[shivelycore]

Guys, I love bashing Topps. They just give you so many reasons to do so. And I used to complain about redemptions, HOWEVER, I have changed my tune recently. Think about it, it is impossible to get 20-50 players to sign cards in the small window between printing them and releasing them, especially when this process has to occur during baseball season. The alternative is to have sticker auto's, and I would rather have an on-card redemption over a sticker auto any day of the week. Sticker auto's are hideous and so impersonal. For me, it adds to the mystique of an auto card to know that the player held my card in his hands and signed it, instead of signing massive sheets of glorified mailing labels that sit in Topps file cabinets and are used in every product for a 2 or 3 year span. I'll take on-card redemptions auto's over stickers all day, and that's the decision that Topps has to make and I am glad that they choose, IMO, the lesser of the 2 evils

While I get what you're saying, as someone who routinely opens old wax, Efffffff Redemptions. I've gotten expired redemptions for a Clemetnte Relic (which cmon, you didnt have this on hand?) and a Greinke Autograph.

If you cant have the auto by the time the series will be out then dont include them and put it in another series. They know when they want to have this stuff out, they can see if they can schedule time with the player before then or push them back to a later release.

[gmccarth]

I don't bust nearly as much wax as a lot of people here, but as an observer of these breaks, I have to say it disgusts me that so many people are pulling out these redemption autos.

Topps needs to get its act together. There is no reason why there should be this many redemptions. I personally think it kills a lot of the fun out of pulling packs. Now you have to send in a redemption card, hope it doesn't get lost in the mail, hope Topps doesn't lose your address, hope they send you the right card and hope it isn't damaged when it arrives 4-8 weeks later or more.

To top it off, some of the redemptions don't even tell you which player you are going to get.

That is a whole lot of trouble and needless suspense to go through considering what people are paying for these cards.

You forgot hoping that they ever even have the card to redeem it. Substitutions are not exactly common, but still too frequent.

[keyser soze]

While I get what you're saying, as someone who routinely opens old wax, Efffffff Redemptions. I've gotten expired redemptions for a Clemetnte Relic (which cmon, you didnt have this on hand?) and a Greinke Autograph.

If you cant have the auto by the time the series will be out then dont include them and put it in another series. They know when they want to have this stuff out, they can see if they can schedule time with the player before then or push them back to a later release.

Absolutely agree that the expiration is a huge problem, albeit a necessary evil.

But if they follow your advise in the 2nd paragraph, that will only lead to a lesser product and just end up screwing collectors in the end. I am sure that a lot of the time Topps has signing sessions booked and ready to go and the players cancel on them. Topps is completely at the players mercy and not a lot of players care whether collectors like redemeptions or not, so autograph signings for Topps are probably one of the first appointments to cancel/reschedule should a better (i.e. higher paying) public appearance pop up. Topps surely can't pay a lot for auto's, and can you imagine how bad it sucks to sit there for a day or 2 signing your name hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of times? Players probably look for reasons to cancel/reschedule, which leads to redemptions

[ceocards]

Guys, I love bashing Topps. They just give you so many reasons to do so. And I used to complain about redemptions, HOWEVER, I have changed my tune recently. Think about it, it is impossible to get 20-50 players to sign cards in the small window between printing them and releasing them, especially when this process has to occur during baseball season. The alternative is to have sticker auto's, and I would rather have an on-card redemption over a sticker auto any day of the week. Sticker auto's are hideous and so impersonal. For me, it adds to the mystique of an auto card to know that the player held my card in his hands and signed it, instead of signing massive sheets of glorified mailing labels that sit in Topps file cabinets and are used in every product for a 2 or 3 year span. I'll take on-card redemptions auto's over stickers all day, and that's the decision that Topps has to make and I am glad that they choose, IMO, the lesser of the 2 evils

+1

I hate redemptions too...but you're mad at the wrong party. It's the players' fault for not getting the cards/stickers/whatever back to Topps in a timely manner (or sometimes not at all) that causes the problem.

