Just a heads up for anyone waiting, I received my Russell Johnson autograph card from Topps today. I'm not sure if they're sending out the other auto redemptions yet or not...

I submitted the redemption code online just a little over a year ago. Pretty fair turn around considering Topps track record.

Greg

The only online redemption I had to make out was from Leaf for two autographed cards from the Mortal Instruments set. I received them within two weeks. Now that is customer service.

I realize that Topps can have way more volume, but a year's wait is very poor, especially when the sticker had to have been signed even farther back. After all Russell Johnson died in January 2014.

Received my Corey Feldman auto a couple of days ago.

Nice to see the Corey Feldmans are being sent out. I pulled two redemptions for the Diamond Parallel versions in two consecutive boxes about 6 months ago. I felt it so likely that those wouldn't be redeemed (i.e., something else would be substituted for them after a couple of years), that I just sold them outright. Had I thought there was even a 25% chance they would have been redeemed, I would've kept one of them.

Turns out I was wrong, so good for Topps on that although I agree with Raven, the wait time was way too long, especially for a sticker auto. One of the benefits of the stickers is supposed to be that they makes redemption less necessary.

Inkworks was the absolute gold standard on redemptions (and customer service in general), virtually never refusing even redmeptions that has expired years before and usually redeeming any sent that were sent in with a turnaround of DAYS, not weeks.

So why were you so wary of the Feldmans CPF? I hate redemptions myself, but Feldman has signed for several products and it is a sticker, so I wouldn't really expect him to be one of those that need a substitution in the end. However 6 months is also too long.

Inkworks was the gold standard I agree, but that turned out to be a double edged sword. People got so used to knowing that redemptions would be honored, regardless of the expiration date, that they didn't even complain when sets went out with redemptions on every hit. All good and well, until Inkworks folded and collectors were stuck holding unmailed redemptions and dealers had sealed boxes that no longer had any hits. Not to mention the fire sale after the dumping of all the excess inventory in the vault. A lot of good will got lost then.

So the best customer service to me is to not do redemptions unless the card can physically not be packed. If the manufacturer can't get a signature back in time delay the set or go without it. Substitution after an endless wait is not the answer.

The "American Pie" set that came out prior to the 75th set had a couple of redemption cards that jerked people around if I'm not mistaken, so I just figured it'd be more of the same, which it was, really, as the Feldman and Johnson cards should have been redeemed within a month or two, at the longest.
I should add, and it is to their credit, that Topps hasn't really issued a lot of redemption cards in their non-sports sets over the years, at least I can't think of too many...

I got burned in a sports card set, taught me a good lesson. I made the mistake of buying the redemption for the autograph card of a hot rookie. Paid around $50 for it. Sent it away and sure enough it never happened, didn't even have to wait that long before I got a little note and a "comparable" substitute autograph card. Only thing is, "comparable" means an autograph card in the same set, not secondary market price "comparable". So I got A $10 card. My only consolation is that the hot rookie bombed and I would have had nothing anyway.

But I learned to never buy a redemption. It's better to wait for someone else to get the card and pay more for it, than cross you fingers and hope you don't get burned.

Sage advice, for certain.....

I always thought the gold standard was Rittenhouse where they don't use redemptions (or stickers) at all.

;P

I have always found Rittenhouse's customer service to be quite excellent. I also find that I don't need to use it very often. I have had very few issues with Rittenhouse cards over the years, and I like that they do not have redemptions in their products.

Just received my Russell Johnson and Van Williams autos (from Topps 75t) a few days ago. For being a Topps redemption, I was quite surprised that I actually received these 2 cards before they reached their 100th anniversary...

That is VERY good news on the Van Williams as I have 2 redemptions submitted for his cards. I knew that the Feldman was being sent out but hadn't heard anything about Williams. Thanks for the info!

Greg

I received my Feldman and my 2 Van Williams cards a couple days ago.
I now have a card, one version or another, from all the signers in this set.
I want to put together a complete set of the autos that are just the plain
card, not foil or sparkle. So if anyone has some to trade I'm going to post
a list of my haves / needs in the trading section.

I also recently received my Russell Johnson and Van Williams. I was a little unsure about the Johnson because he had passed away so close to the set release. I still think the Twilight Zone autograph he did several years ago is my favorite.

Thanks to an earlier RH release, I now have both actors that played the Green Hornet. :-)

At least in the modern sense, doubt I am going to find a Warren Hull or Gordon Jones autograph card. :-P