Saturday, April 6, 2013

Bad Gypsy Queen experience, even the Jester isn't laughing.

I just got home last night from Detroit. No, I didn't go to the Tiger's home opener, although I drove past just after the game ended. I spent Thursday and Friday in Auburn Hills, learning all about the 6.7 liter Dodge, diesel truck fuel systems.

This story goes back to Tuesday night. Many of the bloggers had been getting GQ at Walmart so I stopped to see what they had. I picked up a value pack and headed home. I got very excited when I saw the edge of a very shiny black card, but closer examination really changed my disposition.

This is what I found.
 
 
 
Three base cards were bent on the bottom edge.
You can see the curvature.
 
 
This doesn't show up very well in the photo,
but right under the "z" is a crease from the bottom
of the lettering to the base of the card.
 
 
 
This one shows up better.
 
 
As does this one.
 
 
This Mike Minor is even worse.
Not  exactly "minor" !
 
 
Peralta got it too.
 
 
But this was the real bummer.
I know there is a lot of controversy right now,
concerning "game-used" cards. But ....
 
 
 
The two light colored streaks below the name is the
result of the plastic being bowed up slightly.
 
 
Here you can see it goes all the way
to the bottom of the card.
 
 
You can see the raised plastic in the center
on the bottom edge of the card.
 
 
All-in-all, 9 of the 20 cards were damaged.
6 base
2 inserts
1 game-used
(there would have been 21 cards w/o the GU)
 
 

                              
 
Now the question is, when and where did the damage occur and who should make restitution ?
 
There is no visible damage on the outside clear plastic wrapper or the individual pack wrappers.
I didn't purchase anything else at the time, so the cards were in a bag by themselves, just sitting on the seat of the car.
 
Wait.... I just noticed something else as I was writing and looking at the cards.
I'm going to take another picture. Be right back !!
 
 
 
This is the lower left corner of the Derek Holland card.
 
 
Two other cards, the Gonzalez " Dealing Aces" and
and the Jon Jay "Glove Stories", have similar
indentations which fit together perfectly.
Right where you would grab the pack to bend it.
Everyone can draw your own conclusions .
 
I'm going to contact Walmart and Topps to see if either will offer to make up for the damages.
 
I will let you know what happens !!
 

 
 


 

8 comments:

  1. Nothing beats straight from the pack mint....err or not so much...that sucks....

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  2. Ouch! I've pulled a few damaged cards in my day, but not in that quantity! Good luck getting that issue resolved!

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  3. That looks like pack searcher damage to me. A bad one at that.

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  4. I know Panini is good about replacing damaged hits, because I have done it twice with them. All I needed to do was file a claim online and send in the card, a wrapper, and the purchase receipt. I'm not sure what Topps' policy is, but I'm sure it's similar. I'd contact them, either by phone or on-line, and see what they will do. I don't think Wal-Mart will do anything more than refund your $2.99, though. It's a bummer either way, though.

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  5. That's a really crappy pack-searcher.

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  6. No doubt that is from a pack searcher. Sorry about the damaged cards.

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  7. Wow. They didn't even find the Corey Hart jerz.

    Punk.

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  8. I hope you get your money back AND replacement cards!

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