A Super St. Pat's blaster

As you know if you read TMG today, I picked up three blasters at Meijer because I had some stuff to return.  Two of them were appropriate for posting over there, but one of them, thanks to what I pulled, ended up over here.  Here's how I did:

2008 Press Pass Legends:  I've acquired a couple hits from this product but hadn't ever been able to find any packs of it until today.  It offered a guaranteed hit among its three packs of four cards for $15.  Since there were only 12 total cards, I thought I'd show off everything:

 All the base:  Aqib Talib, Kevin Smith, Chris Long, Roger Craig, Devin Thomas, Andre Woodson, Brett Favre, Jamaal Charles

 A couple base backs:  a legend (Favre) and a rookie (Smith)

 The inserts:  Jordy Nelson Bronze (#653/999); Andre Caldwell Silver (#349/499); Chris Long All Conference (1:7)

The hit:  Mario Manningham Saturday Signatures Red auto

For only including three packs, that was a fun rip.  The base look great and feature some excellent players, and the inserts are pretty good.  Obviously, though, I was thrilled about pulling the Manningham, the second time I've done so from a box (the other was an '08 Topps auto).  I had to laugh, though, since I picked up this very Mario not that long ago, probably on COMC.  It's even funnier because the Red versions are a bit harder to pull.  I can't complain at all, though--it was a fun pull, and now I have yet another card to flip Jeff's way, since I know he'll happily take it off my hands.  I'd definitely buy one or two more of these if I saw them again, so hopefully I will.  GO BLUE!

Introducing TMM's very first contest

This blog's been going for more than a month now and I'm very happy with how things have gone.  I certainly feel better having my Michigan stuff split off from TMG since obviously only a small set of my readers were actually checking out those posts.  Also, it's been great to have Jeff on board since he's provided great content in terms of his own Michigan PC stuff and some editorials as well.

Because things seem to be going in the right direction, I though it was about time that I put up this blog's first contest.  I want to be very clear that this isn't a page view/followers grab--it's intended to thank and reward each of you who read this fledgling blog as much as you do.  That's why the only requirement this time is for you to leave a comment on this post.  It can be literally whatever you'd like (with a couple requirements, mentioned below).  

Each person will get a maximum of one entry, which will be randomed off in the usual way, and I won't be awarding bonus entries for following, pimping the contest, etc.  All I ask is that when you leave a comment, you do so with an account that links to your email, or that you leave contact info in the comment itself.  As such, I will automatically disqualify all entries made that result in a "no-reply..." address and that do not include contact info in the comment itself.  Good?  Good.

Now that all that is clear, here's what our one winner will receive:

• Austin Powers UD Piece of Hollywood Costume relic (from Sam's recent group break)
• Shaun Alexander 2003 SP Game-Used Edition jersey (which I received by accident from my favorite Blowout seller)
• 2010 Press Pass PE auto of Joe Webb and Jersey of Sean Canfeld (extras from my several breaks of those)
• A complete set of 2011 SAGE HIT low series and Pre-Rookies (I have a few of these from busting lots of those too)
• And finally, something nice of the MLB or NFL team of your choice.  I'll do my best to make it something good like a hit if I can, but please keep in mind I don't have hits of every single team, so if I don't, I'll try to make it some nice inserts or RCs or something.  Please make sure to include your favorite team in your comment

The contest will end one week from today (Sunday) at 11:59 pm EST.  I'll remind you guys during each post this week, then next Monday I'll do a quick randomization and post the winner.  As a reminder, please make sure to leave me some sort of contact info in your comment, and make sure to mention your favorite MLB or NFL team.

Thanks again to everybody who reads and/or follows this blog.  I look forward to providing more Michigan Wolverines-centric comment, along with Jeff, for a long time!

Entries:

• Larry, Mariners
• Hackenbush, Cubs, Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks
• Eric, Royals
• Sam, Astros
• Arpsmith (reader), SF Giants, USC Trojans, SF 49ers
• Brian, Texas Rangers
• Josh, Royals
• Greg, Dodgers, Chargers
• Matt, Cardinals, Rams

As unlikely as basketball on my blog: a Blowout trade!

You all know I throw a lot of cash (too much, really) on the Blowout forums at times, but occasionally I see stuff there I just have to have. Well today's post adheres to my 2012 resolutions to increase trading and spend less money on collecting.  It just happens to be odd that my most recent interaction with Blowout was a trade.

Another member--a fellow Michigander, as it turns out, but a couple hours away--posted a wantlist of 2010 Topps football inserts after he busted some sort of case--I'm pretty sure it was hobby, but I forget--and decided to pursue a master set.  Anyway, I still had a pretty nice pile of those left over from my jumbo box I purchased that year.  While he ended up need a good amount of the Legendary Lineage et al, what sealed the deal for him was my throwing in a few Gold parallels, useful to him since that's such a large set.

Besides being able to get some use out of those inserts, I was interested because he was offering some fairly decent low-end relics, among other cards, for this stuff.  That led to me getting a total of six cards out of the deal, five of which you'll see here, though you can find the other over at TMG/V.  Here's the part of the haul that should interest you who read THIS blog:

2011 Leaf Certified Parallels of Super Bowl winner Mario Manningham, Chad Henne, Braylon Edwards and Steve Breaston

I wasn't actually sure if he was going to throw these in because he was already being more than fair with what he sent me, as you'll see, so I'm definitely happy to have them.  They kind of have that old-school Pinnacle Dufex kind of thing going on and look fantastic, especially in-person.  It doesn't always take a hit to impress me, it just helps is all.

Amani Toomer 2002 Upper Deck Ovation Tried and True jersey

While flipping through his trade bait list, this was the card I most wanted, since obviously it adds to my Michigan PC.  It's kind of a goofy shape for a relic swatch, but at least it's a nice solid Giants blue jersey piece.  And any new Toomer is a good Toomer for me--hell, you might even call it benign!  But seriously, I'm happy to have my seventh Toomer overall and sixth relic of the standout WR.  This alone would have been sufficient as far as I was concerned, but I managed to talk him into sending one other card which, again, you can see right here.

So hooray for a rare trade for me on Blowout, though you'll get to see the results of a similar deal very soon, plus another eBay win.