2019 trade package #2: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

Recent birthday boy and buddy of the blog Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store had let me know recently that I had a few more cards heading my way since he last sent me a trade package...last month.  He's nothing if not Canadianly generous!

This time I was surprised to get two snap cases stuffed with a total of four cards, pretty much all of the high-end variety.  Seriously, I was floored.  Check 'em out:

Well damn, that's a nice way to start off a trade post!  These 2011-12 Exquisite Collection Dimensions cards are something else:  super, super thick and layered with a hologram-like bottom image, a signed piece of something like plastic, and one more image up top.  Oh yeah, and they're college-themed, so here we get to see program legend Cazzie Russell as a Wolverine.  These are completely badass and I love that I can pair Cazzie with another Michigan great, Anthony Carter:

Russell remains the most represented player in my basketball collection at 14 hits, and none are nicer than this one!

You know a basketball card must be good when I get excited about it, but this football piece had me smiling too.  I can probably count the number of booklets I own on one hand but this is at least the second Doug's sent me, and a fantastic one at that!  From Panini's 2017 National Treasures here's WR Amara Darboh on such a card that pairs up a signature and enormous jersey swatch, one that must have come from the shoulder area of the type of Seahawks jersey pictured.  It's great to see such an interesting relic swatch, especially on a card that's actually numbered to 99.  I'd say I have a new favorite Darboh in my football collection, too!  One more hit and he'll be in double-digits, by the way, and I might just have a couple in-hand from COMC....

Last up today in the place of honor in this post is the most Canadian of sports: hockey.  I'm not sure if Doug realizes it but he sent me cards of 2/3 of Michigan's 2015-16 "CCM" line:  J.T. Compher and Tyler Motte, who were joined by Kyle Connor during his year in Ann Arbor.  The trio combined for 83 goals that season before heading to the NHL en masse.  Connor is still lighting it up for the Jets while Compher, originally drafted by Buffalo, was flipped to Colorado.  The Hawks's Motte has since been traded to Columbus and then Vancouver.

Compher's not making his debut here today--thanks to Doug he joined my collection last September--but this beautiful 2017-18 UD Black Lustrous Rookies Autographs card is hit #1 for him.  Black has been one of UD's nicer looking high-end brands for a while now, and a thick piece with a great design and beautiful signature is a great way to start things.

As for Motte I'm already up to five hits thanks to a very nice two-color jersey relic from 2016-17 UD Premier.  It looks as if the swatch may have come from one of the stripes near the jersey's elbows--our second case of relic forensics today!  If you're counting at home, Doug is responsible for four of those five cards, by the way.

For the 56th time on this here blog alone, thanks for a fun, super high quality trade package, Doug!  Happy birthday, and enjoy the small envelope I sent your way if it ever gets out of the US and over the border.

2019 trade package #1: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

When Doug (of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store) sends me trade packages there are times when he undersells them, promising more in the way of quantity than quality.  While I don't think I can say that's ever been true, I guess it's a matter of perspective.  The one I just received from him the other day was another two-parter, and maybe you've headed over here from the TMV portion starring a bevy of Tigers and Wings.  Lots of quantity there, to be sure, but plenty I liked.

And it's possible that I'm just as pleased with this envelope as usual since the quality was mostly concentrated on the Michigan PCs, which is my preference anyway!  Here's all the great stuff I get to show off this time:

Up first:  basketball, and some recent guys at that.  It sounds a bit funny to refer to Crawford as "recent" but, hey, dude's still playing!  THJ, LeVert, and Sauce Castillo all at least played in Ann Arbor within the past decade.  By the way, all four guys you see above were first round picks.

As was this guy, German star Moe Wagner.  I'm happy to get my first hit of the big man in the form of a jersey from last year's Hoops product in a set called Rise N Shine Memorabilia, a name I know they've used before.  Hopefully he'll be starring for the Lakers before I know it!

