I started off January by finally adding an autograph of Rik Smits to my collection. When I began collecting, I naturally followed Smits as he went to Marist College, which is my local college. He's the only NBA player to come from Marist, in fact, although others have been drafted and got as far as the D-League. He also played center, which is my favorite position, and the one I played when I was in school. (Not that I had much actual skill!) The card arrived in the mail on 1/14/14 and according to the Database, is the 166th card of him in my collection.

I debated putting this one up for a couple of weeks, but I think it's the One for February. I debated for two reasons- #1 being that I actually purchased it on January 31st, (arrived in the mail on 2/4) and that it cost me less than $20. But as the month went on I realized it was the card of the month. My all time favorite player, my fourth Patch of Elton, and serially numbered 12/25. There are actually two levels of white, at two depths, but it's really hard to see...you can see the shadow but that's about it. Based on the size and shape I believe this is the bottom of the 4 in his #42.

I have always thought that the Four Wide cards were cool, but I had never been lucky enough to pull one. And they always sold for a lot. But since I decided to get one "big ticket" card a month, I figured to look and see if I could find one that I could afford. And I did :) It didn't hurt that it is one of my favorite active drivers either!