Collecting Bucket List #5 We're off to see the Wizard...

The wonder wizard of Ozzie. I'm not going to talk about his career. I saw him play when I was a kid growing up and he was like that fun uncle playing baseball. All the kids love him and he was just really cool to watch and be around.


His autos don't cost that much surprisingly. I assumed there would be a bevy of Ozzie collectors out there driving up the prices but there aren't. I got this auto for just around $20. And others are available for around the same price.


But there is something I would like to discuss about this card and it's causing a dilemma with my bucket list. Do this, open that image up in a new browser and look at it full sized. Now follow from the dot that belongs to the "I" in Smith and go to the right til you see a slight blue line that looks like a piece of string. That's the end of the sticker. Yep this is a clear sticker auto. I had no idea the 2004 Fleer Ex autos were stickers and I bought this card because it had both a relic, auto and was a great price. I do have to say it's a very well done sticker auto. It's hard to see it through scans but in person it is noticeable.

The problem is that I try very hard not to get sticker autos as my bucket list autos. The concept of my bucket list is for me to get cards that fit certain criteria. Now while sticker auto isn't a firm "NO" in my rules, I do have to say it is more *satisfying* as a collector to get an on card auto. As of right now I will keep this card because it fills a niche of an "Ozzie Smith" auto. It also goes above that by being an auto, relic, numbered card. But I still think an on card auto of Ozzie Smith will fit better with my collection. The jury is still out.

What do you think? When looking for autos of your favorite players do you try to get the cheapest you can find regardless of sticker or not. Or do you tend to gravitate toward on card?

Collecting Bucket List #4 Paying Respect to "The Duke of Flatbush"

If the Dodgers stayed in Brooklyn, I would be a Dodger fan today. I have no doubt about that even to this day. I would be complaining about the free spending Yankees and my underachieving Brooklyn Bums. When I think of "The Duke of Flatbush" I think about their 1955 win over the Yankees. It was the only time they ever beat the Yankees in the World Series, mind you. Even still, it was a great achievement for the Brooklyn team.

Duke was part of a golden age for New York teams in the 50's. From 1949 til 1958 there was at least one New York team in the World Series. And the only thing that really breaks that streak is the Los Angeles Dodgers winning in 1959. Duke was overshadowed by Mantle and Mays but his stats are right up there with the best of them. He was also overshadowed by his own teammates Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella but I always saw him as the glue that held that great 50's Dodger era together.

Snider's autos are plentiful and unfortunately due to his recent passing have gone up to closer to $35 which is still a bargain for this Hall of Famer. I can't remember what I paid for this card because I bought it sometime last year but it couldn't have been too far beyond $20. And Duke Snider has a very smooth and easily read signature. I think this 1998 Donruss Signatures card is one of the best ones to get because of the great picture , on-card Signature and the signature's placement (not on the back of the card like this one).

When things settle down you may want to hunt around for an auto of this Dodger icon. I think he's a must-have for any collector.

Who says you can't get anything good in a blaster

So Kim and I went out to Walmart for some ornament hooks. We stopped by their card section, which was severely lacking, so we decided to go to Target. I looked for some Goudey blasters and picked up 3 of them. Told Kim, "Pick one." She proceeded to pick up each box one by one and hold them. She points to the first box and says, "That one." I quickly put the others back and held onto the one she anointed as we perused Target.

We get home and while she tended to the tree, I began busting my blaster. On the second pack I saw a Yankee Stadium Legacy card of George Pipgras.


I remarked to Kim how I've never gotten one of these before because I've never heard of this guy. And proceeded to the next card.

"Short print card," I say.


"And another, oh look at this." It was a Brandon Webb patch. I hand it to Kim so she could look at the patch. She promptly replies "See, you should've videoed this." Oh how right she was.



The talley is 1 YSL, 2 SPs and a relic card.

I caught a glimps at the bottom of the next card and saw "Graphs." I knew what that meant, a Goudey autograph card.


The rest of the pack went as follows:

Hit Parade

Mini Base

One of the reasons I picked the Goudey Blaster is because of how well Newspaperman did in his blaster break on Cardboard Icons.

Needless to say the rest of the box was a mild disappointment.

I pulled 3 more short print cards (two of which I needed), another YSL card of Urban Shocker (I was shocked by his name), and 4 cards I needed to help complete my set.

While Glen Perkins and Brandon Webb aren't my idea of a great pull, the idea of pulling a YSL card, a relic, an auto, 2 short prints, a parade of champions and a mini-card all in one pack is unfathomable to me.

Kim is picking all my packs and blasters from now on. If I order a box from the Internet, she's clicking the submit button for me.