One Redeeming Redemption

Ever gotten screwed over on a Redemption card? Yeah, so have I. Ever get a 2 for 1 deal on a Redemption card? Yeah, neither had I. That is until last week when 3 months after I received the first Kevin Smith Leaf Certified Patch Auto #/5, I received a second one.

As most know, on the Donruss redemption website when they send out your card, they update your case as closed and it gives you a date of when it was sent. When I received the first Smith 3 months ago it came out of the blue; a beautiful gift from the Redemption Magician. I never got the notice on my account saying that it had been sent. So you can imagine the surprise when I got it in the mail.

Well 2 weeks ago I got that update. I actually figured that they had discovered that they never updated that case and just closed it out. But when I went to look, it actually had a new delivery confirmation number next to it. And last week it showed up in my mailbox.

So here I sit on this moral dilemma. You see, this card is actually someone else’s. Someday in the future, someone may redeem their card only to find that there isn’t one. Then a few months later they will receive one sweet Malcolm Kelly Auto. I understand that this will probably never happen, but the fact is that it may. So what do I do?

In my mind, my options are as follows:

A) Contact Donruss and explain the situation and most likely end up sending the card back; clearing both my conscience and my small victory from the books

B) Sell / Trade it immediately to get it out of my hands in case the error is recognized and to maximize my paypal account

C) Hold it for a while after posting this, giving Donruss ample opportunity to come for it if they want. Which would mean that someone there either reads or was forwarded my blog. In that case, I could possibly hold them hostage for some contest wax to open here for contests. Or more likely, hold their card until the cops come and take it.

D) I can spare them the inevitable industry crippling embarrassment at having sent someone a 2-fer on a Redemption and quickly take down this post and act like I have no idea it ever happened.

E) Bronze it and proudly display it as living proof that the ‘Man’ can’t keep you down 100% of the time

F) Send it to get graded by BGS to increase its Awesomeness Factor by 1000 and then list it on EBay for $10,000 because I can.

I realize that for most people out there, this isn’t much of a dilemma at all. These companies put out so many redemptions every year (many of which have no chance at ever being signed/redeemed) that to come out ahead on one is a bonus. And that is fine to feel that way. At the end of the day, I may end up right there with you. But it makes for great fodder nonetheless.

So let’s hear what you would do. I am going ahead and putting Gellman down for option ‘F’.

Yet Another Blog With A Cutler Post

I started to write this post as a comment on SCU, but it got so long that I figured it would be better served here.

In short, I think this is a great deal for both sides. Here's why:

The Bears have been stunted the last few years because of the lackluster play from the QB position. They saw an opportunity to get a young Pro Bowler with a rocket arm that will sure up that position for years. Those opportunities don't come by very often.

Their problem has also been that they don't have a solid #1 receiver. And please don't say Lloyd or Hester. They are at best 2's and 3's on most teams. This is a problem that will most likely stay that way for a while. No draft picks to get a quality prospect or trade for a Vet. This is where the Cutler move makes even more sense. He is going to not only make the current receiving corp look better, but he is also going to take pressure off of Forte and the running game. Something that Peyton Hillis can attest to.

The Broncos also come out ahead. They got a serviceable QB in Orton, who may end up looking a lot better with the stellar Bronco O-Line and Receivers. And they also got a load of picks to set up their Defense for the next few years.

As far as hobby impact goes, I think you'll see short term spikes in Cutler and possibly spill-over to Forte. So if you are looking to buy now, then I hope you are getting a share of the TARP funds. Smart move would be to wait until after the draft, when attention gets diverted for a couple months.

I think you may see small drops in Marshall and Royal, but not enough to make any money on it. Their talents will be tested this year for sure as Orton isn't the owner of the most accurate or quickest arm.

Who knows though. Now that I say all this, expect the complete opposite. Let's just hope that Cutler can check his ego at the door when he gets to camp. Based on Urlacher's comments, the Bears aren't all that giddy about it.

Victory.

Squigi took his auction down. Someone just saved some money and a headache. Paypal was also saved the time having to work it out, which means that they have more time to work over Melbournecowboy.

I don't care if we had anything to do with it or not really. But if you see your card turned into a piece of Mr. T's jewelry to mock you, it's not a bad idea to end the auction.

That being said, I hope he does have an even better one in the wings that he was telling the truth about. It would be nice for once.

Someone's Going To Be Pissed! *Update!

So I began looking at these two auctions again a minute ago and noticed something about the scans.

