3/3/18 card show report: Winter Wolverines part 2

If you headed over here from TMV then you know I spent just $16 at the first of the two March shows I attended, but I definitely feel like I got more than my money's worth.  That fun continued when it came to the Michigan stuff I picked up, representing both football and hockey.

Check it out:

The story of this show was "inserts" and "Michigan uniforms" as you'll see over this scan and the next one.  My Derrick Alexander collection got a nice little boost with a '94 Fleer Prospects card that was apparently designed by Michael Bay.  Then I tracked down a trio of Timmys--Biakabutuka, that is:  1996 Press Pass Paydirt Red (a set you'll see a couple more times), and Skybox Impact More Attitude (so 90s!), and a very cool translucent numbered card from 1999 Collector's Edge Masters called Majestic (#1083/3000).  Yep, those last two got flipped out of order during scanning.  A Brian Griese trio closes out the vets of the group with a '98 Bowman Interstate parallel (football's answer to International), 2000 Bowman Chrome Shattering Performers, and a base card from Pacific's 2000 Revolution product.

Happily for one of my projects I also scored a pair of rookies:  a new face and a familiar one.  The new guy is QB Matt Gutierrez, a highly touted kid out of California who got hurt warming up for 2004's first game against Miami of Ohio, causing him to get Wally Pipped by a kid named Chad Henne, who never gave up the job thereafter.  Gutierrez transferred to Idaho State, went undrafted, was picked up by New England, and of enough interest to appear on five 2007 RCs that fit my project criteria (which are loose enough that I included him despite his transfer).  The first in my collection is from SP Authentic and is numbered 1304/1399.

The other is the fourth rookie I've picked up of 2016 transfer and starting QB Jake Rudock.  This one hails from that year's Playoff product and leaves me just four short of the young Lions backup's first-year run.

And it's all inserts the rest of the way, and a college-heavy group to boot.  This scan features two more 1996 Press Pass Paydirt Red parallels--starring OL Jon Runyan and WR Amani Toomer--as bookends.  They surround the always-paired David Terrell and Anthony Thomas.  Each can be seen on a 2001 Pacific Dynagon insert called Top of the Class, relevant for the two at that point.  A-Train gets a second look thanks to a 2002 Topps Debut Red parallel (#196/199).  Numbered insert?  Yes, please!

Appropriately enough I scored some hockey stuff in advance of Michigan's excellent Frozen Four run in the form of these five cards that feature three NCAA champs.  Langfeld was responsible for the game-winner for the Wolverines' most recent title in 1998.  Morrison was a major force for multiple seasons and won with the '96 squad.  And Muckalt (on a great Black Diamond numbered parallel!) was the offensive leader on the '98 team while also contributing lots of offense in '96, one of 12 Wolverines to appear for both teams.  Shields never won a title but was excellent in his own right before a solid journeyman NHL career that's given way to a solid college position as a goalies coach.  This is definitely a group of greats!

Stay tuned for a couple more show posts soon.

2017 COMC purchases: hitsville UM-S-A

The finish line is in sight--just one more post after this one and I'll be all caught up on 2017 purchases!

Today's post stars all of the football hits I picked up of players that aren't current PCs of mine.  That ended up being a nice round 10, a nice number for one post.  Let's have a look at them:

Item #1 is the biggest, literally:  a 1997 Leaf Signature 8x10 auto of WR Derrick Alexander.  Limited (but not serial numbered) to 4000 copies, this will be a great piece to display with my other larger signed Michigan stuff.  It hails from a set of 108 such oversized signatures, one that also includes Wolverines Tim Biakabutuka, Todd Collins, Elvis Grbac, and Jim Harbaugh (not to mention lots of other stars).  Maybe I need to start a project and call it the "Wall of FaMe"!  Anyway, this is my seventh hit of Alexander.

Sticking with the same position and letter of the alphabet, here's Jason Avant's 2008 Playoff Prestige Rookie Review Materials Prime jersey (#023/100).  The "review" part comes into play when you realize that it uses the 2006 design for Avant's card (that was his rookie year), though it also includes a different photo than the original.  Here's that rookie from 2006 plus the regular jersey version of this card for comparison:

As you can clearly tell the Prime version is a huge upgrade on the decent regular old jersey with three clear colors and lots of stitching.  I was glad to make it my 48th hit of the longtime Eagles receiver.