The football bunch ended up being a group of nine, perfect for scanning purposes.  Super Bowl-bound QB Tom Brady starts us off on a beautiful 2018 Classics base, one of Panini's best offerings.  2018 champ Brandon Graham is next on a rare base appearance that isn't from his rookie year, and I'm curious to see what his next move is.  Severely underdrafted DL Maurice Hurst follows on a great four-spot:  his 2018 Leaf Draft base and All American insert plus RCs from Panini's Luminance and Rookies and Stars.  I'm loving the focus on college action here.

Then there's a great 2017-18 one-two punch starring Jabrill Peppers:  a rookie year Score Gold Zone parallel (#29/50) plus last year's Donruss Optic.  Doug is now responsible for three excellent Peppers cards from the former, including another parallel plus an autograph!

And then a very cool vintage surprise sews up the gridiron portion:  a 1963 Topps CFL base (in very nice condition!) of QB/RB Bob Ptacek.  After his three-year Michigan career in the late 50s he was drafted by the Browns, spent a year with them, then headed off to six seasons with the pictured Saskatchewan Roughriders.  Doug's gifted me with a few cool CFL issues and this is definitely one of the best!

As usual the hockey portion was the largest, and like the TMV version you'll see a ton of 2009-10 and 18-19 O-Pee-Chee, which I'm definitely down with, especially since I really like the design of the former.  I decided to have fun this time and separate these out in a scan I like to call "Hockey Mikes", the name of one of my favorite tags to use on this blog; I count at least six in my collection and you see four of them here.

And now I may have to create a new tag for "Hockey Andrews" because there's three alone right here (plus one or two "Andy"s not seen here).  Glendening got a double-dip as a Wing and appeared in this evening's other post.  And I'll take hockey John Madden over the Ace/Tinactin guy any day!

The Miller card leading off here was of interest to me because he played for four years in Ann Arbor starting in 2005, so it's possible I saw him play in a few games but can't remember him.  PC favorite Morrison makes another appearance, as does one of many hockey players from my hometown of Livonia, David Moss.  And the UD Nystrom (and its excellent photo) was a nice surprise since he's one of Doug's fellow 2/14 babies.

And here's an excellent pair of hits--the cream of the quality crop--to end things for today.  First up is a sick-nasty patch of Swedish chef Carl Hagelin courtesy of 2012-13 Limited and numbered to just 10.  It's a beautiful patch from a Rangers jersey and a nice upgrade on another Hagelin I believe Doug sent me--a jersey version of the same card.  No surprise there, though, since my Canadian trading buddy has sent me some of my best Hagelins (and hockey hits in general).

#2 is another collection newbie:  C David Wohlberg.  The South Lyon native (a bit north of me here in Ann Arbor) played four seasons for Michigan starting in 2008-09, and while he never made it to the NHL, unlike Miller above I do remember Wohlberg a bit, likely because he put up a nice number of points over his four years.  As always, kudos to Doug for turning up another new Wolverine for my PC, this time in the form of a 2014-15 Upper Deck AHL Box Set auto.

Doug, many thanks for this great start to trading between us in 2019!  I have a few things set aside for you already and will aim for sending something back your way in time for your birthday, especially since I know you have some COMC goodies for me.

2018 Sportlots purchases: Happy Rookie Blue Year!

Next up on the 2018 Sportlots train is a fresh new crop of football RCs!  As I believe I explained before, I added a number of guys who transferred--in general away from Michigan--as long as I felt like their short careers in Ann Arbor justified it.  My only rule was that I wouldn't include any cards with photos of them with their non-Michigan school.

They were my main target this time but I did manage to track down a few cards of other guys as well.  Check 'em out:

I didn't feel like sorting these chronologically this time so we're going straight alphabetical, starting with a couple 2017 Donruss cards starring DL Taco Charlton and WR Amara Darboh.  I'm not sure why Darboh got a Rated Rookie appearance and not Charlton, but that's not all bad since I get to see two different designs.

