2018 COMC purchases: QB Club

It's been far too long since I posted here, and it's only thanks to Jeff that anything got put up in April.  But I still have some 2018 COMC pickups to show off before I can move on to some other stuff, so here we go!

Today is all about the QBs with three of the most notable field generals in Michigan history:

Up first is national champ Brian Griese on a nice mix of inserts and hits.  The Collector's Edge offering combines acetate plus some yellow and blue (more like purple, I guess) making for a fun insert.  The other three are numbered:  the same year's Leaf Rookies and Stars Ticket Masters (with former star RB Terrell Davis), a Player's Private Issue parallel from 2000 Topps Gallery (#227/250), and finally a die-cut 2001 Pacific Dynagon Big Numbers insert that highlights his jersey.

The hits portion is also solid thanks to jersey swatches from 2001 SP Game Used Edition and '05 Rookies & Stars, the latter a Ruby parallel numbered 093/199.  These cool additions give Griese 192 total cards (almost milestone time!) and exactly 20 hits (actual milestone time!).

Coach Jim Harbaugh is up next with a pair of this post's most interesting pickups bookending some other fun adds.  Insert number one of four is from 1996 Select Certified and is called "Thumbs Up".  See that pattern in the background?  The back (which I've included here) helpfully explains that what you're seeing is a reproduction of his thumb print.  What they didn't do in the 90s!  The other vertical card is a 1997 Topps Gallery insert called Critics Choice.  It features a great shot of a determined competitor, plus I just love Gallery in general.

Going horizontal we have Jim's 1996 Skybox SkyMotion base, which was a fun alternative to Sportflix.  I'm not sure if I can spot Harbaugh on this card but the cheerleaders sure do stand out!  And speaking of horn dogs, sloppy drunk jackass Joe Namath got his name on a '96 Topps insert called Broadway's Reviews where he opined on a number of stars at the position.

And lastly we have one of my favorite cards in the whole order, a 1997 Pinnacle Inscriptions auto (#1590/1975).  These acetate cards are fantastic and it sure doesn't hurt that Harbaugh has a very nice signature.  I don't think he has many certified autographs from his playing days so I was thrilled to make this my second (the other is from '96 Laserview Inscriptions) of the Michigan legend.

Adding these gives me 137 cards of the coach, two of which (the ones I already mentioned) are autographed.

Last up today is one of the most electric players from the sport, Denard Robinson.  Shoelace came up twice in my shopping cart courtesy of this 2013 Topps Triple Threads pair.  He had a couple variations of his Rookie Autograph Relics jersey/auto and I scored the base of the first (#06/99) and Emerald parallel of the second (#047/50).

Denard joins Griese in nearing a milestone with 98 cards to his name in my PC, and a crazy 41 of those are in the hits collection!

That's all for today but hopefully soon I'll finish up this series with what looks to be three more posts.  Stay tuned!

2018 Sportlots purchases: QB club

Since I last posted here NFL GOAT QB Tom Brady went and won another Super Bowl, to the delight of most Michigan fans and the disgust of probably most of the country again.  Hey, I get it--he's pretty much football's version of Derek Jeter:  a big time winner who's not entirely likable when he's off the field.

Anyway, that's a lot of words about someone who won't be featuring in this post, or even this series.  But we are talking about 12's position while looking at cards of two other notable Wolverine field generals today:

Brian Griese may have never won a ring in the NFL, but he did accomplish one thing Brady didn't:  bring a National Championship at Michigan.  The former journeyman and current college broadcaster is among the most represented guys in my PCs and days like this are why as I'm adding 10 fun new pieces.

The first seven are of the vertical variety and span 1999, the year after Griese was drafted, to 2005 and the second season of his first stint with the Bucs.  There's plenty of shininess to appreciate thanks to Leaf Certified, Quantum Leaf, Topps Gold Label, Pacific Exclusive, and Topps Pristine.  My favorite out of this excellent bunch is the Gold Label, made back in 2000 when Topps had competition and actually had to put effort into their products.  Base cards from UD (2001) and Playoff Contenders ('05) are there because I almost always love their designs.

The horizontals are a fun mix in that they're all over the place.  Fleer's Flair Showcase looked awesome in '99 and that goes nicely with all the shiny above.  Pacific gets repped again thanks to the die-cut 2001 Prism Atomic, with the Broncos logo particularly suited to the design.  And then we jump forward to 2002 and another nice Topps offering, Heritage.

