2013 trade package #24: PTSiA is my Blue Brie Buddy For Life

I received what will likely be my final trade package of 2013 late last week, and this one happens to come from blog favorite Greg Z. of Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle.  Greg was one of a few traders who took me up on my offer to pick up stuff on COMC and trade it, and he posted about what I sent him here.  As is often the case, I split up my haul into a post here and another over on TMV, so don't forget to enjoy that one too!  Ok, enough talk, on with the goods:

Here's the address label from the envelope, confirming that it indeed hails from my Brie Buddy 4 Life.  Greg, that earns you a hearty AB thumbs up!

And now, the actual contents of the envelope:

This Michigan card, displaying my state's motto--"If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you"--appears to hail from a company called Helmar Turkish Cigarettes, and was created in the early 1900s, predating even my grandparents!  Greg showed off a few such acquisitions here as well as here.  It's a very cool and unique piece to add to my collection, even if I don't know where exactly it fits.  Those bucks and eagle are here to tell you, "MICHIGAN!  FUCK YEAH!"

On to pictures of men who play American sports.  Greg threw me a new Jim Abbott, an Allen & Ginter that's my first from any 2013 set.  I got my MMMM post on him put up just in time to add this 41st card to his PC!

And then there's the hits!:

Alan Branch 2007 Ultimate Collection Ultimate Signatures auto

Greg did a great job picking out this auto of Branch, just my second of him in his college uni, and a clear upgrade on the Press Pass I already had.  And now, my favorite part of posts that feature Mr. Branch:

ALAN BRANCH KILLS QBs

Ok, as you were.  That's football hit #759, by the way, and Branch #14 (all autos) in my collection.

And now we head north to celebrate the sport of hosers:

Andrew Ebbett 2008-09 SP Game Used Rookie Exclusive auto (#073/100)

Cool, it's Andrew "Frownyface McNoteeth" Ebbett!  He actually reminds me a bit of Pavel Datsyuk there.  It's been a few years since the kid was with Anaheim, which surely made the card easier for Greg to part with, and I now have my fourth auto and fifth overall hit of the center.

Jack Johnson 2008-09 Upper Deck Trilogy Young Star Scripts auto

Jack MF Johnson!  Boy that kid sure has a pretty signature, and that reminds me that I really should try to add more of him whenever I can.  As it stands, I have eight JJ hits, only two of which feature autos.  There's something to work on in 2014.

Marty Turco 2008-09 Upper Deck Trilogy Superstar Scripts auto

And finally we have my favorite all-time Michigan icer, goalie Marty Turco, on this lovely horizontal auto that hits all the right notes for me.  Turco still leads my hockey PC, now with 22 hits including this, my ninth auto.

And thanks to those three hockey adds, my new total for that sport is a spiffy 112, and I've long since passed my goal I set at the beginning of this year.

Thanks again for a great deal, Mr. Z., let's get another one going before 2014 gets too old.  Readers, please pay homage to Nick Offerman and check out Plaschke, Thy Sweater is Argyle tonight!

And on that note, we here at TMM (a.k.a., me, I guess) wish all of you a Merry Christmas and happy new year.  Catch the holiday spirit, y'all!

Michigan gameday #13: vs. South Carolina, plus, happy birthday and happy new year!

Before I get to the gameday portion of this post, there's a couple things I need to take care of first.

To start with, HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYBODY!  I hope everyone has a safe, productive, and happy 2013, and that each one of you has another great year of blogging and collecting.  Thanks again to all of you who make this hobby fun and rewarding.

No, I didn't mean to insert a "Happy birthday" GIF here--it's time for some Alison Brie!

Next, it's time to celebrate a birthday that's pretty easy for me to remember since it falls on the first day of each year:  today is the one-year anniversary of the creation of this here blog!  A year ago today I finally took the plunge and spun off the Michigan collecting-centric portion of my blogging after thinking about doing so for a couple months.  One year later, I'm definitely happy with the results.  First, I'm no longer annoying the hell out of the mostly baseball-heavy followers of TMV.  Second, I've been thankful for the small following of readers who appreciate some of the posts I've written here, most of which cover additions to my growing Michigan sports PCs.

I have no plans of stopping anytime soon either thanks to the support of readers like you.  I'm also thankful for my co-author, Jeff, who's provided some quality content himself, and made sure at times that this blog had more than one post per week.  It's great to have another voice that's just as passionate about Michigan sports and collecting as I am, and I hope that partnership continues into 2013.  On a related note, if any other collectors would like the opportunity to chime in with some guest posts this year, please let me know and I'll see what we can do!

