SIGnificant Cards - 2005 Upper Deck Albert Pujols Fabric Reflections Auto Patch

It took 5 years, but I finally got a
Pujols auto. Persistence is the key.

In 2001 the baseball card market was pretty sad. There wasn't a dominant rookie card that captured the attention of collectors in awhile. As the landscape of the rookie card changed from a simple base card to an autograph or even and autographed memorabilia card, the hobby was in desperate need of a new hobby hero. Two players made their stake to become that hero, Ichiro and Albert Pujols.

Collectors truly got the best of both worlds as both players are surely headed to Cooperstown. As a fan of both players, I loved the fact that I had to actually chase down two potentially huge rookie cards. I have no team loyalty anymore, I root for players. Don't get me wrong, I still like some teams, but free agency and trades always left me sour when my favorite players would have to pack up and move.

Like everyone else, I wanted to get my hands on the best rookie cards of both players that I could. I didn't even come close. The best I did was getting their base cards in Upper Deck baseball, both of which are still noteworthy and nice looking cards.

Sure I could've purchased either one on eBay and ended the chase just like that, but what fun would that be? I wanted to pull one out of a pack. As you can see by the headline, this card is from the 2005 UD Reflections set. So I am pretty patient as it took me 4 more years to pull a Pujols auto. This beauty is numbered to 50 and also contains a small patch.

It's now 2011 and I still haven't unpacked an Ichiro auto. I find it interesting that neither Pujols or Ichiro autographs are available in current Topps products. I want to personally thank MLB for assuring that collectors have the very best baseball cards to be had. MLBPA obviously saw a gap that needed to be filled by giving Panini a license, maybe they will be the company that cares enough to bring the best players in baseball to sign for their products.

Recently Leaf's Brian Gray signed the Mariners hitting sensation to an autograph deal. I finally have another shot at getting an Ichiro autograph out of a pack. Call me stubborn, but that's the best way to get a card, buying it secondary is kinda like cheating.