What would YOU do?

You'll need to insert something for the redemption that you favor greatly to really answer from the heart. Player collectors should have no problem substituting their player in this exercise.

I bought this redemption on ebay around 1-2 years back. I kept it handy, knowing the redemption was well into the future, but I was in no hurry to redeem it. I have looked for another one, but have not seen another offered. There have been no final cards posted for sale either. January of this year, after still seeing NO copies out there, I started a dialog with UD about the availability of the card. Obviously I was dealing with non-collectors who don't understand my dilemma and I got canned answers each time. I checked back in this week and the same BS answers. Garvey and Cey are both prolific signers, so I don't get why this card wasn't available for redemption as of issue!?

Here are a few select phrases I was given over the last 6 months...

Jan 30 "We are still waiting for this card to be signed and completed. We do not have a set timetable on when these cards will be signed and completed."
Jun 30 "Hello, We have looked into that redemption and we are currently still waiting for the card to be completed and returned back to us by the athletes. We do continually contact the athletes to push and sign the cards but we are currently still waiting. We suggest you redeem the card and if the card has still not been completed after 45 days you may request a replacement."
Jul 8 "We are currently waiting for the athlete to sign the card. We do on a constant basic contact the athlete to push them to sign but at this time we are currently still waiting for him to sign and return them. We suggest you redeem the card, if the card is not completed within 45 days from the date you redeemed it you may request a replacement. When a replacement request is asked for we ask that you state 4-5 players or teams that you are interested in, there are no guarantees that you will receive those players or teams but we will do our best to pick from your list. The card you will be receiving will be of equal Beckett value."
Aug 8 "Hello, We have looked into that redemption and we are currently still waiting for those cards to be completed and returned back to us. Our suggestion would be to redeem the card if you would like, if the card still has not been fulfilled after 45 days you may request a replacement.

At one point I asked if the card was even made, because you can see that they said waiting on it to be signed and completed. I got no straight answer.

Anyway, to the question of the day….IF YOU OWN THIS FOR YOUR "FAVORITE" COLLECTING FOCUS, DO YOU REDEEM IT IN HOPES OF IT BEING MADE OR DO YOU LEAVE IT UNSCRATCHED?

I say this because if the actual card is never made, there presumably were only 10 copies of the redemption card. How many are hidden away or will go unredeemed? How many will be scratched and redeemed, thus "ruining" the redemption card if you don't get the actual card? It is nothing like the good old redemptions with cool images on them, but the unredeemed card is a borderline collectible itself, especially with the code unscratched. However, that is one less copy out of 10 out there if the cards do eventually hit the market. I am just concerned that with no other copies hitting the market to date but mine, that this may be worth more (to me, at least) unredeemed then a "comparable replacement card. If I can't have the actual card, I do want a redemption card…but ideally I get both!

I HAVE UNTIL TOMORROW TO DECIDE, THEN IT IS TOO LATE.

I'd redeem, and keep the neatly scratched redemption card for the PC. The lack of the covering material wouldn't bother me that much, as those scratch off pretty cleanly. It would still look nice in the PC. And hopefully you get the card at some point.

gracecollector said:

I'd redeem, and keep the neatly scratched redemption card for the PC. The lack of the covering material wouldn't bother me that much, as those scratch off pretty cleanly. It would still look nice in the PC. And hopefully you get the card at some point.

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I'd go this route as well. Then hope an unscratched one comes up someday.

Ryan

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gracecollector said:

I'd redeem, and keep the neatly scratched redemption card for the PC. The lack of the covering material wouldn't bother me that much, as those scratch off pretty cleanly. It would still look nice in the PC. And hopefully you get the card at some point.

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/thread!

Seems pretty easy- redeem and if you get the card then great. If you get a replacement of agreeable value then sell it and get a PC Card of your liking.

Never understood the redemption card having any value.

Lancemountain said:

Seems pretty easy- redeem and if you get the card then great. If you get a replacement of agreeable value then sell it and get a PC Card of your liking.

Never understood the redemption card having any value.

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I love to have them with the card itself. But it's not a necessary thing I couldn't do without.

predatorkj said:

I love to have them with the card itself. But it's not a necessary thing I couldn't do without.

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Oh sure, I can understand that of course. Its risking the actual card to keep the redemption card itself unredeemed that I don't understand

Yeah that's a whole new level of craziness
Scratch that sucker. It's what it was designed to do


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I would redeem. i always keep the redemption card so when the card comes in I keep it with it. I could care less it was scratched...

I think the point that many may be missing is that I believe the chances of getting the actual card are slim to none at this point. That is the big gamble question here. Will I get the card if I redeem it. This is a no-brainer card that should have been done before pack out. Cey and Garvey are both mega signers, so what is the hold up is my big burning question.

The only thing that will make my redemption card unique if they fail to issue the actual card is that is is unscratched.

Obviously I want the actual card and if I trusted I would get it, I wouldn't even be asking. My time has run out and I still fear that based on the answers I have been given, I will end up with a piece of crap replacement for this.

mrmopar said:

I think the point that many may be missing is that I believe the chances of getting the actual card are slim to none at this point. That is the big gamble question here. Will I get the card if I redeem it. This is a no-brainer card that should have been done before pack out. Cey and Garvey are both mega signers, so what is the hold up is my big burning question.

