives online, the cards are still tangible and real. It is difficult to convey this information to people until they actually experience it. You can ship the card home with the card you see. If Michael Jordan autographed a certain way on the card, it's number 2 of 23 and that's exactly what you will get when you ship it back. These are amazing technological advancements that no one else has ever seen or made. It is difficult to educate the market. We've done it slowly and methodically.It's the same with e-sports. You have a collector who is already familiar with the game. Now you want to expand their horizons by introducing new collectors. This is a popular sport that millions of people watch on a regular basis. We will eventually be able to recognize some of these esports athletes as well as those who are traditional athletes. It can be difficult to understand because it's not a common knowledge base. It takes time. It takes time to educate people about doing something completely different.Knox: Upper Deck is a long-standing entertainment company. This is how you approach trading cards.Masherah: That's a great part of Upper Deck. Although we are often referred to as a sports company in the media, we are much more. We have a gaming division that makes trading card and tabletop games. A division is available for autograph memorabilia. We have been doing entertainment trading cards since 1991, with items like Space Jam and Looney Tunes. We frequently release sets for Marvel, both in the comic books as well as the movies. We make different movies for Fox with the Aliens series. We also do James Bond. Kevin Smith is our partner for his films. These card sets aren't as well-known as traditional sports because most of us grew up doing them. However, there is a huge industry behind entertainment cards and many fans are avid collectors and fans of these properties.Knox: We have seen the rise in digital NFTs such as Top Shot over the past year. What direction do you see NFTs in the future?Masherah says that NFTs will have to evolve from the current state they are in. NFTs are basically a newer version for trading card apps that have been around for many years. While they are part of their own ecosystem, there are some cool functions that you can use in the digital world. Highlights are possible, and you can create fancy graphics that have been around for years. There are limitations that must be overcome. We define collectible as something that can be passed on to your children or a loved one over time. We're still far from being there. It's not possible to put those items on a jump drive, put them in my safety deposit and give them to someone else later. We must see technology improve over the next few years. It will, I believe.Knox: We have witnessed a surge in entrepreneurship around trading cards over the past few years. But entrepreneurship has always been at center of trading card industry with hobby shops within your local community. What has Upper Deck done to support the new wave in entrepreneurship?Masherah, We noticed this new wave about 10 years back and started a cooperative program to help it. We are the only card manufacturer to offer a co-op program. This allows us to help young entrepreneurs open new stores, improve their websites, and even create new shops. To help these young entrepreneurs grow their businesses and give them an extra boost, we will match dollar for dollars up to $25,000 We are proud to have helped many of these entrepreneurs accelerate their businesses and take it to the next level.One thing that sets us apart is our approach to the hobby. We want entrepreneurs to be invested long-term in the industry. To be an authorized breaker, we require that our dealers have a brick and mortar hobby store in order to receive the investment opportunities. A brick-and-mortar hobby shop is the best place for people to socialize and view the product. These shops are viewed as a hub of knowledge for families and new collectors. They also provide a safe place for people to learn more about the hobby. It's vital that we have this space. However, we also recognize that we live in a digital age. Many shops need to be able to use that technology. We invest in shops to ensure that they are successful in both the digital and physical space.Knox: Many brands formed promotional retail partnerships when trading cards reached their peak in the early 1990s. Upper Deck has been a key partner with Tim Hortons for hockey over the past few years. What do you think brands could do to get involved in the emerging trading card industry?Masherah said: This was one of our biggest initiatives. We have been focusing on building strong partnerships with major brands around the globe, getting trading cards into the hands of people, and using them as a tool to promote these brands. It's not just Tim Horton's. We've also done it for Hanes, Gatorade and Kellogg's. These are great marketing tools and are very collectible. These are unlike other forms of marketing collateral, which people keep until the end of their lives. This is true for historical items, such as things from the 30s to the 40s and 50s. Trading cards, for better and for worse, were used as advertising tools for tobacco, candy, gum and tobacco. People have kept them for over 100 years. In many cases, trading cards have outlived their brand. It is vital that brands realize that trading cards can be a crucial part of their efforts to build their brands.
