Rodon! Rodon! Rodon!

I had a pretty good Carlos Rodon collection going before he was even drafted thanks to his appearance on the USA Baseball team which netted the former NC State hurler several cards in various Panini products.  There are many in Rodon fans in central North Carolina after he starred in college at NC State and spent his summers playing for USA Baseball in Cary, North Carolina which is about twenty minutes from both Raleigh and Durham.  

The real excitement for Rodon cards started after the MLB Draft last June was the product that would have his first licensed autograph.  Leaf chimed in with a few draft related products, which features Rodon autographs, but he is in an NC State uniform with the logos blanked out.  Many local collectors had him pegged for last fall's Bowman Draft product, but when he did not appear on the checklist the 2015 Bowman set.....

I was excited to land a few of his cards from the Bowman set I picked up from a jumbo box....

The real prize, however would have been pulling a Rodon autograph.  I kind of figured that the odds were slim that I would actually land one out of the box I opened, so I set aside some money and trade resources to track down a copy of his first certified autograph last week.  This gem showed up in my mailbox this afternoon......

Needless to say I am ecstatic about owning this card.  When I got to the end of the year this is still going to be one of my favorite cards.  I have been waiting a few years to see a Rodon card in a Major League uniform with an autograph on the front of the card.  The day has finally come and I am so happy to file this card away into my collection.