Many people hate getting redemption cards. It’s like opening your box of cards that guarantees autos inside and finding an “I Owe You” note inside. Not cool, right? We get it, but more importantly and maybe less known, the manufacturers get it too. Representatives at Topps have admitted to hating having to insert redemption cards in their products, but what is the alternative?? The alternative to redemption cards is...not having a chance to receive that players auto in that product at all. When a player is not available to sign cards at the time of manufacturing, the companies insert redemption cards as part of an agreement with the player to sign at their next available time. This also allows the companies to promote more names on the checklist than not. We all know the redemption process is not perfect. Sometimes it takes months to receive the auto, sometimes we receive something completely different than what was owed us, sometimes the card comes damaged or doesn’t even come at all. Is all of that not better than receiving nothing at all? Perhaps that is for the individual collector to decide. In the attached photos, this particular collector waited patiently over a year to receive his mystery auto redemption. And because it was a mystery redemption, he didn’t even have the peace of mind of knowing what he might receive. A year after redeeming the card, he finally received this 2017 Topps, Chipper Jones, All-Star commemorative relic auto, numbered 1/1. And he was stoked! Do you think he would have rather not had any chance at all to receive anything? Because that would be the alternative to having no redemption cards in products. The moral of the story: Patience pays off! Know that the manufacturers are working hard to provide you with the best possible experience through collecting. Next time you receive a redemption card, be happy, be patient and understand it’s all part of the hobby, our hobby, and without them, we would have nothing at all. Keep enjoying collecting!
Comments (1)
Sweet!! I like redemption cards!