(Blog below the picture. The picture of the card plays a part in the story.)

I am writing this blog because of a recent experience I had with Upper Deck that has me miffed. As you can see in the card up above, I had what appears to be a redemption card. I pulled it out of 2021-22 O-Pee-Chee. It says Redemption on the side, and the card clearly says a card can be reserved by redeeming the card at upperdeck.com. The card clearly says that, right?
So, I went to the Upper Deck website, where I’ve successfully redeemed cards before. I was anxious to see what card I might get. I took my six character code (marked out in the picture) and tried to enter it several times. I was locked out of my account because I had entered an invalid code too many times.
I decided to e-mail Upper Deck Customer Support so I could at get my account unlocked. I also wanted their help in redeeming the card, which I realized was a puzzle back card. The flip side of it having a piece of a puzzle.
The next day, I heard back from a Customer Care Supervisor. (I’d post my e-mails, but I noticed legal jargon at the bottom of one of the e-mails that probably means I’m not supposed to post/share the e-mails…I don’t know…better safe than sorry. I don’t think there’s anything that prevents me from sharing the details, though.) Customer Care starts off nice enough, thanking me for reaching out and unlocking my account. He then proceeds to tell me what I have is a bounty code (this I won’t dispute, as it’s clear that the code is shorter than most redemption codes from UD. UD redemption codes are 9 characters). So, he tells me to check out this blog, https://www.upperdeckblog.com/2020/03/ask-ud-what-is-the-different-between-upper-deck-bounty-codes-and-redemption-codes/ that explains the difference between a Redemption code and a Bounty code. He also tells me I need to go to https://www.upperdeckbounty.com/ to redeem the code, and that “…unfortunately one code will not unlock or redeem anything.” (Remember the card I’m trying to redeem clearly states on it that a reservation for one trading card can be made when redeeming the code. It also says to redeem it at upperdeck.com)
So, I e-mailed Customer Care back with my arguments about the fact that my card says it is a redemption card. I included the picture from above, so they could see the information I had given earlier.
So, later in the day, I get this reply, “It is a misprint on the back of the card. The code you have can be submitted at the link below. https://www.upperdeckbounty.com/Mission?ID=37&GUID=cfcc8cf7-9861-4155-bbaa-969f1e3485bb Thank you for your assistance, we hope you have a good day.”
A misprint?! I would accept that it’s an Upper Deck mistake, but to call that a misprint is ridiculous. That is more than just a misprint, it’s a lie. What is printed on the card is an out and out lie! Worse yet, that was the end of the conversation with me for the good old Customer Care Supervisor. I replied to the last quote with another e-mail, and nearly a week later I have yet to hear any offer of apology, or better yet an offer to just send me a stinking card. I mean, I only went into the redemption process expecting a card. It wasn’t like I was an expecting an Auston Matthews autograph or a Trevor Zegras rookie card. They could have said, ‘Sorry about this mistake, we’d like to make this right for you. We’ll send you a card.’ But they didn’t. Upper Deck dropped the ball, not just Customer Care, but Upper Deck. First, they screwed up on this card (I wonder how many other people tried to redeem the same kind of card). Second, they took all this time to produce the first cards of this hockey season with mistakes (or misprints) galore and many players in uniforms from teams they haven’t played for in a year. What has Upper Deck been doing all this time? They certainly haven’t been focusing on quality control or making sure customers are satisfied.
As someone who had just spent a considerable amount of money buying four boxes of O-Pee-Chee and three boxes of Upper Deck Series One, this whole ordeal has left me upset and frustrated with the one company that has NHL licensed hockey cards. As an avid collector of hockey cards, I want and expect better than this. Do better Upper Deck!

