Interesting Product

The TNA Impact cards by Tristar are a very interesting product.  The cards come 8 to a pack with 18 packs to a box.  The set breakdown is essentially a small base set and several subsets that total a 100-card set.  The subset cards are numbered like inserts which is somewhat confusing but they don't seem to be collated in any special way.

The set includes all of the stars and Knockouts and the subset card are interesting.  The main draw for buying a box is the guarantee stated right on the box - 2 Autograph cards, 1 event-used card, and 1 parallel card serial numbered 50 or less.  This breakdown would make spending the money worth it as boxes should cost in the $60 range.  The most popular cards in the base set are likely to be those of stars who crossed over from WWE like Kurt Angle, Booker T and Christy Hemme.

All of this being said, I did not get a typical box as my box did not contain the autographed cards or the serial numbered parallel.  I did pull an event worn shirt card of Christian which looks good but that was it.  Needless to say, I was not pleased with this and contacted the company right away.  After receiving back a form letter stating they would get back to me within a week, someone did contact me within a few days.  Their policy called for me to send back the entire contents of the box and that it would be replaced within 4-6 weeks.  As I had already separated the cards for my kids I could not accomplish this (nor would I even try).  I also don't believe I should incur any other charge for shipping the entire contents of the box back to them.  After shipping, insurance and any other postal services like delivery confirmation I would be spending another $8-10 and then I'd have to wait 4-6 weeks for replacements.  What?  Don't these guys know that a policy like that makes no sense in today's market.  I even stated that I could send back the sales reciept, box and wrappers as this is standard when requesting card replacements from the companies.  I'm not sure why they think I should:

• take the product away from my kids after having it for nearly a week
• pay even more money because their collation got screwed up
• wait 4-6 weeks for replacements when I have a box in my hands right now!

In all, the cards look good.  The set isn't anything really special but it does offer something different from the Topps formula.  Without the autographs I wouldn't (and can't) justify spending $60 or more on this box.  If the odds hit correctly then it's fine - if not, the company policy is not very customer friendly at all.  I refused to take the product away from my kids (why should they be penalized for Tristar's problem) but I also won't buy any more of the product as I really have no interest in takinng the chance of losing out on the "guaranteed" autograph cards.

This product seems like a solid first offering from Tristar but be wary of the company policy concerning replacements.  3 stars

David Blyn
Kolius Collectibles

Please take a moment to rate this guide if you thought it was helpful - Thank you!!  David