Redemptions are a touchy subject with many collectors, if not only because they are promised a card that they have to wait for – sometimes years at a time. As of late, both Panini and Topps have had some massive problems with redemptions in products, some warranted and some not. A lot of what happens has to do with the players themselves, as each company puts unwarranted amounts of trust in these guys to sign cards that really mean nothing to them. In the end, many sign as promise, others do not.

Recently, Panini has started to give up on a cards that they know wont get made, sending out replacements for the people who have been waiting. As the packages show up on the doorsteps of their final destination, the packages contain something that surprised me. Inside was the card redeemed, but in place of where the sticker would normally be, it reads “NO AUTOGRAPH.”

Here are some of these weird cards:

2010 Contenders Trent Williams SSP Redemption With No Auto

2010 Contenders Trent Williams SSP Redemption With No Auto #2

2010 Contenders Max Komar SP Redemption With No Auto

Obviously, this is an attempt to allow people to complete a set that will never be able to be complete, and I actually think its a good idea, as long as there are other cards in the package of consummate value. Even though I would never want to keep this card, as I am not a set collector, I would be happy to sell it to someone who was.

There were recent issues in 2012 Allen and Ginter, where live autographs were packed out for people that had redemptions on hold from 2011. John McEnroe has had outstanding redemptions for 2011 that are over a year old, but had live autographs in 2012. Topps has said the 2011 cards will be produced, but there are production demands that are preventing it from happening. Although I understand the production demands, Im still disappointed ill have to continue to wait for my Joe Mauer from the same set, even though the 2012 are live. That feeling, im sure, is replicated by others in a similar position.

When it comes to the redemptions themselves, I do have a sticking point that the companies do control, and it has to do with replacements themselves. In the electronic age we live in, where programs can be built around anything, each company needs a trade up program. Similar to what will happen at the national, where outstanding redemptions can be traded in for live cards, an app or website should be created to give collectors an opportunity to claim cards they ACTUALLY want in place of what is redeemed. It may not make everyone happy, but it will mitigate the issues that many experience. There is no worse experience than getting a undesirable card as a replacement for a card you DO want.

It should come down to length of time since redemption, eBay value of the card (regardless of how much it changes), and of course collector preference. Even better than that, each company could assign a letter grade that entitles a person to a card from a certain pool in replacement for what they were expecting. Someone like Kobe Bryant would get an A, but so would an SSP from Contenders. The unsigned free agent from the Vikings that got cut before the season would be an F. The cards in the A pool would be light years better than ones in the F pool. Make sense?

With all of the QC case breaks that are done for each product, as well as expired and unredeemed cards that WERE produced, there should be a lot of opportunity to fill the pools. They do it already. The real jazz would be centered on creating the program that runs it. That should be pretty easy. Just inventory the cards available and let the collectors choose. Im really not sure how we got into the practice of the reps at each company making the choice for us.

“Gee im sorry we made you wait a full year for your card, here let ME choose from our pool of available cards on what to send you without talking to you first.”

How do we stand for this? Honestly?