Welcome to our community

Be apart of something great, join today!

A Bittersweet Mailday... 30 years in the making.

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

Mozzie22

Active member
Aug 7, 2008
1,648
24
I started collecting Ozzie Smith cards in 1985. About 15 years ago I decided to focus on the cards from his playing career years only (1978-1996). I did this out of necessity; I couldn't keep up with volume of cards being created every year and with a wife and two kids it just wasn't financially feasible. Over the years one of the most gratifying aspects of my collection has been constantly developing, tweaking and adding to my checklist. I take pride in my collection, checklist, and the knowledge I've gained and shared with other Ozzie collectors.

My ever evolving Ozzie checklist has 986 total cards from 78-96. As of today I have 979 of 986. The card I got today in the mail is the 1996 Cardinals Team issue card. In the nearly 20 years since it was issued I've only seen three copies; one was bought by another Ozzie collector and one was so badly damaged I couldn't buy it.

Here is the bittersweet part. Of the seven cards I'm still missing, five are promo cards or cards only rumored to exist. Now I'm not saying they don't exist but I've never seen any of them and don't know of a single Ozzie collector that has ever heard of one or seen one. The two other cards do exist but one is way out of my price range and the other is just impossible. Will I give up on these seven cards? No. Do I expect to ever add them to my collection? Maybe. As any long time player collector will tell you new cards are always being added. I look forward to that aspect of the hobby.

So what are the seven cards?

1990 Score Promo- On a checklist but never seen. I do believe this card does exist.
1990 Sportflics Promo- On a checklist but never seen. I do believe this card does exist.
1992 Legends Sports Gold- On my checklist only. I do believe this card exists.
1992 Colla All Star Promo- On a checklist. I do NOT believe this card exists. Others players do but Ozzie is not listed on the back of the other promo cards with other players.
1993 Pinnacle Cooperstown Promo- On a checklist but never seen. I do believe this card does exist.
1996 Collectors Choice Gold Signature #404 checklist. I know of one example of this card but have only seen scans. Just impossibly difficult to obtain.
1996 Select Certified Mirror Gold- You know the story on this card. Only 30 copies and just way out of my price range.

So after 30 years here is a scan of what could possibly be my last Ozzie Smith pick up:

1996 Cardinals Team issue. This card has only been seen autographed and signed in black. This is a far-from-mint example but I will take it gladly.


OLP_zps4pxavz87.jpg
 

RStadlerASU22

Active member
Jan 2, 2013
8,881
11
Extremely impressive and nice oddball pickup. Team issue stuff ranks way up there on my likes. Luckily you missed the 1/1 stage (97-current) , so you don't even have to consider those. Good luck on the rest, I'm sure you will add a few of them. If you had to choose only 2 of those to add, what would they be?

Ryan
 

Yanks2151

Active member
Nov 9, 2013
3,231
8
Great job on obtaining that one. I know when your checklist gets that low and you check one off it has to be a great feeling. I have a question. The '96 CC gold checklist. Is that the year they made the team logo gold and not a signature?
 

Mozzie22

Active member
Aug 7, 2008
1,648
24
Extremely impressive and nice oddball pickup. Team issue stuff ranks way up there on my likes. Luckily you missed the 1/1 stage (97-current) , so you don't even have to consider those. Good luck on the rest, I'm sure you will add a few of them. If you had to choose only 2 of those to add, what would they be?

Ryan


Tough to choose but it would be the 96 Mirror Gold and the 90 Score Promo.
 

Brewer Andy

Active member
Aug 10, 2008
9,634
21
Great pickup! I too like the odd team issued stuff. Out of curiosity, how many cards has Ozzie had produced SINCE 1997? I'm guessing an absurd amount!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Mozzie22

Active member
Aug 7, 2008
1,648
24
Great job on obtaining that one. I know when your checklist gets that low and you check one off it has to be a great feeling. I have a question. The '96 CC gold checklist. Is that the year they made the team logo gold and not a signature?[/QUOTE]

Yep. Here's a poor scan of the only one I've ever seen.