Here is Wolverines:And here is squig0u812: Notice anything? It looks to me like our Canadian friend squigi cropped the scan to take the ebay camera logo off the scan.

I felt at this point that I should ask him about it. I asked if he knew that there was another auction up at the same time with the same scan. Then asked if it was his or was he using someone elses stuff. I got back this:

"Someone elses scan till my scanner gets fixed, which should be thursday"

I'm sorry, what? Did you say that in your auction description? Are you in such a rush to sell this card that you couldn't wait until Thursday? So I asked him for a description. I get this:

"Mine also has a 2 clr patch/McFadden and 3 clr/Ryan. corners are mint and card is in mint condition as well. I will change the picks as well as soon as I get my scanner back."

So now the card is 5 colors instead of the 4 he describes in the scan.

Beware of this guy. He could be telling the truth, who knows. But what I do know is that anyone who steals a scan and doesn't say so on the item description shouldn't be trusted.

Someone's About To Be Pissed

One of these auctions is about to piss someone off something fierce. Notice anything similar?

Ryan/McFadden #1

Ryan/McFadden #2

My money is with Wolverine. While I do have some reservations about the way some of his auctions go (ie. consistantly selling for significantly more than comperable cards), I have never seen him straight out lie about a scan.

Either way, someone is going to be pissed when they get the card in the mail. This will be fun to wait for the feedback. Or to wait for that police report about another '87 Topps beatdown.

I haven't run into this with any other cards other than Sterling. I won an auction for a Jonathan Stewart Gold 3 color patch auto a couple months ago. After paying the guy, I noticed that there was another auction had the same scan. I emailed him and asked for an exact description of the card he was sending me. He said it was a single color black jersey piece. I proceeded to rip his tail about his auction picture and he quickly refunded the money.

What was he expecting? That I would get the card in the mail and say, "Geez. Them the breaks." That's the most ridiculous part of it all. There are recourses that you can take on paypal to rectify these types of scabs. Melbournecowboy found that out last week.

Anyone else with this experience?

Who Paid More? This Guy!!

This comparison is an interesting study in the habits of the impulse buyer.

I am assuming that this person is either a fan of USC. I say this because even the most ineffective prospector wouldn’t spend $40+ on a Sage Auto and expect to turn it into anything but “guaranteed auto” in a retail grab-bag. So I decided to pair this Mark Sanchez Sage Auto against another USC QB, Matt Cassel.

Yes, I know that he didn’t throw a pass there, but he did go there. And like any set of fans, they claim him as their own as soon as he does something good. Very similar to UNC fans and Willie Parker.

Here are the results:

Mark Sanchez Sage Auto = $46.56
Matt Cassel Contenders Auto = $46

Needless to say, I sit in awe at the absurdity of this comparison.

I won’t even go into the fact that the Sanchez will be selling for half this much in about 8 weeks. Gellman already did a fine enough job of that. Fact is that you do not make money on Sage or Press Pass for that matter unless you buy a box and pull a big name early in the game and then sell it while it has no competition.

Besides that, what exactly has Sanchez done to justify putting this value on his Sage Auto? No championships. No Heisman trophy. No Davey O'Brien award. Nothing. He put up good numbers in a system that has produced 2 recent Heisman winning QB’s who between them own 0 playoff wins in the NFL. Nothing is telling me that he will be any different.

Now Cassel is different. In my opinion, $45 for his Contenders rookie auto is a steal. Other than his SP Authentic auto, it’s by far the best looking rookie auto he has. Also, he has proven he can throw the ball and he is the automatic starter in KC next season. Yeah, I know that he didn’t win a playoff game either, but that wasn’t on him. The Patriots problem wasn’t scoring points, it was getting scored on. That’s what happens when you have Six Flags Spokesmen at the heart of your Defensive unit.

Personally, I think his cards’ values have a much higher ceiling than we are witnessing now. If he starts out well, which I think he will, you could see this Contenders auto double pretty quickly. He is the first real QB that KC has been able to get excited about since Elvis Grbac.

If you are a USC fan and have $45 to spend, why choose the Sanchez? Buy the Cassel, then wait 8 weeks and get the Sanchez for under $20. Then you’ll have money left from you allowance to pick up this Sage auto of another USC QB.

Who Paid More!!! Trojan Edition

Time for another installment of the mind bender that is sweeping the nation.

With Sage's release of the first 2009 product of the year, I figured it would be fun to bring in a couple of Trojans to compare.

So who paid more?

2005 Matt Cassel Contenders Rookie Auto

2009 Mark Sanchez Sage Rookie Auto