LA Kings’ Quinton Byfield: New Exclusive Spokesperson for Upper Deck

In addition to serving his first stint with the LA Kings, Quinton Byfield has now become an exclusive spokesperson for Upper Deck.

CARLSBAD, Calif. — These past few weeks have been pivotal in the career of Quinton Byfield, to say the least. After playing the majority of the season in the American Hockey League, the 18-year-old, at last, got his shot at the NHL when the LA Kings called him up before making his debut on Apr. 28. But, this is just the beginning for the young phenom.

This past Tuesday, sports trading card giant Upper Deck introduced an exclusive lineup of Quinton Byfield autographed memorabilia.

Already deemed one of hockey’s future prodigies, Byfield made history last October when he became the highest-drafted Black player when the Kings selected him with the second-overall selection. Now, Byfield joins Upper Deck to solidify his place as one of hockey’s brightest future stars.

This past week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Gabriel Garcia, Director of Upper Deck Authenticated, about what interested him most about Byfield being a spokesperson for the company and how the memorabilia industry has thrived during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Byfield’s Available Items

When Upper Deck announced their lineup of his signed memorabilia earlier this week, the collective interest of collectors had immediately piqued, being left to wonder which items of the youngster’s collectors can expect to see.

“We have a variety of different signed memorabilia of Quinton,” Garcia told me. “A variety of images featuring his Sudbury Wolves uniform; there are some images, signed images, celebrating his [Canadian Hockey League] Rookie of the Year in 2019; we have some signed jerseys of his Sudbury Wolves as well as Team Canada signed jerseys.”

Garcia wasn’t done there, though. Byfield, while his tenure with the club is only six games old, has plenty of Kings merchandise, as well.

“We have an LA Kings signed puck of Quinton as well as a dual-signed Team Canada image featuring him and Alexis Lafreniere — both the No. 1 and No. 2 top picks in the 2020 NHL Draft,” Garcia explained. “So, it’s a variety of very unique memorabilia of Quinton’s.”

As for future memorabilia, Garcia was confident that fans and collectors alike will not be disappointed with what will be in store.

“In the next upcoming months, we can definitely expect some of his on-ice equipment — that being a signed LA Kings helmet and signed gloves, and signed jerseys,” he added. “As you know, he just got called up [to the NHL] a few weeks ago, so there will also be some signed images featured in the LA Kings uniform in the upcoming month.”

Becoming a Spokesperson

Whether it’s his sheer talent on the ice or making history off the ice, Quinton Byfield has garnered a plethora of career momentum thus far. Beyond these points, though, lies the youngster’s personality.

Already known to have an exceptionally likable and mature persona, Byfield the person has arguably attracted Upper Deck more than Byfield the competitor — and that speaks volumes given how much the latter has to offer.

Garcia couldn’t help but emphasize this.

“Quinton is a very gifted player,” he began. “We’re very aware and excited [about] his unique God-given talent on the ice, but his work ethic and maturity off the ice is something that was more intriguing and excites us for Quinton himself as a person to represent the Upper Deck Authenticated family, and to live up to being an Upper Deck exclusive spokesperson. His work ethic, maturity, and personality really excites us as a young star in the league moving forward. And to represent Upper Deck as a very great, young kid is the most exciting for us.”

Two Lucrative Markets

In addition to Byfield, Upper Deck has also made Alexis Lafreniere a spokesperson.

Lafreniere, who was drafted immediately before Byfield last October when the New York Rangers selected him with their first-overall pick, was signed as Upper Deck’s youngest-ever spokesperson. However, while the two draft picks from 2020 play in two of the largest sports markets in North America, their current locations are nothing more than a happy coincidence.

Upper Deck signed Lafreniere in 2019 — well over a year before the Rangers drafted him — while Byfield appeared on the company’s radar around the same time. So, to suggest that luck was on Upper Deck’s side is definitely something of an understatement.