As usual everything today is presented in alphabetical order and yet I find myself in the midst of a four-receiver run!  That continues here with former Cardinal Steve Breaston way back in 2007 when he signed his whole name instead of just "SB".  This is his Bowman Sterling rookie auto from that year, one I would have thought I had except it turns out what I did own was the Refractor version.  While it's not a favorite design of mine it works fine, plus it gets me up to 27 hits of the former WR/special-teamer.

Today's last WR is one of the more recent ones to jump to the NFL:  Amara Darboh.  The Seattle draft pick appears here on a Panini XR Red jersey auto (#16/75) from last year.  I was happy to get both a signature and large relic swatch even before considering the low price--$2.17--of this fun bunch of shininess.  I guess others' dislike of sticker autos just works in my favor sometimes!  While I won't try to claim XR is a necessary brand I like what I ended up with here, my second hit of a guy I hope to see last in the league for a while.

In general I would say that I've preferred Leaf's Certified design to those from its Limited counterpart over the years, but that doesn't mean the latter is exactly chopped liver.  Consider the above card, a rookie auto of former star CB Leon Hall from the 2007 iteration (#60/99).  It's pretty typical for a medium-end card done by that manufacturer around 10 years ago which means it's right in my wheelhouse.  It also represents another addition to my group of Halls--38 in all after today--that continues to make him one of the more represented players in my football PC.

Three cards in today's post prove that you can find some of your favorite defensive players on cardboard--even if they're underrepresented--as long as you're willing to put in the effort.  Besides Hall's above plus the one you'll see at the very end, retired tackling machine LB David Harris--who almost went out on a high note with the Pats after suffering through the dysfunction of the Jets--makes another hit-related appearance here on this 2011 Panini Threads Gridiron Kings Materials Prime jersey (#37/99).  The canvas-like artistic design is probably a bigger highlight than the "prime" relic, which is just a bit of green and white with some stitching, but for as cheap as this card was I couldn't resist snagging it to bolster Harris' total, which now stands at a solid 27.

The third of my four rookie autos today is this one of Heisman finalist RB Chris Perry from 2004 Ultimate Collection (#152/250).  That's one of those higher-end products that I'm always glad others buy so I can scoop up the singles I want on the cheap.  Maybe whoever pulled this one at the time was excited about landing a big card of a first-rounder but they sure wouldn't be today since I got it for under $2!  I'm generally fine with the design, though it's admittedly not very exciting, and Perry's signature has never been one to write home about.  Still, it's great to pick up one of his autos from a high-end product on the cheap!  Make it 51 hits of the former Michigan great.

Now we'll move on to a much more recent back who's making his hits collection debut:  De'Veon Smith.  The four-year RB didn't come in with as much fanfare as others but put together a solid college career that culminated in leading the backfield of the 2016 that went 10-3 in attempts, yards, and TDs and receptions (tied with the "Hammering Panda", Khalid Hill, on both counts).  He's one of the few guys that didn't get drafted in 2017 but latched on with the Dolphins.

I was excited to land a college uni signature of him (he does have a few licensed ones in Panini brands) from 2017 Leaf Metal Draft (even if the airbrushing makes it look more like he's playing for Notre Dame here).  It's always tough sledding for undrafted guys to last long in the pros but maybe Smith can carve out a career.

The second oldest card in today's bunch is this 2002 UD Authentics American Authentics Level 1 auto of the A-Train, Anthony Thomas.  The design isn't terribly exciting but I'm a fan of having the cut out area for signatures sometimes, and Thomas's never fails to impress me.  Honestly, you could probably slap that on a card as ugly as a recent Topps design and I'd have a difficult time passing on it!  It's almost milestone time again here at TMM as this is my 49th hit of Anthony's.

I'm glad to be able to end on a high note (as if anything else from today would be a disappointment) with a letter manupatch/auto.  It happens to be my first of Super Bowl champ LaMarr Woodley, quite possibly the first I've seen available.  It's from 2007 SP Rookie Threads--some of the best letter cards you'll find--and is part of the nameplate that spells out his last name.  You might recall that a while ago I completed Leon Hall's from the same product:

As is the case with Hall's cards this one's #d to 250 (#037 in this case) and has rarer parallel versions.  They may not hit all the great design notes of the 2008 version but I still love the chase for another nameplate!  In a mini milestone of sorts I've finally gotten Woodley to double digits with his 10th hit.

Almost done!  Stay tuned for one last post as I really go out with a bang by showing off a buttload of football PC cards--rookies, inserts, hits, and more!--soon.