This is the kind of variety I love adding to any collection so I was happy to put them in Griese's PC for a new count of 186.

Meanwhile, Shoelace (who's part of the brand new Alliance of American Football) may have switched to RB late in his college career and during his brief NFL stay, but I'll always think of him as a dual-threat QB.  That's how he's depicted on four of these five new cards and that works for me!

The first three are from 2013 college-themed brands--Leaf Draft, Press Pass, and SAGE HIT--that unfortunately have to employ the usual tricks perfected by unlicensed products, such as airbrushing and non-uniform shots.  Joining those are a Score Hot Rookies insert from the same year plus a 60th Anniversary Factory Set issue from 2015 Topps.  With those I'm now five cards closer to the century mark at 96.

I still have something like four posts left in this series but plan on showing off my loot from last Saturday's card show next.

2018 trade package #11: Chronicles of Fuji

If it wasn't already obvious from the eight other times I've posted packages from him here (or the 10 on TMV), Mark of the Chronicles of Fuji is a person everyone should get to trade with.  Not only did he give a nice boost to a bunch of my favorite baseball collections, he also went out of his way to include some great Michigan stuff as well!

Such as 80% of the Fab Five, looking extra fab in their college unis on some great Classic and Signature Rookies cardboard.  The SR Kromax cards look especially great and I'll likely peel them at some point.

It may look like Fuji Bipped me with five cards of the late Robert "Tractor" Traylor, but these are actually all different.  From what I can tell, cards #1 and 3-5 are base versions (#s 4, 46, 63, and 64) with the latter two featuring Stephon Marbury and Tracy McGrady, respectively, and the second is a much thicker version of card #36, leading me to believe it's a parallel.  More Michigan uniform goodness!

Speaking of which, how about this bunch?  I was extra motivated (e.g. at all) to post these today after Michigan's dismantling of Nebraska yesterday.  Most of these 90s/early 00s guys went on to some kind of NFL career, with Jenkins and Walker the ones who didn't amount to much.  That acetate card of Amani Toomer from 1996 Clear Assets is ridiculously cool and I'll be on the lookout for more of my guys now that I'm aware of it.  Marquise Walker was the other PC guy to get a bump today thanks to a 2002 SAGE base.  What are you doing, Marquise?  You're a WR, not a QB!

As was the case beginning with this evening's TMV post, the hits kept coming!  Braylon is seen here on jerseys from 2005 Upper Deck and Fleer's 2006 Hot Prospects.  That reminds me--before they won last Thursday, was 2006 the last time the Browns won a game?  Sure feels like it!  That's 73 hits of the former #1 WR.

Next is longtime QB Brian Griese, and I can easily call this my favorite card in the bunch.  a 2003 Leaf Certified Materials Mirror Red jersey (#031/150), I'd love this even if it wasn't that nicer (and rarer) parallel.  The Donruss/Leaf/Playoff brands were responsible for some gorgeous designs for their hits around this time, and this one is simple proof of that.  I'm thrilled to add it as my 10th relic of Griese and 18th hit of his overall.

And we'll end things on a high note with a trio of hits of a guy we already saw, Giants WR Amani Toomer.  The solo jersey is a somewhat early example of a relic card from 2001 SP Game Used Edition and stars a nice Giants blue swatch.  Then there's the big highlight in the form of a helmet piece from the same year's UD Game Gear Helmets offering.  I count just four other examples of that piece of equipment in my collection so it's definitely a rare treat, not to mention a fantastic looking card.  

Last up is a shared dual jersey relic from 2002 Playoff Prestige (#036/500) that also includes former Giants (and well-traveled) QB Kerry Collins (too bad it couldn't have been Todd instead!).  While Collins never tasted glory it was Toomer that would earn a ring with New York in 2007.  Thanks to Mark I can now claim 24 hits of the Giants WR great.

Once again thanks for your generosity and attention to detail, Fuji!  I hope I can respond in kind before long with some west coast winners.

2018 Sportlots purchases: QB club

Check me out getting all motivated to get these posts done!  Today we're going to look at new additions for two of the five QBs in my PCs:

#1 is national champ and solid NFL journeyman Brian Griese.  Because his career lasted as long as it did he has a lot to choose from, and I'd say I did well in taking advantage of that.  The top three cards here are from '99 including a very cool Absolute SSD offering and base from Fleer Focus and Paramount.  2000 Upgrades on those with excellent designs by the likes of Bowman's Best, Finest, Focus again, and Fleer's Showcase, plus another Fleer product in Mystique and a solid Pacific look.

