9/2/17 card show report: Bo knows

You're here for the Wolverines content from the September show I attended, and that's exactly what I have for you:

I don't get to show off Bo Schembechler cards here too often so this was a fun pickup.  It actually comes from a baseball product, Panini's 2013 Golden Age, and while I'm not a huge fan of non-baseball stuff in baseball products (cough cough A&G and Gypsy Queen cough cough) I'm happy to see Bo land somewhere that might get his name out there to younger generations.  This was an easy quarter pickup for me.

The only $1 I picked up for myself is this 2002 SAGE HIT Autographs Emerald auto of former Michigan WR Marquise Walker.  It's not exactly my favorite design, with a grainy-looking photo that may have been printed on an old HP DeskJet, and a way-too zoomed-in one at that, but I still like that it's a Michigan uni card, and I love any autographs of Wolverines.  As is often the case with SAGE the sticker doesn't scan very well, but I still got my money's worth for my 22nd Walker hit.

And now, the big purchase of the day:

I saw this in the seller's showcase and--

Sorry, just a sec...

::grabs hammer and chisel, uses both::

Aaaahhhhhh, MUCH better!  Sometimes (read:  most of the time) grading is just stupid.  Who gives two rips about an 8.5?

Anyway, I saw this in the seller's showcase and he wanted $30 for it, but better yet when I tacked it on he took $5 off my total purchase to make it an even $50.  So what do we have here?  It's only my first hit (finally) of young Wolverwing star Dylan Larkin!  The ultra-talented forward spent the 2014-15 season with Michigan, then jumped to the Wings when they took him in the first round that year, apparently making the right decision since he's been with the big club both seasons since.

Because of that, I've wanted a nice hit of his for a long time, but had some difficulty since young stars can command high prices.  $30 isn't exactly chump change but the timing was right for this super cool manu-letter patch auto, which is even better since it's the first letter of his nameplate.  Will I try to complete that project?  Maybe.  But I'm very proud to have this one if nothing else.

What's even cooler is that Larkin here is the 50th member of my hockey PC, a milestone I didn't even realize until I went to add him to the spreadsheet.  Great card, nice bonus!

I may hit next month's show, but until then you should get to see some fun COMC pickups before much longer.

2014 eBay purchases: [unifying theme not found]

Nothing special here, just six new PC cards from two recent eBay purchases.  Let's get right down to it.  Everything you see today except the Murray below came from eBayer burbanksportscards.  Although their prices are often head-scratchers, once in a while I find a few things I need for a not unreasonable total, and hey, free shipping helps.  I spent around $10, which I think was also my total the last time I bought from them.

Red Berenson 1970-71 Topps and 1974-75 Topps

As a quick reminder, I officially started collecting Berenson after Doug hooked me up with 10 of his vintage OPC issues, a great beginning to be sure.  I added a few more via various other transactions, then decided to fill a couple gaps with these two 70s Topps versions via BINs on eBay.  These mean I now own all of Red's regular issue OPC and Topps cards (not including stickers/stamps/etc.) from '69-70 to '78-'79 (including a '69-'70 Topps I'll show off in another post soon).  Much of what's left is tougher vintage stuff--including his RC--plus tough-in-a-different-way modern stuff.  I'm just a couple cards shy of 50% at 26/55 after adding these.

Scott Kamieniecki 1994 Pinnacle Artist's Proof

It's hard for me to believe I have fewer than 10 cards to track down before I can call Scott's PC complete.  This '94 Pinnacle Artist's Proof--man those were TOUGH pulls back in the day!--gets me another step closer to that goal.  It's a great horizontal card with a perfect photo--Kam's follow through and an out-of-focus Mike Stanley--plus the much-desired stamp signifying that this card is rare. You guys.  "Only" 1000 were made, but when you consider how overproduced this stuff used to be, it's easier to realize just how difficult these were to pull.  The rarity is my 83rd out of his 90 issues, with a few toughies left to locate.

Heath Murray 1997 Bowman Certified Blue Ink auto

My non-burbank pickup was this solid on-card autograph of pitcher Heath Murray, which I scored for just $3 (free shipping!).  Bowman made three versions of these signatures in '97, with the others being black and gold ink variations.  Personally, I'd argue that I got the best looking one up-front:  blue.  What's funny is that the photo on the card looks very similar to the one used the previous year, with a few small differences:  no glove on his right hand, looking directly at the camera.  The chain link fence in the background is a similarity, though, so it was probably a photo from the same shoot.  My sixth hit of Murray (five autos and a jersey) is my 23rd of his 30 issues I'm chasing.

Ted Sizemore 1972 and 1974 O-Pee-Chee

Last up is a pair of early 70s OPC cards of former Dodger/Cardinal/and more Ted Sizemore.  Some of those earlier OPC sets aren't as cheap as you might think, which I would have to assume is due to relative scarcity, though if you wanna talk expensive and relatively scarce, a good example is Ted's '71 OPC base, which I haven't seen reliably for under $50 in a while.  That's a shame because it's the last of Ted's cards that I need--yep, I own 22 of his 23-card run!  That joins Leon Roberts' (and Gary Carter's) 1975 OPC as tough-to-find-cheap last-cards-in-the-PC, so if any of you finds a nice deal on reasonable condition copies of either for under $20, please let me know!

I have at least one more card heading to me via eBay, plus some stuff from COMC, but my next post should feature a few Michigan PC guys I grabbed from Sportlots.