“There’s definitely a form of luck of how everything lined up in the world,” Garcia admitted. “As No. 1, No. 2 picks, to line up in the market that they are was definitely a blessing. New York and L.A., the top markets, were extremely a great gift. We had [our investment in Byfield and Lafreniere] earmarked years before. With Alexis, we signed him as an exclusive spokesperson back in 2019, and Quinton Byfield shortly after. So, prior to them being drafted, prior to them hitting their [respective] NHL markets, we had earmarked them as, moving forward, Upper Deck exclusive spokespeople. So, we’re excited [about] the future, what it entails with both kids, but definitely a blessing, and [we are] super excited about them being able to feature their skills and personality in both the New York and L.A. markets.”

Success During the Pandemic

To suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound, not to mention, unprecedented impact on the world goes without saying. Yet, while many industries have struggled during this juncture, the opposite resulted in the memorabilia world.

Garcia and the entire Upper Deck family are thankful for this and were determined to strike when the proverbial iron was hot.

“Yes, the market is extremely hot right now and continues to be going back to the beginning of the pandemic. It has continued to stay hot, the overall collectible market,” noted Upper Deck Authentic’s director. “What we experienced, I feel like everybody, kind of, in the world at one point was really looking for things to do, looking for hobbies, and looking for entertainment opportunities with their family.”

Yet, while those who have already been avid collectors took advantage, it also piqued the interest of fans who relived fond childhood memories of trading cards with friends.

“I think what’s been great is people who collected and the collectors who had collected in the past remember how fun that hobby was, and now looking to do that with their kids,” Garcia beamed. “So, the market is definitely still hot. It was the increase of bringing some collectors back into the market during that time. The collecting market as a whole is very hot.”

As for Byfield and Lafreniere and their relationship with Upper Deck, they are in some very good company.

“There are [more] of our exclusive athletes: Connor McDavid, who is an exclusive Upper Deck spokesman,” Garcia said. “He’s having an MVP year this year. And Michael Jordan memorabilia going back to last April with his documentary, ‘The Last Dance‘, that was pretty much presented to the entire world, as you remember, brought attention to Michael’s greatness. So, in a time where people were looking for things to do, looking to collect, and then you have– I wouldn’t say even arguably — the greatest basketball player of all-time in your living room, presented to the world was a huge opportunity and brought a lot of attention to the collectible market.”

Where to Find QB’s Signed Memorabilia

For collectors and fans hoping to acquire some of Quinton Byfield’s signed memorabilia from Upper Deck, Garcia has explained how.

“Fans can expect to collect and find Quinton Byfield as well as Alexis Lafreniere trading cards on our digital platform, upperdeckepack.com,” he said. “So, this is a unique online system that you can open your card digitally, but you can choose to have the physical card shipped to you, or you can stay online. And it’s a platform that you can learn to trade with thousands of others around the globe. It’s a huge collectible community and based on the online platform that it has, you have opportunity to engage with a collector community, and look to trade, and really interact in this online platform. Again, it’s upperdeckepack.com.”

Home to the world’s greatest athletes, including Wayne Gretzky and LeBron James, Upper Deck has boasted the best of what the sports world has to offer in regards to memorabilia, and they have no plans of stopping any time soon. This is emphasized thanks to their partnership with Quinton Byfield who, while his NHL career is still very young, is well on his way to becoming one of the premier faces and names in professional hockey.

So, whether you are an avid collector, a casual fan or anywhere in between, be sure to check out Upper Deck today.

To learn more about Upper Deck and its partnership with Quinton Byfield, I encourage you to visit www.upperdeck.com, www.UpperDeckBlog.com, or follow Upper Deck on Facebook
(UDAuthenticated), Instagram (UpperDeckEnt and UpperDeckSports), Twitter (@UpperDeckSports), and YouTube (udvids). You can also view the entire Quinton Byfield portfolio at https://upperdeckstore.com/memorabilia/hockey-memorabilia/quinton-byfield.html.

*Special thanks to Gabriel Garcia and to Greg Ball for their contributions to this interview.