2016 Blowout forums purchase: a super nice letter

I'm not sure how I forgot to mention this at some point in the past 10 days, but January 1 this year marked this here blog's fifth birthday!  That's right, Too Many Manninghams (a name I've kept the whole time, as opposed to TMG/V) is

We'll miss you, Jabrill!

I was too busy to throw up a celebratory post that day and then just kind of let it fall through the cracks.  Anyway, five years and not even 700 posts.  Thanks as always to all of you who have read and/or continue to read!

So, as I mentioned over on TMV this evening, after tonight's posts I'm all caught up with trades and purchases from 2016 except for my Black Friday COMC stuff, which I'll be showing off in future posts soon.  One last order of business, though:  my final purchase of 2016.

Lots of Blowout forum members busted boxes and cases between Black Friday and Christmas, and one such member caught my attention by opening up some 2008 Leaf Limited football.  As you all know, a bunch of my Michigan football favorites hail from that year, and I was hoping he'd pull something interesting.

Mario Manningham 2008 Leaf Limited Lettermen 'A' patch auto (#02/10)

Jackpot!  I was thrilled to see this Manningham, a case hit, in the scans found in the thread, and made a casual inquiry as to its availability.  He originally asked for a lot more than I was comfortable with, and I told him my absolute maximum was in the $10-$15 range; to my surprise, he agreed to let me have it for $15.

I'm excited because, though this is one of those dreaded "event-worn" cards, the letter patch is from the actual name plate instead of being manufactured.  While the latter are totally fine in my book, there's no beating the former, especially when they're limited to as many copies as there are letters in a player's last name (though Manningham, at 10, is relatively bountiful!).  A top notch hit like this on a great Panini design is always a win in my book.

Since my most recent post also featured a Manningham hit (thanks, Fuji!) you may recall that he was sitting in fifth place in my football collection with 62 hits.  Well, he'll be #5 (a big number today!) for a bit longer since 63 cards still puts him shy of Mike Hart in fourth with 65.  That's not enough Marios no matter what this blog is called!

It was fun to close out a great year for collecting (if for nothing else--good riddance, 2016!) with one of the best cards I own of this blog's namesake.  Hopefully 2017 has more great stuff in store, and I have some insider information in the form of a couple of trade packages that lead me to believe that'll be the case.  Stay tuned for those, Black Friday loot, and more, even if it takes me another five years!

2016 Blowout Forums purchase: Michael's On his Wenu!

Saturday's game at Iowa may not have gone the way I'd hoped, but I did find a couple silver linings in this weekend.  For one, Michigan is still very much in contention for the Big Ten East title, a berth in the conference championship game, and the College Football Playoff.  All that certainly makes a close loss sting a bit less.

Besides that, a very generous Blowoutcards forums seller was nice enough to toss a surprise card in with my two-card Detroit Tigers purchase last week.  And to be honest, I don't think I'm being fair calling this a throw-in:

Michael Onwenu 2016 Leaf Army All-American Bowl Tour Autographs Silver auto (#13/25)

Michael Onwenu is a beast of a lineman, O- or D-, who joined Michigan out of nearby Detroit Cass Tech in the Wolverines' 2016 recruiting class.  A consensus four-star OG, he was on some recruiting sites' top 50 or 100 lists, and he could very well become the next star OL for the Wolverines to go on to NFL glory.

But that's all in the future.  For now he'll go into his second year--the team burned his redshirt this season--with a chance at some playing time.  That'll likely be mostly on the OL, but don't rule anything out when Jim Harbaugh is in charge!

With all that in mind, I'm very excited to add a guy with so much potential to my football collection, and in a rare instance, while he's still in college.  Leaf's U.S. Army game-type cards are very cool for college collectors like me, especially to track down elusive players who don't make it past college.  I hope Onwenu gets a nice run in the NFL, but at least if he doesn't I'll get to enjoy this excellent on-card auto, numbered out of just 25.  "Throw-in" indeed.

So a very happy welcome to Michael, player #198 in my football hits PC!

2016 Blowout purchase: as easy as $1, $1, $3

Ok, I guess so much for those trade posts I teased yesterday being "up next"--I already had these cards scanned and feel too lazy to put in the effort those packages deserve, so instead I'll just say they're "coming soon."