So if Topps decides to includes autos of Player X in a certain set, they make the cards, and send them out to the player. Player X (for whatever reason - justified or not) doesn't return them. So Topps can either A) Say "sorry collectors, we know we told you Player X (who just happens to be the hottest rookie out there right now) would have autos in this set, but there won't be any" or B) Put in redemption placeholders.

Which would you prefer? What would your answer be if you had pre-ordered 3 cases of the stuff based on the fact that Player X was on the pre-release auto list?

[shivelycore]

Simply get the player autos a year in advance. They are going to be inserts as it is and yeah you might not be able to get something specific to the previous year (ie 2011 info on a 2012 card) but if they arent ready a year ahead of time, do not advertise them.

[capncush]

to me, autos have kinda lost their flare. most guys now have terrible ones or dont care anymore. i understand that they have to sign like literally, a million of them at a time so i dont fault them completely, i would probably do the same thing, but its still not as cool. 2 prime examples i can think of, jeff francouer and freddie freeman. if you can find one of jeffs usa autos, theres a nice full name signature on it. even when you get him to sign something in person, he does his nice full signature... but look at any of his cards, and theres a 'J' and a 'F' and a line... freddie freeman is the same thing. he used to do his full name, now its basically 2 '7's with a line through it supposedly being "F"s... Another i can think of is daniel hudson, VERY pretty signature in 2010 i thought.... its still pretty, but doesnt sign the 'daniel' anymore, just the 'D'... oh well...

everyone gimme yo dave justice 90s inserts

[ceocards]

Simply get the player autos a year in advance. They are going to be inserts as it is and yeah you might not be able to get something specific to the previous year (ie 2011 info on a 2012 card) but if they arent ready a year ahead of time, do not advertise them.

How do you propose they do that for draft picks, etc?

Or for on-card autos (for cards that haven't been produced yet)? Or are you ok with 100% sticker autos?

Not trying to be argumentative, just trying to keep the discussion going

[dkotart]

The thing I think they need to change with redemption cards is the expiration date. Topps knows how many redemption cards they put out they should have a card for everyone. Topps also knows that not every redemption card will be pulled right away. They need to quit giving these cards out as replacements. These cards are marked for redemption's and they should only be handed out when said redemption is redeemed.

[shivelycore]

How do you propose they do that for draft picks, etc?

Or for on-card autos (for cards that haven't been produced yet)? Or are you ok with 100% sticker autos?

Not trying to be argumentative, just trying to keep the discussion going

You have to wait an extra year for the Draft picks then. I know there's a rush to get stuff the strasburgs and harpers out there but if you arent going to have them in there as it is and have to wait for a redemption, then just wait to put them in a set.

I dont have a major problem with sticker autos as it is. I just with they'd come up with better designs for the cards that have those.

[johnxgodfree]

the only issue with year in advance.... a lot can change with a players "hotness" in a year... some could be the best thing going one day and fizzle to nothing the next month...and the strasburgs and harpers? I don't know they seem to sorta have a lot of hype and selling power behind them and tend to drive product sales.

redemptions are there because for whatever reason the cards/stickers/signing couldn't happen within the window that was needed for schedules for printing/shipping. simple as is. if they could do it in pack they will always do it in pack you think topps wants to pay the labor and overhead costs to run an unnecessary part of the business like dealing with redemptions?

the guy that runs leaf posts over on another forum and he explained the redemption thing really well there as far as stickers/shortcuts on cut autos/reasons for redemptions and stickers.

In defense of the other companies who rely on stickers far more than us, manufacturing is FAR MORE DIFFICULT than you can imagine... There are too many moving pieces to coordinate for all to cgo swimmingly.

The celebrities/athletes cannot get shipments of cards every week to sign. They just wont do the deals.

The celebrities/athletes are not sitting at home waiting for me, Topps or anyone else to ship stuff to sign... we have to work around them...

The factories that print/package are so jam packed booked we cannot miss print dates or it could result in items being pushed back MONTHS in some cases.... collectors hate delays (and companies cannot afford the float) too....

The cost efficiencies to print (and keep product affordable) require whole sets to be printed at once... Therefore, if a player cannot sign in the window as others can. He either signs stickers or gets redemptions...

Trust me, it aint easy... we do more on-card as percentage than the big 3.... It aint easy.... BG