Lots of Relic/Autos on the cheap

It's been a good couple of weeks for me (Jeff, btw) for picking up former Wolverines on Ebay for cheap. I've just been chilling and waiting for them all to arrive because they came from different sellers. I'm not sure why all of the sudden I've been winning these cards or really, why they've been getting listed fairly cheap because I hadn't really seen much in my parameters up until a month or so ago.

This is my 7th card of Stauskas and my 2nd autograph of him. This one is numbered to /149. How much did I pay for this slick and shiny card? Only $2.25/shipped.

This is my 8th card of Stauskas, it's also my 2nd relic card of him. The above 2 cards are also the only 2 I have of him in a Sacramento Kings jerseys.  I picked this one up for $1.46/shipped. Technically, I won it for $1.25 but when it arrived, it was short $.21 postage due. I went ahead and paid it since it was this card. I never do when I win the $.25 and under cards. I make the seller pay me back.

This was actually a 3 card lot that I won for $3.75/shipped. Even only keeping 2 of them puts each card at $1.87/shipped and $1.88/shipped. These make 3 out of the 4 cards I have Relics, but the other base card is in his Wolverines uniform so it's still better.

These 3 all came from the same seller. The top card is my 5th of Darboh, 3 of those being in this post. It's also numbered to /99 on top of being a dual relic.

The DeVeon Smith auto is only my 2nd card of his and my 1st of his in a pro uniform. I don't expect this collection to take off. He was undrafted and I don't believe he is signed right now. I picked this up for $1.58/shipped.

The last card is only my 2nd of Wormley, both being autographs. I picked this one up for $1.54 shipped. He is still on the roster for the Ravens so hopefully I'll pick up some more cards of his.

I guess it's a good time to pick up all these former Wolverines since football and basketball are over and the Big Ten network doesn't show very many baseball games and the spring game got cancelled so I need some more Michigan in my life right now.

2017 COMC purchases: basketball and hockey

Welcome to the first of what will likely be five posts in which I finally conclude a look at my 2017 purchases by covering everything I nabbed from COMC late last year.

Today's post covers both basketball and hockey since I didn't pick up much of either (as usual):

Darius Morris 2012-13 Immaculate Collection Printing Plates Yellow (1/1)

Nik Stauskas 2014-15 Spectra Global Icons Printing Plates Yellow (1/1)

Like I said, I really don't chase basketball very much, but how could I pass up this pair of plates for around $11 combined?  The top one is my second 1/1 of Morris, the former Laker who's now playing in China, and it represents my 12th hit of him overall, good enough to break the tie with fellow former Laker (among other teams) Cazzie Russell.

If two plates out of 12 hits seems pretty good, prepare to be impressed by Nik "Sauce Castillo" Stauskas.  The Canadian star (whose plate is definitely far yellower than Morris' above) appears on a 1/1 on four of his six hits in my basketball collection.  That's crazy!  What's just as cool is that I now have double-digit 1/1s in all four sports of my Michigan PCs, and a pretty sweet 97 overall--and this is only my first COMC post in this bunch so who knows what might happen to that number soon!

Shawn Hunwick 2012-13 Panini Prime Dual Jerseys dual jersey (with Dalton Prout) (#011/200)

Shawn Hunwick 2012-13 Panini Prime Prime Time Rookies Jersey Autographs jersey auto (#20/50)

These next two are the first additions to my Shawn Hunwick PC since last October--as I find myself saying too often, his cards can be hard to find at reasonable prices for whatever reason.  Both are from 2012-13 Panini Prime--part of the excellent Rookie Anthology Product--and that's no surprise since Hunwick appears on 15 cards under that title (not including 1/1s).  This pair doubles my count to four of those, and some toughies await including three numbered to five copies and one limited to just three.  I'll take 'em as I find 'em.

I didn't know a thing about Prout so I looked him up and found out that he lasted with Columbus far longer than Shawn did, though he's most recently been associated with New Jersey.  The card he shares with the former Michigan goalie is the only such issue I have in Hunwick's collection so far.

Meanwhile the auto/jersey is far more interesting by virtue of including a signature along with a huge jersey swatch.  Just another example of Panini doing it the right way, I guess!

I now lay claim to 27 of Hunwick's 71 non-1/1s, 30 overall, and 15 hits.