Instead I have for you my first purchase from the Blowout forums since almost exactly a year ago (at least in terms of dates of purchases).  A guy was dumping football hits and inserts for pretty nice prices, mostly for $1-$3.  I happily turned $15 into some fun trade bait for a couple of you along with three cards for my PC:

Braylon Edwards 2005 Reflections Future Fabrics jersey

A plain white swatch relic of Bray-Bray for a buck wasn't enough by itself to lure me into a sale, but it made for a decent throw-in.  I've always found Reflections to be sort of a weird product, maybe because the logo is so unfamiliar and out of the ordinary, and that you don't know it's an Upper Deck brand unless you check out the back.  Regardless, UD took the "Reflections" name seriously with these--if you seek a shiny card, look about you!  My 44th relic of Edwards puts him at 61 football PC hits, breaking the tie with Mike Hart to give him sole possession of third place.

Denard Robinson 2015 Topps 60th Anniversary Red (#12/60)

My other choice from the dollar menu (which definitely more closely resembles food than anything from the one at McDonald's) was what I consider an even better value, this Shoelace parallel from last year's flagship product.  As has become the norm, Topps' parallels don't scan very well and this example is no exception as you probably don't realize the border isn't a flat red but is more like the Red Hot Foil inserts from the baseball product a couple years ago, plus the background is done up in...um, I guess...holographic circles?  In the scan you can barely make something like them out in the background if you know to look for them.

Topps complaints aside, this is a pretty cool card thanks to the solid shade of red used framing an excellent photo of Denard.  The facts that it's numbered as low as it is and was just a buck are just gravy.  It's actually the rarest Robinson in my football inserts PC, though it wins by default as the only numbered card so far!

Roy Roundtree 2013 Upper Deck Rookie Lettermen 'I' manupatch auto (#40/50)

Last up is the most expensive card in the bunch, and the one that first caught my eye on the guy's list that made me think, "Huh, I'd better find more stuff from him!"  If you read yesterday's post you saw my third Taylor Lewan letter from the 2014 version of this set, and now I'm back with a letter "I" from WR Roy Roundtree that's also the third card in his "WOLVERINES" nameplate (an "E" and the "N").  $3 for this guy?  Like I said yesterday, all day every day and twice on Sunday.  This is my sixth hit of the receiver famously "snake-oiled" away from Purdue by Rich Rodriguez, and I'm sure glad he came to Ann Arbor.

Speaking of autographed letter manupatches, since I've had occasion to show one off two days in a row, I did a quick survey of the ones in my football PC (not just limited to SPx/Upper Deck) and came up with a total of 36, distributed as such:

• A 5
• B 1
• C 1
• E 5
• G 2
• H 4
• I  3
• L 4
• N 6
• O 2
• R 1
• T 2

It's a fun distribution to look at since some of the nameplates spell out players' last names while others are intended to be "MICHIGAN" or "WOLVERINES," which partly explains why "N" is the most popular so far; Chad Henne and Jake Long are also somewhat responsible.

I don't know if it'll be another year before I'm showing off another Blowout purchase, but it was definitely fun to grab some stuff for myself and some great trade bait for a very reasonable price.

2015 Blowout and eBay purchases: many more Minis

While I'm continuing to put off posting the great trade packages I received until I can devote enough time to giving them the credit they deserve, here's a few more pickups from elsewhere.

Because of the boom in cheap 2014 Topps Mini breaks available to folks on Blowout and through Topps I didn't have too much trouble finding a seller with some of the parallels I needed for my three PC guys in the set:  Chris Getz, J.J. Putz, and Clayton Richard.  One Blowout seller cut me a deal on four of the nine (three each of Gold, Pink, and Black) I needed and then I landed another on eBay not long after.  Here's what I got:

Chris Getz 2014 Topps Mini Gold (#51/63)

This high-flyin' Getz turning two card is the first of the four-card Blowout purchase.  It's my 75th non-1/1 card of his (out of 106) and 76th overall.

