THE LATEST BE A PLAYER REDEMPTION PROGRAM AN UNQUALIFIED SUCCESS

The crowds were exceptionally strong, most dealers enjoyed tremendous sales, there was an excellent lineup of autograph guests, and activity in the corporate area was very strong. Hats off to show promoter Al Sinclair and his staff for yet another job well done.

The Be A Player booth was certainly no exception. We had an impressive display of hockey cards from the upcoming Ultimate Memorabilia 2nd Edition as well as a wide array of inserts from current releases like Signature Series, Between the Pipes and the Memorabilia Series. Thousands of collectors stopped to admire them.

Equally impressive was the response to our redemption card program. Without a doubt, the demand for these cards was greater than any show we have ever done.

Many of you know how the program works by participating in it first hand. We ask collectors to purchase packs and boxes of Be A Player product at the card show. Then they can open them at the Be A Player booth and receive special redemption cards in exchange for the pack wrappers. The redemption cards always feature a special foil stamp commemorating the particular show and they are sequentially numbered out of 10.

Be A Player has presented the program at shows across North America, from Montreal and Toronto to Vancouver, from Boston to Chicago to Los Angeles. The hobby response has always been terrific. Quite often, we hand out every redemption card before the show is over.

The recent Toronto show went beyond anything we had ever seen, however. We handed out approximately 3,500 cards in two and a half hours on Friday May 3, about 3,400 cards in a one-and-a-half hour span on Saturday May 4, and an incredible 4,100 cards in a mere 53 minutes on Sunday May 5.

This kind of enthusiasm assures us that our program is working well. While it is easy to pat ourselves on the back for a job well done, we also realize this kind of response opens up some other issues. The program at the Toronto Spring Expo almost worked too well and there is no question our staff was surprised and even overwhelmed.

Our challenge is to satisfy collectors' demands and we understand we may have fallen short in that regard. Frankly, that bothers us.

We are examining different ways to satisfy all of our supporters at card shows like the Toronto Expo. In the end, our goal is distribute our redemption cards as equally and fairly as possible to all those eligible to receive them.

With that in mind, we are encouraging collector input and we'd like to hear some of your ideas as to how to improve our method of distribution when the demand is so strong. We would especially like to hear from anyone who was at the Toronto Expo and saw first-hand how quickly the cards were handed out. With your help, we will make the necessary changes in our distribution policy.

Please e-mail your input to Baron Bedesky, Be A Player's Vice President of Marketing and Communications at baron@baptradingcards.com. We thank you in advance for your input and look forward to an even more successful Toronto Expo in the fall.