The other player in this scan is RB Justin Fargas.  The son of Antonio "Huggy Bear" Fargas (Starsky and Hutch), Justin came to Ann Arbor in 1998 with the Wolverines coming off their national title, and he was a prized recruit for sure, but unfortunately broke his leg late in his freshman season, forcing him into an injury redshirt the following year.  His choice to flip to defense didn't help him regain much playing time so he headed to USC and had a pretty nice 2002 season with them, then got drafted by the Raiders in the third round in '03.  He lasted seven seasons--his entire career--in Oakland, which is pretty good given the meat grinder nature of the position.

I came up with 22 of his rookies on my checklist and you can see the first six of those above:  Bowman, Topps, Topps Pristine, Topps Total, Upper Deck MVP, and Fleer Tradition (another of their cool three-player cards).

Next we return to a more familiar face:  Devin Funchess, on his 2015 Topps Field Access RC.  I don't know why that one was such a thorn in my side, but after passing on lots of people selling it for a buck or more I finally got a nice deal, leaving me four short of his rookie run.

The second of five transfer players today is TE Damon Jones.  He's not a guy I remember but then again he played in 12 games in 1993 and that was it for his Division I career.  Apparently multiple arrests led to him transferring to Southern Illinois.  The Jags took him in the fifth round in 1997, and he carved out a five year career in Jacksonville.  You can see a pair of his three rookies above:  Collector's Choice and Skybox Premium issues from the year he was drafted.

Bennie Joppru is a tight end that's much more familiar here, I think.  In picking up his 2003 Gridiron Kings rookie I got within nine cards of landing his 32 first-years, thanks to a fantastic looking card.

He's joined by another guy on that side of the ball, WR Marcus Knight.  At times it feels like every one of his 15 rookies I'm chasing is serial-numbered, and that's because nine of them are, including these two from 2000:  Leaf Limited (#1474/1500) and UD Ionix (#1399/2000).  Bonus points to the latter for its Michigan uni, though I've always hated that crappy digital numbering that a number of manufacturers used.  Four of Knights cards remain and, yes, all of them are numbered!

Here's the rest of the guys who left, an all-transfer scan.  Ryan Mallett's 2011 Score is the second of his rookies I've acquired but that's because I've long owned Topps' set from the same year.  Many around here remember his cannon arm and ten cent brain, though his transfer to Arkansas--apparently suggested by retiring coach Lloyd Carr--worked out pretty well for him in the end.  Luckily for me he appears on just 10 rookies that meet my criteria, plus he's long since lost any hype he had out of the draft.

The other two guys, though, weren't known to me that I could remember.  The first is DL Trevor Pryce, a guy who looks to have been at Michigan at some point in the mid-90s and then transferred to Clemson.  He was good enough to get picked by Denver #28 overall in '97 and therefore was part of title-winning teams his first two seasons.  Pryce had a great 14-year career that included 91.0 sacks and four Pro Bowl nods in addition to those two rings.  Above you can see his '97 Collector's Choice and Upper Deck RCs, leaving me short just his SP Authentic.

Last up today is another RB-type who transferred out west and then was drafted by the Raiders.  Jon Ritchie was a Wolverine for the '93 and '94 seasons before sitting out a year to spend his final two years at Stanford.  Oakland grabbed him in the third round in '98 and he lasted five seasons with them, plus another two in Philly, listed as a FB/RB/TE.  I came up with 12 of his rookies to chase and here you can see the first four I found:  Bowman, Collector's Edge First Place, UD Choice, and Upper Deck Encore.

That should do it for rookies this time but I'll have a few more for you when it's time to get to my COMC loot.  Next up you'll get to see either another position group or a single player.

10-7-18 show report: a winning Wolverine weekend

As I said in my TMV show post today I couldn't make my usual trip to the monthly show in Taylor last Saturday.  I wouldn't have gone anyway--it was a college football Saturday--but I especially didn't because Jeff and I were taking in the whupping Michigan put on Maryland in the Big House.

So instead I finally went to see my favorite dealer at the show he runs down in Toledo.  It's not a long drive for me at all (roughly 45 minutes), and other than dealing with the possibility of Ohio's asshole cops and speed limits for babies, it's a nice little trip.