2017 COMC purchases: serial-nUMbered insanity

I'm back with more football stuff today, and I sure hope you like inserts because that's what you're getting--a LOT of them, in fact.  Shiny, die-cut, numbered, Refractor-ized, or some combination thereof.  These cards span the years 1995-2013 (you'll see more in my player collections post) and run the gamut of brands, designs, and sanity, not to mention numbering--about 75% of them, in fact, from 5000 on down to 99.  So let's have a look at 25 players' worth of new inserts!

The opening trio of Derrick Alexanders is fun because you'll see all three insert sets again in this post at least once.  1997 Pinnacle Totally Certified Platinum Red (#d /4999) appears a bunch, 1998 Black Diamond Rookies Triple (#d /1500) once more, and Score's Scorecard parallel (especially the 2000 version seen here, #d /2000) quite a bit.

FB B.J. Askew and WR Jason Avant make cameos on parallels from 2004 Playoff Honors and 2010 Topps, respectively.  The action photo used on the Avant card is fantastic.

Only one of Tim Biakabutuka's cards is numbered--the Platinum Red--but all three of his cards are fun, especially the hologram Big Bang from 1996 Skybox's Skymotion.

Stevie Brown doesn't have a lot of cardboard but I did find his 2013 Topps Gold on which he appears to be returning yet another INT.

Former QB Todd Collins is another player for whom I found at least three new inserts.  The die-cut is from a 1997 set called Excalibur Overlords, the Platinum Red is old news by now, and I also came up with one of Pacific's fun numbered cards from one of its trademark wacky designs, 1998 Revolution Shadows (#23/99).

Super Bowl winner Brandon Graham gains entry to the Scorecard club with the 2010 parallel of his rookie from that year's set.

CB Leon Hall comes to us with three numbered parallels:  a Blue Refractor version of his 2007 Finest RC (#068/299) plus Certified Mirror Blue (#082/100) and Topps Gold (#1315/2010) parallels from 2010.  The blue pair is especially cool.

Retired LB David Harris's Topps Gold comes from the following year, but the other insert, 2012 Absolute Gridiron Force Spectrum (#029/100), is notable because Harris isn't actually in the base set, just this insert (and its non-numbered regular version).

Get a load of those "Crazy Legs" on Elroy Hirsch in his 2001 Bowman Chrome Rookie Reprint!  The Refractorized card reminds me that I need to track down a copy of the original someday.

Desmond Howard's 1995 Bowman's Best Refractor represents the earliest card in this post, and I'm glad to add his to the others I own from that set.

Cato June is another guy that didn't get much hobby love but I did find his 2007 Topps Copper parallel (#0155/2007).

I almost ended up with a quartet of Chris Perry Refractors--2004 Topps Chrome, 2005 Bowman Chrome Blue, 2006 Topps Draft Bronze comprise the trio--but a 2008 Leaf Limited Bronze Spotlight (#081/125) was the combo breaker.

And TE Jay Riemersma appears on an Ultra Gold Medallion parallel before a much more interesting 2001 Pacific numbered card called Hobby LTD (#77/99).  You'll see a couple more from this product over the rest of the post.

WR Tai Streets gets in on the Refractor action thanks to 2000 Topps Chrome, plus he joins Riemersma in 2001 Pacific on a Retail LTD parallel (#d /299) instead of hobby, and is part of the Score Scorecard club too, in this case the 2003 version.

David Terrell and Anthony Thomas are reunited here and it feels so good.  The former arrives via a 2002 Topps Chrome Refractor (#509/599) which looks fantastic with the black border.  His RB counterpart appears on a pair of 2002 Fleer-branded parallels:  Flair Collection (#105/200) and Maximum To the Max (#027/250).  We'll see him again shortly.

Beefy RB Tyrone Wheatley is the first from a pair of '96 Donruss Press Proofs I found.  These differ from the base thanks to the "First 2,000 Printed" and "Press Proof" gold stamps plus having the helmet die-cut out of the upper-right corner.

Fearsome defender LaMarr Woodley closes out the scan with Topps Gold parallels from 2011 and 2012, joining the 2010 version I already had.

Here are the three horizontal cards that weren't part of the larger groups of players you'll see next.  RB Leroy Hoard's 1995 Absolute Die Cut Helmets translucent insert was a fun find out of the blue.  And A-Train added to his tally with a couple numbered 2002 cards:  Donruss Elite Back to the Future (#163/800) and 2002 Leaf Rookies and Stars Standing Ovation (#2048/2500).

WR Steve Breaston is the first of the five players for whom I found enough cards to give them their own scans, and all seven of the cards you see above are of the numbered variety.  Steve joins Leon Hall with a 2007 Finest Blue Refractor parallel of his RC, then gets in on the Scorecard fun with his 2008 version that's paired with a Gold Zone parallel (#368/400) from the same product.

