Another Redemption Tale With a Happy Ending

I'm not sure I've ever met a sports card collector who actually likes redemption cards, but many see them as necessary evils that allow the card companies to carry out some of their more ambitious autograph and memorabilia programs. In recent years, the manufacturers have taken steps to make the redemption process less painful, and I like to point out when they succeed.

That brings me to my latest pleasant surprise. When I reviewed 2008 UD Masterpieces Baseball a few weeks ago, the About.com review box turned up an exchange card for a Stroke of Genius Max Scherzer autograph card. I entered the code on Upper Deck's website and got the usual message that it may take several months to receive the card.

As it turned out, the card showed up in my mailbox less than three weeks later. You can see the nice on-card signature from the young Arizona hurler pictured here.

To be sure, there are still plenty of redemption horror stories out there, and if you collect for any length of time, you're bound to have a few of your own. Kudos go to Upper Deck, though, for turning this one around quickly.