Friday, May 13, 2016

Taking Delivery - Thoughts on Topps Now with a card in hand

Before hell froze over and Aaron Hill had a 3 home run, one of those being a game winning grand slam, day and the Brewers actually getting a card in the Topps Now set, I was pretty sure they wouldn't all season.  So I decided to pick up a card when Jake Arrieta pitched his no hitter.  I'm a closet Cubs fan, not a collector, but I've always had a soft spot for the lovable losers even when the Brewers joined their division.  So I figure I'd share what you get when you order a card from Topps Now.  First off you get an email with your FedEx Smartpost tracking number and an estimated delivery date, that was, at least for my Alaskan address, long into the future.  I don't know much about the Smartpost option but I'm guessing it's FedEx's version of parcel post.  Well I'm happy to say that my card arrived a full 5 days before the estimated delivery date, which was still 3 weeks of waiting.  


The first thing I noticed is that the post mark is from Florida, where I guess Topps has a printing facility.  The next thing is the envelope they used, it's huge.


Inside that envelope is a smaller envelope.
And in that envelope was my card in, ung, a card saver.  No penny sleeve and I could plainly see that the corners were a little dinged most likely from inserting the card in the card saver.

The card itself is very glossy.  I meant to do a gif showing the glossyness, but didn't.  If you're wondering about card thickness.  The advertised 16pt thickness is the same as a standard card you'd pull out of a pack of flagship baseball.   Other than that the card looks exactly like the mock up you see on the website.  




Overall the $9.99 price tag is a little steep, but the card was very well packaged.  I'm not sure what Smartpost costs on a single card, but it seems like some of the packaging is a little overkill and I would much have preferred a card in a penny sleeve and top loader over a card saver.

Well there you go.  That's kind of what you can expect when you order a card from Topps Now.  I'd expect shipping times to the lower 48 would be much quicker than to Alaska or Hawaii.

Oh and I did order an Aaron Hill card too.

4 comments:

  1. Are you sure the corners were dinged? I've found that the way they do the logo on the lower right always leads to an optical illusion of a ding when it isn't. Just sayin'. Shipping time has been all over the map and doesn't seem to have any correlation to anything. I will say that the few cards I ordered more than one of seemed to take less time than the others. I always thought the eTopps cards were awesome looking cards in hand...and they aren't worth dirt, today, in spite of being serial numbered and all. So I have trouble believing these normal looking cards will hold their value long term. But I still like the idea and I'm still a sucker for them.

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  2. Just to add, I've been purchasing 10/$50 when the Cubs cards come up and those cards are shipped in those hinged, clamshell cases. (Maybe I'm having a brain fart but I can't think of what else you would call them). But same same yellow padded mailer and outer cardboard mailer.

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  3. I bought an Aaron Hill one, and mine came wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

    Oh, wait, that was the Christmas story.

    My Hill came wrapped in bubble wrap, in the same holder you got, but also in a penny sleeve.

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  4. Overall the $9.99 price tag is a little steep, but the card was very well packaged. I'm not sure what Smartpost costs on a single card, but it seems like some of the packaging is a little overkill and I would much have preferred a card in a penny sleeve and top loader over a card saver. australia jewerly , chile jewerly ,

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