Topps Comes Through With Yet Another Redemption

You read that right! Topps was gracious enough to fulfill another one of my redemptions, and pretty quickly too.

I've actually had great success with Topps redemptions. I've heard all of the nightmare stories of course, and I'm incredibly thankful that I haven't encountered any issues. I've only redeemed three codes, but so far I'm 3 for 3, and none of them have taken more than 3-4 months:

 Hopefully you're aware of this by now, I'm laboring to complete a 2013 Topps Chrome Blue Parallel Set. It's been a hell of a project, loaded with challenges... most of which pertain to my wallet.

I've decided to take out the big guns first- which now that I think about- is probably pretty stupid for cost reasons. I've knocked off some of the more significant rookies, which of course are the most costly. I've got Puig, Machado, Myers, Ryu, and Arenado so far.

Fitting into that class of star rookies is Jose Fernandez. While combing over eBay, I found an interesting auction. It was for the card I needed, but with it a redemption for Fernandez's 2013 Chrome base auto. It was OBO, so I threw out what I felt was reasonable offer. It was accepted. I pondered selling the redemption card, but after seeing on the Topps Redemption Update Blog that Jose had just signed his 2013 Chrome cards, I decided to redeem it.

*** Note --- If you haven't checked out the Topps Redemption blog, I'd highly recommend bookmarking it. It's Topps' attempt at improving customer service for redemptions, and I must say I've found it useful on several occasions. ***

Here's the card:

Cool, right?! I really like the sig. Simple, but not so simple that it sucks. For example:

Seriosuly, Wil?! Really?

Thanks for reading!

Pirates PC Additions

In my ongoing mission to bulk up my Pirates PC, I've been browsing eBay quite often. Last week, was able to grab two beautiful cards of two keystone Buccos. As my Pirates collection has grown, it seems that it's becoming more and more autographed based. As long as it continues to be an affordable practice, I'd love to snag at least one auto of each significant member of the Pirates roster. Here are my two newest additions (you can also view my entire PC HERE):

The first card I purchased is a Neil Walker Auto from 2012 Topps GQ. Everything about this card is great: On card, blue ink, great pose. The price was right too, just under $10 shipped. Neil's going to have to starting putting up some consistently good numbers if the Pirates want to have a stable offense. In other words, they offense will go as he goes.

The other card I grabbed is a 2008 Topps Triple Threads Francisco Liriano Autograph/Jersey. I'm not a huge fan of Topps' silver in-card autograph stickers, but an auto's an auto. The centering of the sticker on this particular card is also very poor. Thankfully the jersey isn't just plain white. Topps was kind enough to give me one single pinstripe... how kind of you, Topps.

This was also just under $10 shipped. Here's to hoping Frank the Tank can deliver us another all-star caliber season. Hopefully Topps will produce some more cards with Frankie in a Pirates jersery. Until then, I'll gladly settle for this.

Thanks for reading!