I mentioned on TMV that I dropped $4 on 40 dime box singles, $18 on dollar cards, and added three others that bumped the total up to a fair $30 even.  Here you'll get to see those latter three cards along with a pair of dollar deals.  On a Sunday where Ann Arbor is celebrating a dominant win over Wisconsin in prime time, here's an all hit edition of some Wolverine winners!

Going alphabetically I'm starting out with the biggest card on the day, and the second Amara Darboh hit I added last weekend, with the first coming from Jeff.  From Panini's 2017 Phoenix, it's an Orange parallel of the Rookie Jersey Autographs set, numbered 037/150.  Already my eighth hit of the WR, it's also my third that pairs an autograph and relic, and I actually have a ball/auto card from the same product to go with it.  I suppose I have less competition for Michigan stuff in Ohio--even Toledo, which is more like Michigan, really--so that worked out for me.

The card above was joined by this pair to round out the group that increased my total from $22 to $30, and I'd pay $8 for this trio in a heartbeat.  I mean, I did, but I'd do it again!  I was thrilled to find this pair of Michigan uni autographs of former Wolverine FB and touchdown vulture Khalid Hill, a.k.a. "the Hammering Panda".  I was looking forward to collecting his cards even before he became a very entertaining Twitter follow.  He was a huge part of Michigan's success in 2016, one of the most automatic short-yardage runners for first downs and TDs I can remember in Ann Arbor, plus a punishing blocker to boot!

The pair hails from Panini's always excellent (at least for college collectors like myself) Contenders Draft Picks product, one that's 100% focused on my favorite type of first-year card.  The one on the left is the base version and therefore also a RC while to its right you can see the Red Foil parallel, with the foil being the only difference (e.g. no serial numbering).  I'm proud to make the Hammering Panda the 215th member of my football collection!

Next up I have two player collection guys, one of which hits an "almost milestone" with the other does reach a new mark.  First is the guy whose name you see on this here blog, Mario Manningham.  My 199th overall card of the amazing WR is also hit #83, meaning I'm almost to his #86 jersey!  He continues to be #2 in the hits collection behind Chad Henne and now has a six-card lead over #3 guy Jake Long.

I had zero issue with dropping a buck on this very nice Giants blue swatch from '08 Rookies and Stars' Studio Rookies Materials set (#025/250).  I mean, numbered cards and cheap relics are right up my alley.  Now I just wonder what card #200 will be?

Last up today is a guy who has to share his card with a couple other former RBs.  I finally nabbed my milestone-making 50th hit of Anthony Thomas thanks to today's other $1 card, a 2001 Fleer Legacy Triple Threads triple jersey.  A-Train had the best pedigree as a second-rounder that year with Jackson and Barlow both being selected in the third, though Barlow had the most statistical success of the trio.  Still, Thomas is the main attraction here, and I'm glad to have hit the half century mark finally.  Now I just need to get seven more hits of former teammate David Terrell to even them up!

Until the next show, GO BLUE!

2018 COMC purchases: plates in batches

Just this post stands between you and my big finish to this latest COMC series, in which you'll see all the great stuff I found for my various football PCs.  That'll take me a while to put together because of the sheer volume of cards, but I think you'll enjoy today's stuff in the meantime.  Let's have a look at some football hits!:

Houston's Amobi Okoye was the higher selection of these two early 2007 draftees (#10 overall vs. #33) but I think he wouldn't mind changing careers with the other guy whose NFL tenure has lasted longer

I AM BECOME BRANCH, KILLER OF QBs

Both guys experienced some success in the league, though, so this 2007 Bowman Sterling Dual Autograph Gold Refractor dual auto (#347/400) is a nice addition to my Branch collection, now 17 cards strong.

Swiggity swooty, I got that J-Booty!  Butt is no stranger to my hits collection as I previously found him on a plate (shared with fellow 2017 draftee Taco Charlton) plus an autograph, and I hope he continues to be a more familiar face in these posts.  Here I found him on an signature card from Panini's perennially awesome Prestige product, one that features an excellent full-bleed design with great college action.  If you'd like you can misconstrue his John Hancock to look like "A Butt" if you have the same sense of humor I do.

