Acquisition: 2005-06 Tracy McGrady/Yao Ming/Stromile Swift Ultimate Collection Triple Auto /10

According to Beckett, the authority on sports cards, a total of 619 different Stromile Swift basketball cards exist.  My goal is to own one of each.  Presently, the "Stro Show" card collection is only 25 percent complete, but with a major piece of the puzzle having been added today.  For Christmas, I received a card which has proven a difficult catch: the '05/06 Ultimate Collection Triple Signatures featuring the ill-fated trio of Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, and, of course, Stromile Swift.  I've called it the "Holy Grail" of Stromile Swift cards because, aside from maybe some 1/1s, I'm not aware of any Stromile Swift card that's both harder to find and more pricey than this one.  Surely there are many Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, and Houston Rockets collectors who seek this card, and there are only ten of them floating about.

Only twice have I seen this card for sale.  A few years ago, I decided I couldn't.. er.. shouldn't afford it.  A few weeks ago, once again, I felt it was an unjustifiable splurge.  When it quickly disappeared from EBay, I was disappointed.  Little did I know it was actually on its way to my front door!  Thanks, mom!

Needless to say, Stro's single season with the Rockets was disappointing.  Despite his sizable contract and solid play in the preseason, he was unable to secure a spot in the starting lineup (to be fair, I'm not entirely convinced Jeff Van Gundy would've started prime Tim Duncan over Juwan Howard).  But he appeared in a relatively large number of games and smashed a bunch of sick dunks, so whatever.