Upland has just released its NFLPA Legits Guidebook (November 5, 2021) and it has important information regarding Fan Points and Replicas. It answers many questions regarding the use of 2020 Legits, and the utility for the common Essential Legits.
TLDR (Too long, don’t read) – collect Essentials and Mementos of your favorite player/team from the 2020 season to create collections and grow your Fan Points. Having a high Fan Points score for a specific team or player gives you a better chance at obtaining 2021 Mementos of that team, and a better chance at getting an autograph of that player. Blend 5 essentials to get a Replica that is limited in number (unclear if this function is available for 2020 Legits). Use Mementos, Replicas and Essentials to make collections, get UPX bonuses and Fan Point boosts. Top 3 team Fan Point leaders at seasons end get custom 1 of 3 Legit.
With the release of the Guidebook, here are the basics of Replicas in a nutshell. Replicas are a carbon copy of Mementos. Each Memento is a unique 1 of 1, and replicas are limited in number. The fan score of a Memento is excatly 2x that of the Replica.
What is the end goal?
Watch the leaderboard at each stadium. At the culmination of the post season, the top 3 Fan Points holders for each team will win a super rare one of three NFT catered to your team. If you aren’t looking to compete on that level, having high Fan Points of a specific team will give you a better chance of getting their Mementos and Autographs. These Mementos and Autographs are excellent personal collectibles, that you will be able to show off in your Upland home, or sell them for UPX or USD in the future.
How do you get Mementos?
2020 Mementos can only be bought as part of Bundles of 10 from Upland. Mementos aren’t cheap, but if you are willing to invest UPX or outside fiat/crypto, they are easy to get. It is unclear if the merging mechanics will be in place for the 2020 Legits, and if it will be possible to get 2020 Replicas. 2021 Mementos are minted prior to weekly games at the specific team’s store/stadium. Players who have higher Fan Points of that specific team will likely have a better chance at getting a Memento.
How do you get Repicas?
To get a Replica, you must merge 5 Essentials of the same season. When merging them, these essentials get deleted forever. In return you get one Replica. The Replica has a small chance of being a Game Ball. If the Replica is not a game ball, one of the five Essentials used for the merge will be randomly chosen to influence the resulting Replica. For example, if the randomly drawn Essential is a Superstar jersey, the resulting Replica is more likely to be a Superstar player, more likely to be a jersey, and/or more likely to be from the same team as the Superstar player. Similarly if the randomly drawn Essential is an Impact Player cap, the resulting Replica is more likely to be an Impact Player, more likely to be a cap, and more likely to be from the same team as the Impact Player.
The strategy for the 2021 season can be easy to navigate if you are trying to get a specific player Replica. The first thing you would want to do is find 4 other players who are collecting a specific player of a different team. As a group you should ensure that the players you are looking for are of the same fan score, and the type (jersey/cap) is the same. If you want to get a Tom Brady Replica Jersey, your best chance is to buy infinite Tom Brady Essentials Jerseys. Your 4 other friends would do the same with their favorite player. You would then trade the Essentials between each other such that each of you have a set of the 5. Note that essentials are minted individually, and you are able to choose the player and jersey/cap that you want. When burning them to receive a replica, the influencing card of the 5 merged will obviously be a a player that one of the 5 of you collect, so you have a higher chance of the Replica being a player that one of you collect, the jersey/cap that you decided upon and/or from the same team as one that you collect. It doesn’t guarantee you a Replica of one of those players, but statistically speaking it seems that this would be one of the ideal strategies. Based on the outcome of the Replica, you would also trade those accordingly between the group. If the resulting replica is one that nobody in the group needs, you could trade it outside of your group or in the future post it for sale. It is unclear yet as to what the prices of 2021 Essentials or Mementos will be. This could become an expensive mission. Since 2021 Essentials will be minted at the team’s home stadiums, it would make sense to have your group 5 friends not only all collect different teams, but that each of those players should primarily have their block explorer live in that city.
Having said that, other ways to increase your chances of getting a Tom Brady Replica Jersey would be to merge:
- 5 Jerseys
- 5 Elite Players Essentials
- 5 Players on Tampa Bay
- 5 Player Jerseys on Tampa Bay
The safest strategy to increasing your team’s Fan Points would be to merge 5 of the most common essentials (Contributor Cap Essentials) of that specific team. The resulting Replica is more likely to be a Contributor player, more likely to be a cap, and/or more likely to be from the same team as the Contributor player. Since the Replica has a Fan Point value 6 times that of the Essential, there is a chance that you might get something more valuable. As a minimum your fan points will be 20% higher than the combination of the Essentials you merged. If you luck out you could get something more valuable. Statistically speaking, when merging Essentials into Replicas, you won’t get what you are looking for. This will likely drive you in the direction of doing one of the following two things:
1. Trade with someone to get something you do want. If you are lucky to know what you are looking for, or know of someone who wants what you have this can be a mutually beneficial opportunity. In order to support this, the Upland Guide has created two community spaces:
– a user directory where you can create a profile that includes your favorite team(s) and personal social media accounts or methods for people to connect with you. Additionally, you can do an advanced search and find players that like a specific team.
– An NFL section in our Discord server. You can claim specific team roles in order to see team specific channels to find like minded players looking to obtain Legits of that team.
2. Sell the Replica for UPX/USD that will help you buy more Essentials, or other Legits you might want. If you are less connected to the community and/or don’t have the time to create these personal connections, this could be a great way to get something in return for your Replica. Selling Replicas on the secondary market will be done through Fan Stores and also bring value to the store owner as he will likely earn some form of commission on the sale.
How do NFLPA Legits Collections work?
Similar to property collections, there will be team collection for each of the 32 teams. By completing collections, you will receive a one time UPX bonus, as well as a boosted Fan Points, similar to how property collections work. For each Legit to be placed in a collection, you want to aim to have higher Fan Points for that Legit. Essentials are the common Legits and therefore contribute the fewest Fan Points (See complete table here). Replicas have a Fan Point value 6 times that of an Essential of the same type. Mementos have a Fan Point value 2 times that of a Replica, or 12 times that of an Essential. Getting boosts on Legits of higher Fan Points will give you better opportunities to mint Mementos and get Autographs of players on that team, thus giving you the opportunity to further increase your Fan Points.
In summary, all of this leads to players connecting to one another, creating sub communities around their favorite teams. Players will be trading and/or selling Legits that don’t fit in with their overall strategy, giving other players an opportunity to facilitate these sales in Fan Shops. Sellers will be able to earn UPX or USD from the sale of their Legit, and Fan Shop operators will also earn from the sale. Having other options for ways to earn UPX or USD in Upland is extremely important for the Upland economy. NFL Player Legits are a new and exciting edition to Upland!