Potential problem with new Panini Rewards?

Now I'm just going to make up a scenario which guaranteed will happen at some point.
Keep in mind, everything is just an example below.

Panini "whatever" is issued in April and Rafael Montero didn't return his autos in time.

Normally, a redemption would be issued for him.

Instead, panini will be issuing a "point/reward" card which will have a point assigned to it depending on what the redemption WOULD HAVE been for.

So obviously, the points for, say, a Mariano Rivera would be much greater than for a Tyler Skaggs.

Back to Montero.
So a collector gets this reward point card and obviously it's valued low because his value NOW isn't high.

But what happens if Montero becomes Matt Harvey part 2 right out of the gates?

With this new system, you have a very very low valued point card INSTEAD of a Montero redemption.

I would hope two things:

- if a Points redemption card is inserted, it's not meant to be a replacement for any particular player but rather a randomly inserted points card that is not tied to any particular athlete. In your example, it would mean that the points card was not inserted because Montero didn't sign his stickers in time, but rather the points card was inserted in the pack because Montero or any of the other athletes would have been inserted in that pack had they returned their stickers in time

- Panini should adjust the point values in their catalog depending on the desirability of the athlete. Using your example, if Montero has a low point value at product release yet is the next coming of Matt Harvey, his point value in the catalog will be adjusted higher to reflect that. Likewise in an example I can think of, if you have a Jesus Montero with a high point value initially and he becomes a bust, his catalog point value will be decreased down because he doesn't have much desirability among collectors.

The major problem I foresee is the issue of big time wax busters having more of a chance to obtain all the good cards while your normal Joe Schmoe will be left to pick through leftovers. IMO, that's not what busting wax is about. A box, no matter if it's one or 20, should all have the same chance for a hit. I absolutely hate the idea of offering any cards for redemption or sale as singles to be chosen. I hated it when leaf sold singles, and I don't even like the Turkey Red concept that Topps does now.

Plus, where or what will these cards be from? Are they going to be like what Topps does? Frankenstein like cards with no set affiliation? If so, they'll have very little meaning to me.


IMO, for whatever it's worth, this isn't a step forwards. It's more of a step sideways. The only true way to step forwards is to include actual cards in your products. Not redemptions or points.

YES !!!

This is great news from the minds of Panini

I bought & opened 26 boxes of Elite from Mike's store

Out of 26 boxes I pulled 48 redemptions !!!

I might have gotten enough points to get a limited Kris Bryant auto...

GOOD JOB PANINI !!!

So if my PC players card isn't live I'm either going to have to hope that people spend their points on his cards, or I'm going to have to buy points and hope that the cards I want are on their site.

Good grief, over half of the problems with Panini's redemption process is them not shipping cards that are already in hand.

I've had three different redemptions in limbo for 6 months after seeing live versions for months on Ebay...only to call and ask for a replacement and be told, "that card is in stock, we'll ship that out."

Redemptions are a costly joke to this hobby, affecting all sides.

Mahoody said:

YES !!!

This is great news from the minds of Panini

I bought & opened 26 boxes of Elite from Mike's store

Out of 26 boxes I pulled 48 redemptions !!!

I might have gotten enough points to get a limited Kris Bryant auto...

GOOD JOB PANINI !!!

Click to expand...

If the rewards already started, you'd be able to pick 48 cards of your choice from what's available, especially considering NEARLY all the base elite redemptions sell for several dollars only and aren't top prospects.

Sent from my HTCONE using Freedom Card Board mobile app

predatorkj said:

The major problem I foresee is the issue of big time wax busters having more of a chance to obtain all the good cards while your normal Joe Schmoe will be left to pick through leftovers. IMO, that's not what busting wax is about. A box, no matter if it's one or 20, should all have the same chance for a hit. I absolutely hate the idea of offering any cards for redemption or sale as singles to be chosen. I hated it when leaf sold singles, and I don't even like the Turkey Red concept that Topps does now.

Plus, where or what will these cards be from? Are they going to be like what Topps does? Frankenstein like cards with no set affiliation? If so, they'll have very little meaning to me.


IMO, for whatever it's worth, this isn't a step forwards. It's more of a step sideways. The only true way to step forwards is to include actual cards in your products. Not redemptions or points.

Click to expand...

Why would you assume the big wax breakers would redeem the points for cards? I'd think they'd tend to sell the points cards instead of redeeming them. Guess it depends on where they'd get the best return, but I don't think it's as simple as saying big breakers will take all the best cards.

FriarG said:

Why would you assume the big wax breakers would redeem the points for cards? I'd think they'd tend to sell the points cards instead of redeeming them. Guess it depends on where they'd get the best return, but I don't think it's as simple as saying big breakers will take all the best cards.

Click to expand...

My fear is I collect Bagwell. Bagwell was a decent player and his and other good player's cards will most likely be scooped up if available at all. Which means it's more about first come first serve. If I was a big wax breaker, and I had a lot of points, selling might be an option but so might just nabbing all the good cards I could. Depends on how many points you have, can they be combined, and what's available.

I'd like to either take my chances busting wax or buying on eBay. Not buying points and hoping like hell someone else hasn't beaten me to the punch. That's what this is all about and it's going to suck for a lot of player collectors.

And all of this is assuming they actually make legit cards out if a legit set and not some Frankenstein BS.