30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Thursday, February 23, 2017

White Wizzard

Sorry Tolkien fans, this isn't a post about Gandalf and his congregation of hobbits.  I'm a big fan of the blockbuster movie trilogy.  However today's post is about a "white whale" of Ozzie Smith that I've been trying to add to my collection for quite a while now.

Feast your eyes on one of The Wizard's earliest cards:

1978 Padres Family Fun Centers #1

Offered as some kind of promotional giveaway, this wood bordered beauty features Ozzie in a posed action shot while sporting the iconic brown and gold Padres uniforms that many of us San Diego fans fancy.


On the back there's a portrait shot of Smith with those famous lamb chops that also appear on his official Topps rookie card and his 1979 Hostess card.


There's also a nice story about him winning the MVP award playing for Team USA back in 1976.  And if you look closely under his LIFETIME RECORD, you'll notice a lack of career statistics, because 1978 was his FIRST YEAR IN MAJORS.  I think this is a nice bonus to go along with the facsimile signature I've never seen Smith use before.

With that being said... this card isn't without flaws.  The postcard size and low quality card stock create storage and preservation concerns.

But let's keep it real...

What card would you actually classify as being perfect?

I'm just excited that I finally managed to catch this "white whale" after years and years of hunting.  Seriously... it's not very often you're able to take down a White Wizzard.

Happy Thursday and sayonara!

12 comments:

arpsmith said...

Awesome wizard card, cool pick up.

Mark Hoyle said...

Awesome cd Fuji

Man said...

congrats! I was fond of Gary Templeton but hey the Wizard is the Wizard

BobWalkthePlank said...

What a cool addition. As for perfect cards anything that is Kent Tekulve would get my vote.

Nick said...

Never heard of those before, gotta love a pre-rookie card of the Wizard. For me, almost anything from '65 Topps is pretty darn near perfect.

Commishbob said...

Nice Oz card!

Perfect card? I posted my 'perfect' card yesterday...the '78 Eddie Murray rookie. Simple clean design, unique pose, rookie cup and a Hall of Famer...perfection.

defgav said...

Congrats on the pickup! I've been meaning to score one of those for a while myself. Didn't realize it was oversized.. kind of a bummer. But still a very neat item.

Hackenbush said...

Congrats on catching that whale!

Collecting Cutch said...

That card is awesome. It captures the time period perfectly. Love the old Padres uni and lambchop sideburns

Matt said...

Nice pickup man!

The Snorting Bull said...

I picked that Ozzie up awhile ago, took a long time find. Congrats!

Fuji said...

Thanks for all of the nice comments guys!

B Man - Love me some Templeton. Wish Topps would hurry up and add him to their Archives Fan Favorite autograph list already. Although with my luck, he'd be a Cardinal.

Mr. Scott - I'd second that vote. Huge fan of Teke.

Nick - 65T is a beautiful set. Got it at #3 all-time. Right under the 56T and 83T designs.

Commish - And the stare. Don't forget the stare.

defgav - It's more of a postcard than a traditional baseball card

Collecting Cutch - Lambchops & the old uniform are two of my favorite things about this card

Snorting Bull - Congratulations on adding it to your collection as well.