2018 Sportlots purchases: Happy Rookie Blue Year!

Next up on the 2018 Sportlots train is a fresh new crop of football RCs!  As I believe I explained before, I added a number of guys who transferred--in general away from Michigan--as long as I felt like their short careers in Ann Arbor justified it.  My only rule was that I wouldn't include any cards with photos of them with their non-Michigan school.

They were my main target this time but I did manage to track down a few cards of other guys as well.  Check 'em out:

I didn't feel like sorting these chronologically this time so we're going straight alphabetical, starting with a couple 2017 Donruss cards starring DL Taco Charlton and WR Amara Darboh.  I'm not sure why Darboh got a Rated Rookie appearance and not Charlton, but that's not all bad since I get to see two different designs.

The other player in this scan is RB Justin Fargas.  The son of Antonio "Huggy Bear" Fargas (Starsky and Hutch), Justin came to Ann Arbor in 1998 with the Wolverines coming off their national title, and he was a prized recruit for sure, but unfortunately broke his leg late in his freshman season, forcing him into an injury redshirt the following year.  His choice to flip to defense didn't help him regain much playing time so he headed to USC and had a pretty nice 2002 season with them, then got drafted by the Raiders in the third round in '03.  He lasted seven seasons--his entire career--in Oakland, which is pretty good given the meat grinder nature of the position.

I came up with 22 of his rookies on my checklist and you can see the first six of those above:  Bowman, Topps, Topps Pristine, Topps Total, Upper Deck MVP, and Fleer Tradition (another of their cool three-player cards).

Next we return to a more familiar face:  Devin Funchess, on his 2015 Topps Field Access RC.  I don't know why that one was such a thorn in my side, but after passing on lots of people selling it for a buck or more I finally got a nice deal, leaving me four short of his rookie run.

The second of five transfer players today is TE Damon Jones.  He's not a guy I remember but then again he played in 12 games in 1993 and that was it for his Division I career.  Apparently multiple arrests led to him transferring to Southern Illinois.  The Jags took him in the fifth round in 1997, and he carved out a five year career in Jacksonville.  You can see a pair of his three rookies above:  Collector's Choice and Skybox Premium issues from the year he was drafted.

Bennie Joppru is a tight end that's much more familiar here, I think.  In picking up his 2003 Gridiron Kings rookie I got within nine cards of landing his 32 first-years, thanks to a fantastic looking card.

He's joined by another guy on that side of the ball, WR Marcus Knight.  At times it feels like every one of his 15 rookies I'm chasing is serial-numbered, and that's because nine of them are, including these two from 2000:  Leaf Limited (#1474/1500) and UD Ionix (#1399/2000).  Bonus points to the latter for its Michigan uni, though I've always hated that crappy digital numbering that a number of manufacturers used.  Four of Knights cards remain and, yes, all of them are numbered!

Here's the rest of the guys who left, an all-transfer scan.  Ryan Mallett's 2011 Score is the second of his rookies I've acquired but that's because I've long owned Topps' set from the same year.  Many around here remember his cannon arm and ten cent brain, though his transfer to Arkansas--apparently suggested by retiring coach Lloyd Carr--worked out pretty well for him in the end.  Luckily for me he appears on just 10 rookies that meet my criteria, plus he's long since lost any hype he had out of the draft.

The other two guys, though, weren't known to me that I could remember.  The first is DL Trevor Pryce, a guy who looks to have been at Michigan at some point in the mid-90s and then transferred to Clemson.  He was good enough to get picked by Denver #28 overall in '97 and therefore was part of title-winning teams his first two seasons.  Pryce had a great 14-year career that included 91.0 sacks and four Pro Bowl nods in addition to those two rings.  Above you can see his '97 Collector's Choice and Upper Deck RCs, leaving me short just his SP Authentic.

Last up today is another RB-type who transferred out west and then was drafted by the Raiders.  Jon Ritchie was a Wolverine for the '93 and '94 seasons before sitting out a year to spend his final two years at Stanford.  Oakland grabbed him in the third round in '98 and he lasted five seasons with them, plus another two in Philly, listed as a FB/RB/TE.  I came up with 12 of his rookies to chase and here you can see the first four I found:  Bowman, Collector's Edge First Place, UD Choice, and Upper Deck Encore.

