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Hockey News

New Manufacturer Enters Hockey Card Market
9:53:51 AM

By Al Muir

Looks like Upper Deck will have a little competition in the hockey card market after all.

Despite what was announced as an exclusive in the sport, Softmotion, a designer and printer of 3D lenticular images based in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, Quebec, is releasing a set of NHL cards this February.

The first series of NHL Replay will feature 36 cards, with most of the cards featuring members of the six Canadian-based NHL teams. The cards are fully licensed by both the NHL and NHLPA and feature the sort of multiple-image photography popularized by Sportflics cards in the 1980s.

The cards are slightly oversized at 3 X 4--a concession that allowed them to produce the cards outside of UD's exclusive--and will come one per non-blind pack for an SRP of $1.99 and will be sold at convenience stores and hobby shops.

Another series, to be issued later this season, will include players from all 30 NHL clubs. Although that checklist has yet to be confirmed, we've learned Sidney Crosby will not be included.

It's also been confirmed that the second series will focus on highlight moments for each player that will make these cards more unique from other issues and more desirable. It's thought that the Alexander Ovechkin goal against Phoenix could be among the events captured for posterity in series 2.

Here is the checklist for series 1:

1 Jarome Iginla
2 Miikka Kiprusoff
3 Robyn Regehr
4 Tony Amonte
5 Dion Phaneuf
6 Brian Leetch
7 Ryan Smyth
8 Chris Pronger
9 Raffi Torres
10 Shawn Horcoff
11 Ales Hemsky
12 Jose Theodore
13 Alexei Kovalev
14 Saku Koivu
15 Andrei Markov
16 Mike Riberio
17 Michael Ryder
18 Pierre Turgeon
19 Daniel Alfredsson
20 Jason Spezza
21 Dany Heatley
22 Zdeno Chara
23 Dominik Hasek
24 Curtis Joseph
25 Mats Sundin
26 Eric Lindros
27 Tie Domi
28 Bryan McCabe
29 Darcy Tucker
30 Ed Belfour
31 Markus Naslund
32 Todd Bertuzzi
33 Ed Jovanovski
34 Brendan Morrison
35 Trevor Linden
36 Alexander Ovechkin

Collectors also can look for a promotional card of Jose Theodore (#1/36 - shown above) that is significantly thicker and slightly smaller. The image shows Theodore in action at the Heritage Classic.

We’ve also confirmed the existence of at least three 14 X 21 jumbo versions of the cards that will be made available at a later date. These include Amonte, Heatley and Curtis Joseph.

More info to come as it becomes available.