One Last Go With Inkworks

A little more than a week ago I received what will in all likelihood be my final pair of redemptions from Inkworks. I bought a couple boxes of The Spirit a couple months ago and by the time I finally got around to sending them off, Inkworks had announced they were shutting their doors.

Crap!

Luckily they were still honoring the redemptions for The Spirit and will continue to do so until the announced expiration date of June 30, 2009. Yes!

The cards arrived less than a month after I sent them from the Great White North. That's astounding considering the fact it often takes envelopes a good couple of weeks to go one way to and from the US from here.

I was a little concerned with the plain white envelope they were sent in, but then again I wasn't lucky enough to pull a Samuel L. Jackson. Instead I got the following pair:

 

  

The first is Gabriel Macht who played the lead character. If I were a big fan of the movie this would be cool, but it looks pretty bad. Macht has been in a few movies here and there but nothing that gets me too excited.

The second is one of the ones from the set that I was really looking forward to. Dan Lauria might not sound like a familiar name and he's not really all that famous. Save for one role: Kevin's dad on the classic TV show The Wonder Years. As I continue to lament the loss of Inkworks, let's listen to a little Joe Cocker.

 

Farewell, hole-punched Inkworks redemption card.

Redemption!

Although I've never had a bad experience with redemption cards, I'm not a fan of them. Part of collecting cards is the idea of instant gratification. When I rip open a pack or a box I want the promised autograph, not another promise for an autograph I might have to wait months for.

About a month ago I put my disdain for autographs aside and snagged a redemption for what I thought was a 2007 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Classic Autograph of one of my all-time favourite sluggers Fred McGriff. The redemption card arrives safe and sound, I jump through a couple of hoops over at Upper Deck's website and I wait. Given UD's sketchy record for redemptions, I didn't hold my breath figuring I'd turn blue, die and leave behind a couple of scarred children lamenting the fact their dad died holding his breath waiting on a frigging baseball card.

Well, low and behold two weeks later a package from Carlsbad, CA is in my mailbox. In it is this:

This wasn't the ball I was expecting but rather an even niftier barrel card. I went and checked my redemption card and sure enough, my redemption was indeed for the barrel. And to think I was expecting it around the All-Star Break in July.

Not only was there my card, but there was also this:


SWEET! If you're unfamiliar with this card it's from the 2002 UD 40-Man set. It's an insert set called Lumber Yard that features etched "wood" cards. Pictures don't really do it justice as there's all sorts of textures and grooves from the wood's carved look and feel.

So it turns out Upper Deck might have actually turned the corner they were promising with redemptions. Not only did my card arrived in a very timely fashion (all the more timely if you take into account I live in Canada), but I also get a cool "make good" to boot.