That should do it for rookies this time but I'll have a few more for you when it's time to get to my COMC loot.  Next up you'll get to see either another position group or a single player.

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!

10/7/17 card show report: wide world of Wolverines

If you read my TMV post (which is likely how you got here), you know the show I went to a couple weeks ago and the subsequent report post were pretty much paint-by-numbers, but I can't complain since the cards were new to me and fun to dig out as usual.

Here's the Wolverines content:

Let's start with the football base stuff.  Last year's Donruss offerings of Funchess and David Harris bookend a nice 2009 Upper Deck Leon Hall, and I also added Harris' Donruss base from this year's design, which I also like.

One of the biggest surprises of the day was card #5, a 1988 Swell Greats issue of Bill Hewitt, a player I believe is totally new to this here blog.  A native of the state (Bay City), he attended Michigan in the late 20s/early 30s as an "end" (I believe a pre-forward pass TE) and FB, then went on to an NFL Hall of Fame career with the Bears, Eagles, and the amazingly named Phil-Pitt Steagles, the combined team that was formed due to a player shortage resulting from WWII.  He doesn't appear to have appeared on much cardboard, so this was one of those really fun dime box finds!

I also wasn't expecting to turn up a numbered first-year for my Rookie Blue collection, but suddenly I saw a 2003 Absolute Memorabilia RC (#0616/1100) of former TE Bennie Joppru.  It's my 20th of his surprising total of 32 rookies, and one of the nicest ones at that.

Finally, I grabbed another one of those crazy and fun Pacific offerings of the 90s, a 1996 Crown Royale base of coach Jim Harbaugh.  When Pacific wasn't trying to melt your eyeballs with shininess they tried to grab your attention in other ways, like this all-die-cut set, and I salute them for it!

I also came up with a surprising number of Michigan Football inserts, though if it took me this long to find them I can't imagine the dealer would feel like putting in the effort to dig them up and price them at a small premium.

The top row is all Refractors all the time:  Biakabutuka's hails from 1999 Finest, Breaston's is a parallel of his 2007 Finest RC, and I also found what seems to be a rarity:  a Braylon of that parallel that I hadn't tracked down yet (2006 Bowman Chrome).

The next three are all numbered, with a couple $0.50 cards from the same set bookending one numbered way higher than both combined.  QBs Elvis Grbac and Brian Griese are both representing with identical numbering (#221/299) from Pacific's 2001 Vanguard Blue parallel, plus I turned up a Silver parallel of Griese's 1998 Topps Stars RC (#2430/3999).

The bottom includes parallels of a couple positions that face each other on every play, a CB and WR.  While I already had Leon Hall's 2007 Topps Chrome Refractor parallel of his RC, until this show I hadn't tracked down his XFractor.  Done and done!  Jumping back more than a decade I then grabbed Amani Toomer's super shiny Ground Zero parallel from 1996 Summit.

That wasn't all, though, since I made it an even ten with these two horizontal offerings.  The first is a 2001 Team Nucleus insert that plays on its product's name:  Pacific Prism Atomic.  All three players on that card ended up having at least solid careers, though HOF RB Davis's career would be over the year after this insert came out.

Speaking of 2001 Atomic, I also came up with this awesome die-cut/numbered insert of WR Tai Streets, a Gold parallel numbered 005/116.  The color really goes well with the 49ers uniforms.  Remember when they didn't suck because they weren't owned by a know-nothing spoiled brat?

Lastly, I turned up two very cool hockey parallels.  The first is one of my favorite hockey alumni in Morrison on one of my favorite parallels and products:  1999-00 Paramount Holo-Gold (#050/199).  I surprised myself when it came up in a big pile of numbered hockey cards I was grabbing for someone else (who could that possibly be?  I'm going insane trying to remember.).  The other is one of the better goalies the school produced, Steve Shields, on one of the greatest of all parallels, an Artist's Proof, which happens to be of his 1997-98 Pinnacle RC, so big bonus there!

That's it for this month's show, but I've still got waaaaaaay too much to scan and post to show off for you, so stay tuned for whenever I get around to that.

Rookie Blue-out part 4: TEs, FBs, and a punter!

