Cards
2025 Upper Deck The Cup hockey set includes slabbed rookie cards with new Grading Chip
When Upper Deck’s popular 2024-25 The Cup hockey set was released this week, it included special Rookie Patch Auto cards encapsulated in a slab that includes a new electronic grading chip.
Each tin of Upper Deck The Cup cards includes one RPA card encapsulated in cases from The Authority with an Uncirculated designation. The trading cards were slabbed as a part of the manufacturing process prior to being available for purchase.
Related Content:
The Grading Chip is a grading label that can be permanently and ultrasonically sealed into an encapsulated case or slab. It is designed by Dynamics Inc., a new security and collectible technology company. The company also owns The Authority, a multi-category collectibles e-commerce platform.
With the new technology, a card or collectible can be slabbed and sold at retail without requiring the case to be broken and the item re-encapsulated after grading. The Authority Grading Chip can be ultrasonically welded to the surface of a pre-existing case, allowing the original case to remain intact.
“Retail collectibles sold in encapsulation cases routinely includes a unique designation such as an Uncirculated designation,” said Jeffrey Mullen, CEO of Dynamics Inc. “This designation carries value. If you were to break open the case, you would lose that designation and you would lose that value. With Grading Chip, you can now grade encapsulated cases without needing to re-encapsulate the collectible.
“For the collectible, it’s a safer way to grade as you don’t risk damaging the collectible by re-encapsulating it. For the collector, it is a more valuable way to grade as you don’t lose any original collectible designations.”
To celebrate the launch of the Grading Chip, any collector who submits an Uncirculated slab to The Authority from either the 2023-24 or 2024-25 Upper Deck The Cup sets will have their graded Rookie cards slabbed with the Grading Chip at no cost.
The Authority does not charge for submissions or the vaulting of Authority Slabs, so a collector can submit, vault and grade Authority Uncirculated slabbed The Cup cards at no charge.
