30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Friday, May 15, 2015

Patience is a Virtue

There are those who can't stand redemption cards.  There are those who accept them as part of our hobby.  And believe it or not... there are those who don't mind pulling them at all... because they actually tell themselves they get rewarded twice.

The first time is when they pull the redemption card and get excited about pulling a hit (I mean... a redemption for a hit).  And the second time when they receive the card in the mail from the company.

Although I try my best to stay positive... I won't waste your time trying to convince you that I'm one of those optimists.  I'm one of the in-betweeners.  I don't like redemption cards, but I understand their place in our hobby.

With that being said... I was pleasantly surprised when I pulled this out of a bubble mailer yesterday:


Eight months earlier... I pulled this 2014 Topps Chrome redemption card:


The first few months, I'd check every now and then to see the status of my redemption.  However... I've probably only checked once or twice since January.  With so many other cards to focus on, I sort of let this redemption slip my mind.

So maybe there is a little truth to being rewarded twice when you pull a redemption card.  That's assuming you're either patient or forgetful.


Speaking of being patient... I appreciate all of the bloggers out there who have sent me packages in the past six weeks or so and are patiently waiting for me to open them up:


Like I've mentioned in previous posts... life has been a little crazy and I'm a little backed up in terms of scanning and updating my collection.  That being said... I love going to the stack and grabbing an envelope in my spare time.

Last night, I set up my new scanner and decided to celebrate by opening up a package from Tony over at Off Hiatus Baseball Cards.


Back in March, he made one of the greatest card show purchases in hobby history... when he bought a complete box of 1991 Topps Superstar Standups for one dollar.  Now that's the kind of deal I'm always on the lookout for.

The two of us share a deep appreciation for oddball issues.  That's why I want to assure him that I'll give this Tony Gwynn candy dispenser a warm and loving home.



He'll be welcomed by close to 1,000 other Gwynn collectibles, including this 1988 Starting Lineup Talking Baseball card:



Tony actually sent me the entire San Diego Padres set that includes Garry, Goose, Benny, and a very early issue of Sandy Alomar:



Thank you Tony for this awesome package of San Diego Padres oddballs.  As soon as things settle down, I'll send some Milwaukee Brewers for your collection.  I'm just asking for a little more patience.  I promise to make it worth the wait.

I'll try to get to at least one or two more packages this weekend.  As of right now, I have a stack of bubble mailers from Bob Walk the Plank, Night Owl Cards, Too Many Verlanders, The Home Run Apple, and of course... Jaybarkerfan's Junk.  Plus there's a pair of boxes from Johnny's Trading Spot and This Card is Cool that have been sitting in my office for at least a month.  But those will probably need to wait until my summer break when I have a little more free time to sift through their treasured boxes.

Thanks again to all of you for being patient... including those who are waiting for return packages.  Like the people at Topps say... "better late, than never".

Happy Friday and sayonara!

7 comments:

Zippy Zappy said...

I've been waiting on a Tsuyoshi Wada Bowman Sterling Japanese edition autograph for two years and Topps doesn't even have the decency to ask me if I want a replacement for it.

Anonymous said...

I haven't had much experience with redemptions because I generally don't buy the kinds of packs that have redemptions. The one I always remember was supposed to be a Tug McGraw autograph, but instead ended up being Chad Qualls plus a couple of unopened packs. Qualls + packs is not even remotely = McGraw.

I used to have a teacher who often said "Patience is a virtue"... Of course, he usually said it when we asked him when he was going to get around to grading our tests.

Tony L. said...

The only redemption I ever got I sent off to Keith at the Home Run Apple, I think, and then never thought about it again!

And just think, Fuji, you have another envelope coming your way from me already!

Man said...

Never had an issue with redemptions-I even took a chance on a redemption I picked up at TriStar and it arrived last week from Topps.

Drew said...

Beautiful Abreu! Glad everything worked out well!

The Bucs Stop Here said...

That. Abreu. Is. GORGEOUS.

Also, Fuji, you won my contest two weeks ago! Check you Yahoo email or shoot me on at nsbell440@gmail.com

Cheers!

Fuji said...

zippy - that sucks. what happened to customer service? if i were you i'd call them up. not sure if you want to go this route, but a few years ago i wrote up a post about my displeasure with UD and their redemption process. i then posted a link on twitter and immediately got a response from them. they politely asked me to take down the post and offered to cooperate with me.

shlatbotnik - wow. i'd be furious with that redemption replacement. i've wanted to add a mcgraw autograph to my collection for a few years now.

tony - received it this weekend. haven't opened it up yet, but i look forward to seeing what's inside. i just picked up a few cards for you on comc. i'll have them shipped after i pick up a few more card for fellow bloggers.

bman - nice. glad to hear some positive redemption stories.

drew - thanks!

nathan - thanks for the contest! sent you an email.