Over the last couple months of 2015 I made a big push to acquire lots of cards for my Michigan Football RC PC, and between Sportlots and COMC I made a ton of progress.  Now I'm slowly but surely showing them off in various bunches.  Hit the link above to see the album or have a look at my checklist here.  (You can also use the links in the "Rookie Blue: Michigan Football rookies collection" section on the right sidebar)  Click here for all posts in the series.

Anything formatted in this style indicates what I consider to be a Michigan uniform photo, regardless of airbrushing, etc.

So it looks like themes won't be a problem for me going forward--the remaining cards are split pretty nicely into positional groups (I did pad today's total a bit by adding in a couple FBs and a punter to balance out the numbers a bit).

John U. Bacon's fantastic book Endzone quotes a great discussion between legendary Wolverines coach Bo Schembechler and future coach Jim Harbaugh, who'd accepted his first head coaching position with San Diego:

"Soon after Harbaugh took the USD job, he got a call from Schembechler, who asked only two questions:  'Are you gonna have a tight end?'  'Yes,' Harbaugh said.  'Are you gonna have a fullback?'  'Yes.'  'Fine.  You'll do great!'"

From Bo's era to Harbaugh's, Michigan has sent a nice number of players from both positions to the pros.  You've already seen some of them in this series, and today I have a bunch more for you:

B.J. Askew (2003):  Bowman, Finest, Fleer Authentix (#1022/1250), Fleer Mystique (#335/699), Fleer Tradition (with Quentin Griffin and Artose Pinner), Leaf Rookies and Stars, Playoff Honors (#428/550), SPx (#0642/1500), Topps, Topps Chrome, Topps Total, Upper Deck, Upper Deck Pros and Prospects (with Bennie Joppru) (#1188/1800)

My scans of Askew may be a bit askew but my pursuit of his rookies has been anything but.  Today's thirteen, four of which are numbered, give me almost half of his 27 first-years.  I'll call Fleer's Authentix card the most original while giving Upper Deck the best design.  You'll see the Pros & Prospects card again in a minute as it includes a second player in this very post.

Don Bracken (1988):  Topps

Yeah, I had to put the punter somewhere.  Don played for the Wolverines in the early 80s and apparently still holds a record for the longest punt in a Rose Bowl at 73 yards.  After going undrafted--a common fate for a punter, really--he signed with Green Bay, for whom he appeared in 1985-90, followed by a pair of seasons with the (LA) Rams.  Sadly, he passed away two years ago after being diagnosed with MRSA, a scary infection that makes its way into the news from time to time.

Here he is on his lone RC, which is one of two career card appearances ('93 Pacific), and of course he had to wait until '88.  Speaking of that year, has anyone noticed that Topps' football designs absolutely murder the baseball ones from the same years in the late 80s?

Jarrod Bunch (1991):  Action Packed Rookie Update, Bowman, Pacific, Pinnacle, Score, Upper Deck

Bunch was the first player whose cards I showed off in the first post of my original feature covering a big haul of Michigan RC purchases.  A few of his cards here list him as a RB but he was considered a FB in college, so here he is.  I love that four of these are college cards, even if Score went away from convention with the airbrushing and painted Jarrod's helmet all maize.  Pacific's early 90s designs were butt-ugly, but once again Upper Deck came through with a great looking card.  By the way, these were the final six I needed to complete Bunch's 10-RC run.

Bennie Joppru (2003):  Bowman, Donruss Elite (#031/500), Finest, Fleer Mystique (#058/699), Fleer Tradition (with Domanick Davis and Dave Ragone), Score, SP Authentic (#1075/1200), SPx (#0877/1500), Topps, Topps Draft Picks and Prospects, Topps Total, Upper Deck, Upper Deck MVP, Upper Deck Pros and Prospects (with B.J. Askew) (#1188/1800)

Joppru and his amazing sideburns clock in at an excellent 14 cards today, five of which are numbered and five of which are Michigan uni cards (with two including Senior Bowl jerseys).  Ordinarily I might declare something like the Elite issue as my favorite, but the easy win goes to one of my favorite all-time Topps Draft designs.  Interestingly enough the Pros & Prospects card that pairs up Joppru and Askew is the only dual-Wolverine RC I've seen, and it counts for both guys.