A team colors-appropriate Red parallel from Topps' 2009 Unique product (#539/799) is next, and that's followed by a couple 2010 Panini-branded variations:  Crown Royale Blue (#007/100) and Gridiron Gear Gold X's (#061/100).  A Mirror Blue parallel from 2012 Certified (#047/100) joins this group of inserts unique to Breaston in this post.

QB Elvis Grbac is up next with nine cards, though one doesn't count as an insert.  First up is a great double-sided offering from 1997 Leaf called Run and Gun, and while Grbac is up front the better talent lies on the other side:

HOFer Marcus Allen.  Do I need a "90s inserts rule" tag for this blog too?

Yet another Certified Platinum Red from the same year joins the ranks, and that's followed by a deceptive card I thought was an insert but is actually a team checklist from the base set of 1999 Absolute SSD.

Getting back to actual inserts the next card is a cool one from '99 Donruss Preferred called QBC National Treasures (#0604/2000) which is an early mention of the moniker that would go on to be a high-end product.

A pair from 2000 is up next:  Scorecard once again, then a Premiere Date parallel (#089/138) from Pacific's Vanguard brand.  It seems like Pacific usually put the serial numbers up front but in this case it's visible on the back.  The opposite is true of another 2001 Pacific card, again a Retail LTD parallel, which I've always thought looked great on probably my favorite Pacific flagship base design.

A horizontal Leaf Rookies and Stars insert from 2002 called Great American Heroes (#1523/2000) and Brass Coin from 1998 Pinnacle Mint close out Grbac's bunch.  I have a decent number of the baseball versions of these coins but very few from football.

Brian Griese is #2 in a run of three QBs, and once again everything you see here is numbered.  We'll start with the year 2000, which includes a Black Diamond Gold (#0361/1000) version as well as a Donruss insert called Dominators (#4225/5000), which is the winner for highest numbered card by one over the '97 Platinum Reds.  The latter is surprisingly plain for a Donruss insert.

2001 brings another pair, starting with Fleer's E-X Essential Credentials (#236/299), a name I remember from my earlier collecting days, and Pacific's Invincible Red (#432/750), one that appears elsewhere in my inserts collection.

As we move ahead another year we're treated to another Fleer brand parallel with Box Score's First Edition (#020/100), then one of my favorite cards in the whole post, a Championship Ticket from 2002 Contenders (#088/250).  For some reason the combination of color and holographic foil is very pleasing to my collecting eye.  I consider it a cool yearly parallel regardless.

Our last pair (there's an odd number, obviously) hails from 2005, starting with a Silver parallel from Bowman (#118/200) and a Gold one from Leaf Rookies and Stars Longevity (#146/199).  Sorry, I don't have anything bronze to go with those!

Last up we head all the way back to Griese's rookie year of 1998 and another instance of Upper Deck's Black Diamond brand in the form of an insert called Sheer Brilliance (#0045/1400).  His future surely looked brilliant after winning a national title the previous season and getting drafted as a potential heir to John Elway.

While I managed to add seven cards of current Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh only two of them are numbered since the bulk of his career was spent before that was a trend.  The first two you see here--Press Proofs from 1996 Donruss and Leaf--are limited to just 2000 copies, they just aren't stamped.  The Donruss version includes the helmet die-cut like the Wheatley earlier, and the Leaf card goes a step further in taking bites out of either side to give it a bit more of an hourglass shape.

Joining them are another pair of 96s, in this case from Topps brands.  One is the Pacific-like Pro Bowl insert from Stadium club while the other is an insert called Tide Turners from the debut of Topps Chrome.  Jim was both a Pro Bowler and named AP Comeback Player of the Year in '95 so the Chrome card certainly makes sense.

Then our numbered cards appear back-to-back with another 1998 Black Diamond Rookies Triple (#0557/1500) and 2000 Score Scorecard (#1566/2000).  Something tells me I should try to pick up the 2000 Score set at some point since it's obviously chock full of Wolverines!

We'll end his bunch on a high note with some Dufex coolness in the form of a horizontal Trophy Collection parallel from 1996 Pinnacle.  Those cards are great as-is, and so is the design from that year, but the photo selection really makes for a winner here.

Amani Toomer is the other WR in this triple-decker QB sandwich.  While his recent derogatory comments about the state of the team--from a guy who doesn't appear to make any effort to make a connection with his alma mater, no less--irked me quite a bit, I don't tend to make my collecting decisions based on stuff like that.  So don't be too surprised that he was the biggest winner of this COMC run with 12 new cards.