J.J. Putz 2014 Topps Mini Black (#4/5)

This black Putz is the rarest of everything today by far and arrived via eBay today.  $10 even delivered was enough to win me the card numbered to just five, and if I was to find the other two's cards at that price I'd pounce on them immediately.

J.J. Putz 2014 Topps Mini Gold (#17/63)

I suppose Putz's image in Topps' 2014 products would count as an "ugly pitcher face" photo, no?  Here he is on the most common parallel, the Gold version numbered to 63.

J.J. Putz 2014 Topps Mini Pink (#20/25)

On Blowout I landed all of the Golds you see today plus this Pink Putz parallel (yay alliteration!) for $12 delivered, and that amounted to $2 each for the former and $3 for this one (plus $3 shipping), which was by far the most reasonable pricing available to me.  The three J.J.s you see above give me his four-card rainbow in this set, which is nice, plus a new total of 184 (of his 326) non-1/1s and 188 overall.  Maybe I'll hit that 200-card mark soon!

Clayton Richard 2014 Topps Mini Gold (#39/63)

Pirates minor league signee Clayton Richard is our last subject, and though he's showing a good amount of effort in his photo, he doesn't meet the "ugly pitching face" criteria in my mind, but the ugly Padres camo uniform makes up for that.  Minus the now infamous Topps XTREME ZOOM effect, this is a nice shot of a lefty's pitching motion.  The card is my 109th of Clayton's 150-card run and 113th overall.

I don't necessarily expect to have the same amount of luck with Getz's and Richard's Pink and Black cards, but you never know!

2014 Blowout purchase: this lot has me feeling Blue

Well, Saturday's game didn't go as well as many of us hoped (to say the least), but it's time to move on, and what better way to do that than with some Wolverines of the past?

I haven't been very active in terms of buying on the Blowout forums in quite a while, but a few weeks ago a guy who must have seen my signature (which mentions my football PC) sent me a list of stuff he had available, and $13 delivered later I had these five cards in my mailbox:

First up is a 2011 UD Exquisite base card of one of Devin Funchess' predecessor's who wore the #1 jersey, Anthony Carter.  As usual, this card is suuuuuper thick, and that year's version is numbered to 75.  I love the shot of AC snagging yet another pass, and UD's college photo use and design are typically excellent.  What does it say about this package when this is the "least interesting" of the bunch?

Leon Hall 2007 Press Pass Legends All Conference Autographs Gold auto (#252/307)

Hell yeah, another Leon Hall Wolverines uni auto!  Some people don't care for Press Pass, but for the sets from the 2000s that weren't airbrushed, I say that's fine because that means more for me!  That includes this excellent piece honoring Hall as an all-Big Ten member in 2006, which makes sense since he was also an All-American along with teammate LaMarr Woodley.  I'm not sure why this is numbered to 307, but anyway, it's my 36th hit of Hall and I think it's great.

Tom Mack 2005 Upper Deck Legends Legendary Signatures auto

From another fantastic version of the amazing UD Legends set comes my first hit of another new member to the PC, former OG Tom Mack.  Another great who came to the Wolverines out of Ohio (the best ones always leave, naturally), Mack was a standout lineman in the mid-60s, then went to the LA Rams as the second overall pick in 1966.  He rewarded them with a 13-year career that included 162 starts out of 184 games and Pro-Bowl appearances in 11 of those seasons, meaning he definitely lived up to his billing.  That career was good enough to earn him permanent entry in Canton in 1999.

I usually save my superlatives for UD's college-themed sets, but the Legends brand is right up there with those, and based on Mack's card you can see why.  I love this design, and I'm thrilled to see that he has such a nice signature to tie up the package nicely.  Mack is most welcome to the PC as the 185th different player in it!

Chris Perry 2004 Press Pass Autographs Silver auto (#142/200)

And now we return to Press Pass for another college jersey hit!  I was surprised to find that this is actually my first card of Perry from that brand considering I have lots when it comes to other players.  The photo and horizontal design are great, so I'm happy to add this as my 39th hit of #23.