Here we finish off 2000 with another Paramount example and then the first of a couple instances of Topps Gallery, which I really went hard after in terms of cards for both blogs this time.  Then the entire batch of 2001 stuff you see is quite nice:  Absolute Memorabilia, a pair of Bowman's Bests (including one that co-stars Rams legend Kurt Warner), Bowman Chrome, Donruss Classics, Finest, and Fleer Showcase again.  For my money Bowman's Best killed it in the design department between 2000 and 2005, especially in their football product.  And Showcase was great in that it consistently looked outstanding even while really changing up its look from year to year.

The first five here finish off the 2001 run.  We start with my favorite flagship Pacific design, a decent Playoff Contenders look, the second and final iteration of the amazing blue Quantum Leaf, another great Stadium Club look, and typically good photography from Upper Deck.  Then 2002 begins with a few repeats from the previous year:  Absolute, Bowman's Best, Classics, and Finest.  Hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!  I love being able to get pieces of these excellent sets starring my favorite players--just one of the many rewarding aspects of PCing!

2002 proved to be a bumper crop of Grieses for me this time, leading all years seen here with 14 cards; 2001 was second with 12.  Everything you see here continues '02, and there's lots to like.  Fleer gets back in the game with Flair, Premium, and Ultra.  Those are joined by standalones from Leaf Certified and Pacific.  Playoff is represented twice with a couple of my favorite brands, Contenders and Prestige.  And Topps scores a pair of huge completions in Stadium Club and Gallery.

2002 completes its triumphant run with base cards from Upper Deck plus its gridiron answer to baseball's 40-Man, called XL.  For some reason I scanned the latter after card #1 for 2003, which hails from Absolute Memorabilia once again.  A very strong group follows with possibly my favorite Bowman's Best design of the few you saw today, Donruss' classics and Gridiron Kings--the well done football equivalent to the Diamond version--plus Playoff Prestige and Topps Draft.  I say it every time I post one of these cards but I sure do miss Topps Draft!  We then have to skip 2004 because Griese appeared on very few cards that year, but at least I cam up with a solid start for 2004 thanks to Donruss Classics again.

Speaking of 2005 we can mostly close out the verticals with Topps Heritage, Ultra, and Upper Deck, completing a quartet of Bucs cardboard.  Topps Heritage makes one more appearance thanks to a 2006 base with Griese pictured as a member of the Bears.  Another Topps throwback product, 2003 All American, makes up half of the horizontal haul, with 2004 Upper Deck bridging the gap between Griese's Dolphins/Bucs runs.

In all I was able to add 51 new cards for a new total of 175 Brian Griese cards, a very healthy new count!

Of course Denard Robinson's five new cards pale in comparison, but three of them do have that Michigan uniform factor going for them!  All of them are from his 2013 rookie season, with #1 being a Bowman Black parallel (which, unfortunately, had to use an airbrushed photo).  The other two come from the Upper Deck-owned Fleer Retro product which inserted throwback versions of several past Fleer brands.  The Metal Universe card honors that product's 1997 design while the Ultra card is a callback to 1991.  In each case the design honored was the debut for the product, something I'm sure was done on purpose.

Besides that fun trio I added a couple slightly newer pieces.  One is a very foil-y/shiny Certified card from 2015 and the other is a typically nice look from Panini's 2016 Prestige.  Along with the 2013 offerings they give me a new total of 90 Shoelace cards, giving me some easy motivation to chase another milestone.

Just two more posts left, which I hope to get done soon!

2018 COMC purchases: PC partying like it's 1999 in red, white, and blue

It's time for the big finish in this latest series of COMC pickups, and I promise you the meaning of the title will soon be clear.

This time I managed to score at least one card of all of my football PC guys except for Tom Brady, since his prices are never reasonable and you guys send a nice amount of his stuff in trade packages because you're awesome.

Here's the results of a couple more months of COMC digging:

Just one Adrian Arrington this time, a 2008 Leaf Limited Silver Spotlight (#55/99) parallel, but that's great since it knocks another card off his checklist (79/370).  I now have 80 unique cards of the former WR.