We'll end the day with one more goalie on a flat-out cool card, one you'd be forgiven for mistaking for a Pacific product.  This Marty Turco Hot Gloves insert actually hails from an Upper Deck/McDonald's partnership from 2006-07.  It's die-cut in the shape of a goalie's catcher, and the main characteristic differentiating it from a Pacific-produced card is that it doesn't feature manufactured "netting", or die-cutting in that area at all.  But that doesn't take away from its very cool design, one that's definitely worthy of my favorite goalie's PC.

Come back soon for more COMC goodies as we go on a four post football run!

2018 trade package #3: Bob Walk the Plank

Welcome to those of you who came here from my TMV post this evening showing off two big-time high-end hits from Matt of Bob Walk the Plank!  Many of you know him as a fellow college collector, and in his case he chases stuff of the Mountaineers of West Virginia.  Trading with college collectors is the best since they always put more effort into tracking down items of guys you collect, and I'll emphasize the "effort" part of that because it's more involved than simply finding guys wearing a pro uniform.

That's why I appreciate all of you who send me Wolverines cards, whether they're in pro or college duds.  Fortunately for me, the card I get to show off here tonight from Matt is an example of the latter:

Sauce Castillo!  Just like Matt gets to say "The original Frank Thomas!" when someone sends him Pirates cards of that guy, or "Spanky!" when Mike LaValliere shows up, I get to yell "Sauce Castillo!" when Stauskas' mug graces this here blog.

I got to mention Nik in my first trade post earlier this month (from Scribbled Ink) and now he's back on this totally awesome SPx Winning Big Materials jersey from 2014-15.  The Winning Materials name goes way back in SPx history and it's always been a great looking relic design, especially these larger versions.  And I mean the maize swatch is a big winner here, just a fantastic piece from my alma mater's colors.  It's my fifth Stauskas (one other jersey and three(!) plates) in the basketball PC.

Thanks again for this big addition of the big man, Matt!

2018 trade package #1: Scribbled Ink

Fellow Michigan resident (if not necessarily college fan) Paul from Scribbled Ink was nice enough to toss a few Wolverines into the first trade package he's sent my way:

The basketball portion begins and ends with Sauce Castillo, a.k.a. Nik Stauskas.  The Mississauga, Canada native was recently joined by fellow basketball alum Caris Levert in Brooklyn.  This is Nik's RC from Panini's 2014-15 Prestige set, made when he had been drafted in the first round by Sacramento.

And the football goods are impressively 100% college uni certified!  PC guy Mike Hart and should-be future HOF CB Ty Law join in the fun from Topps' outstanding debut of Magic from 2009.  The product peaked early and was never the same as this beautiful original.

John Navarre is a guy whose cards I would pick up more often if his prices weren't so confusingly astronomical.  I have traded with someone in the past who claims to be a cousin of his, so maybe his family is driving up prices.  Anyway, that means I was plenty glad to see this 2004 SAGE HIT base of the former QB.

And lastly, the Marquise Walker RC from 2002 Pacific Heads Update was my favorite of the bunch.  Why?  The fact that I didn't have it would be the obvious reason, but more importantly, when I went to check it off of my checklist I found I hadn't included it for some reason.  That made me go back through his 2002 RCs and led to my adding two cards I was lacking on the checklist for some reason.  Crisis averted, thanks to a fun college uni RC, my 28th of the ex-WR's 50 (the correct total!) first-years.

Paul, thanks again for these great additions as well as the Tigers/PCs I showed off on TMV this evening.  I've already got a nice pile I'm working on for your return and I'm hoping to be able to give them to you in-person at a show soon!

2017 trade package #9: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

Well, that didn't go as well as I'd hoped, but Wisconsin earned their win and I hope they can continue their run to the playoff.

Win or lose, I mostly enjoyed watching the game, which Fox generously interspersed into three hours of commercials.  Since I can't honor a victory for my team, I'll instead celebrate the trademark outstanding effort of Doug from Sports Cards From the Dollar Store and his latest trade package (#47 on this here blog!), a 100% Wolverine special:

Starting things off with basketball, here's the captain of the '89 NCAA champs, Glen Rice, on a super thick numbered base card from 2011-12 UD Exquisite.  I love this image, which appears on other cards I own as well as a commemorative newspaper poster.

