Topps was able to play me for a sucker recently, as I bid on and won one of the Topps Vault Blank-Back cards they sell on eBay whenever a new set comes out. In this case it was a copy of R.A. Dickey's base card from 2014 Opening Day. The cards are probably overpriced and are definitely gimmicky, but the lure of a 1 / 1 card is hard to ignore. The presentation is fairly nice, too. The card arrives encased in plastic with a little sticker seal, and if you look closely around Dickey's left arm you can see that the card has been embossed with a Topps Vault seal.
The back of the card is indeed blank aside from a Topps Vault sticker with a serial number and a 1 / 1 designation. The card was packed nicely inside of a team set bag which was then placed inside of a foam envelope. This kind of helped to offset the pain of the shipping charge.
Also included in the shipping box was a certificate of authenticity, which should alleviate any concerns a potential buyer might have about the origin of the item. Because no one can replicate a hologram sticker! Or because no one would go through the time and energy to replicate a 1 / 1 base card variant from a low-end set.
It's kind of a cool card to have, even if I feel a bit foolish buying it. I guess it could be better to buy an artificially scarce gimmick card that you've already seen than to buy a million packs of unopened cards chasing unknown cards that are artificially scarce.
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