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It wasn't all that long ago that I opened up a dud case of 2010 Allen & Ginter - one that was full of damaged cards, missing minis, missing hits, and no rip card. I sent Topps an email which they responded with a generic message saying to send in the damaged cards, packs, boxes, etc. Well, I did exactly as they asked and waited.
At this point, I didn't expect much. I was hopeful they'd replace the damaged base cards and provide me with my missing relic (which I assumed would be a nobody). I had some hope they'd provide me with some random mini cards to make up for all the packs that didn't have one, but again, I didn't expect much there. Finally, I figured I had less than a 10% chance of them providing me the missing rip card since I don't know how one can prove it was missing (even after sending in all the boxes and wrappers). I did, however, know which box should have had the rip card in it (the box with only two hits since the rip card counts as the third hit). I ended up packaging all the wrappers and damaged cards in the box that should have had the rip card in it for Topps to have.
After only a couple days wait (less than a week I believe from when I mailed the package), I had a giant yellow envelope waiting for me on my porch. Recognizing the town (Duryea, PA), I knew it must be my replacement cards from Topps and eagerly ripped it open.
Inside the big padded yellow envelope were two smaller padded envelopes (both sealed). Choosing one at random, I opened it up to find.a box with enough tape on it to seal an elephant in a box...after struggling to open it for a good couple of minutes (I didn't have scissors handy), I finally cracked it open to find replacements of all the damaged base cards.
In addition to the base cards, there was also a penny sleeve with replacements for the two damaged minis I sent in to Topps.
Happy with the replacements, I then opened the other sealed packing envelope - and as I did, out popped a whole bunch of small, paper, yellow envelopes.
Opening them in order, I first discovered a host of "random" minis. It turned out that all the "random" minis were actually regular back minis (instead of a mix of inserts, short prints, etc.) however, since I'm trying to complete the regular mini set, I wasn't disappointed by this at all.
The next three yellow envelopes revealed three relics - I suppose as sort of an olive branch to me from Topps. The relics they sent me were the following:
AGR-BA. Brett Anderson
AGR-JH. Josh Hamilton
AGR-THE. Todd Helton
Finally, I was down to the last envelope - and I figured I had one more relic (since it felt kind of thick and heavy). As I opened it, I discovered that instead, Topps sent me:
That's right, they actually sent me the missing rip card! Card RIP-RC60 of Kyle Blanks numbered 74/99. Sure, Blanks isn't the most sought after guy for rip cards, but I don't care one bit. I was extremely happy - and it was enough proof for me to realize that while Topps still has some serious collation and card condition issues, if the collector takes enough time to document and turn in all the requested materials, Topps goes above and beyond while fixing the problem(s).
Thank you Topps - and consider me a contented collector of your products once again.
Now the only question I have is:
What do I do with the rip card? This is the third rip card I've gotten this year. The first I ripped, pulled a Ryan Bruan mini and sold the Braun for about $45.00 and the torn rip card for about $5.00 (numbers are only estimates as I'm too lazy to log back into eBay to find the exact totals). The second rip card I left unripped and sold it for $80.00. What should I do with this one?!
At this point, I didn't expect much. I was hopeful they'd replace the damaged base cards and provide me with my missing relic (which I assumed would be a nobody). I had some hope they'd provide me with some random mini cards to make up for all the packs that didn't have one, but again, I didn't expect much there. Finally, I figured I had less than a 10% chance of them providing me the missing rip card since I don't know how one can prove it was missing (even after sending in all the boxes and wrappers). I did, however, know which box should have had the rip card in it (the box with only two hits since the rip card counts as the third hit). I ended up packaging all the wrappers and damaged cards in the box that should have had the rip card in it for Topps to have.
After only a couple days wait (less than a week I believe from when I mailed the package), I had a giant yellow envelope waiting for me on my porch. Recognizing the town (Duryea, PA), I knew it must be my replacement cards from Topps and eagerly ripped it open.
Inside the big padded yellow envelope were two smaller padded envelopes (both sealed). Choosing one at random, I opened it up to find.a box with enough tape on it to seal an elephant in a box...after struggling to open it for a good couple of minutes (I didn't have scissors handy), I finally cracked it open to find replacements of all the damaged base cards.
In addition to the base cards, there was also a penny sleeve with replacements for the two damaged minis I sent in to Topps.
Happy with the replacements, I then opened the other sealed packing envelope - and as I did, out popped a whole bunch of small, paper, yellow envelopes.
Opening them in order, I first discovered a host of "random" minis. It turned out that all the "random" minis were actually regular back minis (instead of a mix of inserts, short prints, etc.) however, since I'm trying to complete the regular mini set, I wasn't disappointed by this at all.
The next three yellow envelopes revealed three relics - I suppose as sort of an olive branch to me from Topps. The relics they sent me were the following:
AGR-BA. Brett Anderson
AGR-JH. Josh Hamilton
AGR-THE. Todd Helton
Finally, I was down to the last envelope - and I figured I had one more relic (since it felt kind of thick and heavy). As I opened it, I discovered that instead, Topps sent me:
That's right, they actually sent me the missing rip card! Card RIP-RC60 of Kyle Blanks numbered 74/99. Sure, Blanks isn't the most sought after guy for rip cards, but I don't care one bit. I was extremely happy - and it was enough proof for me to realize that while Topps still has some serious collation and card condition issues, if the collector takes enough time to document and turn in all the requested materials, Topps goes above and beyond while fixing the problem(s).
Thank you Topps - and consider me a contented collector of your products once again.
Now the only question I have is:
What do I do with the rip card? This is the third rip card I've gotten this year. The first I ripped, pulled a Ryan Bruan mini and sold the Braun for about $45.00 and the torn rip card for about $5.00 (numbers are only estimates as I'm too lazy to log back into eBay to find the exact totals). The second rip card I left unripped and sold it for $80.00. What should I do with this one?!
In the name of investigative journalism, RIP IT!
ReplyDeleteI have never voted otherwise - RIP IT!
ReplyDeleteIts Kyle Blanks. Rip that son of a gun.
ReplyDeleteCode word: sublim
Sell it now! I am in the process of preparing a post that lays out what your odds are for pulling anything other than an extended mini from Ginter rip cards.
ReplyDeleteTrust me, the odds are not in your favor.
I asked the same thing about a week or so back. I ended up with 8 votes; 4 for ripping, 4 for not. I ended up selling it off for $84.00 (its was Russ Martin). Beardy is right, the odds are definitely not in your favor. If it were one of the numbered to 25 or less, I'd say your chances are great for getting something good, otherwise, no.
ReplyDeleteActually, I believe your odds are the same no matter what the card is #'d to. Can't say for sure, but I'm pretty sure the innards are random no matter the numbering.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I was always under the impression that the card numbering had nothing to do with what might be on the inside. I know that the low-numbered rip cards sell for BIG bucks and I'd never rip one of the those. The real question is, is it a worthwhile gamble to rip a rip card numebered out of 99 considering they sell for 40-100 bucks on average (and my hunch is this one would sell near the low end of that total).
ReplyDeleteCongrats on getting some satisfaction from Topps. I was going to vote Rip it, but I'm intrigued by Beardy's research and must withold my opinion until I see it. I think I would be inclined to sell unless it was a player I collect.
ReplyDelete