Toomer was yet another player that appeared in the '97 Totally Certified Platinum Red insert, but I also found his Blue version (#1882/2499), definitely more appropriate for a Michigan guy.  A '99 Topps Stars parallel creatively named Parallel (#168/299) finishes off the late 90s group while an early iteration of Absolute's Tools of the Trade name (#0503/1000) begins the 2000s, which is when the rest of Amani's cards cards for today were produced.

For those we jump ahead a few years where Topps Chrome Refractors from 2004 and '05 sandwich an Upper Deck Foundations Exclusive Gold (#063/100) parallel, also from '04.  Then 2006 brings a nice looking Gold version of the familiar Elite Series from Donruss Elite (#0134/1000) and the penultimate Scorecard parallel (#521/750) for this post.

A 2007 Bowman Chrome XFractor (#081/250) is the sole example of that type of insert today, but for a good reason--I already own the Refractor from that year.  Then we finish up in 2008 with a Scorecard insert that's not from flagship Score, but its Select version (#049/100) instead, and a Topps Gold Border (to differentiate it from the useless Gold Foil inserts) printed during his sunset season.

As always I had a blast searching high and low (especially low!) on COMC for these new additions to my football inserts PC, finding all kinds of designs that caught my eye.  And as I mentioned I still have some others to show off in the player collections post that will be the finale of this series soon.  Until then, which ones do each of you like the best?

2017 COMC purchases: a loss, not a win-serts

A disappointing offensive performance (five turnovers!) all but sealed Michigan's fate this evening but MSU still gifted the Wolverines with one last gasp attempt that failed by inches.  Oh well, you don't win 'em all!  On to Indiana.

To celebrate a pretty good game (maybe not great sans victory), let's have a look at the bunches of football inserts I grabbed on COMC over the past few months:

We'll kick things off with lots of offense, starting with Refractors of WR Derrick Alexander from '94 Stadium Club Bowman's Best and '99 Finest.  FB B.J. Askew makes an uncommon appearance with a Rookie Blue parallel of his 2003 Mystique RC (#261/350).  Then we have a trio of possession WR Jason Avant:  '06 Playoff Contenders ROY Contenders (#0861/1000), a Topps Chrome Refractor parallel of his RC from that year, and a Chrome Black Refractor from the following year's Topps Draft product.  Finally, there's another trio, this time representing RB Tim Biakabutuka via '96 Leaf Gold Rookies, '97 Ultra Comeback Kids (on a very cool die-cut design) and 2000 Mystique Running Men.

This scan gives us plenty more offense starting with a five-spot of shifty WR Steve Breaston:  '09 Score Scorecard (#082/299), 2010 Certified Platinum Red (#271/999), 2010 Playoff Contenders Playoff Ticket (#23/99), 2011 Certified Mirror Red (#240/250) and 2011 Prestige Xtra Points Gold (#025/250).  Lots of serial-numbered stuff there!

Next is a trio of ex-QB Todd Collins:  1995 Pinnacle Trophy Collection (football's answer to baseball's Museum Collection), the same year's Select Certified Mirror Gold (remember when those were huge), and a protected 1997 Pinnacle Totally Certified Platinum Red parallel (#4946/4999).

Short-lived NFL LB Shawn Crable is a rare defensive player here on a 2008 Topps Chrome Refractor parallel of his RC.  I hope you like Refractors because there's more where that came from!

After a short hiatus we're back with more QBs.  Elvis Grbac, Desmond Howard's QB for his 1991 Heisman campaign, is here from 1999 Score Showcase (#0953/1989) and 2000 Pacific Prism Prospects Premiere Date (#083/138).

Doubling him up is title-winning QB Brian Griese:  a 2000 Bowman Chrome Refractor, 2002 Bowman's Best Blue parallel (#132/300), 2005 Leaf Rookies and Stars Longevity Ruby parallel (#050/299) and another Refractor from 2005 Topps Chrome.  The way the non-Griese subjects are portrayed on the Blue parallel is both creepy and cool.

Lastly, I turned up a rare trio of numbered cards of a defensive player--David Harris, erstwhile NY Jet who joined the Pats for this season.  Topps Gold parallels from 2010 (#0865/2010) and 2013 (#1972/2013) bookend a 2011 Prime Signatures Prime Proof Red parallel (#21/99).  After suffering through Jetsdom I'd love to see him win a ring with fellow Wolverines Tom Brady and Alan Branch.

