First Ultimate Redemption Prize Awarded
In The Game is pleased to announce that the first winner of a prize from its Ultimate Redemption Contest from Ultimate Memorabilia 6th Edition has redeemed their cards for one of the nine exciting prizes featured in the promotion.John McCuaig, a dealer based in Thunder Bay, Ontario, managed to collect all 19 letters needed to obtain a complete piece of game-used memorabilia. The Mario Lemieux card was numbered 5 of 9 (or 00005/12,500) and entitled him to a pair of Lemieux's game-used skates. McCuaig was presented with the game-used Mario Lemieux skates by In The Game's Ken Whitmell on Monday, July 31, 2006 in Toronto and commented on the program and the challenge to obtain one of the game-used items.
"I thought it was an awesome idea. One a scale of one to 10, I would rate it as an acceptable nine for level of difficulty. For the first time, someone stepped outside the hockey card realm and it draws in new collectors," he said. "I think it took a lot of guts to do it."
In the weeks leading up to the release of UM6, collectors were buzzing about this new innovation to the popular product's base set. All 100 cards in the base set had five different versions based on a classic hockey card design from the 1930s. One of these collections mimicked the 1933-34 Canadian Chewing Gum release that featured a contest where collectors could spell out the names of hockey teams to receive a special prize. In The Game took the concept and made it their own by offering game-used memorabilia.
Each of the 100 cards featured a letter that would help spell out the words "ULTIMATE MEMORABILIA" and a collector needs a total of 19 cards to win a prize - but there is a twist. Since the only card in the set to feature the letter "U" is Lemieux, there are only nine prizes available. The rest of the words can be made from any mix of players within the set.
At present, McCuaig plans to frame the skates individually so they can be displayed in both of his stores in Thunder Bay. Overtime Sports also had the pleasure of pulling one of the biggest cards available in packs of UM6 - the Quad Paper Cuts card featuring four deceased members of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
"That was, in all honesty, an unbelievable card," he said. "That was the first time we had difficulty deciding whether or not to sell a card."
Collectors can still attempt to win one of the incredible pieces of game-used memorabilia by finding these special cards and completing this challenging task.
"There are a number of great prizes still available in this program and collectors are certain to be on the hunt for any of the letters," said Stephen Laroche, In The Game's VP, Product Development. "The Lemieux will be the hardest one to find for those trying to obtain a prize, but you have to consider that as the cards are redeemed, the cards are taken off the market. This could lead to some real challenges for player collectors in the long run."
Second Winner Announced
In The Game is proud to announce that another collector has managed to put
together all of the cards needed from the Ultimate Memorabilia 6th Edition
to earn a piece of game-used memorabilia in the Ultimate Redemption
Program.
Ken Yada of Vancouver, British Columbia recently sent in the 19 cards needed to spell out the words "ULTIMATE MEMORABILIA" from the base cards whose design pays tribute to the 1933-34 Canadian Chewing Gum set. The original cards featured a tab with a letter that collectors would send in for a special prize. In The Game's version took it to a new level and collectors everywhere are chasing these cards down.
"It's a very unique redemption program," said Yada. "It's quite challenging. Some of the letters were harder to get and the Dion Phaneuf with the letter "O" was the toughest one for me to find."
Yada is a collector of Mario Lemieux memorabilia and already owns a pair of his game-used skates. For his efforts, he will now have a pair of Lemieux's game-used pants. He also hinted that he may try for another item available in the Ultimate Redemption Program.
"If the jersey comes up, I might have to take a stab at it," he said.
Prizes still available to collectors include a game-used Lemieux Pittsburgh Penguins jersey and game-used jerseys of Pavel Datsyuk (Detroit Red Wings), Saku Koivu (Montréal Canadiens), Milan Hejduk (Colorado Avalanche), Olli Jokinen (2003 All-Star), Mats Sundin (2004 All-Star) and Patrick Marleau (2004 All-Star). All game-used memorabilia in the Ultimate Redemption will be sent with a Certificate of Authenticity from In The Game, Inc.
As for the set itself, each of the 100 cards in the Ultimate Memorabilia 6th Edition base set have a parallel version that is eligible for the Ultimate Redemption Program. Each card features a letter on the bottom tab and each letter has several different players with the exception of "U". The only card with the letter "U" depicts Lemieux. Once the cards are redeemed, they are no longer in circulation.
© 2007 In The Game, Inc.