Eric Kattus (1989):  Pro Set

Kattus is "new" to this blog because the last time I showed off a card of him, a TK Legacy auto, it was in a TMV post that's so old the image links are broken.  Here's what I said about Kattus:  "I have to admit I knew nothing about Kattus, a TE from '82-'85 (which means he started before I was born), so I found out through Wikipedia that he was a senior captain, drafted by the Bengals and also played for the Jets briefly.  With Brady Hoke back we may see Michigan tight ends in the NFL once more."  Little did I know that we might hardly see any draft picks under Hoke.  This is Eric's lone RC.

Kevin Koger (2012):  SP Authentic, SPx (#493/750)

Koger is the type of TE that I think could have been a beast in Jim Harbaugh's offense and maybe even an NFL draft pick.  He was a grad assistant at Michigan for a couple years and is now in the same role at Tennessee, so I hope he continues to further his coaching career!  Here's a pair of cards to remind him of his playing days, both of which are from UD since they tend to be the best at covering the college guys.  I consider these a toss-up as they're both great in their own right as the sum total of Koger's first-years.

Jim Mandich (1975):  Topps

College Football Hall-of-Fame TE Jim Mandich played one of Bo's favorite positions on his very first Michigan team.  I talked about him a bit more in this post after picking up a TK Legacy signature of Mandich.  This classic '75 card is his only first-year, naturally, and also fits in nicely in my vintage collection.

Doug Marsh (1981):  Topps

I'll admit to being ignorant of Marsh's career before writing this post (one reason this project is so great!), but found out a bit more on him after some research.  Marsh appeared in 35 college games, collecting 57 receptions and 10 TDs.  The St. Louis Cardinals took him 33rd overall in '81 and he went on to appear in 92 games over seven seasons with the Cards, compiling 167 catches and 19 scores.  Here he is catching a breather on the bench in his lone rookie from '81 Topps.

Tony McGee (1993):  Action Packed, Bowman, Gameday, Pro Line Live, Pro Set, Skybox Impact, Skybox Premium, SP, Stadium Club, Ultra

McGee is a somewhat more recent tight end, even if he last played more than a decade ago.  He played sparingly in 1991 and '92 before turning a 38 catch/six TD season into a second-round (#37 overall) selection by the Bengals, with whom he spent the bulk of his career (nine season).  After stints with Dallas and the Giants he finished his career with 322 catches and 21 scores.

His selection in the second round caught the attention of card companies enough that he appeared on the 10 RCs you see above, in a huge mix of styles.  From the low-end (Pro Line) to high (SP), from premium (Stadium Club and Ultra) to oddball (the oddly-sized Gameday), there's a ton of variation here, including a trio of college unis!

Jay Riemersma (1997):  Crown Royale, Revolution, Ultra

Riemersma, who'll make another appearance in a soon-to-be-posted COMC recap, appeared on just three RCs in '97, but they were anything but boring.  First is a pair of Pacific entries, with the classy Crown Royale and the gaudy Revolution.  Thankfully Fleer brings things back to normal with one of my favorite Ultra designs (which looks just like the baseball version).  Like the original Star Trek movies and Windows releases, every other one is pretty good!

Paul Seal (1976):  Topps

Seal is a native Detroiter who was with Michigan from '71-'73 and scored six TDs (three each in his final two seasons) out of 33 receptions.  Like a few other guys in this post he was chosen in the second round, in this case by the Saints in '74 (and yet he had to wait two years for his RC!).  His NFL career saw him split six seasons down the middle with New Orleans and San Francisco, and he scored seven times on 106 catches in 85 games.  His '76 Topps rookie is his only regular issue card, but he does have a TK Legacy auto for me to chase down.

Paul Seymour (1974):  Topps

I mentioned Seymour in this 2014 post covering more TK Legacy pickups, and in that post I mentioned that he was actually a college tackle that converted to TE.  Looking at him in that photo compared to players today makes me wonder if he'd even be big enough to play DB much less anywhere on a line.  His '74 Topps rookie includes an image featuring a classic hand-in-the-dirt pose and is the third and final vintage (70s and earlier) entry from today's post.

Derrick Walker (1991):  Upper Deck

I only have one rookie of Walker to show off today, but that's because I already had his other two first-years (Fleer, Pro Set).  While I think the Pro Set is the best looking of the bunch due to its fantastic photo, the '91 UD design is still top-notch, especially compared to the horror show that was '91 Fleer!

That's all for today's post, but stay tuned for other non-rookie stuff coming up soon!