A few posts ago I busted a box of 1999 Skybox WNBA Hoops trading cards. It was a product I chased when it released, but shortly afterward I got out of collecting and pretty much stopped following the WNBA. I mentioned in that post that I had decided to collect cards featuring point guard Ticha Penicheiro at that time, but hadn't gotten very far with that collection. I decided to look her up and see what was out there. She's got a few cards out there. COMC lists 47 cards for her. Beckett lists a total of 56 cards, with two of those being 1/1's. She's got a couple handfuls of serially-numbered cards, a few relic cards, and a few autographs. Overall it should be a challenging PC to build, but not an overwhelming one. The 1/1's are probably out of the question, but most everything else is numbered to #/50 or higher.
The first thing I went out and chased down was an autograph card. This is her 2006 Rittenhouse WNBA Autographs card, celebrating the Sacramento Monarchs 2005 WNBA Championship. Beckett says she has 4 more autographs out there, so this one gets me to 20% on the autograph front.
Penicheiro had a pretty good career in the WNBA, playing in 15 seasons for three different teams. She led the league in assists 7 times and is the current all-time leader in that category. She is second all-time in steals. She won one championship, made the All-Star Team four times, made the All-WNBA 1st Team twice, and the All-WNBA 2nd Team once. She was named one of the Top 15 WNBA players of all time in 2011 and one of the WNBA Top 20@20 in 2016.
I had collected Liberty cards at one time especially Lobo. I still have mine but I don't think I plan on getting more
ReplyDeleteWell, these days you're pretty much limited to the annual Rittenhouse boxed set if you want WNBA cards. The late 90's/early 00's were a lot more fun when it came to cardboard variety.
DeleteMy WNBA collection cuts off somewhere after the 2002 Fleer Authentix set was released. I've still got my Sue Bird RC and rookie relic from that set. Not sure I'll ever get back into collecting the league.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how far I'll take my WNBA collection, but it's currently something that interests me. If Sue Bird plays a while longer, I think she's got a shot at passing Penicheiro for the assists crown.
DeleteMan... back in the late 90's, I dove head first into WNBA collecting. I think I still have a Pinnacle Inside set or two laying around my parents house.
ReplyDeleteI think I would have really been into it as well, but my break in collecting started just about the time WNBA card production ramped up.
DeleteThat's one wild signature!
ReplyDeleteIt is pretty crazy, but I can't imagine trying to fit that last name onto a tiny bit of card. Actually, I can, because my full name is pretty long and I always run out of space when writing it on forms.
DeleteI have a number of Sue Bird cards in my collection, I pay attention to the Seattle Storm off and on during the season.
ReplyDeleteI think I am going to try following the league this year. I don't know what team to root for, though, as Houston no longer has a franchise.
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