And now it's time for:  na na na na na na na na PLATE RUN!

Plate #1 stars former Michigan RB Thomas Rawls, making his hits collection debut as player #213 thanks to this 2017 Elite Cyan Plate that was inserted into the same year's Plates & Patches product.  Rawls is one of those guys who transferred away from Michigan but still finds a place in my collection because I tend to stay flexible about things like that.  After three years in Ann Arbor he moved on to Central Michigan, had a very nice 2014 season there, then was picked up by Seattle.  Some Michigan fans were surprised by his success with the Chips and the 'Hawks and that's generally been attributed to misuse and poor coaching by the previous staff.  Hopefully he's now over some injuries and can again excite fans from two Michigan schools in the pros.

Our next player is a two-fer who's not making his hits debut since I was able to track down a signature of his.  Recent RB De'Veon Smith put up some good numbers--more than 2000 yards and 22 TDs--while in Ann Arbor, then was picked up by the Dolphins after last year's draft.  His NFL odds are long--he was let go after limited game action last year--but he made some big plays for the Maize and Blue and his cards are plenty cheap--I believe these two set me back under $6 apiece.  Smith joins Rawls with a plate from 2017 Elite (Yellow) and adds one from 2017 Unparalleled (Cyan) as well.  Once again these were inserted into 2017 Plates & Patches.

The 11th card in my LaMarr Woodley collection of hits is one of the best yet, a 2009 Topps Yellow plate.  What better color to find for a guy who enjoyed lots and lots of success with the Steelers?  I absolutely love the shot of him heading for one of his 11.5 sacks in 2008, a number he'd top during a Pro Bowl campaign the following year.

These new additions up my total to 109 1/1s!

Last up today is Ravens DE Chris Wormley on his 2017 Panini Contenders rookie auto.  Contenders is another design I can almost always get behind thanks to its ticket motif.  I'm fortunate to add this as my second Wormley auto since Jeff previously sent me an even better one back in February from Contenders' Draft Picks version, one that stars a great college photo.  Hopefully he'll see more game action this fall.

That's it for this post but as I mentioned, stay tuned for a big finish soonish!

2018 COMC purchases: 32 of Rookie Blue, and a 70-year-old card too!

I decided that part two of this latest COMC series would cover all of the new football RCs I picked up this time.  As usual it's a nice eclectic bunch, one that mostly spans 2000-2018, but I also managed to add what's now the oldest card in my entire collection!

And this would be the big winner, a 1948 Bowman rookie of Robert Nussbaumer, a guy who as far as I can tell is making his debut in my collection today.  A "left halfback" (things sure were different back then), Nussbaumer played for Michigan from 1943-45, appearing in 29 games and averaging a solid 5.8 YPC.  After Green Bay took him in the '46 draft, "Bomber" spent two seasons each with the Packers, Redskins, and Chicago Cardinals, closing his career where he started it.

Needless to say I'm very excited to add this 70-year-old card to my collection of Michigan football rookies and vintage stuff!  1948 is as far back as my checklist goes, and I'm chasing cards from Al Wistert, Gene Derricotte, and Merv Pregulman from that year as well.  Nussbaumer joins Wistert in appearing in both '48 Bowman and Leaf while Derricotte can be found in the latter and Pregulman the former.  Whenever I can add any of those it'll be another cause for celebration!

And now we move ahead to modern day, starting with 2000.  I decided to present these in chronological and then alphabetical order (mostly).

The 2000 group comprises Pacific's Omega cards of WR Marcus Knight and TE Aaron Shea.  As is often the case in this series their cards are numbered, #053/500 for Knight and #246/500 for Shea.  That and/or short-printing tends to inflate prices but I ended up doing reasonably well this time.

2001 brings one of my favorite one-two punches in David Terrell and Anthony Thomas (reversed in the scan because I'm stupid).  The WR appears on the Retail version of that year's Pacific Dynagon while the A-Train shows up on Fleer Focus (#0154/1850), Pacific's Private Stock (#061/200), and Upper Deck's confusing Rookie F/X RC (#127/750), which includes multiple versions.

