Card Company Profile: SA-GE

Founded: 1998

Location: Lake Elsinore, CA

Notable Current Brands: SA-GE, HIT, Aspire

Customer Service Contact Information: E-mail: customerservice@sa-ge.com
Phone: (951)678-6449

Background:

In some ways, SA-GE Collectibles is a direct descendant of Upper Deck. That's because co-founders Tom Geideman and Robert Sandlak met while working there, beginning a partnership that would result in the birth of their very own card company in 1998.

Instead of attempting to create another industry giant, the co-founders set out to create a company that would specialize in products with relatively small print runs. Sets that focused on recent draft picks and featured lots of autographs from incoming rookies turned out to be perfect for this type of approach.

SA-GE was several years ahead of a current hobby trend when it first released a product with an autographed or memorabilia card in every pack, and it continues to offer all in-pack autographs - no redemption cards. The company has printed football and basketball draft pick sets in the past but has concentrated solely on football since 2006.

Every season, collectors can expect to find players who sign only for SA-GE products before they make it to the NFL. Other unique insert cards have come from the Aspire brand, including School Pride cards with stickers from players' college helmets and game-used ticket and program cards from BCS bowl games.

Celebrating its tenth anniversary in early 2008 with a redesign of its website and a partnership with the Hula Bowl, SA-GE looks like it will continue to fulfill the vision of its founders for some time to come.