How Upper Deck Builds Hockey Cards with Paul Zickler (Ep. 272)

That Card Collectors Podcast · Oct 22, 2026 · 1h 4m

INSIDE UPPER DECK

This week we’re joined by Paul Zickler, Director of SportsBrand at Upper Deck, for a rare look behind the curtain at how one of the hobby’s biggest manufacturers thinks about the cards we collect.

Having seen the trading-card business from the rights-holder, player, and manufacturer sides, Paul brings a fascinating perspective on what actually goes into getting a card from an idea to a pack - and why the process can take up to two years.

We go back to the beginnings of Upper Deck hockey andexplore how more than three decades of products evolved into the range collectors know…