FB B.J. Askew represents 2003 with one of my favorite brands, Prestige, on one of its best designs, again bringing the college uni love.  Possession WR Jason Avant brings the scan and his RC collection to a close with 2006's Flair Showcase (#358/499) and Select (#506/599).  That Showcase card is one of the coolest in my bunch of rookies!

TE Tim Massaquoi leads off this bunch with his 2006 Bowman Sterling first year, leaving me short just his Ultimate Collection card from the same year.  Then we go on a little 2007 run beginning with Alan Branch

...destroyer of QBs, on his Wolverines-approved Ultra RC.  Transferred QB Matt Gutierrez makes his second appearance in this series with his Leaf Limited rookie (#186/399), another numbered affair.  CB Leon Hall brings us back to one of the school's better defenses with Donruss Elite (#078/599) and Ultra Retail cards, two more examples of college shots.  I love that '07 Elite design!  Closing out the year, beastly DE/LB LaMarr Woodley pops up on Leaf Rookies and Stars Longevity (#229/999).

Now we take a quick look into my favorite draft class, 2008.  Mike Hart starts things off on his Icons RC (#508/750), one product that's been my nemesis for a while.  Jake Long's UD Masterpieces card was a short print from that beautiful set, but I finally found a price I could handle.  And Mr. Namesake himself, Super Mario Manningham is back on another good example of a nice Donruss Classics (#371/999) design.  But that's not the last we'll see of #82...

...because he leads off this scan with the final of the 23 RCs I needed, Ultimate Collection (#032/275).  That means he joins Avant as players whose rookie collections I completed today, along with the next guy, QB/WR Devin Gardner on his 2015 Topps Field Access base, a.k.a. his only RC appearance on my checklist.  A 2016 Certified card of another QB, Jake Rudock (#794/999), puts me three away from completing another player's run.

And now we can close out a fun look at Michigan rookies with 10 cards from the outstanding 2017 class.  TE Jake Butt and WR Amara Darboh star on Donruss Optic cards that bookend a pair of pairs.  Cowboys DT Taco Charlton is the #1 attraction here on cards from Classics and Prestige, with both brands clearly in top form.  Chiefs WR Jehu Chesson gives us a look at a couple other brands in Certified (#513/999) and Panini Phoenix, which brings the shiny in droves!

Here's one last defensive pair, starting with all-everything guy Jabrill Peppers from Prestige again plus Select.  I sure do wish Panini didn't have a football monopoly because I'd like to see other brands and their designs, but since I have to put up with that I'm thankful for how great Prestige is year in and year out.  Lastly I dug up a pair of Ravens DE Chris Wormley:  another example of Panini's Phoenix plus my first of Unparalleled, which is a bit busy but plenty shiny.

I had a blast buying and posting this big group, especially the '48 Bowman card, of course, and I'm happy to announce that more rookies are on their way to me from Sportlots.  Before then I still have lots of COMC football content to get to!

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.

2018 trade package #4: My Sports Obsession

The other day I was excited to come home to a surprise PWE from fellow Michigan collector and occasional contributor to this here blog Jeff of My Sports Obsession.  Jeff knows how much I love getting new Wolverines cards, and I couldn't imagine that the White Sox fan (for whatever reason) would spend any money on cards of the far superior Tigers, so I figured it would be something for one of the many collections I show off here, but what?

Once I tore through the envelope I was happy to find the result of Jeff's daily eBay searching (I'm assuming) paid off nicely for me in the form of a new player for my football PC:

The 208th different member of that collection is DL Chris Wormley on an auto/RC from Panini's 2017 Contenders Draft Picks!

Wormley was a four-year Wolverine who appeared in 42 games between 2013 and 2016.  Over those campaigns he piled up 31.5 TFL (including a career-high 14.5 in 2015) and 17.5 sacks, and all that was good enough for him to get selected by the Ravens in the 3rd round of the 2017 draft (a.k.a. the one that was absolutely stacked with his teammates).  He even appeared in seven games for Baltimore last year.