And a pair of hits of much more recent Wolverines.  On the left is THC enthusiast Mitch McGary on a 2014-15 Select Rookie Signatures auto (#172/275), a card which has a design that reminds me a lot of Prizm.  That's my fifth hit of the big man and second with an auto.

The other is an enormous jersey swatch from the same year's Court Kings product out of a relic set called Art Nouveau Jerseys.  The subject of this one is none other than Canadian SG Nik Stauskas, a.k.a. Sauce Castillo!  A current 76er, he's seen here with the team that drafted him--the Kings--on a card numbered 077/299.  My first non-plate hit of the Canuck came straight from the source.

Now we'll look at a quick four-spot of football.  The top pair of NFLers, Tom Brady and Devin Funchess, come from a typically solid Donruss set from this year.  Speaking of Funch, check out this great story of how he fulfilled a promise to score a TD (he actually picked up a pair) for the mother of a young solider killed in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, the two Michigan uni cards are two very useful additions to my football RC project.  As you can see, both hail from this year's Panini Prestige product, one you can usually count on for great college photos, and they include Broncos TE Jake Butt and Seahawks WR Amara Darboh, two of Michigan's best receiving weapons last year.  That's my second RC of Butt (the other is from Score, also thanks to Doug) and first of Darboh.

And now for the main event:  hockey, naturally!  This group begins with a trio representing one of several hockey Mikes, in this case Cammalleri, who we'll see again in a bit.  Next is the Ducks' Andrew Cogliano with his original team, Edmonton.  He's followed by what I believe is my first card of Kyle Connor, an absolute sniper in his one year in Ann Arbor, who's one of several former Wolverines working for the Jets.  One of those teammates is Andrew Copp, seen on a pair of UD issues.  Wolverwing Luke Glendening and multi-Cup-winner with the Pens Carl Hagelin round out the scan on cards from the same OPC set as the Connor.

This group begins with a four-card Jack "MF" Johnson party, picturing him with his current team--Columbus--as well as L.A., with whom he made his NHL debut after Carolina drafted him.  Next is a very shiny UD issue of a former Wolverwing (and hockey Mike), Mike Knuble.  Next is a guy who didn't become a future star but has turned in a decent journeyman career:  goalie Al Montoya.  Blog favorite Brendan Morrison makes the cut once again in a SCFtDS package, which is always appreciated.  Ending this scan are David Moss--a guy I saw lots of during my school years in Ann Arbor--and another guy who enjoyed a pretty nice long pro career, defenseman Jeff Norton.

Not only did Doug send me a CanCon guy in Stauskas above, he also included a 2/14 collection player in Eric Nystrom to start of this scan.  He's joined by a pair of Paciorettys, including a die-cut UD card.  Young D-man Jacob Trouba rounds out the Wolverpeg Jets (eh, it's a work in progress) trio with a pair.  And finally, Doug went extra generous here by including a pair of cards of another uber-talented young star, Zach Werenski.  Another Wolverine exiled to Columbus, he put up a nice pair of seasons in Ann Arbor and has been pretty good for the Blue Jackets in one-plus years of pro play.

And if that wasn't generous enough, how about five new cards of Wolverwing star forward Dylan Larkin?  Without actually checking I'm going to bet that this almost doubles my count of Larkin base and inserts, again most of which likely came from across the border.  Awesome!  I may just have to give Dylan his own PC album if I can keep getting cards of him like this.

My pair of hockey hits today begins with this exceptionally cool die-cut dual jersey/auto of Chris Brown, the pride of Flower Mound, Texas.  It's a bit hard to show in the scan, but the die-cutting is done above the top of the jersey image to give it the feel of a hockey sweater.  My ninth hit of brown comes from a word salad of a set called 2013-14 Panini Titanium Home Sweaters Memorabilia Autographs Prime and is numbered 13/25 (almost a Christmas card!).

And the other hit Doug sent carries the name of one of Upper Deck's most iconic autographed offerings.  From 2006-07 SP Authentic, this is a Chirography auto of Cammalleri, a two-time King who was actually with that team for his second stint this season before being sent to Edmonton just a few days ago!  I now own 14 hits of the sniping FW, half of which carry signatures like this one.

Well that was definitely a fun package to sort through and post, especially after being a bit down about the football team's play yesterday.  Thanks again for the usual above-and-beyond effort, Doug (and for being responsible for the last four packages I've shown off here!).  I'm continuing to work on my response so you can have a merry cardmas!

