I got some Topps Dr Who packs and ended up pulling the 5th, 6th, and 7th doctors. Pretty happy with that. But the 7th is crimped on the bottom, not bad, but still bothers me. I've heard some pretty bad stories on other sites about the replacements from Topps. Is it true? If you send in a replacement you might not get back what you got or even an even value replacement? Help.

Real hard for anyone to answer that question and my suggestion would be to call TOPPS customer service and ask them if they have a same card for same card replacement.

It used to be that card manufacturers held back a certain number of premium hits just for damaged cards. They also held back a certain number of random hits for claims of missing hits. I think they still do. But when it comes to the better hits that may be very limited, they don't hold unto many of those simply because they don't have many. As such, they don't guarantee same card for same card replacement. For your Doctor, customer service might be able to tell you if its possible to get one, or if you would have to take whatever comparable hit they have left when you send back your damaged card. They might not know, or might not be able to promise it to you, so in that case you are taking the risk.

I do believe TOPPS tries to give comparable value when replacing cards and they are aware of market value, but collectors have to understand that they are not bound to provide equal monetary value. They only have to give you a hit of the same type to call it even and that is where some of those bad stories come in. The same thing can happen when redemptions fall through. You might get a more common card instead of the star redemption you pulled or you might get a star, but one you already have or don't like.

See what TOPPS has to say first. If it doesn't sound good or is iffy and your damaged card is not too bad, I would just keep it. If you can get a reasonable guarantee of same card replacement or of another card you are OK with, send it back. Good luck and please let us know what happens.

Hi Raven, thanks for your reply.

I absolutely plan on contacting Topps. Was just wondering if anyone had any experiences with them. Because sometimes what a company says is not what a company does. Know what I mean? It's like reading the reviews on Amazon, a must do (but then again, there are also reviews that are fake, so what can you do?).

Again, thank you!

Hey Jess, can't site any specific experience I've had with TOPPS besides the redemption side. Can't recall ever trying to return a damaged card to them. I had a few redemptions long ago and they all got honored except for one autograph card of a really hot rookie baseball player. That one never made it to me, although the card was released. TOPPS substituted another rookie signature in the same series, but the value was nowhere near the one I pulled, so I wasn't happy at the time. However the hot rookie never did much and now that card is no better than a common autograph, so I can't kick about it.

I think returning for damage is harder because you are at the mercy of whatever they have left and if other copies were also returned, or if it's a key card, they may just be out of it. They have more of a responsibility with un-honored redemptions, unless you can prove the damage was done before or during packing. Still they may make an effort to replace same card for the sake of customer service. You'll have to call and keep your fingers crossed. Let us know the outcome please.

You can also try emailing them at: support@topps.com

Raven has described it correctly. You can return the card and they will replace it with the same card if they still have it. If they do not you are at their mercy based on what they say the value of the card to figure out a replacement.

I would contact them first and explain the situation. Depending on how helpful of a person you get on the other end you might be able to send it in and if they can not replace it with the same card they will send your original card back.

Jessica

I recently had a problem with a Topps product bought online last month, in that a binder was delivered with only 1 of the two card checklists. PDf versions of the two checklists were available however as I was missing a cardboard version I emailed them and following an exchange of emails with more than one person I was informed that a checklist would be sent to me. When it arrived I was surprised to find that all they had done was print the PDF's on two sheets of A4 paper. At that point I gave up. Please bear in mind that I was dealing with Topps either in Europe or the UK. Not quite as bothersome as having a crimped autograph card I know but you did ask about any experiences.

regards

John Levitt