2016 COMC purchases: THIS IS TMM

I'll get to today's cards in a minute but first,

happy 86th birthday to 1955 University of Michigan graduate James Earl Jones!  Jones' legendary acting talent and voice have brought joy to millions over his long and illustrious career.  Baseball fans will remember him from a couple movies focusing on the sport:  Field of Dreams and The Sandlot.  Of course he's also voiced #1 top villain Darth Vader in five Star Wars movies, the infamous Holiday Special, and the Star Wars Rebels TV show, as well as Mufasa in one of Disney's biggest hits, The Lion King.  All of that is a mere fraction of what he's accomplished and doesn't even include his stage career.  Needless to say, he's one of the school's most famous alumni, and I look forward to a chance to hear him speak live as the University celebrates its bicentennial this year.

I knew I had to post these cards today because not only does the title work as a play on JEJ's trademark station identification of CNN as well as this here blog and its namesake, but that particular player wore a particular number while in college:  86, or the same number as Jones' age!  Of course I'm talking about Super Mario Manningham:

So here's two pages' worth of new cards of the New Math, Mario Manningham, courtesy of COMC:

2008 Bowman Blue (#443/500), 2008 Donruss Gridiron Gear Next Generation Gold (#102/500), 2008 Leaf Certified Materials Certified Potential Mirror (#438/500)

It's the start of some serial-numbered insanity with these three numbered inserts from Mario's rookie season of 2008, all coincidentally numbered to 500.

2008 Leaf Rookies and Stars Crosstraining (#0560/1000), 2008 Playoff Contenders Playoff Ticket (#16/99), 2008 Press Pass Legends Silver Holofoil (#172/499)

More numbering, but a bit more diversity in print runs this time.  This group includes two of my favorite cards in the bunch:  the Playoff Ticket and Silver Holofoil parallels.  The former is a fun insert to look forward to yearly while the latter is from one of the coolest looking college products, and the holographic foil even applies to the stamped numbering on the back!

2008 SP Rookie Edition (#194), 2008 Upper Deck Icons Class of 2008 Silver (#063/750), 2009 Topps Magic Mini

The SP card is my first of Manningham's three throwback variations from that product and is the 1993 SP version.  Though I don't hold Icons in the highest regard I was happy to add the Class of 2008 insert as another numbered card.  And you already saw the Magic Mini in yesterday's inserts pickup post, but now I'm officially adding it to Mario's PC.

2010 Topps Gold (#0114/2010), 2011 Certified Mirror Red (#176/250), 2011 Finest Xfractor (#056/399)

As you can see I went pretty heavy on numbered cards and parallels in my quest for too many Manninghams this time.  The Gold parallel is my first such card of Manningham, though he's got a few others for me to chase.  New York's colors look great on the Mirror Red parallel, another typically excellent insert.  And while I don't have a standard Refractor to show off today, I did track down an Xfractor, which again looks great with the Giants' colors.

2011 Panini Gridiron Gear Gamebreakers Gold (#008/100), 2011 Panini Gridiron Gear Silver X's (#197/250), 2011 Timeless Treasures (#348/499)

This group includes today's other horizontal card which is a parallel of an insert, one of several parallels of a base card, and a numbered base card.  All happen to come from 2011 Panini products.

2012 Topps 1965 Mini, 2012 Topps Camo (#195/399), 2012 Topps Prime Gold

Last up is a 2012 Topps product trio, and all cards picture Manningham with his second and final NFL team, the Niners.  I thought the "Mini" card, done in the "Tall Boy" style, would be a fun add.  I found a numbered Camo parallel from the same flagship product that year.  And finally, I'm betting I assumed the Stadium Club-like Prime Gold card was numbered as I probably would have ignored it otherwise.  I hope Mario made that catch but it looks pretty likely that he biffed it.

Again, a happy birthday to stage and screen legend and Michigan alum James Earl Jones, who is Mario Manningham years old today, and welcome to my collection to 18 new Manningham cards!