Wantlist Wednesday - Now with more Wants!

With all the readers Dimwit sent my way this past weekend, a few new trading partners emerged as well. The initial burst was a little overwhelming with making sure I still had what I said I did and needing what I still said I needed but I think I have responded to everyone. I have piles of cards that I'll package up tonight and mail out Thursday morning. Thanks for your patience.

As promised yesterday, I have added my Bowman needs to my Want List. Also looking for any extra Cubs from the set, parallels and all. I made a strikethrough notation for any cards I have made arrangements for and deleted any cards that have arrived from trades. After posting my Kerry Wood McFarlane figure last Saturday, I decided I'd like to add the rest of the Cubs McFarlanes (unsigned) to the collection. If you have any, loose or packaged, let me know. I would prefer loose but in good condition to reduce shipping costs since I'm going to open them anyway. I do have all three variations of the Ryne Sandberg as well as the regular Kerry Wood.

I also scanned in a couple of the Tony Campana cards and posted them in the TCPC tab. Nothing you haven't seen before, just the base, diamond anniversary and cognac from the 2011 Topps Update set. More scans to follow as I continue my quest to be organized. Since I don't have any other photos today, and to save you a click, here they are:

Today's ATCRCS card of the day over on Facebook:

Doug Dascenzo

Signature Saturday - Kerry Wood

Last week or so I received an email from Tom over at Baseball by the Letters asking if he could send me some questions about my blog and collecting history. I gladly agreed and yesterday he posted his writeup. You should check out the whole article if you want to know a little more about me but here is a timely excerpt I shared regarding my first in person autograph experience with a Chicago Cub:

"My first IP Cubs autograph was Kerry Wood when the Cubs came to play an interleague series against the Orioles. My oldest son was about 3 at the time and we went with a friend of mine to get some autographs as the players were coming in the stadium. I had a McFarlane figure base and gave my son a ball I had brought to try to do a team signed ball. Wood got out of the cab and started walking towards the entrance. We had thought there were only a handful of ‘graphers there that day but once a player showed up, people seemingly came out of the woodwork and rushed over. I was one of the first and got the base signed, but I was afraid my son would get trampled so I picked him up and got out of the crowd. Wood kept signing as he walked and when he got to the entrance, he said “Where’d that little boy go, I didn’t get his ball.” So I put my son down and he walked over to Wood and got his ball signed right across the sweetspot. I’ve stopped collecting signed baseballs because they don’t seem to age well, but that’s one we’ll keep forever."

Coincidentally, I was off work yesterday and tuned into some daytime crosstown Chicago rivalry goodness. When they mentioned Wood's impending retirement, I quickly checked the TV schedule for the upcoming games. Friday on WGN, Saturday nationally televised on Fox and Sunday back on WGN. Whew! As an outside the Chicago area fan, I absolutely hate when games are shown on CSN. Although there was no need to fret as Wood came on to pitch to one batter in the 8th inning and proceeded to strike him out on 3 pitches. WGN kept it classy and rather than cut to the obligatory commericial during a pitching change, followed Wood from getting congratulatory high fives, handshakes and hugs from his teammates to the walk back to the dugout where his was greeted by his son. He even came back out for a curtain call. *Who is cutting onions up in here?*

I'm not sure that one encounter in Baltimore even helped shape my opinion of Wood because everything I've ever heard about him was that he was just a nice genuine guy. It simply hammered it home. Now that he's retired, I can get to work on the back of his ATCRCS card. Thanks Kerry!

Sandberg Sunday - Unique Autographs

One of the things I love about this hobby is that while we all love the game, our collections are all so different. While I have a general disdain for things that are 1/1 like the card I featured last week on Sandberg Sunday, I do enjoy unique collectibles. The items below are not necessarily unique on their own merit, but I think you will not see very many of them autographed.

Last week, I shared some of the ice cream helmets I had gotten signed. Once I started those, I came up with the idea to get a Sandberg signed ice cream helmet for all the teams he has played for and managed. Not including his minor league playing days or injury rehab games in 1993, that means the Phillies, Cubs, Peoria Chiefs, Tennessee Smokies, Iowa Cubs and Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. I took somebody up on their offer to get two of them signed for me as they regularly 'graph in Lehigh Valley. I sent the Cubs helmet and he picked up the Iron Pigs one for me.

I do wish they had been signed across the bill of the helmet so you can see the team better like my other ones but I do appreciate the effort. I have an unsigned Iowa Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies ice cream helmet but am on the lookout for an unsigned Chiefs or Smokies helmet if anybody has/sees one.

Lastly, I have had this Starting Lineup Figure since it came out in the early 1990's. When I was looking through my stuff to get autographed I was looking for uniqueness and displayability. I really like the newer McFarlane figures but when you get the base signed, they have to be on a shelf lower than the eye to see the autograph. With this Headline Collection version of the Starting Lineup that celebrates Sandberg's errorless streak, I can display it on any shelf.