Lionel Messi

 May has been a slow month by recent standards, so it figures that what broke up the monotony of not getting any autographs was arguably the biggest name now in my autograph collection. Leo Messi, arguably the greatest soccer player of all time or at least on the Mt. Rushmore, has a contract with Icons.com in England. He has been their exclusive athlete for ten years, so they are rightfully seen as the apex of Leo signed memorabilia. I was recently perusing their website when I cam across some Messi signed artwork that they still had available. After communicating with my wife about this particular item and getting her stamp of approval (important when dealing with expensive items), I ordered one. Just a few days later, it was delivered to my home from England. 

I am absolutely ecstatic with this piece, and like the fact that it was also signed by the artist and numbered 35/100. On the back is all of the authentication from Icons including the date it was signed (April 13th 2022 in Paris), the cert number, photos, etc. 

This has gotten me thinking that it might be time for me to start consolidating some of my collection into bigger names. The GOAT chase if you will. I already have so many Major League Hall of Famers and some huge names in the NBA and NFL world, but going after guys like Jordan, Gretzky, Tiger Woods, Tom Brady, et al should be next up on my to do list.