Anthony Thomas 2002 Fleer Tradition School Colors Memorabilia Duals shoe-jersey

When I originally saw this card in the seller's scan I thought I already had it, but I wasn't quite right about that--I do own one version of it with just a jersey relic.  This school pennant-style card ups the ante with a piece of shoe as well, a much less common inclusion.  Former teammate (on multiple teams!) David Terrell is also part of both versions so I hope to track him down as well.  As for A-Train, this is hit #35.

And to answer the question none of you have asked, with everything that I know of accounted for, my football total now stands at 920 as I shoot for the 1000 mark by the end of the year!

Stay tuned next for a few eBay scores, then eventually I'll get around to my latest round of COMC stuff as well.

Mail Monday means more Michigan Men!

Today was a good (mail) day that saw an awesome five envelopes grace my mailbox, and I can show off four of those over here today:

In order from "worst" to best, here's our first entry, which came as a result of a trade on Blowout:

A guy wanted an insert from a break I'd posted, and his $1 offer wasn't enough for me to want to sell, but I did work out a trade.  All I got back was this Glen Rice insert, but I was happy to help a guy with his collection and make a trade in the process, so I think it worked out.

Envelope #2 also came courtesy of a Blowout trade and included three cards:

Charles Woodson 1998 Metal Universe and Black Diamond RCs

A trader was interested in the Marquess Wilson auto I pulled from my 2013 SPx box break, and we quickly agreed to a trade we both liked.  He threw in the above Woodson RCs, and the Black Diamond was actually new to my collection.  It's not as pink as it scanned, just very reflective.  Not bad for throw-ins!

Denard Robinson 2013 Absolute Rookie Premiere Materials Oversize jersey (#07/99)

And here's the centerpiece of my end of the trade:  a nice oversized Denard Jags RPM jersey.  I don't usually trade autographs for relics, but I didn't mind in this case since I'm a fan of Denard, plus we both got something we wanted.  My first Shoelace relic is my 7th of Robinson overall.

And finally I received two eBay cards I won last week.  For some reason they arrived in a pair of envelopes.

Bobby Korecky 2008 SP Authentic Gold auto (#04/50)

Bobby Korecky is a guy I'm supercollecting, and though he has just seven cards to chase, a few of them have been elusive, like this Gold parallel of his 2008 SPA auto/RC.  50 copies doesn't make it overly rare, but I suppose the fact that his run is so small means lots of people don't bother listing his stuff.  Fortunately for me, I was able to nab this one fairly cheaply (more on that in a minute).  For now it's my fifth of Korecky's seven, all but one of which are autos; his remaining two cards I need are also signed.

Denard Robinson 2013 Panini Father's Day Score Hot Rookies auto (#17/34)

And hey, it's Denard #2 on the day!  As usual I browsed the seller's other listings and he had this Robinson available that I didn't expect to win...especially not for $3.25 before shipping!  Did you notice how low the numbering is?  The tiny signature over part of the "T" in "HOT" makes it a little goofy, but for just a few bucks it's another fun addition to my Denard collection, and with shipping I got both of these cards for just $7.50!

That's about as fun of a multiple-envelope mailday as I've had in a while!  I have one more small package from Blowout incoming soon, and I should have some COMC loot to show off within a week or two, but before then it'll likely be back to the TK Legacy autographs series.

2014 Blowout purchase #2: cards DO grow on 'Trees

I don't make purchases terribly often on the Blowout forums anymore, but occasionally something I want shows up and I take advantage of it.  In this case, I was flipping through the recent football box breaks (since there's a dearth of interesting baseball stuff right now), and at the time the big thing was 2013 Fleer Retro.  Why a product that came out in 2014 has the previous year in the title, I don't know, but I do like UD's throwback set to Fleer's days of yore.

I saw that one guy who busted several boxes pulled an autograph of a recent Wolverine graduate, and after just a bit of haggling we came up with a price of $5.50 delivered, which it turns out is close to half what I would have paid on eBay, so woohoo to that!  Here's what I scored this time:

Roy Roundtree 2013 Fleer Retro Fleer Rookie Sensations Autographs auto

Michigan uni hit FTW!  Here's 'Tree in his #21 Desmond Howard Legends jersey tearing up Northwestern in 2012, which was a nice choice since he led both teams with five catches for 139 yards in Michigan's OT win (it's always close against the Wildcats for some reason; see:  2013).  He went undrafted and signed with Cincy's practice squad, but that doesn't matter to me since I really wanted a card of Roundtree in the Maize & Blue anyway.

