Inspired By A SEVEN Year Wait For This Ryan Getzlaf/Eric Staal Dual Auto

I recently acquired a fantastic card with an even better story. 2005-2006 Upper Deck Rookie Update featured Rookie Inspirations Dual Autos from a great class of rookies. My main man Ryan Getzlaf is thankfully in the set, and when I came across the below beaut of him paired with Hurricanes' center Eric Staal, I couldn't pass it up. I out-waited high prices and eventually nabbed a copy for a great price.

Numbered 178/499, it has a high print-run and I ordinarily would have liked to spend a few bucks less. However, that's where the great story comes in. The card, as mentioned, is from '05-'06. However, I was unaware it even existed until the end of 2012 because Upper Deck didn't send these out - they were redemptions at the time of the product's release - until about 7 years after the product hit shelves.

Staal was originally slated to be Senator Jason Spezza but UD ran into problems getting the card made. They eventually replaced Spezza with Staal, produced the card, and began filling near-decade-long redemptions for this card in true Van Wilder-style. My only requirement when I was looking for a copy of the card was that Getz's autograph not be cut off by the signature window.