Upper Deck prides ourselves on staying engaged with our fans and when we saw a tweet from one collector, we were instantly intrigued.

How did he amass such an incredible collection of these Mega Patch cards from Premier? We had to see more pictures and hear more of Jay’s story. We reached out to Jay and here’s what he had to share:

“As a set collector, Premier has been one of my favorites since the product was released and the main reason was the Mega Patch insert cards. Since pulling my first patch from a pack, I decided I was going to commit to not only completing the set, but to do my best at getting ALL of these incredible patch cards. Off to work I went! I’ve been collecting them since the first season and have increased my secondary market purchases in an effort to keep the collection growing.

“As a sports fan, card collector and memorabilia enthusiast, I feel the Mega Patch cards are the perfect link between the hobby of card collecting and memorabilia collections. There is no other product that allows you to not only collect amazing cards, but to grow a game-used memorabilia collection at the same time.

“My favorite ones are obviously the short printed commemorative, shoulder and sleeve patches. They often showcase the most colorful and vibrant patches. My two favorites are the Johnny Gaudreau and Aaron Ekblad Shoulder Patch cards. The Ekblad I pulled from a pack, and the Gaudreau I bought on the secondary market. As a Flames fan, nice Gaudreau cards are always high on my list, and the Ekblad card is just cool, and I will find the missing card to complete both 2-card patches, I just have to be patient!

“My Mega Patch collection is now over 500 cards and is starting to become the focal point of my entire collection as it tends to grab everybody’s attention when they walk into my card room.

“I have been collecting hockey cards for over 30 years and a few years ago I decided I was going to dedicate a space specifically to showcase my cards. The room in the pictures was built for me to do this. People often wanted to see my cards, and showing them was a bit of a task being that they were always stored, so a display of my favorites seemed like a good idea, and honestly, I enjoy being around them and being able to see them on a daily basis.

“The room itself is an eye opener for sure and people are often thrown off by its size and how the cards are displayed. At the moment I have about 700 cards on display with most of these cards being short-printed (numbered to 15 or lower) and 55 are 1-of-1 cards. I have dozens of binders holding all of the sets I have organized and logged. I estimate by the time I am done sorting and logging all of my sets, there will be over 200 binders! And yes, there is an expansion plan in place for the room. I recently got approval from my wife!

“My wife has had her ups and downs when it comes to my collection. We have moved it several times (clearly each of those moves was a “down”), but I do see her enjoying the collection more now that it is displayed, and she may not say it, but I think she enjoys taking people through the room if they ask! The collection wasn’t always a lot of fun when it was in protective cases and boxes, but she is having more fun with it now that they have their own room.

“Having collected for so long, I’m amazed by the fact I still have the same passion for the hobby as I did when I was a kid so I’ve got every intention on keeping it going! When I’m done collecting (whenever that is, and not likely anytime soon!) the collection will be put up for sale for charity, the Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society.”

Truly Jay’s collection is special and we’ll be watching as he continues to grow it when 2017-18 NHL Premier releases later on this summer. If you might have any cards Jay is on the look-out for, feel free to reach out to him at jay@loandoctor.ca.