Panini America is aiming to clear its backlog of older, lower value autograph redemptions.
The company announced Monday that starting on September 30, it would begin sending replacement cards to customers holding redemptions for what it called “low to mid-level value” players if their customer service ticket was opened before 2018.
The company promised the cards it would be sending to customers would be of “equal or greater value” than the redemption Panini wasn’t able to fulfill. What constitutes a “low to mid-level value” will be decided the company.
As of September 30, those old redemptions won’t be eligible to trade in for Panini Rewards points, which currently allow customers to select from a fresh list of replacement cards, packs or memorabilia each month. Collectors can still turn their outstanding redemption cards into Rewards points until that time.
The new initiative doesn’t impact “high value” redemptions according to Panini.
Redemption cards have been a source of frustration for both dealers and card manufacturers for years. Card companies depend on players to sign their autographs and return cards on time for packout, but that doesn’t always happen. Sometimes the player never signs at all. Collectors who hold redemptions are understandably aggravated by the wait times involved and sometimes aren’t happy with the options presented to them if they opt not to wait for a redemption to be fulfilled.