I originally started the website in 2000. (Yes, 21.5 years ago this all started.) Back then, it was known as The Unofficial Kansas City Blades Website, because the Blades were still in existence at the time and had their very own amazing website.
I had taken a web design class the previous year in college. In that class I designed my own personal website, as well as a website for a museum in St. Joseph, Mo. I learned basic HTML coding through my class.
As a regular visitor to the Blades official website and the message boards (I was Hull Fan), I got the idea that I should start my own website devoted to the team that I loved. I always loved to learn new things about the team, but there was things in the team’s history I didn’t know and players that had played for the Blades I didn’t know about. While the official website did an amazing job with current information, it didn’t really take a look back at the team history and that was something I thought I could do.
So, with the free website provided by my internet provider at the time, I set up The Unofficial Kansas City Blades Website in September 2000. I had pages for news, player pages (looking not much different than today’s player pages on the site), pictures, and box scores (I really wish I had kept those! They are lost in space now.)
Of course, after one year, the team was gone. (And I was heartbroken.) But, I decided to keep the website up as The Kansas City Blades Tribute Site, serving as tribute to the team that so many of us loved. It has moved a few times due to host company’s shutting down. Now, the site has a home of it’s own…I even sprang for a fancy domain name because I plan to continue to grow the site with as much fun Blades related stuff as I can find. (Be forewarned, I’ve been scouring the Kansas City Star archives through an online source to go back through articles. I’ve come up with tons of old stories I want to delve into when I get the time.)
Anyhow, having the website has been a lot of work, but it’s been fun, too. I continue to learn new things about my all-time favorite team, it’s players and coaches. I have also talked and communicated with many other fans over the years, which has been the best part. (It’s always fun to reminisce with new friends about old memories.)

With nearly 300 players having suited up for the Kansas City Blades during their eleven year run, you  might think it would be heard to name a favorite player. But, if you were a Blades fan, you know there was one name that usually came up when discussing who your favorite player was.

When it comes to favorite players, people usually like someone who can score goals or provide some great entertainment with a fight. My favorite player could do both. Ok, well, he wasn’t really known for goal scoring, but in the 95 playoffs, he proved he was more than capable. He also continued to entertain the fans with his fists, as he stood up for his teammates.

My favorite Blades player should come as no surprise, Mr. Dody Wood. I would guess most Blades fans would name Dody as their favorite. He was a great fighter, who would take on anyone. He could score some beauty goals, that hat trick in the 95 playoffs. He also gave of his time in community service. Those are just a few of the reasons I would give for Dody Wood being my favorite Blades player.

What do you think? Who’s your favorite Blade and why?

Hockey is my favorite sport. I have never played the sport, unless you count floor hockey played in my freshman gym class, but I love to watch it, listen to it, and talk about it.

So, how did a girl who adored George Brett and the Royals in her childhood become a fan of what could be a bloody and brutal sport? Simple answer to that question is the Kansas City Blades. Chances are if you are reading this, that very team made you a fan of hockey, too.

The first time I went to a hockey game, it was a Blades game. I am fairly sure it was during the 1992-1993 season. I went with the AFS group from my high school. There was one kid, who happened to be from Canada (or that is what I remember hearing at least), who seemed to know everything going on and had come dressed in a jersey and armed with a horn. It was an interesting evening at Kemper Arena, but I really had no clue what was going on that night. It was just so fast. I do not even remember if the Blades won or lost, but there was just something about the speed of the game and the feel of the building that intrigued me.

As it turned out, my mom had a friend at work who was a regular at Blades games and knew a few players personally. So, as a family, my mom, my sister, and myself attended more Blades games during the 1993-1994 season. At first my mom did not seem to enjoy the games. But, at some point, the tide eventually turned. My mom ended up getting us season tickets for the 1994-1995 season.

That 1994-1995 season was also my senior year of high school. It was magical. I learned the rules of the game, the way many people learn languages. Simple immersion. We would hang out after the games at Replay’s or in the North Tunnel and collect autographs from our favorite players. And I did not just stop at collecting autographs. I collected sticks, pucks, buttons. I collected anything that had to do with my favorite team. The stick collection started when my mom picked up our season tickets and watched the Blades morning skate. She uncovered my first treasure, a broken goalie stick. That first stick had belonged to Corwin Saurdiff. I still have it, as well sticks from Dody Wood, JF Quintin, Chris Tancill, and Larry Dyck…just to name a few.

As you know from your fandom or from checking out the site, 1994-1995 was not only magical for me in growing my love of the game and the team, but it was also truly magical for the Blades when they made their Turner Cup run. There were incredible games on that run. I was there for all the home games. I also had the amazing privilege to go on a road trip to see their first two games in the series against the Peoria Rivermen. It was an amazing experience

Even though the Blades did not win the Turner Cup that year or any year that I was part of their fandom, they had my heart and made me a hockey fan. And while they closed shop in 2001, I still love the game and I still love the Blades. Every fall, I long for those good old days…the chill of the air in Kemper, the smell of the fresh sheet of ice, and the sounds of the rough, tough game of hockey complete with PA announcer Steve Garrett’s “Ladies and gentlemen, Kan-sas City goal!” I carry those memories with me. I plan share those memories along the way in this blog.