This past Saturday I made my way up to Orange County to check out the Sneak Peak being held at the Upper Deck Store in Huntington Beach. The Sneak Peak event,
highlighting the newest release of the World of Warcraft TCG, Fields of
Honor.
I saw some familiar faces in the crowd. Noah, Patch, Robert, etc. They had 48 combatants show up for the event. Will Estela, the host and store manager did a great job of promoting and facilitating
the event. In my view a good time was had by all.
In looking at the event from an organizers point of view, I was very heartened by the turnout. 48 persons is nothing to scoff at. Then it got me to thinking about the turnout at other events held,
both by this tournament circuit and by other tournament organizers. What was so special about this event that it was able to break the glass ceiling of 12 to 16 players that most other events get.
Obviously the hype to get new cards. Definitely the participation reward of a new EA brought out a few faces. But could that possibly be it? Is that all that is really necessary for a turnout?
If so, then why are the regional qualifiers doing so poorly? Is there that much of a difference between the Sneak Peaks and the other "qualified" events?
The event was certainly a great time. The first head to be hunted belonged to Patch, who was dispatched with great fanfare giving up his prize. Will offered some bounties to several matches to keep
the interest going. The location was ideal due to the size of the shop. With the mobility that Will has with the rolling merchandise racks, he is able to create a rather large place allowing a
comfortable tournament area. The shop being immediately off the 405 freeway is definitely centrally located in Orange County and being located in a shopping center with plenty of parking and access
to food and such obviously plays into his favor.
All of these factors are great, but I would submit that they are not it. They are not the direct reason why the event was such a great success. Yes, you can obviously make the argument that they
assisted, but I would submit another factor that I believe was the decision maker.
Persistence.
Will is a consistent and persistent poster on the WOWTCG posting boards for tournaments. He offers two great events a week and is
consistent in the timing and execution. Will has gone out of his way to ensure that his player base is always taken care of. Long and the short of it, Will cares about the player base as much as the
product. Believe me, as being involved with a great many businesses in my life thus far, this is a quality that is not lost among those he calls his client base. Will gets what so many people in his
arena do not. That the player base is more important than any other factor in building a community.
Take it from someone who is attempting to build as strong a player base in my region as it seems he has in his. This is not an easy foray. There are several of outside factors that affect the
execution of a tournament and a tournament circuit. Player bases, costs of doing business, competition, player loyalty, support from retailers and manufacturers, locations logistics...the list can be
overbearing and at times unmanageable. These factors can and do sometimes yank the attention of the TO away from the player base in order to manage each of these details in turn.
So my hat is off to you Will. Congratulations on the great event and on the well earned rest you had that night I'm sure.
Persistence was the key factor in the great event in Huntington Beach.
The Upper Deck Retail Store
Welcome to the Official Upper Deck Retail Site - you have arrived!
This site is dedicated to keep you up-to-date with everything that goes on with us at a more local level, while still catering to Upper Deck Fans around the world.
The Upper Deck Retail Store offers something for every collector. Here's just a sample of some of what you'll discover at Upper Decks only retail store in the world.
- Upper Deck Autographed Sports Memorabilia
- Upper Deck trading Cards and Collectibles
- An amazing Vintage Baseball Memorabilia Collection
- Collector Supplies/Protection for gaming and sports
- Popular Trading Card Games and Tournaments
- Autograph Signings (Public)
-
As well as competitor products in some categories
- And much, much more
In the end we are a "test" store to better service our hobby gaming/ sports accounts. The information we collect as well as our constructive comments back to headquarters on a daily basis push us to improve as a whole for a better tomorrow.
Check back often for updates and thank you for your support
Sincerely,
William Estela
Upper Deck Retail Manager
New Dodger Signing Video!
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Special Entertainment Event: World of Warcraft
Promo Card
Continental Qualifier
World of Warcraft TCG Tournament
Come join us for our Special World of Warcraft TCG Tournament,
Being held at the Upper Deck Retail Store Saturday
Date: Saturday July 25th 2009
Registration: 10:00am Start 11:00am
Format: Sealed (6)
- Two packs of Drums of War
- Two packs of Blood of the Gladiators
- Two packs of Fields of Honor
Entry Fee: $30.00 (Cash or Credit Card)
Upcoming Signings @ Upper Deck Retail
View even more on the Athlete Signings Page
***Update for Fisher Event: No posing (Pictures) with Fisher or Inscriptions will be allowed for this event. If you would like details about this update - please call or email me. We want to make sure everyone gets thier autograph so we will be very strict with lines and amount of time spent at table.
8x10 and 16x20 for sale!!!
