2014 COMC purchases: the football hits keep coming, part 2 of 2

Here we are at the last in my series of posts covering COMC purchases from the last couple months, and as usual I'm trying to end with a bang by posting some of my best pickups last.  Four players, eight cards, lots of ink, and 100% awesomeness: let's do it.

Mike Hart 2008 Donruss Elite Turn of the Century Autographs auto (#031/100)

I clearly don't get the "Turn of the Century" concept since this is one of the rare cards I've seen actually numbered to 100.  Anyway, this gorgeous Hart signature hails from the '08 Elite set, one of my favorite designs from the brand, and features Mike doing what he did best:  toting the rock while looking for extra yards wherever he can get them.  This is definitely a winner, and I didn't mind spending a bit more than usual on it in order to add it to my collection.

Mike Hart 2008 SP Rookie Threads SP Authentics auto (#32/80)

Hart wearing a jersey with any number other than 20 always looks weird to me, but that's life when you're a rookie.  This was an autograph I picked up more because of its relatively low price than its looks, but all the same it is kind of a fun design.  The sticker almost blends in well except for the middle section above the photo, but then again I've never been that much of an opponent of stickers.

Michigan's all-time leading rusher remains a leader in my football PC as well, sporting a new total of 54 cards, good for a third place tie with Braylon Edwards overall.  As my favorite Michigan RB, I can see that total growing soon!

Chad Henne 2010 Sweet Spot Sweet Swatches dual jersey

Speaking of PC leaders, I also scored a couple cards of one of my top QBs, Chad Henne.  First up is this dual jersey from 2010 Sweet Spot.  Despite the number of hits per box, I managed to avoid pulling any Wolverines at all when I opened this product not long after it came out.  A few years later I have all of the variations of the Brandon Graham and Brandon Minor autographs plus the dual jersey of this here blog's namesake, so I appear to be short just the Tom Brady relic, meaning things turned out just fine for me.  I very much like the use of the college photos of guys like Henne who were no longer rookies, so when I found this card for a song I knew it was time to grab it.

Chad Henne 2008 Triple Threads triple jersey auto RC (#60/89)

Like the Elite Hart above, this one set me back a bit more than I usually pay for things on COMC, but it was still a good deal, not to mention a very exciting addition.  Triple Threads rarely delivers anything approaching value when you buy it by the box, but you can do just fine with singles like this auto/relic/RC of the former Wolverine signal-caller.  This is actually my only 2008 Triple Threads Wolverine to-date, but I'm hoping I can find some of the others eventually.

Henne's pair almost wins him the pot as he moves up to a sterling (Mallory) 66 cards, just one short of longtime leader Jake Long.  I see Chad taking the overall lead very shortly, but we'll see.

Chris Perry 2004 Topps Draft Class Marks auto

We bounced from a RB to a QB, and now we're back to a RB.  Chris Perry was another of Michigan's prolific running backs during my lifetime, and I've kept that in mind as I've collected the team by picking up a nice quantity of his cards.  This great horizontal shot of a determined Perry in his winged helmet, accompanied by a nice signature, is a great example of that.  It's an on-card auto of #23 on a simple but cool Topps Draft design, so I took this one straight to the house!

Chris Perry 2004 Ultimate Collection Ultimate Rookie Jersey jersey (#127/199)

Continuing the one jersey/one auto theme for the day is this shocking Bengals orange jersey swatch from Upper Deck's 2004 Ultimate Collection.  As with many of the relics I scored from the site, I made sure I paid a rock-bottom price for it, but that doesn't mean I have no appreciation for it.  Like the Draft card above, this includes a great shot of Chris zipping down the field, this time with the team that drafted him 26th overall in 2004.

Perry's pair also continues the theme of "football PC leaders" as his new total of 38 hits places him seventh.

Denard Robinson 2013 Bowman Sterling Autographs auto

And here we are back to the QB position--well, at least that's what Shoelace was for most of his college career.  His pro cards tend to list him as a WR even though he's almost exclusively a RB at this point, and he may be able to turn some heads this year in that spot if his nerve issues are in the past.  I'm not banking on that because I enjoy collecting him anyway, but if he does blow up this season I'll be glad to have picked up hits like this black beauty, a super thick autograph from 2013 Bowman Sterling.  Oddly enough in this image he looks to be in more of a QB-like pre-throw pose.

Denard Robinson 2013 Topps Prime Autographs auto

Denard is this post's combo-breaker as I didn't pick up the relic-auto combo for him but instead opted for a pair of signatures, which have fallen to reasonable price levels in some cases.  This one is from the not-quite-Stadium Club Prime set, and features a nice design that includes a clear area for the autograph along with a great photo of Robinson burning down the field--I'm surprised they got an image any better than a blur, really, after seeing how quickly he moved at a live game a couple years ago.

Robinson also has nothing to do with the PC top 10 to which today's other three players belong, but his early total of five cards portends a good future for his collection, and I can't wait to add more, especially if I can find good prices on Michigan uni hits!

One last note as I wrap up this COMC extravaganza:  I've deployed the "almost milestones" tag today and there's a reason for that:  today's eight additions give my overall Michigan Sports hits collection a new total of 1299 cards, meaning it's just about time to roll over the odometer again!  For that highlight (and more), watch for a nice number of eBay pickups shortly.

