edit 3/5/2016: Topps has resolved this issue to my satisfaction. You can read about it here.
Way back in 2013 or maybe early 2014 I pulled a redemption card from 2013 Topps Archives for a Real Heavy Metal Autograph of Winger/Whitesnake guitarist Reb Beach. These were different from the regular Heavy Metal autographs in that the cards were to be made of metal and limited to a print run of 25 copies. So, a pretty cool card. After a couple of years of waiting I decided that the card probably wasn't going to be made, so I requested a replacement from Topps through their customer service e-mail address. That led to a ticket being opened and they came back with a valuation of $20-25 on the card. They won't tell you which card they are sending as a replacement, just that it will come from the same sport as the original redemption. I accepted the $20-25 value and this is what I got in my envelope from Topps:
Way back in 2013 or maybe early 2014 I pulled a redemption card from 2013 Topps Archives for a Real Heavy Metal Autograph of Winger/Whitesnake guitarist Reb Beach. These were different from the regular Heavy Metal autographs in that the cards were to be made of metal and limited to a print run of 25 copies. So, a pretty cool card. After a couple of years of waiting I decided that the card probably wasn't going to be made, so I requested a replacement from Topps through their customer service e-mail address. That led to a ticket being opened and they came back with a valuation of $20-25 on the card. They won't tell you which card they are sending as a replacement, just that it will come from the same sport as the original redemption. I accepted the $20-25 value and this is what I got in my envelope from Topps:
It's a 2013 Topps Archives Fan Favorite autograph of Bob Welch. I don't have anything against Mr. Welch, but since November this card has sold 8 times on eBay for an average of about $10.80. That is significantly less than the value Topps quoted me, and this card just plain doesn't match up. Topps made it pretty easy for me to compare the two cards because they both hail from the same product. Going back to the pack odds in 2013 Archives, the Fan Favorites Autographs were a 1:14 pack pull while the Real Heavy Metal Autographs fell at 1:2,250 pack odds.
In the end it is just cardboard and ink (or Real Heavy Metal and ink), but I can't help being disappointed that Topps replaced a pretty rare and cool hit with the most basic hit in the product. I wasn't expecting the moon, but I was hoping for something in the same realm of rarity as the card I pulled the redemption for.
