This is big! Well... actually it’s HUGE!
Panini America has just reached a multi-year trading cardagreement with Gordie Howe, one of the greatest hockey player of all time. Autograph and memorabiliatrading cards of Howe will appear in Panini's officially licensed hockey products for the firsttime. This is on the heals of InThe Game’s January 19th announcement that Howe would be appearing on theircards too.
What is so big or huge about this? Well Howe has been one of the three marquee players featuredon Upper Deck cards for a long time along with the Great One, Wayne Gretzky andBooby Orr. That Hat Trickexclusive seemed to be a cornerstone of the Upper Deck Hockey cards empire, onethat appeared to be unbreakable. With both ITG and Panini signing Howe, there will be plenty ofcompetition which leads to more choices for collectors and that is always agood thing.
The is no word from Upper Deck yet about any of this so onehas to guess that Howe will still sign and appear on cards for them, just noton an exclusive basis anymore.
In all likelihood, Gretzky and Orr will follow at somepoint. I’ve suspected that Paniniwould break Upper Deck’s exclusive back in December of last year. Small indications of that startedpopping up on Panini’s blog,
The Knight’s Lance, there was something was in theair. First, a casual reference toThe Great One
in a post about 2011-12 Crown Royale Hockey using the phrase“Like Gretzky on a breakaway.” Then there was the addition of Tim Trout, former Beckett Hockey Guru,who was coming on board as the new assistant brand manager for Hockey.(conspiracy theory fans will note there were both
LA Kings and NY Rangers Uniforms strategically placed over Trout’s left shoulder as he explained onvideo what he would be doing in his new job for Panini.)
Howe, a 1972 Hall of Fame inductee, is third on the NHLall-time leading scorer list with 1,767 points. He played 25 seasons, was a 23-time NHL All-Star and 4 timewinner of the Stanley Cup. He alsowon 6 Art Ross Trophies and 6 Hart Trophies. Howe is the only player in NHLhistory to play in five different decades.
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Panini Scores Big With The Signing Of Gordie Howe
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