Check me out getting all motivated to get these posts done! Today we're going to look at new additions for two of the five QBs in my PCs:
#1 is national champ and solid NFL journeyman
Brian Griese. Because his career lasted as long as it did he has a lot to choose from, and I'd say I did well in taking advantage of that. The top three cards here are from '99 including a very cool Absolute SSD offering and base from Fleer Focus and Paramount. 2000 Upgrades on those with excellent designs by the likes of Bowman's Best, Finest, Focus again, and Fleer's Showcase, plus another Fleer product in Mystique and a solid Pacific look.
Here we finish off 2000 with another Paramount example and then the first of a couple instances of Topps Gallery, which I really went hard after in terms of cards for both blogs this time. Then the entire batch of 2001 stuff you see is quite nice: Absolute Memorabilia, a pair of Bowman's Bests (including one that co-stars Rams legend Kurt Warner), Bowman Chrome, Donruss Classics, Finest, and Fleer Showcase again. For my money Bowman's Best killed it in the design department between 2000 and 2005, especially in their football product. And Showcase was great in that it consistently looked outstanding even while really changing up its look from year to year.
The first five here finish off the 2001 run. We start with my favorite flagship Pacific design, a decent Playoff Contenders look, the second and final iteration of the amazing blue Quantum Leaf, another great Stadium Club look, and typically good photography from Upper Deck. Then 2002 begins with a few repeats from the previous year: Absolute, Bowman's Best, Classics, and Finest. Hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it! I love being able to get pieces of these excellent sets starring my favorite players--just one of the many rewarding aspects of PCing!
2002 proved to be a bumper crop of Grieses for me this time, leading all years seen here with 14 cards; 2001 was second with 12. Everything you see here continues '02, and there's lots to like. Fleer gets back in the game with Flair, Premium, and Ultra. Those are joined by standalones from Leaf Certified and Pacific. Playoff is represented twice with a couple of my favorite brands, Contenders and Prestige. And Topps scores a pair of huge completions in Stadium Club and Gallery.
2002 completes its triumphant run with base cards from Upper Deck plus its gridiron answer to baseball's 40-Man, called XL. For some reason I scanned the latter after card #1 for 2003, which hails from Absolute Memorabilia once again. A very strong group follows with possibly my favorite Bowman's Best design of the few you saw today, Donruss' classics and Gridiron Kings--the well done football equivalent to the Diamond version--plus Playoff Prestige and Topps Draft. I say it every time I post one of these cards but I sure do miss Topps Draft! We then have to skip 2004 because Griese appeared on very few cards that year, but at least I cam up with a solid start for 2004 thanks to Donruss Classics again.
Speaking of 2005 we can mostly close out the verticals with Topps Heritage, Ultra, and Upper Deck, completing a quartet of Bucs cardboard. Topps Heritage makes one more appearance thanks to a 2006 base with Griese pictured as a member of the Bears. Another Topps throwback product, 2003 All American, makes up half of the horizontal haul, with 2004 Upper Deck bridging the gap between Griese's Dolphins/Bucs runs.
In all I was able to add 51 new cards for a new total of 175 Brian Griese cards, a very healthy new count!
Of course
Denard Robinson's five new cards pale in comparison, but three of them do have that Michigan uniform factor going for them! All of them are from his 2013 rookie season, with #1 being a Bowman Black parallel (which, unfortunately, had to use an airbrushed photo). The other two come from the Upper Deck-owned Fleer Retro product which inserted throwback versions of several past Fleer brands. The Metal Universe card honors that product's 1997 design while the Ultra card is a callback to 1991. In each case the design honored was the debut for the product, something I'm sure was done on purpose.
Besides that fun trio I added a couple slightly newer pieces. One is a very foil-y/shiny Certified card from 2015 and the other is a typically nice look from Panini's 2016 Prestige. Along with the 2013 offerings they give me a new total of 90 Shoelace cards, giving me some easy motivation to chase another milestone.
Just two more posts left, which I hope to get done soon!
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