My Golden Giveaway card arrives

I'm not going to harp on how boring the 2012 Topps Golden Giveaway. I think most of us have mentioned how we would have preferred the format from the two years prior. You know, when you redeemed codes and got actual cards that you could trade. In this past year's format, you either got a limited edition die cut, or a fake coin. I hear 2013 is different as well, and that's more of a fantasy type game. I would enjoy going back to the old way, personally.

I was lucky enough to redeem a code and actually get a card...and a good one, too. I got a Reggie Jackson Angels card, which I flipped for Robinson Cano. Then I disappeared from collecting, and in my online portfolio it sat. But then I made the dumb choice to buy a blaster of Update, and I got a code card. I went to redeem it and remembered that I had a card sitting there!

Fearing that I would never visit the site again, I decided to spend the few bucks to have the Cano shipped to me. It just arrived, and while it's nice, I'm not overly impressed. These really feel like a Bowman Chrome insert to me, especially the design. Last year's cards were beautifully designed and played into the diamond motif. While there are gold parallels to these, nothing about the standard version screams "gold".

Don't get me wrong, it's a nice, thick card. It just feels like something I could have pulled from a pack and not a special promotion.

Golden Giveaway Trade

 A few weeks ago, I unlocked a Reggie Jackson die cut from this year’s Golden Giveaway. Now, if this were the Diamond Giveaway, I would have had hundreds of trade offers to sort. But no one trades on the Golden Giveaway site because: 1. No one logs on, 2. It’s boring, 3. The only cards that exist are these die cuts, and 4. Virtual coins are dumb.

Every week or so I’d log on and check if there were any trade offers for the Reggie. Usually there were about 3 or so. David Wright for Reggie? Nope. Pedroia? Barf. Roberto Alomar? Not bad, but no thanks.

I finally made a few trade offers for some Yankees and landed this:

I would have rather had a retired Yankee or Hall of Famer, but I love Cano and I’m sure these cards are nice. I just wish the experience of trading on this site was more enjoyable.

Golden Giveaway - well that was unexpected

Last year, I unlocked zero Diamond Die Cuts it in the Diamond Giveaway. This year, I unlocked six codes ion the Golden Giveaway, and all I had to show for it were six fake coins that don't even have chocolate inside. For some reason, people actually make trade offers for these. I ignore them.

Anyhow, I recently pulled two more code cards. I thought about trading them, they are no good to me. After about two weeks of them just sitting on my desk, I decided to go unlock them. I was pleasantly surprised with my first code:

How about that? A Reggie Jackson die cut! I was very surprised. I've gotten a few lackluster offers for it, but I hope to eventually flip it for a Yankee. I'm still down on the Golden Giveaway - it's a lot less fun than the previous versions - but this card helps make it a little better for me.