The only thing that will make my redemption card unique if they fail to issue the actual card is that is is unscratched.

Obviously I want the actual card and if I trusted I would get it, I wouldn't even be asking. My time has run out and I still fear that based on the answers I have been given, I will end up with a piece of crap replacement for this.

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maybe not. Topps have replaced some of mine with better and some sweet cards.

I would definitely redeem

Even if your worst case scenario happens, I can't imagine anyone placing a greater value on an unscratched redemption than a scratched one.

Therion said:

Even if your worst case scenario happens, I can't imagine anyone placing a greater value on an unscratched redemption than a scratched one.

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Pretty much.

I guess it is only something an advanced player collector could love. I would love to have an unredeemed card for every redemption there was for Garvey, but the cost to "waste" one is usually too great. I ended up losing some great cards with the Fleer bankruptcy, thankfully I held back my dupes to see what I would get first (only to be blindsided by the bankruptcy). Thankfully I still have these instead of the $2 replacement cards I got in the settlement. This is a case where the redemption cards would NEVER have resulted in my getting the actual card, so I only have the redemptions as a memory.



Here is one I did "waste" by not redeeming for the signed version but it was plentiful and attractive as a regular card in itself.



I am on the fence here. I assume I have until midnight. I am leaning towards keeping the card as is and hoping that it never does get made. However, if the cards are made, I could be out $50-100 if one hits the bay!

I hope I'm not too late to this party, but here's what I would do in your situation. LEAVE THE CARD UNSCRATCHED!!!!!!!

In addition to my player collections, I collect a handful of sets every so often. One of the sets I was collecting years back was 1963 Fleer. The most valuable card in the set was the checklist because it was a beast to find in unmarked, cared-for condition. Back in 1963, people didn't ever think a checklist would be collectible, so they wrote all over them or chucked them out.

Now, fast forward to more recent times, I've been working on the 2007 UD SP Rookie Edition master set for about 9 years now. By master set, I mean EVERY CARD that was issued, including the redemption cards. I didn't think much of the redempions at first, but then I discovered through some extremely tedious research that the Daisuke Matsuzaka redemptions, which were extremely SP'd, were never fulfilled. However, every single checklist that existed out there had those autos listed as part of the set. So I figured I'd grab the redemptions to represent the forever missing Dice-K autos. All I can say is you never realize how hard it is to locate specific redemption cards (redeemed or not) years after their release until you actually try. I managed to track down a guy on another forum who posted an old thread offering the unredeemed card as a trade, so I reached out to him to see if he still had it. He told me as soon as he found out they weren't fulfilling it, he threw it out. ARGH!!!! I would've given him $100 for that card, no joke! That's how important that card has become to me. On a different redemption from the same set, I reached out to some guy from Australia and paid a good amount for an expired redemption card plus shipping.

My point is, I think the redemption card is the next 1963 Fleer checklist. One day, set and player collectors everywhere will be hunting down these nearly extinct redemption cards that were scratched up, faded, written on, and tossed in the garbage for years and years. Many will settle for those scratched up cards, but to have a mint, unscratched version will be the goal, just as it is today with most "normal" cards. And if they ever do fulfill that redemption, then track it down, put out the extra $50+, and then you'll have both and you'll be happy to display them together.

I have a 63 fleer set with a checklist... No biggie

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Also, I'll point to the poll results as unconfirmable future proof of my point. 9 out of the 10 people who responded so far said "scratch it and hope for the best". That means if each of the people who voted had a Garvey /10 redemption card (and if you didn't have one), 9 of them would've scratched it under your exact outlined circumstance and probably even tossed it later on, and I would've been the one guy who did not. 20 years from now I'd probably still have mine (because I'm one of THOSE collectors), and if you were still a Garvey collector at that point you might be looking for that Garvey /10 redemption that you saw listed in a price guide but only just discovered was never made, and then you'd HAVE to have it. And when I say you'd HAVE to have it, try to think of that statement in the long-term, not the short term. There are a couple Canseco collectors on here (or used to be on here), whose collections are both very impressive. They probably have a lot of the same cards, but what sets their collections apart is those rare and oddball things, like an unscratched redemption card of a card that was never made, for example.

AnthonyCorona said:

I have a 63 fleer set with a checklist... No biggie 

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I guess my point is, what kind of condition is it in, and how much did you have to pay for it. Not saying it's difficult to complete a 1963 Fleer set or anything, but if you want the checklist in NRMT-MT condition, it'll be harder to find, and/or you'll have to pay out for it. Same with these redemption cards way down the road, I bet.

That is the tough part for redemption cards. It seems some people will save everything, but others see no value in them and may toss them. The redemption cards that were issues in the post tended to have player photos or other pleasing graphics (think Fleer basketball lottery redemptions. Now days, most are pack inserts with a sticker on them. They are UGLY for sure. Even those blue Topps redemptions that at least look like they were made with some amount of thought, with writing only, are boring.

I think if redemptions are going to continue, they should all be with a player image, that way they are more likely to survive over the long run, even expired.

I have made up my mind and am not going to scratch it. I may regret this decision, but I am holding hope that if they do make the card, I can obtain one from someone looking to sell. It is not about the future value of the actual redemption card or what "valuable" replacement I might get, that is meaningless in this case. it is about an insane drive to have a completeness to my collection, but a real feeling that the damn card won't ever see the light of day for some odd reason!