The set is a throwback to an insert from Fleer's '92 product, with the originals looking like this:

Upper Deck managed to capture the essence of its inspiration, including the football field background and tilted player photo, down to the "Rookie Sensations" logo and foil football.  Pretty cool, I say!  The rest of the product features some more great callbacks to past designs, such as the popular Precious Metal Gems, and I may have to track other Wolverines from the set down.

This is my second Roundtree autograph (the first one was a 2013 UD featured in this post, and fortunately there's more to be had, despite his limited number of issues overall.  Look for more over here as I turn them up!

2014 Blowout purchase #1: the OMG Michigan lot!

I've still got a bunch of 2013 stuff to post, but I was pretty excited when I picked up this lot, so this is what you get to see today.

A few weeks ago, I noticed a guy on Blowout dumping a lot of Michigan football stuff--especially players in Michigan unis.  I made a list that totaled around $60 or more, and I asked him for a price, expecting to have to cut a bunch of stuff out.  That wasn't a problem as he gave me what I listed and a BUNCH more for a ridiculous $30 delivered.  Also, he was in nearby Brighton so it took almost no time to arrive, but that's beside the point because I scored something like 40 cards for just $30!  A decent chunk went straight to my PC, and you'll see those in a bit; lots more were doubles, and I duly packaged those up for Jeff to enjoy.  I nabbed so much stuff that I couldn't help but call it the "OMG Michigan lot."  Here's my haul, and maybe sometime soon Jeff will treat you to his portion of the deal.

Mike Martin 2012 Crown Royale Green (#33/49)

This Crown parallel is the only non-hit in the bunch, but I was happy enough with it as a throw-in, especially considering the paltry price I paid.

B.J. Askew 2003 TK Legacy auto

Well, really, who ISN'T excited when they get a B.J.  Hell, this is my 6th B.J., and I remember every single one of them fondly.  This Askew is one of three new TK Legacy autos I grabbed today, and as a reminder you can see my entire collection of those here.  By the way, what do you think he's pointing at in this picture?  I bet some guy made yet another B.J. joke and he was like "Ahhhhhh!  You got me!"

Alan Branch 2007 Press Pass SE Gridiron Graphs Gold auto

Hey everybody, did you know that Alan Branch ki--

ALAN BRANCH KILLS QBs

--right, yeah, Alan Branch kills QBs.  I guess I've mentioned that a few times.  Since this is my 15th Branch hit (all autos), I've probably said that MORE than a few times.

Shawn Crable 2008 SPx Silver Holofoil Rookies auto (#17/99)

Alphabetically, this is the first card from the lot I glanced at and assumed I already had.  Fortunately, I looked a bit closer and found out that it's a lower-numbered parallel version of his RC from the same set, so I DID need it after all.  As usual, his signature leaves a bit to be desired, but the rest of the design works well with the classic Michigan uni.

Shawn Crable-Jamar Adams 2008 Donruss Elite College Ties Autographs dual auto (#04/50)

And Crable comes right back on one of the day's two two-player cards, this one coming from the excellent 2008 Elite set, which is chock full of Wolverines in their college uniforms, a set that was clearly designed for college fans like yours truly.  Joining him is safety Jamar Adams, making just his second appearance on this blog after this solo auto; Crable, by the way, lands just one card shy of double digits.

Leon Hall 2007 Topps Draft Senior Standout jersey

Believe it or not, this is just my third relic of the talented but injured Bengals DB.  It's not just that I've focused on autographs either, as his signature just seems to be way more prevalent than relics, a bias I'm super happy about.  I'd say "senior standout" is an apt description of a guy who appeared in 50 college contests, wouldn't you?

