A "Mays" ing Pick Up off the Bucket List

At the beginning of 2011, I put together a bucket list of card collecting goals.  On this list, I placed autos of all the HOFers since around 1950 that I didn't have, 3 basketball cards (Spud Webb RC, Spud Webb Sacramento Kings Auto and Mitch Richmond Sacramento Kings Auto), several 49ers and USC Football autos and a list of baseball autos - Brian Wilson, Tim Lincecum, Doug Glanville, Barry Bonds and Willie Mays.  The Glanville Auto was added after I read his book on baseball (good read - pick it up), the rest are obvious Giants wants.  So how have I done with my bucket list so far?

Of the Hall of Famers, I have picked up autos of Bob Lemon, Bobby Doerr, Carlton Fisk, Catfish Hunter, Hoyt Wilhelm, Joe Morgan, Lou Boudreau, Ozzie Smith, Reggie Jackson, Ryne Sandberg, Tom Seaver, Whitey Ford and Willie Stargell.  Some have already been featured on the blog and I eventually plan on sharing them all.

Of the basketball cards, I have picked up the Spud and Richmond autos, still need the Spud RC. I am a big Kings fan (although not much to cheer about these days) and was living in Sacramento when they moved there.  My dad had season tickets so I saw lots of hoops during the 80s and early 90s.  Spud and Mitch were the foundation of the best Kings teams until the C-Webb version came along.  Here are the two autos I picked of the Kings.

 I have made no progress on the football autos, they are all pretty high dollar and superstar players.  My focus has really shifted to baseball over the past couple years.  I have picked up the Wilson, Lincecum and Glanville autos with the Lincy coming in a huge Sports Card Forum trade and the others from eBay.

I figured the Bonds and Mays were way out of my price range and wasn't really looking to add them anytime soon. I threw down $55 on a Mays 1955 Bowman but that wasn't going to get me close to an auto of 2 of the best players to ever play the game.  Then a week or two back I was trolling on the Sportlots auction board and saw a card I had to have - if the price was right.  I had a little bit of a bidding war with another person but ultimately won this card for $39 plus $2 shipping:

I am typically not a fan of cut autos of players that are alive but this is a nice clear Mays signature and certified as well.  I couldn't pass up the chance to add this to my collection, especially at this price.  I am super excited and energized to add a Bonds to my collection to finish off this bucket list category. There is a nice Sweet Spot Bonds auto at my LCS with a $200 price tag, I am tempted to see if I can get the price down, trade in a few card and maybe put the rest on lay away.

I have seen quite a few blog posts with New Years resolutions, does anyone else have a longer term bucket list?  I also put together some collecting goals for 2012 in January but didn't have a blog to share them.  I plan on posting an mid year update where I will share the goals and my progress at the end of next month.