2018 Sportlots purchases: WRs received

At long last we've reached the final post in this most recent Sportlots series (except for one remaining on TMV) on the eve of Michigan's season opener.

Today's big finish stars four of the better receivers to pass through Ann Arbor.  This quartet produced 81 TD catches while adding three rushing scores and five from returns.  Let's get right down to it:

Possession receiver Jason Avant (2002-05) was a solid veteran presence with generally reliable hands, accounting for 13 TDs over his four years including eight his senior year.

This sextet is great for collectors like me as it's all college uni content!  The top row comprises base cards from 2006 Press Pass as well as its Legends and SE spinoffs.  Meanwhile, the ones on the bottom hail from that year's SAGE products:  base cards from Aspire and HIT plus a Design for Success Blue parallel insert from the latter.  The Legends and base HIT cards are my favorite and the latter is another example of how good the brand's design was until the end of that decade.

Receiver and return man Steve Breaston, a contemporary of Avant's (2003-06) was an electric presence the moment he hit the field of the Big House.  The athletic WR accumulated 10 TD receptions and two more on the ground (both coming his freshman year) while adding four on punt returns and one more on a kickoff.

I was glad to turn up a few college cards of Breaston as well, with a 2007 quartet of SAGE HIT (another fantastic design, probably my favorite) plus Chrome Black and Bronze parallels from 2007 Topps Draft, not to mention a largely covered up home uniform on an Ultra Fresh Faces insert.  A 2008 Select card parallels the base Score version I already had, and that proceeds a pair of '09s--Donruss Classics and SP Signature--and 2010s--Certified and Playoff Contenders.  Lots of fun designs there.

This last group of his cards brings a shiny 2011 Panini-branded trio courtesy of Absolute's fun hobby version and a Spectrum Red parallel plus a base from Certified.  His day ends with a Certified repeat in 2012 plus that year's Gridiron card that stars a great action photo on a horizontal design.  Is a leg supposed to bend that way?!

Guy who formerly wore #1 Braylon Edwards (2001-04) is certainly well known around these parts as one of my larger Michigan PCs, and he features even more prominently in the program's record books:

• #1 in career receptions (252, with Marquise Walker second at 176), catches in a season (also #4 and tied for 10th), career receiving yards, and TD catches in a career
• #4, tied for 5th, and tied for 8th (twice) in catches in a game
• #2 (plus 5th and tied for 10th) in receiving yards in a season
• #2 in TDs in one season with 15 in 2004, second only to Desmond Howard's 19 during his Heisman-winning '91 campaign

So it's no surprise that the guy that scored 39 collegiate TDs is the most well represented today:

Lots of designs and brands I like here.  The first eight are from 2006 and they include some lookers, especially Absolute Memorabilia (hobby version again) and Flair Showcase plus solid designs like Prestige and Upper Deck.  Donruss' Classics represents both years in typical form.

Some more '07s start this scan with repeats of the first out of Finest, Leaf Certified Materials, and Prestige joined by Upper Deck's basic SP Authentic look.  Then the 2008 stuff begins with a reprise of Finest and Prestige paired with the shininess of Leaf Limited and Score Select.  And the retail Absolute card you see down the middle is a dupe that I believe was a throw-in, unless it was sent by a confused seller who didn't have the better version.

One of Braylon's two appearances (he shares a second card with Tom Brady) finishes up 2008, and 2009 base from Certified and Finest (yep, they're both back again!) follow shortly thereafter.  Skipping another Absolute dupe we get a pair of Michigan uni cards from a couple college-friendly 2010 Upper Deck products:  SP Authentic and SPx.  Those remind me that I should do more to track down Press Pass and SAGE-type stuff of his from 2005.

The last group begins with Topps' decent 2010 follow-up to its outstanding, and the verticals conclude with a 2011 trio of previously seen brands:  Certified, Finest, and Prestige.  Then there's a pair of cards turned 90 degrees:  2011 Threads and 2009 Contenders (not sure why that ended up second).  All of these add up to a very productive day for the outspoken receiver.

One of Edwards' predecessors to wear the coveted #1 jersey, David Terrell (1998-2000), is also featured in the team's record books.  Despite leaving a year early he ranks in the top 10 in just about all of the relevant WR categories, and his 13 scores his junior year garnered him a first round selection in the 2001 draft.

Nobody ended up with more maize & blue cards than Terrell, who gets the benefit of a full page of these!  Press Pass and its PE spinoff are responsible for the first eight, with an early version of the Big Numbers insert and the shiny Showbound set being highlights.  Those die-cut Breakout cards are pretty cool too, and Terrell was good enough to get a second appearance by headlining the checklist.  How many checklists have you ever seen that look like that?

Pretty much the rest of what you see will be a callback to Anthony Thomas's haul from the other day, which makes sense since they were drafted together and appeared in many common products.  In this scan the first eight are all repeats from A-Train's bunch, with 2002 Stadium Club and Topps Gallery serving as highlights.  The '02 Ultra card represents the only brand from that year you didn't see on Wednesday.

More of the same here, but in a good way!  The six verticals, led by strong looks from Gridiron Kings and Topps Draft, were all seen in Thomas form as well, not to mention the first two horizontals--2002 Heritage and '03 Upper Deck.  UD's 2005 version also didn't make it into Thomas's portion of the post the other day because I didn't end up tracking down his base card.

Three scans worth was enough to make Terrell today's milestone guy, getting him over the 100-card hump to 114, meaning he finally caught up to the frequently linked Thomas in achieving that feat.

It was a great run but soon it'll be time for bigger and better things include a trade package, eBay pickup, and hopefully card show loot.  And more importantly tomorrow will be Michigan game day #1!