Leon Hall-Prescott Burgess 2007 Topps Draft Senior Standout Jersey Combos dual jersey

The other multiplayer card hails from the same set, but this time Hall gets the benefit of a much cooler jersey swatch.  Joining him is former LB Prescott Burgess, whose name makes it sound like he time-traveled straight from 18th century America.  Oddly enough, my other Burgess hit is the solo version from the exact same set!  In stark contrast to his collection, Leon Hall jumps past another small milestone to 31 cards!

Marcus Knight 2000 Fleer Tradition Autographics Silver auto (#035/250)

And now we have the next card I thought I already had, although a closer inspection revealed that this is the Silver version numbered to 250, and not the "base" version I already own.  They both look outstanding, with an excellent college photo paired with a large looping signature.  Strangely enough, though you see the "Draft 2000" logo on the right, Knight went undrafted that year!

Mike Martin 2012 Panini Contenders Playoff Ticket auto (#71/99)

Here's Mike Martin #2, this time a hit, which also proves to be the combo breaker--it's the only non-Wolverines uniform card!  I'm not as picky about those, though, as roughly 2/3 of my football hits feature non-college uniforms.  This particular card is what I consider to be a much better looking parallel of the "base" RC I already have.  This is now my 6th hit of the star DL, and oddly enough, with four NFL versions, the 2/3 ratio holds perfectly true for Martin!

Brandon Minor 2010 Sweet Spot Signatures manuhelmet auto RC (#074/400)

Outside of the three new TK Legacy cards, this was my favorite of the bunch, not just because it looks great, but because it completes the Minor trifecta from the set for me!  Four years ago around the time this set came out, I struck out on pulling either Michigan Brandon in the set--Minor and Graham--but landed a version each in separate purchases.  I finished up Graham's trio at some point not long ago, but in this case I needed the most common version, numbered to 400, to go with the variations /250 and /100.  While I'm at it, I now own 100% of Brandon Minor's football cards!

Chris Perry 2004 SAGE HIT Autographs Gold auto (#172/250)

I still like some of those older SAGE designs, but this set's sticker isn't very scan-friendly!  If you don't have the card in-hand, it's very difficult to make out the signature or hand-numbering, so just take my word for it that they're there.  At least the excellent photo of the 2003 Heisman third runner-up is easy to see.  This is my 33rd hit of #23.

Michael Taylor (LB) 2006 TK Legacy auto

The second TK Legacy auto on the day is collection newcomer Michael Taylor.  I noted his position in the caption (and in my PC list) as a more recent player with the same name was a Wolverines QB.  THIS Taylor indeed lined up at LB from 1969-71, and was an All-American selection his senior year.  The Jets took him 20th overall in 1972, a draft that featured 10 Wolverines selected.

Rick Volk 2004 TK Legacy auto

Volk, (along with his beautiful signature) is our other new member today.  The Ohio native may have surprised some by spurning OSU in favor of Michigan, but not his uncle, legendary QB/RB Bob Chappuis, who did a nice job of instilling anti-Buckeye sentiment in his nephew.  Volk played the same offensive positions as his uncle, while also playing in the defensive backfield.  An All-American his senior year, he was drafted by the Colts in 1967 as a safety, and later added the Giants and Dolphins to his 12-year career which also included three Pro Bowl selections, being named a a first-team All-Pro, and a Super Bowl ring in 1970-71 (Super Bowl V).

Gabe Watson 2006 Press Pass Autographs Silver auto (#139/200)

As he often does, Big Gabe Watson closes things out by the grace of alphabetical order.  The day's last card is also the last one I worried I already owned until it turned out to be a slightly different version; I had the Bronze version (unnumbered), but the silver is new to my collection, and thus I have my sixth hit of the behemoth of a defensive star.

And in case you're curious about my latest football PC count (and didn't bother to look to your right), I'm now just 12 cards shy of 800!

Ok, with that excitement over, I should be back to the COMC-JC-SL 2013 posts shortly.

2013 eBay purchases #60-69 and Blowout purchase #5: catching up with a lucky 13

It's about time I did an eBay purchase catchup post:  three of today's 13 cards were purchased in September!  First I just got lazy posting, and eventually I just decided to wait for everything to arrive.  Well, now's as good a time as any:

Bill Freehan 2004 UD Legends Timeless Teams 1972 auto

Geez, was this really sitting on my desk for three months?  I guess so since I picked it up on September 6 according to my records.  It's another nice Freehan auto (my 23rd hit) and pairs up nicely with the '68 version I own.  The '72 Tigers were quite good, by the way, finishing first in the AL East and losing the ALCS in five games to the eventual champion A's.

