Bowman Redemption Question

I bought a few pack of cards a few days ago at my local card shop. On of the packs I bought had a redemption for an autograph of Romain Sato. I looked at
the expiration date and it expired on 10/31/06. My question is will Topps still honor a redemption card if it is only expired by half a month, or are they pretty strict on the expiration date. I know people won't be busting down the doors to get a Romain Sato autograph, so I really can' see why they wouldn't. On the other hand, I have heard of many customer service horror stories with the big two card companies, so I guess I and left guessing. Any help would be appriciated.