3/2/19 show report: March "M"adness

The calendar has flipped over to March and once again Michigan fans are looking forward to the NCAA tournament, though a regular season rematch with Michigan State and the Big Ten Tournament await.  Until then let's have a look at the cards I picked up at yesterday's show.  Yes, yesterday!

This is about as topical as it gets right now.  It's not often that I buy any basketball card, let alone one that cost $2, but it fit right in with my purchase from the awesome seller I see each month.  My third hit (all relics) of former Wolverine cager THJ is a 2013-14 Panini National Treasures NBA Rookie Materials jersey (#57/99).  It's a somewhat interesting swatch with a bit of stitching so I was glad to add another card of the two-time Knick who was swapped to the Mavs with fellow alum Trey Burke back in January.

The rest of my TMM haul wasn't large but I was still pretty excited when I pulled a few of these out the boxes I was searching.  Biakabutuka opens the group with a Gold version of his 1996 Donruss Elite appearance (I have the regular version already), a card numbered 1590/2000.  Speaking of inserts I hadn't seen one of the die-cut 2015 Panini Contenders ROY Contenders cards until I happened upon the Funchess above.  If you can't tell from the scan the cutting is around the right half of the "ticket".

Besides Touchdown Tim I came away with two other cards for player collections.  One is the so-Pacific-it's-an-ocean 1994 Prisms base of Jim Harbaugh you see above.  Sorry in advance (too late?) for any damage to your monitors and eyeballs!  Blog favorite QB Chad Henne also makes the cut with a 2010 Score Scorecard parallel (#091/499).  I doubt anyone else would be excited finding that in a quarter box but I let out a quiet but audible "wow", so you know where I stand.

Last up is about a different pair as you'll probably see today.  Recent do-everything guy Jabrill Peppers appears on a 2018 Contenders Draft Picks issue in full Michigan regalia.  Then there's NFL HOF DE Len Ford on a 1994 Topps Archives 1957 card that reprints his only Topps base issue, made in 1957.  That was his only mainstream card from his career besides his '55 Bowman RC (which I own!).  I'll have to try to find the Gold version of this card at some point.

Until next month's show, GO BLUE!

2019 trade package #1: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

When Doug (of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store) sends me trade packages there are times when he undersells them, promising more in the way of quantity than quality.  While I don't think I can say that's ever been true, I guess it's a matter of perspective.  The one I just received from him the other day was another two-parter, and maybe you've headed over here from the TMV portion starring a bevy of Tigers and Wings.  Lots of quantity there, to be sure, but plenty I liked.

And it's possible that I'm just as pleased with this envelope as usual since the quality was mostly concentrated on the Michigan PCs, which is my preference anyway!  Here's all the great stuff I get to show off this time:

Up first:  basketball, and some recent guys at that.  It sounds a bit funny to refer to Crawford as "recent" but, hey, dude's still playing!  THJ, LeVert, and Sauce Castillo all at least played in Ann Arbor within the past decade.  By the way, all four guys you see above were first round picks.

As was this guy, German star Moe Wagner.  I'm happy to get my first hit of the big man in the form of a jersey from last year's Hoops product in a set called Rise N Shine Memorabilia, a name I know they've used before.  Hopefully he'll be starring for the Lakers before I know it!

The football bunch ended up being a group of nine, perfect for scanning purposes.  Super Bowl-bound QB Tom Brady starts us off on a beautiful 2018 Classics base, one of Panini's best offerings.  2018 champ Brandon Graham is next on a rare base appearance that isn't from his rookie year, and I'm curious to see what his next move is.  Severely underdrafted DL Maurice Hurst follows on a great four-spot:  his 2018 Leaf Draft base and All American insert plus RCs from Panini's Luminance and Rookies and Stars.  I'm loving the focus on college action here.

Then there's a great 2017-18 one-two punch starring Jabrill Peppers:  a rookie year Score Gold Zone parallel (#29/50) plus last year's Donruss Optic.  Doug is now responsible for three excellent Peppers cards from the former, including another parallel plus an autograph!

And then a very cool vintage surprise sews up the gridiron portion:  a 1963 Topps CFL base (in very nice condition!) of QB/RB Bob Ptacek.  After his three-year Michigan career in the late 50s he was drafted by the Browns, spent a year with them, then headed off to six seasons with the pictured Saskatchewan Roughriders.  Doug's gifted me with a few cool CFL issues and this is definitely one of the best!

As usual the hockey portion was the largest, and like the TMV version you'll see a ton of 2009-10 and 18-19 O-Pee-Chee, which I'm definitely down with, especially since I really like the design of the former.  I decided to have fun this time and separate these out in a scan I like to call "Hockey Mikes", the name of one of my favorite tags to use on this blog; I count at least six in my collection and you see four of them here.

