Ronnie Lott - GOAT

I truly believe Ronnie Lott is the greatest NFL defensive back of all time.  He started his career as a cornerback and played his first 4 years at that position.  He won numerous All-Pro awards and was in the Pro Bowl each year.  During his 5th year he shifted to safety and continued his dominance.  He ended up earning Pro Bowl honors in 9 of his 10 seasons with the 49ers and another in his first season with the Raiders.  He was a marvel to watch and I don't know if I ever saw a player hit harder consistently.  I recall reading in his book that he picks a spot beyond his target and aims for that so he hits through the player - pretty cool.

While my posting has been sporadic, my purchasing has stayed consistent.  I decided it was time to scan the stack of Ronnie Lott cards on my desk and get them filed away.  I am pretty happy with these pick ups and glad that Ronnie keeps getting added to new sets.

2016 Classics Prime Material 5/5

 During my last Lott post, I shared the regular version of this card with just a red swatch.  During Lott's playing career, this 2 color red and white swatch is about as prime as you could get.  This is a nice low 5/5 numbered card.

These 3 cards come from 2016 Plates and Patches, I accidentally scooped up 2 of the green version.  If you look closely the one on the left is a Christmas cards 12/25 if anyone is interested in trading for it.  The card /79 is the highest print run.  With these two I still need to pick up the blue /50 and the red /10.  There is also a gold 1/1 but I am pretty sure another Lott collector with deeper pockets either already has it or will pick it up.

I batched these two together as they are both acetate cards - I for one am pretty happy about the return of acetate cards, they look great.  The 2016 Clear Vision card is my 3rd from the set and my first as a Raider.  There are several different colors and Ronnie has one 49er and one Raider version of each parallel.  The 2015 High Tek card is my 7th different Lott card from the set and is numbered to /75

2016 Panini Spectra City 2 City Dual Relic 45/49

This is a pretty cool relic card with 2 swatches from different teams Lott played for and is called City 2 City. It is from 2016 Spectra.  This one numbered /49 is the most common and there are 5 other parallels numbered out of 35, 5, 3, 1 and 1.   I am happy to have the one I do and unless it falls in my lap don't foresee another version entering my collection.

2016 National Treasures Century Materials 24/49

This is my most recent addition and comes from the recently released National Treasures.  I have missed out on a couple prime relics but glad to have this one in my collection.  I plan to keep my eyes peeled for other relics and autos from National Treasures as the hype slows down as they are great looking cards.  

2016 Prizm Draft Picks Alumnus Autographs Camo 3/5

This card was listed on eBay for a while and I watched the price come down a couple times after it didn't sell.  I finally shot the seller and offer, he countered and after a little contemplation I decided to pull the trigger. No buyers remorse at this point, I like getting cards of Lott from his USC days even if they are black and white.  The camo card is pretty cool and I love having rare cards like this in my collection.

2016 Rookies & Stars Great American Signatures 01/25

The final card of this post is my favorite.  I great looking, patriotic themed autograph of Ronnie Lott.  The serial number for some (being the first in the print run) carriers a premium - the dreaded eBay 1/1.  For me I couldn't care less, fortunately bidding for this card didn't get out control because of this and I have one of my favorite Lott cards packed away in my collection.