Opening sports card packs that date back a couple of years or more can be fun…but also frustrating if you find an expired redemption card inside that would have been good for an autographed card if the product were still current.
For the most part it’s been a case your tough luck, but Upper Deck is hoping to win some goodwill points with a promotion that could bring that old redemption back to life—as long as you can make it to the 2012 National Sports Collectors Convention.
On Saturday, August 4, you can bring up to five unscratched, expired redemption cards from any major trading card manufacturer to the Upper Deck booth before 4 p.m. to take part in a special ‘expired redemption card raffle’.
Your outdated redemption will go into a hopper and Upper Deck will offer over 100 prizes to those whose cards are drawn.
The prizes will consist mostly of other limited autograph cards but the company says it will also toss out some select memorabilia and unopened product. “The Upper Deck Redemption Raffle” will start at 5:00 p.m. and you must be present to win.
The cards and memorabilia being offered will come from promotional signature stock, items pulled during product review and from Upper Deck’s own expired QA and redemption inventories. The company will have some of the prizes on display during the first four days of the show but you can see a few more below.
Meanwhile, Panini will offer a “Live Trade Up” redemption program at its NSCC booth. It will offer collectors in attendance who are holding multiple outstanding redemption cards the opportunity to trade them in for a card or cards of higher value.
For example, a collector holding four outstanding redemption cards with a combined Beckett value of $100 will have the chance to trade those four cards for one $100 card via a grab-bag system. Prior to the National, the Panini America Customer Service team will assign values to replacement stock and will offer grab bags containing one autograph or prime memorabilia card at $50, $100 and $200 levels.
Each grab bag will offer minimum values at the depicted levels but many will deliver more than the listed value. Some $50 bags will contain cards valued at as much as $80; $100 grab bags will contain cards valued at as much as $140 and $200 grab bags will contain cards valued at as much as $250. Each grab bag may also include live onsite redemption cards good for boxes of product.
The Panini America Redemption Trade-Up program will be separated by sport, and collectors will get to choose what sport they select as a replacement.
In order to help expedite the process, collectors participating in the Panini America Redemption Trade-Up program are encouraged to bring with them print outs from the Panini America Website of the outstanding redemptions they want to have replaced at the National. A Customer Service team member onsite will verify the outstanding redemptions as well as their values, before completing the replacement process.
Each redemption card being swapped out must be a minimum of four months old and collectors may swap out up to $400 in value at the show while supplies last. Collectors also will be required to sign a waiver that states they agree to the random pulled replacement.
The Panini America Redemption Trade-Up program will begin Wednesday, August 1, and will run from 5-8 p.m.