Chris Getz 2010 Topps Triple Threads Sapphire triple jersey auto (#10/10)

Chris Getz 2010 Topps Triple Threads Sepia triple jersey auto (#05/75)

Chris Getz 2013 Topps Update Black (#09/62)

Chris Getz 2013 Topps Update Camo (#15/99)

Chris Getz 2013 Topps Update Pink (#30/50)

It's a five spot of Getz!  The Sapphire Triple Threads card is my lone Blowout pickup in this post and came as part of a purchase where I also nabbed the Trammell auto seen in this TMV post.  Along with the Sepia version below it, I now have all five (non-1/1) versions from that set!  Going along with the lucky 13 theme, I'm up to that number of hits of the FA 2B.

Meanwhile, the trio of Update parallels (featuring one of my all-time favorite photos) hail from legendary box breakers BrentAndBecca, and I scored them for about $12.50 delivered, which wasn't bad.  With a few more already on the way, I should just be short the Sapphire /25 parallel to finish those up.

Rich Hill 2008 Topps Triple Threads Relics Combos Autographs Sepia triple relic auto (with Cueto and Gorzelanny) (#23/27)

It's the plight of the player collector:  you have so many cards of the guy, it's hard finding new ones.  Well, fortunately this one showed up, and I was able to nab it for under $10 on the first of this month.  I have one other version of this card: the "base" version #d /36.  My 97th hit of Hill is also his 226th PC card (including 12 1/1s).  I doubt I can get to 100 hits before the end of the year, but you know I'll try!

Rick Leach 2009 Upper Deck 1989 20th Anniversary Buybacks

I was pretty surprised to see this Leach show up on eBay back in early September (the same day I got the Freehan above) because I figured it would be the thorn in my side when it came to his PC.  I'm not sure how rare these buybacks are, but I've literally seen just this copy of Leach, and a minute number of other players.  It's my 57th Leach out of his 60 issues, and I may just be celebrating another 100% mark before the new year rings in!

J.J. Putz 2011 Topps Printing Plate Cyan (1/1)

Relative to most everything else here, this Putz plate is a fairly recent pickup, one I purchased just 10 days ago.  It's my fourth plate of J.J. and 28th 1/1 for my entire PC, so I decided $9 was a somewhat reasonable price to pay.

Clayton Richard 2009 Bowman Chrome Draft Orange Refractor (#14/25)

Clayton Richard 2013 Topps Mini Pink (#09/25)

Clayton Richard 2013 Topps Printing Plates Yellow (1/1)

Clayton is no Getz, but he still gets a triple play.  The Orange Refractor (yay, Refractors!) set me back just $4 at the end of October, and it was worth it to nab one of Richard's lower-numbered parallels; if I can just land the Red /5 I'll be done with that set.  Speaking of Topps parallels #d /25, I scored this year's Mini Pink for under $3 delivered, which I still consider a steal.  From that set I also just need a version #d /5, in this case the Black version, which will probably take me a while.  Finally, for under $7 I was able to find a plate of Richard from this year's flagship set, so I added that to Clayton's three others, and I now have 29 1/1s!

Denard Robinson 2013 Elite Rookie Inscriptions Blue auto

And now we finish with the most chronologically recent purchase I made:  this sweet acetate Shoelace auto!  It's hard to tell from a scan, but the card is actually clear everywhere you see something like an off-white color, and that was the biggest selling point for me.  While I'm more focused on grabbing Michigan uni autos of Denard, I was happy to add this one for just a bit over $7.  It's my third Robinson auto, and I wouldn't be surprised if 2014 saw me adding a bunch more to his collection!

Whew!  Now that I'm caught up on my eBay purchases (at least for now), I'll get back to the remaining MMMM players, plus I have a ton of COMC, JustCommons, and SportLots cards to get to, probably too many to finish by the end of the year, but...eventually, I promise!