So thanks again to all of you who have made this second blog project of mine, one that covers a school and hobby near and dear to my heart, worth it.  Here's to a 2013 of great collecting and blogging!

Alright, with all that out of the way, it's time to get down to business.  Even as I write this post, Michigan and South Carolina are both in Tampa, Florida preparing to square off at 1 pm EST in the Outback Bowl.  #18 Michigan finished the regular season 8-4, a bit of a letdown after a fantastic 2011, but the Wolverines look to finish strong against yet another SEC bowl opponent in enemy territory.  #10 South Carolina ended the year at 10-2 with its only losses at the hands of good LSU and Florida squads.

This will be only the third all-time meeting between the teams, and that's one feature of bowl games that I can certainly appreciate.  Consider this one the rubber match as the teams have split the series to-date.  It will be interesting to see how the Wolverine offense continues to grow with underclassman Devin Gardner at the helm due to Denard Robinson's lingering injury issues.  "Shoelace" will be Michigan's wild-card, however, as he could appear at pretty much any position on the field at this point, including rumors of kick return duties.  The Wolverines will need all the help they can get against a talented SC squad highlighted by stud DE Jadeveon Clowney, who's simply been a sack machine and TFL wiz for the Gamecocks.

For myself and my fellow Wolverines fans, here's hoping that Brady Hoke and Denard Robinson have some of the magic of last year up their sleeve as they battle the myth of total SEC superiority.  LET'S GO BLUE!

PTSIA's trade package makes it great to Brie a Michigan Wolverine!

As I covered in yesterday's TMV post, I received yet another great trade package from Greg over at PTSIA.  There you got to see some sweet Tigers pickups, plus a little more eye candy in the form of patron saint of sports card blogs and hotness Alison Brie (at Greg's request and my mutual interest!).

Like this, and such as.  Found over here, if you're interested.

The even better part of that package will be the subject of today's post on this here blog:

A couple Hoops Wolverines.  Wonder if I could pull off the Loy Vaught haircut?

Chris Webber 2010-11 Classics Membership jersey (#477/499)

Obviously I'm like every other Michigan fan in that I have a love/hate relationship with Webber.  Regardless, I now have three C-Webb relics in my basketball PC.  And that is a pretty sweet purple swatch!

And now here's where things got especially fun!:

Hmmm, rip party, you say?...

AW YEAH, you're getting RIPPED, Scott Skiles!

Hey!  Where's my rip cards?  Shouldn't I be pulling a red autograph #d /10?  Oh, wait, these aren't Topps cards, and why would anybody expect anything from a Spartan anyway?

Here's the aftermath.  I love Skiles' floating head at the bottom of the pile!

Then things went from fun to fun AND useful:

Jake Long 2008 Absolute Memorabilia Stargazing Jersey Prime patch (#39/50)

Now THAT's a purdy patch!  Also, since it's from Greg it's officially Patchtastic®.  That goes beautifully with my jersey/auto from the same set, though I dare say that I like this patch even more than that combination because, I mean, that's a NICE patch!  And hey, while Long's 55th(!) card still lags behind Rich Hill's total count (at least for now), that's a milestone-ish 575 football PC hits!

But that wasn't the only very useful PC card he sent my way:

J.J. Putz 2012 Topps Allen and Ginter Mini

You damn kids and your "minis" and "Gangnams" and "Twooters."  This is my first Putz mini, and it required some research on my part to ultimately determine that it's a "regular" mini and note one of the 80 other variations (I think).  This is my 15th "in-hand-and-scanned" card of Double-J, and that's also sort of milestone-worthy.

And then there's THIS guy,

Rich Hill 2009 UD Ballpark Collection Six Swatch Memorabilia 6x jersey (#082/200)

So big and fancy it needs its own separate COA!

This is the card I've wanted from Greg for a while since we rekindled trade talks.  While it's an absolute mess in terms of the players and which teams they're actually on (it's supposed to be three Red Sox and Orioles, as you can see on the COA), the pictures and/or swatches comprise no fewer than FIVE teams!  But that doesn't matter because this double-sided six-swatch card is sweet!  There's a really nice variety of swatches there, including a few different colors, and two pinstripes--including the guy who matters the most. That card puts me at a still-PC-leading 57 hits and 103 in-hand-and-scanned overall.

So thanks again, Greg, for an awesome trade, and I hope we can do it again soon!

