TwinsJake / Topps Project 2020

A good majority of the card collecting community may be familiar with the handle TwinsJake. Many of you may have purchased a Topps Now card from him when he had a presence on eBay. Some of you may have purchased Topps Project 2020 cards from him earlier in the year? 

If you are familiar with TwinsJake, then you'll know of the associated "issues" with him. I don't want to put words in his mouth, but he basically admitted he bit off more than he could chew and fell massively behind. Toss in the destruction of his neighborhood post office in Minnesota due to riots months earlier and it appears some health issues and he fell further behind. 

People on Twitter were ready to grab their torches and pitchforks and storm the gates. Yes, the lnch mob was ready. I tried to remain neutral, even though I had several Project 2020 orders that just didn't seem to be moving. I understand that while someone's social media appearance may be just fine, you never know what is going on once you start to peel back that layer. I tried to keep my cool and at times would even defend TwinsJake online in places such as Twitter. 

In July I tried placing an order for some Braves Topps Now cards and after 4 unsuccessful orders I gave up. Later I noticed my PayPal account was hit for all 4 charges. I reached out both through TwinsJake's website as well as through Twitter and nothing. The radio silence went on for a few months. Shortly there after, out of the blue it seems, I was emailed some tracking numbers in early September. Yes! My orders were finally going to ship.

Then nothing. The tracking numbers showed zero movement. I messaged again through the website and Twitter and at first nothing. Then I got a reply. He offered to toss in some free stuff and I told him I just wanted those PayPal transactions refunded and wanted the cards I paid for. A few days later I got a new tracking number along with a picture of my outgoing package. Then I got a message from PayPal that refunds had been processed. Last week my order finally arrived.

While I still think these cards are beautiful, I'm done with Project 2020. I was excited earlier in the year for this project...as you can tell from my purchases, but through nobody's particular fault, I've moved on. I'm glad to finally have these in my hands, especially the Jackie Robinson cards (in retrospect, I just should have stuck with his cards and ignored everyone else).

Thank you TwinsJake for making at least my situation right. I still don't know what happened behind the scenes and I don't really care to know. As frustrating as things can be when communication slows down or drops between two parties, just remember that none of us have he shoe on the other foot...meaning we don't know what is going on in the life of the other party. More communication on the behalf of TwinsJake would have been nice, but I'm not going to criticize or judge. I'm thankful he finally responded to my messages and made things right. If you happen to be waiting on orders from him, continue to keep pushing with emails, Tweets and DMs and eventually he'll get back to you. I don't think for one second that he ever set out to swindle anyone. When he eluded to getting in over his head, I believe him. The early stages of Project 2020 were crazy. I'm glad I got off that rollercoaster.

Be good everyone...

2017 Topps Now Spring Training

I got home yesterday afternoon after being on the road for a few days for work. As I checked the mail I ran across a small envelope from Topps. I wasn't expecting anything so I really wasn't sure what they had sent me. I opened it up and found this card inside:

Wow, first a "Christmas card" from Topps and now this Spring Training card? Topps' marketing department has really picked it up lately! As you can see from the above image, Topps is again thanking it's customers who purchased 2016 Topps Now cards by giving you a free card showcasing the new design for 2017, as well as giving you a code to save 25% off Topps Now Opening Day team sets.

I like the new design, even if some of the image is covered by the graphic at the bottom. I haven't yet logged onto their website to check out these Opening Day team sets, but I'm sure I will shortly. I trying to cut back some of my spending right now so I'm not sure if I'll bother w/ the team set, but the coupon is a gracious offer by Topps and it just might sway me and others that are on the fence.

I've got an extra Mike Trout card that I don't intend on keeping. Somehow, just like at Christmas, I received two of these mailings. The first to comment on this post and show me a picture of my favorite sandwich (peanut butter & banana) will get the card FREE!