I'm glad that this thread continues to grow as I think infact it is educating everyone that reads it. I just wanted to add to it as I see the interesting bit about an Arod Auto on a card with fake numbering. This reminded me of a Frank Thomas card that was issued in 1991 by Arena...it was a hologram front and the back features a young Frank in a tux...while about four variation exhist in the card collecting hobby the most notable are the ones signed by Thomas and then numbered by someone else (Arena employee?). Basically it wouldn't be the first time someone added a numbered inscription to an autographed card.
Pic of the Numbered Card-
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The following information was obtained from fellow Frank Thomas collector Lance's website (the second paragraph is what pertains to the issue of the numbering and signing)...
91
Arena Holograms
Certified Autograph
With "35" Notation
3
Not entirely sure which version is more "rare". But it does seem that most (but not all) of the early portion of the 1,250 autographs contains the now familiar "35" under Frank's sig, while the latter portion (higher numbers) do not.
The questions are: When did he stop adding his playing number? And how many did he sign with and without the '35'. (And remember: He didn't add the numbers to the card bottoms - that was done by Arena Holograms afterwards)
I own #739, and I've seen #'s 724, 1083 and 1227 without the '35', suggesting that the 'withouts' are somewhat less abundant. It's likely he grew tired during signing session. And based on my observations - the majority of "without 35s" seem to start in the 700's. I also own five of the early versions, numbered from 74-250, and they all have the '35' under the auto.
But I'm not sure it can be accurately categorized unless someone makes a factual, and confirmable, database. Let's just say that two versions exist and leave it at that.
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wade
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