COMC haul #8: battleground plates, or, vote Republicannie's boobs

(Note:  all COMC haul posts can be accessed here)

I went with the cutesy title in recognition of the fact that today is Election Day (and why it's not a national holiday is still beyond me), and for the fact that two of the players in the post are on teams from Ohio, the derpiest battleground state this side of the Mason-Dixon line.  That's as much political commentary as you'll get from me today.  One with the cards!

So this post is dedicated to Greg, with whom I'm engaged in a race to see who can compile the most PC 1/1s.  To clarify, I'm racing Greg and he's standing miles down the road laughing at me since he has so many more.  All the same, I decided to create an album that just includes all my various 1/1s, including printing plates, White Whales, and anything else that meets that description.  Today was a good deal for the big reveal of that since this post will show off all three 1/1s I picked up in my recent COMC haul:

Braylon Edwards 2009 Topps Mayo Mini Printing Plates Magenta (1/1)

Along with the cards in my first COMC haul post, this Braylon plate was part of my first COMC purchase of the second half of 2012.  I'd been wanting some sort of Bray-Bray 1/1 for a while, so this was an ideal pickup for me.  It just happens to be a plus that since it's Mayo, it's also a mini in one of Topps' cool holders for that sort of thing.  This, by the way, is my only football (or any non-baseball sport for that matter) 1/1 besides this Brandon Graham.  Make it 43 Edwards hits, too.

Rich Hill 2007 UD Masterpieces Stroke of Genius Signatures Printing Plates Cyan (1/1)

I don't think I can go more than a post or two on this blog without posting something of ol' Rich.  Still, since he's probably the PC player I'm most focused on, I try not to let any of his 1/1s and other rarities fall by the wayside.  While this guy set me back more than pretty much anything else I picked up from COMC this time, it's totally worth having a plate version of a card whose regular auto and Windsor Green (also 1/1!) autos I already own.  Hill jumps to 56 hits, still leading Jake Long, and also moves up to 102 in his PC, including a crazy (for me) seven 1/1s!

Zach Putnam 2008 Razor Letterman 1-of-1 N patch auto (1/1)

Would you believe I already have three 1/1s of Putnam?  All three of them are from '08 Razor Letterman, as well, including a plate and another letter (an "M").  I managed to snag this letter for much less than the original 1/1 letter I found on Blowout a while back, and it's fun having 1/3 of that nameplate, even though I'm pretty unlikely to complete it.  What's strange is that I've seen (and purchased) two 1/1s from this set but I've only encountered two of the /5 cards in all my searching, and both sellers wanted more for them than I paid for these!  Regardless, this third rare Putnam gives me 22 cards in his growing PC!

And now for a quick faux milestone:  I now have 756 Michigan all-sport hits, breaking the Hank Aaron mark, if there's such a thing in collecting.  Whatever, it's my blog, I can do whatever I want.

And speaking of doing whatever I want, and dedicating this post to Greg, who's got more Plates & Patches than Panini®, here's some more eye candy of the patron saint of Too Many Argyle Sweaterhams (which, incidentally, is a startlingly appropriate name here):

Just Putzin' around on eBay

Before we begin, this is just a friendly reminder that brunette hottie Alison Brie is the patron saint of "Too Many Brunettes" week here on TMM. (not to mention Greg Z's's blog as well)

So, although I'm eager to continue posting my COMC loot, I have a few more eBay pickups to throw in the mix, and this one fits perfectly for me today:

J.J. Putz 2008 Topps Silk Collection (#31/50)

Why is this card so apropos today, you might ask?  Well, as of this writing I actually AM putzing around on eBay waiting for a PC item auction to finish in about 15 minutes.  While I'm at it, the card does fit my theme of trying to spend less this month after a few weeks of heavy spending, especially on COMC.  How much did I pay for this beauty?  Try $0.99 with $2.50 shipping.  Silk cards seem to go for about $10 or more pretty regularly, so this was clearly a steal.  The timing of this post is also pretty good since the D-Backs recently picked up his 2013 option, meaning he'll likely be back closing games for them as he plays for a new contract in what's sure to be a great season for the former All-Star.

Today's Putz card puts me at 16 in-hand and scanned, and plenty more to come whenever I feel like it.  For now, please feel free to check out his PC album here or view the other Michigan baseball inserts I've scanned so far.

EDIT, 8 pm:  I ended up winning that auction (barely!), and while I was at it, over on TMV I threw up a post showing off the last five Bill Freehans I needed to own each of his vintage Topps cards from his playing career, so check that out!