This scan continues the run on defensive players with DBs Marlin Jackson--2006 Score Gold (#109/600)--and Ty Law--2006 Topps Chrome Own the Game.  Law, of course, had Super Bowl success with the 2001 and 2003 Patriots.

Jake Long flips us back to offense with his 2011 Topps Gold parallel (#0674/2011), and the only OL of the day is followed up by the lone TE--Tony McGee and his 1998 Bowman Chrome Refractor.

Shoelace's card, a 2016 Donruss Stat Line Season parallel (#011/266) is a call back to one of my favorite baseball inserts of the early 2000s.  The numbering, of course, corresponds to his rushing total from the previous year.

We then close out the scan with three parallels (including two Refractors) of Giants WR great Amani Toomer:  2004 Topps Draft Gold Chrome (one of my favorite Topps products), 2005 Finest Refractor (#045/399) and 2008 Score Gold Zone (#170/400).  Seriously, why can't Topps make products that look like '04 Draft/Chrome?

Here's a group of horizontal cards that even includes another defensive cameo!  Previously-seen WRs kick us off with Derrick Alexander's 1998 SPx Finite Radiance parallel (#4153/5050) from that totally numbered product, then a couple 2006 Michigan uni appearances from Jason Avant:  a die-cut Press Pass Big Numbers card and an example from that year's Prestige Draft Picks insert.

Then it's over to a couple QBs.  We already saw Griese earlier, and here's another cool numbered insert, this time from 2001 Pacific Invincible, called Widescreen (#1150/2500).  It's easy to forget that aspect ratio was exotic at the time.  He's followed up by current coach Jim Harbaugh on a cool holographic insert I hadn't seen before:  1996 Select Four-midable.  Great design!

Law makes his second appearance, this time on a 2008 Topps Chrome Dynasties insert that highlights one of his aforementioned Super Bowl victories.

Finally, a pair of die-cut RBs:  Chris Perry on the 2004 version of Press Pass's Big Numbers insert, and Anthony Thomas out of 2002 Pacific Heads Update's Big Numbers.

Because of the sheer number of cards I grabbed of Braylon Edwards, I decided to scan him separately.  This can includes seven vertical cards of the former #1:  2007 Finest Green Refractor (#074/199), 2008 Leaf Limited Banner Season (#654/999), 2008 Select Future Franchise (#404/999), 2008 Topps Chrome Copper Refractor (#384/425), 2009 Bowman Chrome Xfractor (#221/250), 2010 Certified Platinum Red (#047/999) and 2010 Topps Gold (#0209/2010).  Thanks to Bray-Bray being out of the league, I can find lots of cheap numbered inserts of his like this bunch.

I also grabbed eight horizontal inserts.  The semi-translucent 2005 Playoff Contenders Rookie Round Up (#213/450) is easily my favorite of the bunch.  It's joined by another Press Pass Big Numbers card, this time from 2005, and this bunch of Panini-branded numbered issues:  2006 Leaf Certified Materials Certified Potential Gold (#0322/800), 2009 Donruss Elite Prime Targets Gold (#550/899), 2009 Playoff Prestige Prestigious Pros Blue (#0803/1000), 2010 Panini Threads Silver Holofoil (#158/250), 2011 Donruss Elite Craftsmen Gold (#222/999) and 2011 Prestige Prestigious Pros Green (#103/250).  A nice looking bunch of inserts for sure!

We'll end things tonight with four more cards of Michigan's coach, who may not be too popular for a few days after tonight's loss, but still has my full support.  First is another example of a '95 Pinnacle Trophy Collection Parallel.  The next--my favorite of my Harbaugh haul--is a die-cut '96 Stadium Club Fusion, half of a pair that includes HOF Colt/Ram RB Marshall Faulk.  Finally, we have a pair of '96 Upper Deck-branded inserts:  Silver All-NFL and Proview (which may look familiar to you baseball collectors).

Michigan fans may have to endure the usual pains of going through a week after a loss, but we're hardly the only fans to be disappointed this season and there's still plenty to play for.  Hopefully years down the line I'll get to see many of the guys I watched tonight appear on inserts like these.  For now, it's onward to Indiana for the team and onward with my collection for me!

Rookie Blue-out part 7: WolveRines

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.