You already saw those top two Jason Avant cards in my RC post from a few weeks ago, and I'll remind you that they were the last two of his first-years I needed, so that was an exciting development.  To those I added a 2006 Triple Threads Red triple jersey/auto, also from his rookie year, to one of my highest quality player collections of football hits, one that includes two other cards from that year's version of Topps' high-end offering.  Hit #49 of the possession receiver and American Ninja Warrior contestant is my 92nd overall Avant.

One of my PCs that benefited most from this latest shipment is a third of four straight WRs (out of seven in this post), Steve Breaston.  First I found a couple numbered parallels:  2007 Playoff NFL Playoffs Gold Metalized (#021/149) and 2010 Panini Plates and Patches Silver (#010/100).  Then I had even better luck in finding him on signature cards four times:  2007 Playoff NFL Playoffs Signatures Red (#014/100), 2007 SP Rookie Threads Rookie Exclusive Autographs (#083/100), 2007 Leaf Limited auto RC (#34/99), and 2009 SP Threads Stitch in Time Autographs.  Between the uniform and ink I even came up with a couple patriotic cards for the holiday!

These new additions give me 31 hits of the former Cardinal and 99 total cards in his collection.

I promise I'll get to other positions in a minute, but alphabetically this is where we are with our fourth receiver in a row, Braylon Edwards.  No hits today but plenty of numbered insert goodness!  The first two are Elite Series inserts from 2007 Elite:  Black (#334/400) and Gold (#0130/1000) versions.  Next is a 2007 Topps Chrome White Refractor (#391/869) that calls back to my previous inserts post where I showed off a few more of those.  A 2008 trio includes Donruss Threads Retail Blue (#339/350), Topps Triple Threads Emerald (#120/149), and 2008 Leaf Limited Bronze Spotlight (#038/125).  Last up is a 2009 Donruss Classics Timeless Tributes Silver (#067/100) parallel.  Those Elite cards are great but I have to give the nod to the White Refractor today!

The productive college receiver sits comfortably among my player collections with a new total of 243 cards.

Here's our first non-WR of the day.  QB Brian Griese certainly made the most of his quartet of cards if you ask me.  A super cool acetate/die-cut insert called Star Studded from 2000 Fleer Focus leads things off, and it has to be one of my top five cards from this whole purchase.  It's followed by the last example of 2000 Quantum Leaf's Double Team insert (#0779/1500) from this purchase, one where Griese understandably plays second fiddle to HOF RB Terrell Davis, whose 1997 and '98 campaigns were legendary.

Last up for the inserts is a 2003 Topps Chrome Black Refractor (#351/599) that notes Griese heading home to play for the Dolphins in 2003, the same team his father led for his whole NFL career.

Those cool new additions are joined by Brian's fantastic signature (and number inscription!) on a 1999 Donruss Private Signings auto card.  The design's a bit simple (and I could do without the purple) but NFL penmanship doesn't get much better than that!  Griese's hit total moves up to 17 and his overall PC now stands at a healthy 124.

Stud CB Leon Hall accounts for half of the Michigan uniform cards I have to show off today, though you already saw those--2007 Donruss Elite and Ultra--in the rookies post.  Those are joined by a couple more rookie-year cards: a pair of parallels.  First is a Contenders Playoff Ticket (#33/99), giving me another example of that fun insert in my collection.  Sometimes it's nice not to have to chase 20 different versions of a card!  Speaking of cards with lots of parallels, I paired that with yet another 2007 Topps Chrome White Refractor (#156/869), the last one I came up with.

These four put Hall's total up to a respectable 83 with some help from Sportlots incoming.

Don't call it a Hart attack because the only Mike Hart I picked up this time was his 2008 Upper Deck Icons RC you previously saw.  That's card #122 of the former Colts RB.

It was another good package for hits leader Chad Henne, if not for Hart.  Just one insert leads off this group, a 2008 Bowman Chrome Rookies Bronze (#195/329) parallel that looks a bit more like orange in the scan.  Then hit #1 is one of the best cards in the entire purchase, a 2014 Totally Certified Awesome Autographs Blue auto (#04/15).  I showed off the Gold version back in May and that one's numbered to 5 while this school colors-appropriate variation is a bit less rare, but all the more patriotic for it.  USA!  USA!

Hit number two is a 2008 Donruss Gridiron Gear dual jersey/ball (#18/25) that was a last-minute addition as I missed shipping a few cards in my original package and decided to fill out a smaller one.  It's my fifth hit from a brand with some cool cards that year.

