954 Days

No, that's not how long the Red Sox have been in last place since 2012. That would have been a good guess, though.

What 954 days really represents is this:

Back in 2012 I bought a pack of 2012 Bowman Platinum to see what the cards looked like. I pulled this out of the pack.

I went online and did the "easy step-by-step instructions" required to redeem this card, and after a couple of months, I received this email:


Dear Consumer.

This email is to inform you that the Topps Company is currently beyond the 15 week processing time allocated for the following redemption card:

Our staff is working diligently to process and ship your redemption card as soon as possible. Please continue to check your Online Redemption account for updates regarding the status of your card.

If you no longer wish to wait for the redemption card, please contact our Consumer Relations team in order to place a substitution request for a card of equal Beckett value.

Do not hesitate to contact our Consumer Relations department via phone at 1-800-489-9149 or via email at support@etopps.com for assistance. A consumer relations representative will be available to assist you Monday through Friday from 8:30am to 4:30 pm (ET).

Sincerely,

Consumer Relations
The Topps Company, Inc.

...and then I promptly forgot about it. I've never received any communication other than that email...

...until yesterday.

I got home from work last night and this was sitting in the mailbox. Once I saw the return address, I knew what it was.

The card was wrapped in bubble wrap and also included two pieces of paper.

First is the packing slip for the Tyrell Jenkins auto (who by the way was a Cardinals prospect when I sent away for this. Now he's in the Braves organization)...

...and the letter saying that's not what I was getting.

Instead I received this:

A 2014 Bowman Draft Picks and Prospects Ryan Ripken auto. Yes, this is Cal Ripken Jr's son. He was picked by the Washington Nationals in the 15th round (454th overall) of the 2014 Draft. He was previously chosen by the Baltimore Orioles in the 20th round of the 2012 Draft, but didn't sign.

It always nice to get an auto of anybody, but was all of this really necessary? This was nothing special, it's an unlisted auto that I could have pulled out of any pack. I've always thought that redemptions are useless and this does nothing to change my opinion.

Swing And A Pop-Up says two thumbs down.

So do I have the record for the longest redemption?

954 days.

It Happened Again

At the beginning of the year I showed you a card that was a 1982 Topps Roberto Ramos on the front, but a miscut Reggie Smith and Jerry White on the back. You can see that post here.

Buying one of those same 100 card repacks from Target netted me another from that sheet.

One side is Mark Wagner...

The other side is a miscut Rick Sutcliffe and Don Money.

I wonder if that whole sheet ended up in these repacks.