2017 COMC purchases: new year, Rookie Blue year

As I mentioned at the end of my last post we're headed away from the court and ice and onto the gridiron for the rest of this series.  Today's additions are all heading to my football RC collection as I continue to chase almost 1500 cards of almost 200 players (both of which are numbers that will look hilariously out-of-date before much longer!).  14 cards, 11 players--let's do it!

First of all, it's been quite a while since I scanned these so I don't know why this one only has five cards instead of six like the next one.

Anyway, we'll start with FB B.J. Askew on a gorgeous 2003 Donruss Classics card (#296/900) that combines an excellent design with my favorite type of photo.  Current RC count:  21/27

Next is one of the few first-years I still needed of sure-handed WR Jason Avant, this one out of Topps' 2006 Turkey Red product.  I think I preferred TR as an insert instead of its own product, but at least the cards look nice.  Current RC count:  20/22

Former Lions OL Jeff Backus is the star of our other Michigan uni card for the day.  The 18th overall pick of the 2001 draft (one behind future HOFer Steve Hutchinson) is seen here in a set called Topps Debut (#0145/1499), which is just my second rookie of his.  Current RC count:  2/5

The last player in the scan is former national champ and journeyman NFL QB Brian Griese, who comes to us from two decades ago in 1998.  These hail from Leaf Rookies and Stars and Playoff Momentum (the Hobby version).  More on the latter in just a bit.  I'm getting to the point where the ones I still need are starting to get pretty rare.  Current RC count:  32/39

Recently retired Jets/Patriots LB and tackling machine David Harris kicks off this scan with the always confusing Leaf Rookies and Stars Longevity product (from 2007), as always not to be confused with the base product parallel of the same name.  These shinier cards have the same numbering (/999) as the non-Longevity product, and this one is #612/999.  Current RC count:  22/24

For a guy who appears on as many rookies as he does I don't really get to show off many new cards of the next player, TE Bennie Joppru, so I'm glad to have a pair of them today.  On the left is the weird 2003 Playoff Hogg Heaven product (#0213/1000) which looks even worse when compared to the excellent Playoff Honors (#073/550) on the right.  By the way, I must be paying more attention than I usually do because I actually noticed the fact that he's wearing two different jersey numbers there!  Current RC count:  22/32

I done didn't mess up the scan of the next player, TE A-A-Ron Shea--his 2000 Playoff Momentum RC (#188/750) was just a bit too shiny to scan very well.  I'd call it a fun reminder of the craziness and abundance of choice from the early part of the previous decade.  Current RC count:  7/15

Now it's time to move up a year with David Terrell and another somewhat confusing card.  For whatever reason both of his base issues from Upper Deck's 2001 UD Graded set are considered RCs; both are #52 and are #d /500.  The only difference is the photo used, with the variation being a portrait as opposed to what you see above (which is #354/500).  Sometimes cards hurt my brain.  Current RC count:  26/53

The last guy in this scan is another star WR, Marquise Walker, and he comes to us in this close-up from 2002 Sweet Spot (#0696/1050).  Walker's card in the set is special in that pretty much the rest of the first-years are action shots while he gets a nice portrait.  Current RC count:  29/50

I was originally going to end the post there but then I decided to include three more cards that you'll be seeing in a future post that focuses on my player collections:

Shoelace makes a non-remotely-rare appearance here on one of the last few rookies of him I still needed, 2003 Absolute (#181/199).  While I still have to track down the retail version I was glad to have found this shinier, rainbow foil version first.  And I paired it with a few things I think some of you will find pretty interesting!  Current RC count:  24/27

And here's a pair of aces I was excited to land.  Well, aces in the sense that they're RCs of the legendary Charles Woodson, at least.  The 1998 Collector's Edge Masters card (#1615/5000) is decent, though not my cup of tea.  But the Playoff Momentum Retail card on its right is atrocious and a good illustration of why I hate hobby/retail versions.  For comparison's sake, here's the Hobby card next to the Retail from above:

U wot m8?  Playoff is a brand I generally liked but what the hell were they thinking making a decent hobby version, then covering up half the card with a butt-fugly football pattern that was probably made in MS Paint?  The card on the left is pre-2006 Topps and the right one is everything after.  The hobby card is Scott Baio on Charles in Charge and the retail is Scott Baio, Fox News commentator.  Woof!  Current RC count:  39/43

That's it for today but I still have plenty to show you in the next three posts so stay tuned!