And now I may have to create a new tag for "Hockey Andrews" because there's three alone right here (plus one or two "Andy"s not seen here).  Glendening got a double-dip as a Wing and appeared in this evening's other post.  And I'll take hockey John Madden over the Ace/Tinactin guy any day!

The Miller card leading off here was of interest to me because he played for four years in Ann Arbor starting in 2005, so it's possible I saw him play in a few games but can't remember him.  PC favorite Morrison makes another appearance, as does one of many hockey players from my hometown of Livonia, David Moss.  And the UD Nystrom (and its excellent photo) was a nice surprise since he's one of Doug's fellow 2/14 babies.

And here's an excellent pair of hits--the cream of the quality crop--to end things for today.  First up is a sick-nasty patch of Swedish chef Carl Hagelin courtesy of 2012-13 Limited and numbered to just 10.  It's a beautiful patch from a Rangers jersey and a nice upgrade on another Hagelin I believe Doug sent me--a jersey version of the same card.  No surprise there, though, since my Canadian trading buddy has sent me some of my best Hagelins (and hockey hits in general).

#2 is another collection newbie:  C David Wohlberg.  The South Lyon native (a bit north of me here in Ann Arbor) played four seasons for Michigan starting in 2008-09, and while he never made it to the NHL, unlike Miller above I do remember Wohlberg a bit, likely because he put up a nice number of points over his four years.  As always, kudos to Doug for turning up another new Wolverine for my PC, this time in the form of a 2014-15 Upper Deck AHL Box Set auto.

Doug, many thanks for this great start to trading between us in 2019!  I have a few things set aside for you already and will aim for sending something back your way in time for your birthday, especially since I know you have some COMC goodies for me.

2018 Sportlots purchases: Rookie Blue for day 2

Today's post covers the new football RCs I nabbed for my ongoing Rookie Blue collection.  A quick note:  since buying these I've added a few more players to that checklist, with all of them having transferred away from Michigan at some point.  I made the judgment call to include them, though I'm not counting anything that depicts them with any other college, because then they're not Michigan rookies, are they? 

With some of my attention now being held by the idea of filling out the eight new football PCs I recently added I'll likely do another Sportlots run chasing those guys as well as some of the new rookies as well.  Is there such a thing as productive distraction?

Anyway, on to the first-years:

The cards in this post span 2000-2017, and naturally we'll start at the beginning of that run with a pair starring TE Aaron Shea:  Absolute (#1177/3000) and Metal.  Just these two alone illustrate the mountain of variety we enjoyed back then!  I now need five of Shea's 15 rookies.

With a move to 2002 we get a very airbrushed shot of WR Marquise Walker From Fleer's short-lived Maximum brand (#2246/3500).  As usual you'll see a good amount of numbered cards today, such as my 30th of Walker's 50(!) rookies.

A numbered card that includes a non-airbrushed Michigan helmet in a shot from the Senior Bowl is QB John Navarre's 2004 Donruss Classics RC (#0004/1850).  Executed with a typically strong design this marks my 11th rookie of his I've tracked down out of 25.

Former college ballhawk DB Marlin Jackson makes an appearance on a card I never landed on COMC--his 2005 Topps Heritage RC--because for the longest time the only copy belonged to one of the site's worst offenders.  Yeah, you all know which one: that guy and his shit show.  Anyway, I picked it up for super cheap on Sportlots and now just need six more of Jackson's 30 first-years.

Let's finish off this scan with a pair of Rookies and Stars RCs numbered to 999:  Big Gabe Watson from 2006 (#340) and transfer QB Matt Gutierrez (#895) from the '07 version.  You may recall the latter as the guy who got Wally Pipped by a true freshman Chad Henne before heading to Idaho State.  I'm at 20/22 for Watson's checklist and also need just two more to sew up Gutierrez's five.

With a lot of the '08 portion of the checklist already done and not much quantity in between we'll move all the way up to 2015 and a solid design on WR Devin Funchess' Donruss flagship RC (my 19th of his 24).  May he make that kind of leap forward himself this year!

The rest of the group hails from the amazing 2017 draft class.  Big DL Taco Charlton was my lone example from Crown Royale this time while WR Jehu Chesson repeats the feat from Elite Draft Picks.  Chesson is joined by fellow WR Amara Darboh and RB De'Veon Smith from Score's excellent annual effort, and I believe I'm now done with that product.

Meanwhile jack-of-all-trades Jabrill Peppers gives us today's first look at Donruss' Optic and the only example of Playoff (on a less interesting design than usual).  DE Chris Wormley finishes out this group by joining Peppers in Optic.  This nice little bunch gives me varying degrees of success with that class, from my first of Smith up to six each of Charlton and Peppers; I still lack cards of Delano Hill and Ryan Glasgow but will definitely track those down before much longer.

As I said before I still have lots left to show off and no idea what I'll post next so stay tuned and prepare to be as surprised as I am!