2014 COMC purchases: hockey heaven

Just a day after celebrating Independence day I'm going with a theme that's decidedly Canadian:  hockey!  Over my last few COMC purchases I scored some cards for both my hockey player PCs, plus a few hits while I was at it too:

Red Berenson 1971-72 Topps

Red Berenson 1972-73 Topps

Red Berenson 1973-74 Topps

Red Berenson 1975-76 Topps

Red Berenson 1976-77 Topps

Red Berenson 1977-78 Topps

Red Berenson 1978-79 Topps

These first seven Berenson cards are Topps versions for which I already own the OPC versions, all of which you can see in Red's album.  Of the bunch, I don't yet have Topps copies of '69-70, '70-71, and '74-75.  The new Topps cards are pretty much identical to the OPCs with the exception of the '73-74 card which has a yellow border as opposed to the red (appropriate!) of the OPC.

Red Berenson 1994 Parkhurst Tall Boys

"Tall Boys" is apt when describing this oversized card from '94 Parkhurst.  The set was apparently made as a "what if" as the manufacturer didn't produce hockey cards in '64-65.

Red Berenson 1995-96 Parkhurst '66-67

And similarly, this set was a hypothetical for what could have been a '66-67 set, this time with Red on the New York Rangers.

A page's worth of cards (if you could fit that Tall Boy into a standard page!) gives me a new total of 21/55 of Red's cards, meaning 50% isn't that far off.

Shawn Hunwick 2012-13 O-Pee-Chee RC

I mentioned OPC earlier, and now I have a much more modern card to show off in the form of this Hunwick RC, which is my fifth rookie of the former walk-on goalie.  Who doesn't love his cards that feature his UM mask and pads while playing in Columbus?  This pickup finally gets his PC into double digits, meaning I own 10 of his 71 issues.

Brendan Morrison 2002-03 BAP Signature Series auto

This autograph of my favorite Wolverine position player was the most expensive of my hockey hits this time around, but it still set me back just $2.50, and it happens to be one of my favorite BAP designs.  I now have seven B-Mo autographs just from that brand alone!  Morrison's 21 hits in the hockey PC still place him second behind leader Marty Turco's 24.

Aaron Palushaj 2011-12 Panini Elite Rookie Autographs auto

This Palushaj autograph, my third hit of him, was the next most expensive at a hair over $2, but after seeing that insanely pretty blue border and autograph, I just couldn't resist.  Elite indeed.

Jeff Tambellini 2008-09 Be A Player Signatures auto

A measly $1.21 was all it took for me to land my fifth hit and third autograph of former star winger Jeff Tambellini, shown here with the second of his three NHL employers, the New York Islanders.

Aaron Ward 1997-98 Pinnacle Be A Player auto

Finally, I happily plunked down $1.50 for one of my favorite types of cards:  a Wolverine/Red Wing!  The three-time Cup-winner (two with the Wings) has a really nice signature as seen here on another nice example of a quality BAP design.  This is my first certified autograph of Ward, with the other hit in my collection being this IP auto that came with a plaque I bought years ago.

That's it for hockey this time around, but I still have a few more posts covering the rest of my baseball and football pickups, so watch for those soon!

2014 trade package #11: June playoffs can only mean one thing

HOCKEY!  What, did you think I meant blah-sketball?

Anyway, can you believe it's been almost three weeks since I've posted a trade package from Doug at Sports Cards From the Dollar Store?!  Well worry not, he's back and better than ever thanks to today's entry into the trade post archives:

We start things off with four players:  hockey Mikes Cammalleri and Comrie, a duet of Andrew Cogliano, and Stanley Cup Finals participant (and goal-scorer!) Carl Hagelin.  The artsy UD Canvas card in the upper-right is my favorite here, although the European card of Comrie is also very cool.

Jack Johnson's Blue Jackets may have bowed out in the first round, but he makes a strong appearance here with six cards, including co-favorites Panini Prizm (love that design) and another gorgeous UD Canvas card.  The lesser known Brad Jones makes another appearance, and Doug may be responsible for every one of his cards in my PC.  College-favorite Jed Ortmeyer also makes a cameo, as does former Wing and multiple Cup-winner Aaron Ward (whose autograph from the same set I'm pursuing).

Closing out today's stellar group of base/inserts is this quartet of my all-time favorite goalie, Marty Turco.  If the fact that Turco, a Wolverine, didn't clue you in that this was a Buckstorecards package, or that it featured this big bunch of mask shots, then both combined made it a dead giveaway.  I loves me some Turco, so I hope he keeps sending them!

Per usual, he threw in some nice hits.  One is an autograph I already have,

...this '05-'06 BAP signature of Mike Comrie with the Coyotes.  I don't have to get rid of it, but if anyone reading this would like to trade me for it, just ask!

One of the new hits for me was this Aaron Palushaj 2011-12 Panini Prime Signatures auto (#87/99), just my second hit of the two-year Wolverine center from my hometown of Livonia, Michigan.  If you ask me, the design and signature live up to the "Prime" moniker very well.

Finally, although he wasn't a Wolverine, this Danny DeKeyser 2013-14 Totally Certified Rookie Roll Call Jerseys Prime Blue patch (#13/50) was so sweet I wanted to show it off here as well as over on TMV.  And Danny isn't exactly irrelevant to this here blog as he played at nearby-ish Western Michigan, one of the Wolverines' former CCHA foes.

Well Doug, you've knocked it out of the park banged it into the back of the net (gotta keep with the hockey theme!) yet again!  Thanks for some excellent cards, and you should now look forward to the next bunch heading your way as soon as I get them ordered!  Readers, this is my 17th trade with Doug since December of 2012, so if you need me to tell you to go check out Sports Cards From the Dollar Store again, you need a Zdeno Chara body check face first into the boards!