[davepeters239]

I am new to this site but I see there are a lot of nice people here and wanted to ask for some advice if I could.

I don't collect very much anymore and haven't for years. I do save and collect error cards though. Over the years I have gotten some really interesting errors but mostly they are like pack pulled autographed cards missing the autograph. How so many of these cards ever make it into packs I will never know.

Well a couple of years back I came across the rarest of the rare autograph cards missing the autograph. At the time when I bought it I knew it was an Arod autograph error but I didn't know what card it was.

After receiving it I was not sure why the previous owner did not get it corrected but was soon able to maybe figure out why.

Since it was a Bowman card I went straight to Topps and after much frustration with back and forth messages they wanted me to send the card in to them without telling me what they would do or send in return. This didn't sound very good to me at the time so I declined.

I then contacted MLB amd the Yankees and again did not get any help whatsoever and was always referred back to Topps.

I then tried to search for whoever his agent or manager might be but seemed to just keep missing him as he kept changing who represented him.

Finally I came across an Alex Rodriguez car dealership in Texas and thought what the heck and contacted them. It turns out it was a dealership associated with Arod and that I should contact them through the web form and they would try to help me.

I spoke with a few people through the dealership and they went above and beyond to get help with this card and get it signed. Just this Friday I received an email from someone within his organization who says they are going to set something up where I can meet him and get the card signed.

I then contacted Topps again late Friday evening and the customer service guy was amazed at how I did not give up with getting this card signed. I asked him if we could maybe get someone from Topps to be there to witness the signature and to affix the two security holograms on the back of the card. I eagerly await their response.

The card is a 2005 Bowman Chrome A-Rod Throwback Autographs 94A-AR. It was maybe the best card and toughest pull from that set. The odds to pull this card from a pack was listed at 1:614,088 packs.

In December 2005 the original owner of this card wrote into Beckett magazine and Clay Luraschi responded. The response was that, "During production, chrome cards have a tendency to stick together. This is what most likely happened and an unknown number of unsigned cards were accidentally inserted into packs. Any collector in possession of these cards needs to contact our customer service department so we can resolve the situation."

It has taken years but I think I am very close now to getting it signed.

It is inside a BGS graded case so I am unsure how to safely remove it and will wait I guess until it is ready to be signed to remove it.

Has anyone removed cards from a BGS case and is it hard to do? I of course don't want to damage the card so am very scared about that part.

Could it maybe be sent to Beckett to be removed?

If anyone has any ideas or suggestions please let me know.

Thanks