Ok.  Three posts left in this series, time to finish these up.  I can do it!  Today's post features what I believe is the largest bunch of cards I'll be showing off at a time in the Rookie Blue-out feature, and everyone seen below was a WR for Michigan:

Derrick Alexander (1994):  Action Packed, Collector's Choice, GameDay, Pinnacle, Playoff, Playoff Contenders, Pro Line Live, Score, Select, Skybox Impact, Skybox Premium, SP, Sportflics, Ultra, Upper Deck

Here you see all 15 of former #1 Derrick Alexander's first-years.  A healthy eight of those feature some level of Michigan uniform-ness, and despite the airbrushing I'm going with the Sportflics card as my favorite; I'm pretty happy with how that one scanned as well.  A close second is the high end SP entry, definitely the best of the pro uniform cards.

Jason Avant (2006):  Bowman Chrome, Donruss Classics (#0918/1499), Finest, Playoff NFL Playoffs, Playoff Prestige, Score, Sweet Spot (#218/699), Topps Chrome, Topps Draft Picks and Prospects, Topps Heritage, Topps Total, Ultra, Upper Deck

I was fortunate to add a lucky 13 Avants to my collection of his rookies.  The journeyman receiver has 22 cards for me to chase, and these put me up to 17, with a couple more on the way.  Topps' design in 2006 Draft isn't one of my favorites, but there's a couple other nice college options thanks to Prestige, and my ultimate favorite here, Ultra.  The full-bleed design and a great college photo make that one a winner.  I believe it was taken during Michigan's home loss to Minnesota in 2005--former Gophers coach Glen Mason looks to be the coach with the headset on to Avant's right.

Ronald Bellamy (2003):  Bowman, SPx (#0347/1500), Topps Chrome, Topps Draft Picks and Prospects, Topps Total, Upper Deck

Bellamy may have inspired the long-defunct blog "Ronald Bellamy's Underachieving All-Stars" but I haven't underachieved in collecting his RCs by any means--these six give me a total of seven out of his eight (and I might just be showing off that final card before you know it!).  While the East/West Game photo on Upper Deck's card was a nice touch, one of my favorite Topps Draft designs laps the field easily here.  And that SPx design has always been one of UD's stranger entries.

Steve Breaston (2007):  Donruss Gridiron Gear (#572/599), Donruss Threads (#315/999), Finest, Leaf Rookies and Stars (#446/999), Leaf Rookies and Stars Longevity (#022/999), Playoff Prestige, SPx (#631/899), Topps Co-Signers (#2239/2249), Topps TX Exclusive (#0248/599), Upper Deck, Upper Deck First Edition

Multi-talented WR/return man Steve Breaston has some 26 rookies for me to track down, but these 11 go a long way towards that number, giving me 16 total.  Seven are serial-numbered, meaning they carried a bit of a price premium, but nothing here killed my wallet, fortunately.  Of the college cards, SPx went with another somewhat strange design, and Prestige has my favorite overall look (they really did a nice job between 2005 and 2008), but come on, that 2007 Rose Bowl photo on the Upper Deck First Edition card never had anything to fear (despite the game being forgettable for Michigan fans). 

Jack Clancy (1968):  Topps

Clancy was another of those multi-positional guys from a different era of college football (the 60s), and played a bit of QB and RB with the team before settling in as an "end" (which I'm assuming equates to TE) and "flanker," which we'll just call receiver.  He put up some big numbers for his time, including numerous school records, and an All-American '66 campaign, oddly after the Cardinals chose him with the 5th round of that year's draft.  Miami also selected him that year, in the third round, and he'd play out the '67 and '69 seasons with the Dolphins, then finish his career in 1970 with Green Bay after injuries took their toll.  I'll admit previously being ignorant of Clancy as such a prolific receiver before getting this card, so history lesson achieved!

Glenn Doughty (1974):  Topps

Doughty is another guy I didn't really know anything about until landing this '74 Topps card; for example, his nickname was apparently "Shake & Bake."  I like this guy already.  He's listed as a WR here, but in college he was actually more of a receiving RB, with more than 300 career rushing attempts and 41 receptions during his 1969-71 run in Ann Arbor.  Those numbers largely flipped after Baltimore took him in the second round of 1972, and from then until his career ended after the '79 season, he put up more than 200 catches to go with 24 TDs.

Braylon Edwards (2005):  Bazooka, Bowman, Donruss Gridiron Gear (#054/399), Playoff Prestige, Score, Topps Chrome, Topps Heritage, Topps Turkey Red, UD Mini Jersey Collection, Upper Deck, Upper Deck Kickoff

Getting back to some more modern players, here's 11 new rookies of Bray-Bray, another guy that wore the #1 on a maize & blue jersey.  I'm a bit surprised that you only see one serial-numbered card here, and unfortunately only one college uni card, which is naturally my favorite, though I've often said that I love those mid-to-late Prestige designs.  Thanks to these cards I'm now over halfway to Edwards' 23 RCs with 13, and I'll soon have one more to show off.