1996%20CC%20gold%20%20%20rare_zpsu8oela3g.jpg
 

Mozzie22

Active member
Aug 7, 2008
1,648
24
Great pickup! I too like the odd team issued stuff. Out of curiosity, how many cards has Ozzie had produced SINCE 1997? I'm guessing an absurd amount!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

over 4,000 after 1997. Exactly why I stopped at 1996. I don't know if it was the crazy volume of cards or the money aspect but after I stopped with 1996 I began to embrace the notion that only going after playing era cards was more "pure" in some way. I'm glad I made the decision I did. I do have some cards from the post 1996 era but they are there more as an example of how cards have changed.
 

SINFULONE

Active member
Sep 26, 2008
5,691
0
I started collecting Ozzie Smith cards in 1985. About 15 years ago I decided to focus on the cards from his playing career years only (1978-1996). I did this out of necessity; I couldn't keep up with volume of cards being created every year and with a wife and two kids it just wasn't financially feasible. Over the years one of the most gratifying aspects of my collection has been constantly developing, tweaking and adding to my checklist. I take pride in my collection, checklist, and the knowledge I've gained and shared with other Ozzie collectors.

My ever evolving Ozzie checklist has 986 total cards from 78-96. As of today I have 979 of 986. The card I got today in the mail is the 1996 Cardinals Team issue card. In the nearly 20 years since it was issued I've only seen three copies; one was bought by another Ozzie collector and one was so badly damaged I couldn't buy it.

Here is the bittersweet part. Of the seven cards I'm still missing, five are promo cards or cards only rumored to exist. Now I'm not saying they don't exist but I've never seen any of them and don't know of a single Ozzie collector that has ever heard of one or seen one. The two other cards do exist but one is way out of my price range and the other is just impossible. Will I give up on these seven cards? No. Do I expect to ever add them to my collection? Maybe. As any long time player collector will tell you new cards are always being added. I look forward to that aspect of the hobby.

So what are the seven cards?

1990 Score Promo- On a checklist but never seen. I do believe this card does exist.
1990 Sportflics Promo- On a checklist but never seen. I do believe this card does exist.
1992 Legends Sports Gold- On my checklist only. I do believe this card exists.
1992 Colla All Star Promo- On a checklist. I do NOT believe this card exists. Others players do but Ozzie is not listed on the back of the other promo cards with other players.
1993 Pinnacle Cooperstown Promo- On a checklist but never seen. I do believe this card does exist.
1996 Collectors Choice Gold Signature #404 checklist. I know of one example of this card but have only seen scans. Just impossibly difficult to obtain.
1996 Select Certified Mirror Gold- You know the story on this card. Only 30 copies and just way out of my price range.

So after 30 years here is a scan of what could possibly be my last Ozzie Smith pick up:

1996 Cardinals Team issue. This card has only been seen autographed and signed in black. This is a far-from-mint example but I will take it gladly.


OLP_zps4pxavz87.jpg

Are those oversized?
 

Mozzie22

Active member
Aug 7, 2008
1,648
24
These are oversized, 4"x5 1/2". This entire card set is incredibly rare; there isn't even a complete checklist for this team set.
 

gradedeflator

Active member
Mar 31, 2011
1,388
17
well written story, thanks for sharing and congrats!

those 1996 Collector's Choice Gold Signature checklists (series 2) are quite difficult...from when I got back into collecting, it was about 5 years before I saw a Piazza / Dodgers CL. since then i've seen a couple more and pick them up just because i realize how hard they are to find.

good luck with the rest of your wish list, if i see anything i will let you know!
 

Schmidt1972

New member
Apr 20, 2017
5
0
Chelsea MI
1992 Legends Sports Gold- On my checklist only. I do believe this card exists.

I can confirm that there are two versions. Red and Gold.
92 Legends Front.JPG92 Legends Back.JPG
 
Last edited:

dano7

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
13,325
3,849
Roanoke, VA
THAT is a GREAT collection. Who knows, maybe over the next years you can add/afford the others. I didn't think I'd ever get the Ruth and Gehrig autos. Or maybe your collection of Ozzie will take you in other directions.
DANNY
 

nevermore

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2008
3,371
515
New York
Congrats on completing two entire decades! I've enjoyed seeing your pickups over the years. Hope you do track down these last few. I enjoy the challenge of oddballs, since its more about the hunt rather than the bigger pockets.

Helpful information on the CC gold parallels, I will keep an eye out for these at shows.
 

Members online

Top