***Update for 3 Lakers Event: No posing (Pictures) will be allowed for this event. If you would like details about this update - please call or email me. We want to make sure everyone gets thier autograph so we will be very strict with lines and amount of time spent at table.
Upper Deck Retail Blog
Tue
30
Jun
2009
Fields of Honor Sneak Peak, or the TO and His Labor of Love
www.BattleGroundSanDiego.com
Fields of Honor Sneak Peak, or the TO and His Labor of Love
I'm pleased to read blogs and post like this both good and bad to better myself for the players - Thanks Victor --- Keep up
the hard work!
-William Estela
UD Retail Manager
Tue
30
Jun
2009
Recent Dodger Signing (Loney, Billingsly, Broxton)
We had another great event thanks to our loyal customers (as well as new ones) I would take the time to sum up the event - but thought i would let one of our
customers do that for me:
"I just wanted to say thank you for today's autograph appearance of Broxton. This was my first time at Upper Deck. Although, I've known of your previous autograph appearances, it was Broxton who brought me to your store. This was a big decision on my part considering I live in Castaic, 72 miles from your store. Ironically I bumped into the same group of guys I've seen at other events. I want to compliment the entire staff on how well organize everyone and everything was. Also, the set up was great! I've been to many autograph appearances where the players are all crunched up at one table, there is little room in the store to move around in, no organization of crowd control, and the autograph event felt non-personal. I've been to few events where you were rushed either by the promoter or the player themselves felt the need to hurry up. You guys did everything right! I was so impressed I called one of my friends and convinced her to come down to the next event in August. Also, the certificate of authenticity was very detailed. I'm so use to PSA/DNA handing me some plain post card with a serial number that yours blew me away! It was personal as it described the entire event. Good job! My only concern were the fees for Loney. I thought his fee was a bit high. I was at an event last year at Hall of Fame Sports and remembered his fee was $25 compared to the $40 today. I know this is a business and certain players demand more but, I thought I bring this point across. Anyways thanks for a great event and look forward to the August 8th event. Respectfully, Ralph Holguin"
As you can see we enjoy the constructive feedback to better our events in the future. See you next month Ralph!
"I just wanted to say thank you for today's autograph appearance of Broxton. This was my first time at Upper Deck. Although, I've known of your previous autograph appearances, it was Broxton who brought me to your store. This was a big decision on my part considering I live in Castaic, 72 miles from your store. Ironically I bumped into the same group of guys I've seen at other events. I want to compliment the entire staff on how well organize everyone and everything was. Also, the set up was great! I've been to many autograph appearances where the players are all crunched up at one table, there is little room in the store to move around in, no organization of crowd control, and the autograph event felt non-personal. I've been to few events where you were rushed either by the promoter or the player themselves felt the need to hurry up. You guys did everything right! I was so impressed I called one of my friends and convinced her to come down to the next event in August. Also, the certificate of authenticity was very detailed. I'm so use to PSA/DNA handing me some plain post card with a serial number that yours blew me away! It was personal as it described the entire event. Good job! My only concern were the fees for Loney. I thought his fee was a bit high. I was at an event last year at Hall of Fame Sports and remembered his fee was $25 compared to the $40 today. I know this is a business and certain players demand more but, I thought I bring this point across. Anyways thanks for a great event and look forward to the August 8th event. Respectfully, Ralph Holguin"
As you can see we enjoy the constructive feedback to better our events in the future. See you next month Ralph!
Fri
19
Jun
2009
Case Break - MLB Legendary Cut
Eric recently "paid" me a visit to the Upper Deck Retail Store. He was in search of a new "hot" product that he could bust through and get some possible amazing cards/players. I directed him to our New MLB Legendary Cuts that just recently released. He decided on a 1/2 case or Inner which came out to 8 boxes of product. Buying sealed cases (or in this case a half) can better your odds of getting the case hits (or big hits), but might cost you a little more to secure the extra boxes you might not normally buy to make up the case. He was happy with his jersey cards he received in each of his boxes (average of 4 per box), as well as satisfied with his case hits.
Eric - thanks again for sharing with the fans and supporting us!
-William
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Thu
18
Jun
2009
World of Warcraft TCG Sneak Preview: Fields Of Honor
On June 13th we held our first Sneak Preview Event with the World of Warcraft TCG --- if you don't know a Sneak Preview is a chance for players and fans to check out and play with the cards before anyone else. The brand new set releases on June 30th to the public. That gave you almost 3 weeks to brag and check out the new stuff. The day went pretty smooth for the most part with players getting a lot of prizes throughout the day.
Thank you to everyone that supported us and brought our event numbers to 48 active players --- no one was turned away which made the event that much better.
We look forward to our next great adventure!
Don't forget to check out the video from the event.
-William
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