The other two are a couple more examples from the plethora of variations out of 2008 SPx.  As it turns out the top card ("Star and Position Dual 149", #045/159) was new to me as I'd believed but the other ("SPX Dual 199") was already in my collection.  That's easy to do when you have 11 cards from the same confusing product!

No worries, Henne still leads the way with 118 hits, though the missed opportunity at another addition keeps him in second place overall at 271 total cards.

Henne's college/pro teammate Jake Long popped up twice in this package.  The first was his previously seen 2008 UD Masterpieces rookie while I also came up with an autograph from the same year's SP Rookie Threads SP Authentics (#025/244).  The sticker auto is my 77th hit of the former #1 overall pick, and 118th card in his collection.

Let's keep this 2008 draft class run going with blog namesake Mario Manningham!  Our fifth WR today previously appeared in the RCs post thanks to the cards bookending this scan, hailing from 2008 Donruss Classics and Ultimate Collection, ending my search for his 23 RCs.  To those I added a 2008 Finest Moments Black Refractor (#88/99).  This parallel of the regular insert highlights Super Mario's excellent game-winning catch with a couple minutes remaining in the rivalry game at Michigan State in 2007.

With this new trio I'm nearing 200-many Manninghams with a new total of 193.

My Chris Perry haul was anything but, but that doesn't mean he got completely shut out this time.  Here's Chris on another Playoff Contenders Playoff Ticket insert (#04/99), this time from the 2008 iteration of the product.  And that's not the last one you'll see today either!  Before we get there, this is card #87 in my Perry collection, and I'm looking forward to getting him over the century mark with some incoming Sportlots items.

MGoBlog's brief celebratory 4th of July post includes a fun highlight video of our next player, Denard Robinson, which reminded me once again of how Shoelace remains the most electric player I've witnessed in-person in any sport.  It's no wonder I keep collecting his stuff like this pair of 2013 hits.  On the left is a Panini Prizm Autographs auto, and like a fine wine that's paired with a Limited Rookie Jumbo Jerseys RC Logo Autographs dual jersey auto (#78/99).  This shiny pair came in at a paltry $3 total and gives me 82 total Denards, 38 of which are hits.

Since you can't have one without the other I'll handle David Terrell and Anthony Thomas together.  Also you already saw all four of these cards in the football rookies post.  Terrell's 2001 Pacific Dynagon Retail puts him at 87 cards while the A-Train rides again with 2001 Fleer Focus, Private Stock, and Upper Deck Rookie FX over the century mark to 101.

Today's penultimate player is the final WR, Amani Toomer.  I turned up four very attractive parallels of him, starting with my favorite, a 2000 Bowman's Best Acetate Parallel (#239/250).  It's hard to tell by the scan but these live up to their names and are see-through, which makes them look fantastic.  I love when searching for new PC additions introduces me to nice looking stuff I didn't know about!

Joining that one from the year 2000 is a Topps Chrome Refractor, done up in a nice shade of blue.  We've definitely got all the colors of the flag today and those colors don't run!  That includes a very red 2001 E-X Essential Credentials (#190/299) parallel.  I recall the name and multiple versions from E-X's earlier iterations, and this one is a great example.

Last up is a 2004 Playoff Contenders Playoff Ticket (#137/150), which is an old enough version that it's numbered to 150 instead of the more common 99.  Toomer's Giants didn't reach the playoffs in 2003 but he did place second in TD receptions with 5.  And speaking of numbers I now have 104 different cards of Toomer.

Last up as usual is the GOAT, Charles Woodson.  You can see here that I finished my run of Playoff Tickets with the legendary DB in the form of this 2015 version (#031/199), which also carries different serial numbering.  The design is perfect for his Raiders uniform after his return to the team that drafted him.  And though it's just one card it ends up being important as it puts him alone at the top of my football PCs with 272 cards!  Not today, Chad Henne....

Once again I had a blast hunting down and scanning all of these new additions to show off, and the work paid off handsomely as I'm sure you saw over the course of this series.  With today's additions my football hits total 1297 so I have another fun milestone coming up, plus one I originally thought I'd hit today until my lack of attention led to a Chad Henne double:  2000 hits in my entire Michigan PC.  That's right, with the 13 football items I added today I'm now sitting at 1999 cards out of the four major sports plus a few miscellaneous areas.  No worries, though, as I have something fun to show off soon to hit that mark, so stay tuned!

Besides that you can look forward to my latest huge haul from Sportlots once everything is in and ready.  Until then I hope everyone has a safe and happy Independence Day!