2014 COMC purchases: take me down to the parallel city

Here's some more baseball PC pickups from COMC in a special 100% parallel edition:

Jim Abbott 2013 USA Baseball Champions Legends Certified Die-Cut (#026/699)

I haven't seen a lot of Abbotts that interested me on COMC recently, but this one sure looked like a winner.  Jim appears on a nice number of cards in Panini's 2013 USA Baseball Champions set thanks to his legendary Team USA career, and besides a base card, he's got a bunch of different versions of a die-cut parallel, like this one here.  I really like how it looks, but the colored "Mirror" versions also look great, and I'll have to see if I can pick those up too.  For now, I have 93 Abbott cards.

Scott Kamieniecki 1994 Finest Refractor

Scott was one of the bigger winners among my supercollections this time.  First up is this beautiful Refractor from Finest's second-year entry in 1994.  This and the base card still have that goofy color scheme, but there's no way you can't enjoy a Refractor!

Scott Kamieniecki 1995 Donruss Press Proof

I believe Pinnacle kicked off the Artist's Proof/Press Proof craze in 1994, and Donruss followed suit the next year with this set, limited to a "scant" 2000 copies.  Donruss took the base card and added gold foil as well as the "PRESS PROOF" notation at the top.  This wasn't a bad start, but I prefer the '96 version, which you'll see a bit later.

Scott Kamieniecki 1996 Collector's Choice Silver Signature

The most ho-hum card today is this parallel from 1996 Collector's Choice, though as I've said, I do prefer '96's versions that include colored borders.  This card completes the trio for me as I already picked up the base and Gold Signature versions.

Scott Kamieniecki 1997 Ultra Platinum Medallion

I was excited that I was finally able to land one of Kamieniecki's toughest cards, this '97 Platinum Medallion from Ultra, which has a different image than the base card, by the way..  Print runs are limited to a not-impossible 200 copies, but I have yet to see multiple versions of most of the cards from the large set.  It was a little tough plunking down $5.65 (accepted offer) for a non-hit, but my desire to complete Scott's collection overrode my frugality in this case.  And with these four, I now have 79 of his 89 cards in my possession, close to 90%!

Steve Ontiveros 1995 and 1996 Donruss Press Proof

If Kamieniecki had a productive day thanks to a four-card haul, Ontiveros did even better.  "With just two cards?" you ask?  As it turns out, Ontiveros has 71 cards in his run, and these two put me at 70, meaning I'm almost done with another PC!

This pair of Press Proofs includes the '95 version, like Kamieniecki's above, plus the '96 card, which I prefer since I think the base design is superior.  For some reason I just like the latter's layout better, including the cool shiny Donruss logo.

Stay tuned to find out if/when I can land the very last card to complete Steve's PC!

Clayton Richard 2014 Topps Green

Clayton Richard 2014 Topps Toys R Us Purple Border

Clayton Richard 2014 Topps Wal Mart Blue Border

Finally I have for you today this trio of cards that exemplifies Topps' disturbing obsession with repetitive colored parallels, including the store-specific exclusive Purple and Blue and the rack pack-pulled Green.  I've now acquired seven of Clayton's cards from 2014 flagship and yet I still have FIVE more to go--Black, Camo, Clear, Pink, and Yellow, all of which are numbered except the latter.  Yeesh.  Richard's collection now stands at 105/145, and hopefully I can increase that number elsewhere before long.

Come back tomorrow (or soon) for more!

2014 eBay purchase #2: feeling Rich with a Masterpiece and having a ball

Today's a bit of a minor blog milestone--350 posts--(actually, Jeff's tumbler post from Sunday gets that honor, so consider this my own celebration) so I decided to take a quick break from the 2013 purchases stuff and highlight the guy that usually gets center stage in such celebratory posts:  Rich Hill.

I only have one card to show off today, a January pickup, but I'd say it's a doozy:

Rich Hill 2008 UD Masterpieces Stroke of Genius Signatures auto

I love, love, LOVE these Masterpieces autographs.  Better yet, as much as I like the 2007 version, there's something about the 2008s that just appeals to me more.  At a glance it might be the way the 2008's background and logo seem to have changed for the better.  The gold signature is also a nice upgrade, and Rich did a nice job on his autograph when he wasn't confined to such a small space.  Way to deliver on the title of your set, Upper Deck!

This is Hill #215/347 for me (and 227 overall with 1/1s), and it's also the 99th hit in his PC, not to mention the 248th hit in my baseball PC, hence the creation of the "almost milestones" tag.  They're getting tougher to find, but more rewarding because of it, so hopefully, stay tuned for me.

Now this post could be a bit underwhelming with just the one card to show off--cool as it is--so I decided now would be a great time to show off one of my last 2013 purchases.

You might all recall that back in October, Jeff and I advertised the MGoAuction, a fund-raiser for three Michigan scholarships.  Bidders could purchase all kinds of great items, including autographed memorabilia of past and present athletes, some of which included Michigan alumni.  I don't think I made any secret of what I was after, and a $30 bid later (it's for a good cause!), I had this:

That's blog favorite Rich Hill's John Hancock on a Rawlings Official League ball, with the added bonus of his jersey number, 53 (from his Cubs, Indians, and Red Sox days; he work 51 with the Orioles), and a "Go Blue!" inscription, which is ridiculously awesome.  This was truly a win-win situation in which my little bit of money is going towards a future scholarship, and I get a great new piece for my Michigan autographed memorabilia collection in return.  Hooray collecting!

I'll be back again this week with more 2013 purchases stuff, plus a trade post from a familiar name.