Package From Topps

Along with the 3 INSANE trade packages I received in the mail today, (more on those as the weekend rolls along) there was also a mysterious envelope from Duryea, PA. Since that is where I mailed in my wrappers, damaged cards, and box UPC code, I figured this had to be my replacement cards, and that elusive missing "hit" from Ginter box #2.

Well... I was correct. Along with a standard letter explaining their customer service policy, the bubble mailer contained the following:

2 replacement base cards

2 replacement mini cards

1 mysterious little yellow envelope
At this point I'm thinking... "That envelope BETTER contain my missing hit, and it'd BETTER be an auto", since there wasn't one in box 2...

1 semi-crappy relic
I guess it could have been worse, it could have been a Corey Patterson or Fred Lewis relic, but I was really hoping for something better. My question is, how does Topps decide what card to send out in these instances? Is there a giant treasure chest full of relics & autos that someone wearing a blindfold reaches into to retrieve customers missing "hits"? For all anyone knows, the card that should have been in that box was a rip card, or a printing plate, or a red ink auto. Chances are it wasn't, but I feel like whoever processed this order just said "give him a shitty relic card, that way he gets his 3 precious hits, and we are not liable". Maybe I can get a buck for this on eBay, since that seems to be the going rate for Ginter relics of semi-stars these days.

Anyone want to trade for a Magglio relic?

Oh, the other humorous thing was that only the base & minis were in penny sleeves. The relic was naked as the day it was born.