It took me a minute to realize which product I was looking at here since I'm generally more familiar with "regular" Contenders, which includes vets and rookies in their pro uniforms.  Since 2015 Panini has also made the Draft Picks version like you see above, where everybody is pictured with the college where they made their names before the pros.  Naturally that product gets more respect from me (though of course I still very much like the original).

All in all it's a great looking card for the first of what I hope is many hits of Wormley.

Thanks, Jeff!  I have a few things set aside for you and will surely have more by the time the spring game rolls around, so hopefully I'll see you then!

Sugar Sugar

About five years ago I posted on TMV about how boxing was something I shared with my stepdad for years before he passed away unexpectedly in 2009.  He was a lifelong fan of the sport--which admittedly has its cons and in many ways has deteriorated over the years to what it is today--and watching fights was something fun to do together.

In a seemingly unrelated occurrence I was looking through cards at a Meijer store near me one day in 2008 (back before card aisles devolved into overpriced Topps blasters and nothing else) when I came across a couple hobby boxes of 2008 Topps Co-Signers.  The price was higher than I usually paid for cards at a retail store but probably about right considering they were hobby boxes promising several autographs.

Before realizing that they were included in this baseball product I pulled a couple signatures of boxers:  one solo and one dual.  While I prefer that products stick to their sport I did recognize that I likely wouldn't have acquired boxing hits myself otherwise.  And so I told my stepdad about those signatures and some of the subjects in the set, which he thought was cool.  What I liked is that it tied something we enjoyed together to my collecting a bit.

Later that year around Christmas I thought it would be fun to acquire a number of the other signed cards in the set to give him as a present.  I added a number of good ones, including boxers we'd watched over the years (such as the Juan Manuel Marquez seen in the linked TMV post), trainer/commentator Teddy Atlas, and other notables.  He thought they were great when he opened them on Christmas, and I had fun getting him into the hobby in a small way.

After he died I sold off a number of those cards but decided to keep a few for myself.  And as luck would have it, one of the ones I kept now holds a special place in my Michigan PC:

This is Bert (not "Burt", TOPPS) Sugar, one of the boxing's most famous writers who was also a great historian of multiple sports (including pro wrestling!).  Pictured here with the fedora and cigar he was always known for, Sugar wrote for and/or edited the magazines Boxing Illustrated (which he owned) and The Ring while authoring a ton of books and playing himself in a few boxing movies.  I can't say I knew anything about him before I grabbed this card, but since I did and decided to read about him I'm amazed at his life's work.

So how does he tie into my PC?  Well, as it so happens, the Washington, D.C. native who did his undergrad at Maryland attended my alma mater for both law and business school degrees.  Fortunately for the boxing world he stuck with his writing, which is something he did for the school paper, the Michigan Daily, while in Ann Arbor.

The man was quite a character--check out this interview where he mentions his own days in the ring at Maryland while referring to himself as "the great white hopeless"--and a key figure in pugilistic history, and I'm honored to add his signature to my tiny "other sports, etc." Michigan collection (which currently otherwise comprises a pair of pro wrestlers).  And that's all thanks to sharing a sport and a bit of collecting with my stepdad, something I still miss to this day but am thankful for as I get older.

2017 trade package #13: I Feel Like a Collector Again

As my favorite college football team gets ready for its bowl game on Monday I'm happy to have a new football card to show off thanks to someone who definitely embodied the generosity of the season (which I've found is typical of the folks in the blogging community).

Kin of I Feel Like a Collector Again hit up my mailbox with a surprise PWE a couple weeks ago, and it included this note:

I had to look up GoGTSLive and it looks like a cool place for people that can't get enough of the hobby, so it's definitely something I'll check out.

In any case, I love that Kin thought of me here after winning a free card he couldn't use.  If "I know you'll give it a great home" isn't the motto of every trade package I send and receive, I don't know what is.

Ok, on to the card:

Well there's something I didn't see coming!  Thanks to Kin I now have my first hit of former Michigan WR Jehu Chesson:  a 2017 Playoff Rookie Signatures Hail Mary autograph.  This is yet another nice design out of Panini's Playoff product with a color scheme that highlights KC's red unis.

