10/2/2015 card show report: feeling Blue

In case you were wondering, I'm still reeling from last night's heart-breaking final-play loss, but I know this team will come out of it stronger and more determined, so I look forward to seeing what the rest of the conference season brings after having made it to this surprising situation in year one of the Harbaugh era!

If you're over here you've probably already seen the main baseball end of my show haul over on TMV.  As promised, here's the Michigan portion, which features three different sports, all of which are going on at this very moment (and all of which are way better than basketball):

This pair hit two of my baseball PCs.  First is a White Framed parallel of Jim Abbott's 2013 Gypsy Queen card, and while I'm not big on that product, the framed cards do look great.  The other is Barry Larkin's entry in the 1993 Score Franchise set, the first one that split off from being a subset of the base cards.

I also landed two surprising additions to my Michigan Football Rookies project.  Des' 1992 All World card was an exclusive that year (boo exclusives!) so the decidedly low-end looking issue is his only "true" RC.  I thought I was going to be paying more for this one, so I was pleasantly surprised.  A decade later we get A-Train's UD Vintage card, so that's another one in the books for him.

Here's a pair of football inserts along with a solo base card.  The shiny Biakabutuka is his 1996 Pinnacle Foil parallel of his RC from that set.  Meanwhile, Press Pass channels Pacific in this crazy die cut Breakout insert from 2001, which still gets a thumbs up from me because, hey, Michigan uni!  Lastly, I dug out a 2000 Score base of QB-turned-TE (how often do you hear that?) Jay Riemersma.

My lone hockey base find was this Classic card of former Michigan D-man Chris Tamer.  I never cared for their lackluster baseball issues, but I do love the CCHA action here against the Lake Superior State Lakers!

And here's the first of three hockey hits.  I believe I paid $2 for each of these as part of a larger purchase, so I didn't have to think too hard before plunking down my cash.  This is a nice dual Rangers jersey of the since-traded-to-Anaheim Hagelin, and it's my fifth hit of the Swedish star.

I didn't mess up when purchasing these A-A-Rons!  No worries there since I took a sec to check my hockey hits to make sure I didn't have them.  This pair hails from 2011-12, with the first coming from Panini Contenders and the latter from "regular" Panini; they give me eight total of Palushaj.  The native of my original hometown of Livonia, Michigan, is currently kicking around in the AHL, but maybe he'll make it back up to the show again!

I've still got lots to scan and post, so stay tuned.

8/2/15 card show report: the new guys

The cardboard gods were smiling upon me once again last Sunday during the monthly card show I like to attend.  That was especially true for the Michigan portions of my collection.  Check these out:

Tom Brady 2011 Topps Gold (#204) (#0550/2011)

Chad Henne 2008 Topps Mayo RC

Chad Henne 2008 Topps Mayo Mini Black Backs

I believe each of these was $0.50, and I thought that was very reasonable for a numbered Brady insert.  I also managed to add a new Henne to my rookies collection along with a Mini parallel of that very same card to go with my other inserts.

Mike Gillette 2006 TK Legacy auto

Paul Staroba 2007 TK Legacy auto

Chris Zurbrugg 2007 TK Legacy auto

The real highlights for me came in the form of this trio of TK Legacy M Go Blue autos.  My total from the set moved up to 128 (out of 185) thanks to these three additions to my football PC (194 subjects strong!).  Here's some quick info on each guy since they haven't been featured yet:

• Gillette was a PK and P from 1985-88.  He appeared in 49 games and went 130/133 on PATs and 57/81 on FGs.  Here he is scoring on a beautiful 40-yard fake punt run against MSU in 1988.
• Staroba was a WR (and punter!) from 1968-70.  In 31 career games he caught four TDs (two each in '68 and '70), then was a third-round pick of the Browns in '71.  He appeared in 10 games between 1972-73, catching two passes (one for a TD), rushing once for 11 yards, and punting 12 times for the '73 Packers.
• Zurbrugg was a QB from 1984-86 and saw the bulk of his playing time in '84 when starter Jim Harbaugh went down with a broken arm, but he made appearances in 37 career games over those three seasons.

$3 a pop is a no-brainer for me when it comes to these, plus I always love the history lesson that accompanies them.

Don Lund 2004 TK Legacy Varsity Club auto

Speaking of TK Legacy, here's another fun autograph from that product, specifically the Multisport set from 2004.  As many of you know, I PC Lund, a football star who went on to a brief career in Major League Baseball.  However, that clearly wasn't enough different sports for him, so here he is on a card that makes him the 18th different player in my basketball PC.  That puts him in an exclusive club that I believe is limited to Drew Henson and Bill Freehan as far as my collection goes.  Another $3 well spent!

Chris Tamer 1996-97 Be A Player Autographs Silver auto

With the upcoming NHL season looming, why not a hockey card as well?  I was flipping through a box of $2 hits when this one caught my eye.  "Chris Tamer..." I said to myself.  "His name sounds familiar--didn't Doug send me something of his before?"  YEP!  It took me a while to find the trade post from 2013 and the third package he sent me.  Anyway, I hadn't realized Tamer had any hits so I quickly snapped up this Silver version of his BaP auto from 96-97, and that makes him player #38 in my hockey collection!

Another great show for my PCs, and I'm already looking forward to the next one.