Redemption Card Experience #1: Aaron Rodgers/A.J. Hawk Dual Auto

[sanjosefuji]

Redemption cards... There are some people who actually enjoy the thrill of the "wait", however most people probably prefer to pull the actual card.

Personally, I'm a little bit of both. Of course, I'd love to have the card right in my hands immediately after pulling it from a pack. However, I understand (or maybe have accepted the fact) that redemption cards are here to stay and choose to make the best out of a situation.


So, when I received this Aaron Rodgers/A.J. Hawk dual autograph redemption card from a custom mystery pack on YouTube... I was pumped. I didn't have the actual autographs in my possession, but in my mind... autographs of two of my favorite current players would be worth the wait.


I immediately redeemed the card (in November 2009) and it told me they were waiting for one (or both) of the athletes to finish signing the card. And so the waiting began.


After 6 months, I actually forgot about the redemption until someone on Sports Card Forum contacted me to see if I ever received the card. I immediately called and they told me that Rodgers never sent in his autographs. Upper Deck asked me to send in a replacement request. In the request, they asked for a list of players who I deemed acceptable as a replacement. I knew it was a longshot, but I requested Bart Starr or Brett Favre, along with a bunch of other Packer legends.


Here's what I received:

Card #1: Dual Auto of Brian Cushing & Rey Maualuga

Card #2: A.J. Hawk Patch Autograph

Now, I know this is debatable... but I personally wasn't happy with the replacement. Sure, the Hawk is sweet and I'm pumped to have it. However the Cushing/Maualuga dual just didn't do it for me. I would have preferred to have a quarterback as a replacement.


So I called it in and pleaded my case, which was simply... Can I trade in the defensive dual auto for a single autograph of a quarterback?


Long story short, Upper Deck told me to keep the dual autograph and that they'd send me a bonus autograph guaranteed to be a QB. Well, on Saturday the card arrived.

Bonus Card: Eli Manning Autograph

Personally, I'd rather have an Aaron Rodgers' autograph over all three of these cards. But, I'm not complaining. The Hawk autographed patch went into my PC the day it arrived at my house. The Cushing/Maualuga dual autograph should be decent trade bait to USC collectors. And the Eli Manning... well... it's the first Eli autograph I've held, so it too will be entering my PC.


Thank you Upper Deck for your generosity and understanding.



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[key2win]

Those are some really nice cards.