McCovey Monday #23 - 2007 Sweet Spot Classics Auto

My favorite player of all time is Hall of Famer Willie McCovey.  I have amassed a collection of over 1100 different  McCovey cards since I started collecting him in the late 1980s.  I will show off one of my favorite cards every Monday.  Stretch was one of the most feared hitters of all time and I am excited to show off my collection.

I recently picked up this 2007 Sweet Spot Classics Auto on eBay.

This is the gold stitching/blue ink version and is numbered 08/15.  These cards are infamous for their fading ink and this one has the same issue but I am okay with is as the signature is still readable.  The cost of these cards is pretty reasonable and I think this is due in large part to the ink issue but I really like the overall design. The baseball leather is great and the design surround the card is solid.  I wish there was a way for a slightly larger photo but at least we get a picture of the player. 

UD may have overdid it with the different varieties of material, stitching and ink color combos.  As an example, here is a list of the different McCovey varieties:

• 2007 Sweet Spot Classic Signatures Barrel Black Ink #WM Willie McCovey/ 15
• 2007 Sweet Spot Classic Signatures Barrel Blue Ink #WM Willie McCovey/ 25
• 2007 Sweet Spot Classic Signatures Black Barrel Gold Ink #WM Willie McCovey/ 1
• 2007 Sweet Spot Classic Signatures Black Barrel Silver Ink #WM Willie McCovey/ 5
• 2007 Sweet Spot Classic Signatures Black Leather Green Ink #WM Willie McCovey/ 1
• 2007 Sweet Spot Classic Signatures Black Leather Silver Ink #WM Willie McCovey/ 44
• 2007 Sweet Spot Classic Signatures Black Stitch Blue Ink #WM Willie McCovey/ 1
• 2007 Sweet Spot Classic Signatures Black Stitch Red Ink #WM Willie McCovey/ 1
• 2007 Sweet Spot Classic Signatures Gold Stitch Black Ink #WM Willie McCovey/ 25
• 2007 Sweet Spot Classic Signatures Gold Stitch Blue Ink #WM Willie McCovey/ 15
• 2007 Sweet Spot Classic Signatures Leather Blue Ink #WM Willie McCovey/ 25
• 2007 Sweet Spot Classic Signatures Leather Gold Ink #WM Willie McCovey/ 15
• 2007 Sweet Spot Classic Signatures Red Stitch Black Ink #WM Willie McCovey/ 75
• 2007 Sweet Spot Classic Signatures Red Stitch Blue Ink #WM Willie McCovey/ 35
• 2007 Sweet Spot Classic Signatures Silver Stitch Black Ink #WM Willie McCovey/ 15
• 2007 Sweet Spot Classic Signatures Silver Stitch Blue Ink #WM Willie McCovey/ 44

That is 16 different with 4 of them being 1/1s.  This doesn't include the 3 different dual autos with Jack Clark. For a player collector like me this can be frustrating and it was a couple years back when my goal was to try and get a copy of every single card.  I was bidding close to $100 on ugly 1/1s or cards that were parallels of something I already have.  I have changed my ways due to trying to control my budget and my collecting focus.  If I can pick up a new version of a card such as this for a reasonable price I am all in, but I have no issues with passing on an overpriced McCovey anymore.

This Sweet Spot Auto happens to be my 5th different version as I have the two numbered to 44, the /35 and the one /25 with Leather and Blue Ink (these don't fade!) in addition to this new one. Realistically I would hope to track down the /75 and maybe 1 or 2 others.

Does anyone else have a collection of these Sweet Spot autos in their player or team collection?