2017 COMC purchases: a loss, not a win-serts

A disappointing offensive performance (five turnovers!) all but sealed Michigan's fate this evening but MSU still gifted the Wolverines with one last gasp attempt that failed by inches.  Oh well, you don't win 'em all!  On to Indiana.

To celebrate a pretty good game (maybe not great sans victory), let's have a look at the bunches of football inserts I grabbed on COMC over the past few months:

We'll kick things off with lots of offense, starting with Refractors of WR Derrick Alexander from '94 Stadium Club Bowman's Best and '99 Finest.  FB B.J. Askew makes an uncommon appearance with a Rookie Blue parallel of his 2003 Mystique RC (#261/350).  Then we have a trio of possession WR Jason Avant:  '06 Playoff Contenders ROY Contenders (#0861/1000), a Topps Chrome Refractor parallel of his RC from that year, and a Chrome Black Refractor from the following year's Topps Draft product.  Finally, there's another trio, this time representing RB Tim Biakabutuka via '96 Leaf Gold Rookies, '97 Ultra Comeback Kids (on a very cool die-cut design) and 2000 Mystique Running Men.

This scan gives us plenty more offense starting with a five-spot of shifty WR Steve Breaston:  '09 Score Scorecard (#082/299), 2010 Certified Platinum Red (#271/999), 2010 Playoff Contenders Playoff Ticket (#23/99), 2011 Certified Mirror Red (#240/250) and 2011 Prestige Xtra Points Gold (#025/250).  Lots of serial-numbered stuff there!

Next is a trio of ex-QB Todd Collins:  1995 Pinnacle Trophy Collection (football's answer to baseball's Museum Collection), the same year's Select Certified Mirror Gold (remember when those were huge), and a protected 1997 Pinnacle Totally Certified Platinum Red parallel (#4946/4999).

Short-lived NFL LB Shawn Crable is a rare defensive player here on a 2008 Topps Chrome Refractor parallel of his RC.  I hope you like Refractors because there's more where that came from!

After a short hiatus we're back with more QBs.  Elvis Grbac, Desmond Howard's QB for his 1991 Heisman campaign, is here from 1999 Score Showcase (#0953/1989) and 2000 Pacific Prism Prospects Premiere Date (#083/138).

Doubling him up is title-winning QB Brian Griese:  a 2000 Bowman Chrome Refractor, 2002 Bowman's Best Blue parallel (#132/300), 2005 Leaf Rookies and Stars Longevity Ruby parallel (#050/299) and another Refractor from 2005 Topps Chrome.  The way the non-Griese subjects are portrayed on the Blue parallel is both creepy and cool.

Lastly, I turned up a rare trio of numbered cards of a defensive player--David Harris, erstwhile NY Jet who joined the Pats for this season.  Topps Gold parallels from 2010 (#0865/2010) and 2013 (#1972/2013) bookend a 2011 Prime Signatures Prime Proof Red parallel (#21/99).  After suffering through Jetsdom I'd love to see him win a ring with fellow Wolverines Tom Brady and Alan Branch.

This scan continues the run on defensive players with DBs Marlin Jackson--2006 Score Gold (#109/600)--and Ty Law--2006 Topps Chrome Own the Game.  Law, of course, had Super Bowl success with the 2001 and 2003 Patriots.

Jake Long flips us back to offense with his 2011 Topps Gold parallel (#0674/2011), and the only OL of the day is followed up by the lone TE--Tony McGee and his 1998 Bowman Chrome Refractor.

Shoelace's card, a 2016 Donruss Stat Line Season parallel (#011/266) is a call back to one of my favorite baseball inserts of the early 2000s.  The numbering, of course, corresponds to his rushing total from the previous year.

We then close out the scan with three parallels (including two Refractors) of Giants WR great Amani Toomer:  2004 Topps Draft Gold Chrome (one of my favorite Topps products), 2005 Finest Refractor (#045/399) and 2008 Score Gold Zone (#170/400).  Seriously, why can't Topps make products that look like '04 Draft/Chrome?

Here's a group of horizontal cards that even includes another defensive cameo!  Previously-seen WRs kick us off with Derrick Alexander's 1998 SPx Finite Radiance parallel (#4153/5050) from that totally numbered product, then a couple 2006 Michigan uni appearances from Jason Avant:  a die-cut Press Pass Big Numbers card and an example from that year's Prestige Draft Picks insert.

Then it's over to a couple QBs.  We already saw Griese earlier, and here's another cool numbered insert, this time from 2001 Pacific Invincible, called Widescreen (#1150/2500).  It's easy to forget that aspect ratio was exotic at the time.  He's followed up by current coach Jim Harbaugh on a cool holographic insert I hadn't seen before:  1996 Select Four-midable.  Great design!

Law makes his second appearance, this time on a 2008 Topps Chrome Dynasties insert that highlights one of his aforementioned Super Bowl victories.

Finally, a pair of die-cut RBs:  Chris Perry on the 2004 version of Press Pass's Big Numbers insert, and Anthony Thomas out of 2002 Pacific Heads Update's Big Numbers.

Because of the sheer number of cards I grabbed of Braylon Edwards, I decided to scan him separately.  This can includes seven vertical cards of the former #1:  2007 Finest Green Refractor (#074/199), 2008 Leaf Limited Banner Season (#654/999), 2008 Select Future Franchise (#404/999), 2008 Topps Chrome Copper Refractor (#384/425), 2009 Bowman Chrome Xfractor (#221/250), 2010 Certified Platinum Red (#047/999) and 2010 Topps Gold (#0209/2010).  Thanks to Bray-Bray being out of the league, I can find lots of cheap numbered inserts of his like this bunch.

I also grabbed eight horizontal inserts.  The semi-translucent 2005 Playoff Contenders Rookie Round Up (#213/450) is easily my favorite of the bunch.  It's joined by another Press Pass Big Numbers card, this time from 2005, and this bunch of Panini-branded numbered issues:  2006 Leaf Certified Materials Certified Potential Gold (#0322/800), 2009 Donruss Elite Prime Targets Gold (#550/899), 2009 Playoff Prestige Prestigious Pros Blue (#0803/1000), 2010 Panini Threads Silver Holofoil (#158/250), 2011 Donruss Elite Craftsmen Gold (#222/999) and 2011 Prestige Prestigious Pros Green (#103/250).  A nice looking bunch of inserts for sure!

We'll end things tonight with four more cards of Michigan's coach, who may not be too popular for a few days after tonight's loss, but still has my full support.  First is another example of a '95 Pinnacle Trophy Collection Parallel.  The next--my favorite of my Harbaugh haul--is a die-cut '96 Stadium Club Fusion, half of a pair that includes HOF Colt/Ram RB Marshall Faulk.  Finally, we have a pair of '96 Upper Deck-branded inserts:  Silver All-NFL and Proview (which may look familiar to you baseball collectors).

Michigan fans may have to endure the usual pains of going through a week after a loss, but we're hardly the only fans to be disappointed this season and there's still plenty to play for.  Hopefully years down the line I'll get to see many of the guys I watched tonight appear on inserts like these.  For now, it's onward to Indiana for the team and onward with my collection for me!