Devin Funchess (2015):  Bowman, Panini Prizm Draft Picks

Football cards are apparently bizarro baseball cards:  here, Topps is forced to airbrush (a college uni, but still) while the Panini brand pops with all the logos and colors money can buy.  It's just as well since the Bowman design is as lackluster as the image while the Prizm design is appealing.  Either way, they're both college cards, so that's a plus.  I now own five of Funch's 24 RCs, though that number could possibly still grow with sets I haven't added to the checklist yet.

Junior Hemingway (2012):  SPx (#238/750)

He's no Griffey--notice he's not wearing #24 either--but this Junior did his jersey number, along with the Desmond Howard Legends Patch, proud over the course of his college career.  This is the third and final card I needed to complete Hemingway's first-year collection, and all three are UD brands featuring college shots, though he went on to some solid NFL playing time with KC.

Greg McMurtry (1990):  Action Packed Rookie Update, Fleer Update

With just four total cards to chase it was only a matter of time before I scored the other two I needed to finish up McMurtry's run.  I give Action Packed credit for thinking outside of the box, but those thick, embossed-type cards never did anything for me.  The Fleer design isn't a whole lot better, but it's solid.  They both pale in comparison to his Pro Set and Score (college uni!) cards anyway.

Bo Rather (1977):  Topps

Rather was with Michigan from 1970-72, and after a season as a DB he moved to WR where he stuck for his final two seasons.  His college stats were fairly pedestrian, but that can be chalked up to Bo Schembechler's run-heavy, conservative offenses, not lack of skill.  The Dolphins grabbed him in 1973's fourth round, and his Miami tenures (also part of '78) bookended 4.5 seasons with the Bears, with whom he's pictured on his '77 Topps RC, some four years after he debuted.  He went on to a solid if unspectacular pro career, scoring 7 TDs in his six seasons.

Jim Smith (1978):  Topps

I wrote a blurb about Smith, a two-time Super Bowl champ with his pictured Steelers, in this TK Legacy autograph roundup post.  The seven-year vet was good enough to appear on this rookie card for Topps just a year after his NFL debut, and he went on to post a reasonable 25 TDs in his seven-year career.

David Terrell (2001):  Fleer Premium (#0779/2001), Fleer Tradition Glossy (#0327/2001), Pacific Invincible, Upper Deck Vintage

David Terrell without Anthony Thomas?!  Yeah, sometimes it happens.  The former #1 appears on four cards today, and that gives me 17 of his--jeez, 53?!  Yeah, I've got a ways to go for Terrell and A-Train, with more than 100 rookies between them.  In a close race between the Fleer and Pacific cards, I give the Glossy card the slight not despite the airbrushing, but kudos to the latter for the cool translucent inset photo.

Amani Toomer (1996):  Absolute, Bowman's Best, Collector's Choice Update, Collector's Edge Advantage, Crown Royale, Fleer, Leaf, Playoff Illusions, Playoff Prime, Pro Line, Pro Line Intense, Skybox Impact, Skybox Impact Rookies, Skybox Premium, Stadium Club, Summit, Ultra Sensations

After peeping these seventeen Toomer rookies from 1996, you probably think I've finished his run, right?  Not so fast, my friend!  I now stand three short of the 22 I needed to track down; fortunately one of those three is on its way.  In terms of this bounty, without a clear-cut winner among the college cards I'll give the nod here to the die-cut decadence of Crown Royale.

Marquise Walker (2002):  Bowman, Fleer Authentix RC (#1069/1250), Fleer Focus JE RC (#0025/1850), 2002 Fleer Tradition RC (with Ron Johnson), Leaf Rookies and Stars, Pacific Adrenaline, Pacific Exclusive, Score, Topps, Topps Chrome, Topps Gallery

Last but certainly not least--he does have a crazy 48 rookies to collect--is former star WR Marquise Walker.  Although he never appeared in an NFL game, he made plenty of appearances on cardboard, and I can lay claim to 13 of those for now.  I think Walker represents the best variety of brands and designs of any player today, from the oddball ticket motif of Authentix to the understated Fleer Tradition and on up to the gaudy Pacific Exclusive.  I find myself debating between the artful Gallery issue and the Refractory Topps Chrome look, and for me Gallery's class wins by a nose because this maize & blue fan has nothing good to say about green!

Just two more posts to go, and maybe I'll even try to knock them out before I get back to everything else I've been teasing, we'll see!