Too Many Plates! Part 2: basketball

Between May and June I won eBay auctions for a total of 17 different printing plates at a cost of a bit more than $100 (not bad!).  14 of those came from one awesome seller (markaguirre22), whom I can't recommend highly enough due to his great prices, excellent communication, and super fast free shipping.  A fellow Michigan collector, he was unloading some of his better stuff, and I was able to take advantage of quite a few great deals.  Better yet, over the course of my purchases he threw in three extra plates for free, giving me a nice round 20 to show off.  Several separate purchases rounded out the run on rarity.

All of the players are Michigan alumni that I collect, so you'll see most of them in three separate posts on here, one per sport, including this evening's post covering the basketball pickups (in addition to the baseball guys over on TMV tonight).  That's right, I said basketball!

Darius Morris 2012-13 Panini National Treasures Printing Plates Black (1/1)

Today's pair came from the same aforementioned seller, just a few weeks apart.  Number one is erstwhile Laker (among four other NBA teams) Darius Morris on a five-ish-year-old plate from Panini's high-end National Treasures product.  Although it's my 11th hit of Morris (tying him with Cazzie Russell for the basketball PC lead), I don't actually have a copy of the auto it goes with, but that may just turn up someday.  Considering I like to keep my plate purchases under $10 in general (and probably less for my least favorite of the four sports), a bit under $4 was a fair ransom for this one, I think.

Nik Stauskas 2014-15 Panini Spectra Global Icons Printing Plates Black (1/1)

You know how I can tell I don't pay much attention to my basketball collection?  This is my third hit of Stauskas, a.k.a. "Sauce Castillo", and all three are plates!

Here he is on his other solo venture plus a trio (ignore player #4), both of which also come from a 2014-15 Panini product: Immaculate.

I couldn't tell you exactly why I got into a mini bidding war for this 1/1 of the former first-rounder of the Kings, now with Philly--he's not exactly a star or from a sport I love--but I still threw down a bit over $7 anyway.  I mean, it fit into my plate price preference (say that three times fast) and I was happy to continue giving business to a quality eBayer, so there's that.

This pair plus the two you saw on TMV this evening give me a new printing plate/1-of-1 total of 71 with lots more to come!  Make sure to stay tuned for the forthcoming football and hockey plate posts if you like that sort of thing.

2016 trade package #13: SCFtDS is one of a kind!

Hmmm, three of my last trade packages came from Doug at Sports Cards From the Dollar Store.  Who could this latest one be from?  Oh, it's Doug!  And not only are the cards he sent even more high-end than usual, they're also part of the 40th package I've shown off on this here blog, which is just crazy!  If you don't believe me just check out all of my posts tagged with his name.

By the way, based on today's exchange rate I think that puts him at 1.31 of a kind Canadian.  Anyway, let's look at some cards!

Nik Stauskas 2014-15 Immaculate Collection Rookie Jumbo Tags Printing Plate Cyan (1/1)

Nik Stauskas/Glenn Robinson III/Mitch McGary 2014-15 Immaculate Collection Quad Materials Printing Plate Black (with Gary Harris) (1/1)

Here's a pair that easily rank as "Didn't see those coming!" candidates--well, sort of, as I was able to guess the second one based on some hints he passed along to me.  Incredibly, my first two hits of Nik Stauskas, a.k.a. Sauce Castillo, come courtesy of this pair of plates from 2014-15 Immaculate.  I'm pretty sure that's a first in my collecting life.  Anyway, I would have been happy enough just scoring a simple relic of the talented guard who was a Kings first-rounder in 2014, but that's not how Doug rolls.

And one Wolverine wasn't enough as he managed to dig up a plate with three recent Wolverines, throwing in GRIII and Mitch McGary, along with former Spartan Gary Harris because reasons?  That aside this second plate is extremely cool thanks to the college connection, and it gives me three hits of those other two guys.

One other interesting note:  just about anyone who's held a plate knows they're light, thin cards.  Not so with these versions from Immaculate, which are likely as thick as the relic versions, if not the others in the product, likely to prevent pack-searching.  The extra heft makes these already interesting cards even cooler.

We're not nearly done here, though--I mean, we haven't even talked hockey yet!

