2013 COMC pickups #2: some of a Rich

Ordinarily I might have saved my Rich Hill stuff for later on in these posts, but 1) I don't have many of him to show off this time! and 2) I'm probably the only one that would consider him the #1 choice for saving the best for last.  So here's the six cards of my favorite PC player that I picked up between the year's pair of packages so far:

2007 Topps Allen and Ginter Mini Black No Number SP

Got all that?  Good!  Rich has six different mini versions in this set and I now have three of them; I'm still missing the Black, No Card Number (#d /50), and Bazooka (/25).  Fortunately for me, he appears this much in only the 2007 and 2008 sets, so I don't exactly have to get into mini-mania.  I do have to say that the black border here looks sharp.

2007 Topps Red Back

Topps, sometimes your inserts suck.  And sometimes they really, REALLY suck.  What a lame, boring, useless concept for an insert in the 21st century.

2008 Upper Deck First Edition jersey

I have to admit that this one kind of came out of nowhere for me.  Sure, it was on the checklist, but it's not like I have it memorized, plus there's plenty of other sets in which Rich appears that I've never seen.  So of course I was excited when I saw this card available, and on sale to boot, which meant another box checked!  It combines a typically nice photo with a great pinstriped swatch.  I've always been more of an autograph person than a fan of relics, but for a couple bucks this one is fine in my view.

2009 O-Pee-Chee Black Blank Back

Why did UD produce a card with a back that lists all of the redemptions Topps has fulfilled in a reasonable amount of time in the last five years?  Seriously, though, like the A&G Mini above, the black border looks sharp here.  Rich has four cards in this set, and since I have this one and the base card, I just need the the regular Black insert and the Black Mini.  Also, this is apparently my 17th Oriole card of Hill.

2009 Upper Deck

Ahhhhhh, I loves me some borderless photography.  That Other Brand doesn't seem to be a fan, but how can you not enjoy a card like this where the photo gets all the attention instead of a bunch of crap surrounding it?  Here you get a great shot of a lefty in his pitching motion with a good grip on the ball.

2009 Upper Deck Spectrum Spectrum Swatches patch (#03/25) 

And I get to finish up with a bang!  Well, sort of.  There ARE slightly better versions of this patch out there, but nothing that made it worth paying more than the $3.50 that netted me this one.  Seriously, I think the best I've seen so far is a two-color version, so I don't think this is exactly a premium patch set we're talking about.  The swatch I ended up with is pretty nice anyway.  Of the four versions of this card I can also boast the Blue jersey and jersey/auto, leaving me short just the Light Blue jersey (#d /99), which I'm working on now.  The boarders and bottom and the overall color scheme in this set are pretty much a hot mess, but they're still not horrible cards.

These six additions put me in a position that's now fairly unfamiliar:  I currently don't have any new Rich Hill cards still to scan or on their way to my mailbox!  I guess that's sort of to be expected now that I've hit 184 (plus nine 1/1s) of his PC, which means statistically I'm less likely to turn up new stuff as I go forward.  That's ok, though--I'll keep plugging along, especially towards new milestones like 200 different cards.  Speaking of the "M" word, the pair of hits puts old Rich at 81 of those!  Meanwhile, Michigan Baseball sits just seven cards short of its own 200-hit milestone, with lots and lots left to show off from COMC, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

I'll be back very soon with another COMC pickup, and may decide to switch things up a bit to keep it fresh, so you never know (hell, I don't) what I'll be posting next.