MY COLLECTION - The Redemption Comes Through

Redemption cards are a love/hate thing for me.  I think it gives card companies the ability to push the envelope on what they can advertise as being available in their products.  Love it.  It gives companies to chance to produce some really stunning cards (that take time and effort to produce).  Love it.  It creates a more scarce pull (especially when the card goes live) as not all the redemptions are redeemed.  Love it.

Pretty one-sided so far.  Just wait.

It dampens what could be a thrilling pack or box of cards as you just pull a piece of cardboard with a serial number on it.  Hate it.  It means you have to gamble that the card will be produced and that it will safely be delivered to you.  Hate it.  It means you are at the mercy of the card producers in terms of wait time, whether or not to swap and get a replacement pull or even agonize once it's known that the card will never see the light of day.  Hate it.

That last one is what definitely makes me cringe any time I pull a redemption card.  Luckily for me, the few (very few) occasions that I have landed one, they've come through.

And today the only outstanding redemption finally hit my mailbox.  It had been a good 8 months since I opened my box of Dominion and the wait is finally over.

2010/11 Panini Dominion

Nifty 50

#3 Dino Ciccarelli /50

A great looking insert set to build.  Celebrating some of the 50-goal scorers the league has seen.

A nice hard-signed signature dominates the white surface and I love seeing Dino in his Minnesota garb.  It's a simple design, but that's what really appeals to me.

The back of the card drifts a bit from the design on the front, but not enough to make me do a double-take.

I'd be curious to know how many of the 50 cards have been redeemed.  I'm assuming I'm the 27th guy to get one, so that'd be half (or a little over if you're anal).

It was nice to throw the redemption card away finally.  It was getting really dusty on my desk.

Now to go out and find a Ciccarelli collector.  No question he's on the hunt for this one.