Shawn Hunwick 2013-2014 National Treasures 2012-13 Panini Prime Printing Plates Yellow (1/1)

The four-player plate was what I considered the most interesting card of the package, but this is the one I was most excited about since I supercollect Hunwick.  While I don't have as much luck tracking his stuff down as I'd like, I've built up a decent collection, and Doug was nice enough to send me what's now my hockey collection-leading third 1/1 of the former netminder.

This one proved to be a bit tougher than usual to identify because it's not listed in Beckett's catalog, plus it was actually inserted into a 2013-14 product, National Treasures, despite being a plate for a 2012-13 Panini Prime card.  Glad I've got that all sorted out!

John Madden 2001-02 Parkhurst 2002 Chicago Sportsfest 1-of-1 (1/1)

Brendan Morrison 2002-03 Parkhurst 2003 Chicago Sportsfest 1-of-1 (1/1)

And to finish up our five-of-a-kind/one-of-a-kind post, here's a couple more 1/1s, stamped convention card-style.  Also it doesn't hurt that a couple of my favorite former icers, John Madden and Brendan Morrison, are the subjects.  If you've been collecting for a bit, especially recently, you've likely seen this type of oddball pop up from time to time.  While I don't know much about SportsFest and can't easily back up the authenticity of their "one-of-oneness" these cards are a fun, cheap way to add that type of hit to your collection.  And you definitely can't go wrong with an iconic hockey name like Parkhurst.

My third hit of Madden ends up being my second 1/1 of him, and the other also came from Doug!  Morrison joins in the milestone fun with his 25th hit, which is still eight behind leader Marty Turco, but I'm happy to land my first 1/1 of him.

And that, folks, is how you send someone not one or two but five 1/1s of someone's favorite team.  Incredible, generous, amazing stuff, Doug--thank you!  I'm reloaded and ready to fire back as soon as you give me the green light that your post office is no longer trying to out-lazy their American counterparts--a war they could never hope to win, eh?

Recent PC Additions

Jeff here, I don't post on here too often because for one, I generally buy cheap cards and I don't come across too many Michigan cards at that price, and two, most of my Maize and Blue cards come from Dennis so since he sends me dupes, I assume you've seen them all before. This past month though, I've picked up some on my own at various locations. I may actually have a few posts here this month. I've splurged the last couple of months, which I'm sure won't last long but it at least boosts my collections.

Let's start with some football.

2013 Fleer Retro ($.49) COMC

2013 Bowman ($.35) COMC

2013 Bowman Black ($.48) COMC

These 3 Denard cards put that collection at 24 cards. By far the biggest player collection since I went and added a bunch of Michigan alumni to my player collections. I'm pretty sure he's the only one in double digits of cards.

2015 Panini Contenders Draft Picks Game Day Tickets ($.52) (COMC)

2015 Panini Prizm Collegiate Draft Picks ($.75) (COMC)

With his super bowl appearance and a couple of really good games in his rookie season this past year, his collection is gradually moving on up recently. These 2 cards put his collection at 7 cards. I picked up my first card of his at a card show in October and all the rest have come since the new year.

2014-15 Upper Deck Letterman ($.81)  (COMC)

2014-15 Upper Deck SPx ($.75) (COMC)

These 2 cards only put this collection at 4 cards and they are all in the Maize and Blue so there's that at least.

2013-14 Upper Deck SP Authentic ($.75) (COMC)

2013-14 Fleer Retro ($.49) (COMC)

2013-14 Fleer Retro 1992-93 Rookie Sensations Auto ($5.99) (COMC)

These 3 cards put his collection at 6 cards. I actually have a couple of pro cards of Hardaway jr since he had a decent rookie season. I haven't heard much from him this year but I don't really follow NBA much other than watching an occasional Bulls game. That is my first autograph card of his as well, even at $6 when I saw it, I wanted it since he was in the Maize and Blue.

2014-15 Upper Deck SPx Finite Rookies ($1.25) (COMC)

I really don't run into any of his cards very much. This is only my 2nd card of his, both of the Maize and Blue variety.

2013-2014 NBA Hoops ($.50) (EBAY)

2015-16 Panini Contenders Draft Picks Old School Colors ($.75) (COMC)

Really love the look of this card. I'm going to have to look and see if they have any more Michigan players in the Old School Colors set. These cards put my Burke collection at 5 cards and a few of those are pro cards as well.

I'm sure you've seen some of those from Dennis collections but they were all new to me and hopefully some of them are new to you as well.