I'm excited that I now have signatures of both Chesson and his former position-mate Amara Darboh since I tend to associate them with each other as two of last year's top three receivers (TE Jake Butt was second in most stats) before getting picked in Michigan's stacked 2017 draft class.  Darboh led the Wolverines in catches (57), yards (862), and receiving TDs (7) while Chesson was third with 35 catches for 500 yards and added a rushing TD on 12 attempts.

It's going to be fun seeing if they can parlay pretty good college careers into long pro tenures as the next generation of Michigan WRs in the pros.

Kin, thanks again for thinking of me this Christmas and sending me a card that most definitely now has a good home!

2017 eBay purchases: coal in my stocking, and more!

While my purchasing has definitely gone down this year, at least in terms of money spent, I've still managed to turn up a few gems on eBay, and today we'll look at what I bought from sellers there in the final third of 2017:

Now that's a big Shoelace!  This 2015 Topps 5x7 Red (#13/25, almost a Christmas card!) of Denard came as a freebie from my favorite eBay seller after I snagged the two Rich Hill oversized issues you can see over on TMV today.  It was a fun throw-in to get and to add to my grown collection of the out-of-the-league RB.

Moving on and up, I added one new signature to my football hits collection, Devin Funchess 2015 Leaf Trinity Pure Autographs Charcoal auto.  Yep, there's the coal I mentioned despite the fact that I was so good this year!  Well, at least I got a break on the price (under $4.50 delivered back in mid-October).  You can find some very cool looking cards in Leaf's Trinity product, including ones with great jersey swatches and patches and some with fun autograph inscriptions.  Then there's these Pure Autographs, which totally merit a front/back scan for maximum effect.  Of course I love the college uniform aspect as well, making this an excellent card overall, and my second autograph (seventh hit) of the supremely talented WR.

Now it's time to get into the plates I mentioned on TMV.  Up first is one I didn't really expect to win:  a Yellow version of DL Taco Charlton from Panini's XR product this year.  The Dallas first-rounder was very productive at Michigan and has done some good things as a rookie for the Cowboys, so while I bid for fun, I was surprised to nab it for a bit over $10 shipped.  It's certainly a fun first hit of @TheSupremeTaco to add to my collection.

Sticking with 2017 Panini football products, this one was also a surprise, not because of the price--under $6 delivered--but because I didn't realize Ty Law was going to be appearing in any recent products.  When I saw this pop up in the results of my usual 1/1 search I did a double-take before confirming that it featured the former Michigan and Patriots star DB.  I'm still lacking an autograph of the future HOFer but it's nice to have a plate handy for a potential trifecta (or better)!

The plate fun spilled over into my hockey collection as well.  This Andrew Cogliano Cyan version from 2007-08 The Cup set me back a reasonable $7 on the first day of October, and it's another example of the "framed" style I like that UD has done in the past.  Cogliano is shown here with his original team, Edmonton, but has been with the Ducks for the past six-plus seasons.  I now count 11 hits of him in my collection with this being my first 1/1.

If Michigan Hockey alum Chris Brown's hometown of Flower Mound, Texas, seems strange for a hockey player, Jon Merrill's birthplace of Oklahoma City is up there as well.  A solid defenseman formerly with the Devils (don't tell Herm Edwards), he was selected by and plays for the upstart Vegas Golden Knights, the expansion team that's shocked the league by being the opposite of terrible this year.  He's shown here with the team that drafted him on a 2013-14 Dominion Cyan plate, a 1/1 I nabbed in mid-November for under $4.50 shipped.  As with everyone else here it's the first plate in his collection, plus it puts me at six hits of Merrill overall.

In general I'd say I had a productive last four months of the year on eBay.  Even though I didn't add a large quantity of cards the quality was very nice if I do say so myself.  And between both of today's posts I added five new 1/1s to my collection for a grand total of 94.  I now have surpassing the century mark in my sights in 2018!

That's it for eBay, but thanks to my laziness I still have plenty of 2017 purchases left to show off into next year.