2018 COMC purchases: 32 of Rookie Blue, and a 70-year-old card too!

I decided that part two of this latest COMC series would cover all of the new football RCs I picked up this time.  As usual it's a nice eclectic bunch, one that mostly spans 2000-2018, but I also managed to add what's now the oldest card in my entire collection!

And this would be the big winner, a 1948 Bowman rookie of Robert Nussbaumer, a guy who as far as I can tell is making his debut in my collection today.  A "left halfback" (things sure were different back then), Nussbaumer played for Michigan from 1943-45, appearing in 29 games and averaging a solid 5.8 YPC.  After Green Bay took him in the '46 draft, "Bomber" spent two seasons each with the Packers, Redskins, and Chicago Cardinals, closing his career where he started it.

Needless to say I'm very excited to add this 70-year-old card to my collection of Michigan football rookies and vintage stuff!  1948 is as far back as my checklist goes, and I'm chasing cards from Al Wistert, Gene Derricotte, and Merv Pregulman from that year as well.  Nussbaumer joins Wistert in appearing in both '48 Bowman and Leaf while Derricotte can be found in the latter and Pregulman the former.  Whenever I can add any of those it'll be another cause for celebration!

And now we move ahead to modern day, starting with 2000.  I decided to present these in chronological and then alphabetical order (mostly).

The 2000 group comprises Pacific's Omega cards of WR Marcus Knight and TE Aaron Shea.  As is often the case in this series their cards are numbered, #053/500 for Knight and #246/500 for Shea.  That and/or short-printing tends to inflate prices but I ended up doing reasonably well this time.

2001 brings one of my favorite one-two punches in David Terrell and Anthony Thomas (reversed in the scan because I'm stupid).  The WR appears on the Retail version of that year's Pacific Dynagon while the A-Train shows up on Fleer Focus (#0154/1850), Pacific's Private Stock (#061/200), and Upper Deck's confusing Rookie F/X RC (#127/750), which includes multiple versions.

FB B.J. Askew represents 2003 with one of my favorite brands, Prestige, on one of its best designs, again bringing the college uni love.  Possession WR Jason Avant brings the scan and his RC collection to a close with 2006's Flair Showcase (#358/499) and Select (#506/599).  That Showcase card is one of the coolest in my bunch of rookies!

TE Tim Massaquoi leads off this bunch with his 2006 Bowman Sterling first year, leaving me short just his Ultimate Collection card from the same year.  Then we go on a little 2007 run beginning with Alan Branch

...destroyer of QBs, on his Wolverines-approved Ultra RC.  Transferred QB Matt Gutierrez makes his second appearance in this series with his Leaf Limited rookie (#186/399), another numbered affair.  CB Leon Hall brings us back to one of the school's better defenses with Donruss Elite (#078/599) and Ultra Retail cards, two more examples of college shots.  I love that '07 Elite design!  Closing out the year, beastly DE/LB LaMarr Woodley pops up on Leaf Rookies and Stars Longevity (#229/999).

Now we take a quick look into my favorite draft class, 2008.  Mike Hart starts things off on his Icons RC (#508/750), one product that's been my nemesis for a while.  Jake Long's UD Masterpieces card was a short print from that beautiful set, but I finally found a price I could handle.  And Mr. Namesake himself, Super Mario Manningham is back on another good example of a nice Donruss Classics (#371/999) design.  But that's not the last we'll see of #82...

...because he leads off this scan with the final of the 23 RCs I needed, Ultimate Collection (#032/275).  That means he joins Avant as players whose rookie collections I completed today, along with the next guy, QB/WR Devin Gardner on his 2015 Topps Field Access base, a.k.a. his only RC appearance on my checklist.  A 2016 Certified card of another QB, Jake Rudock (#794/999), puts me three away from completing another player's run.

And now we can close out a fun look at Michigan rookies with 10 cards from the outstanding 2017 class.  TE Jake Butt and WR Amara Darboh star on Donruss Optic cards that bookend a pair of pairs.  Cowboys DT Taco Charlton is the #1 attraction here on cards from Classics and Prestige, with both brands clearly in top form.  Chiefs WR Jehu Chesson gives us a look at a couple other brands in Certified (#513/999) and Panini Phoenix, which brings the shiny in droves!

Here's one last defensive pair, starting with all-everything guy Jabrill Peppers from Prestige again plus Select.  I sure do wish Panini didn't have a football monopoly because I'd like to see other brands and their designs, but since I have to put up with that I'm thankful for how great Prestige is year in and year out.  Lastly I dug up a pair of Ravens DE Chris Wormley:  another example of Panini's Phoenix plus my first of Unparalleled, which is a bit busy but plenty shiny.

I had a blast buying and posting this big group, especially the '48 Bowman card, of course, and I'm happy to announce that more rookies are on their way to me from Sportlots.  Before then I still have lots of COMC football content to get to!

3/18/18 card show report: working hard for Wolverines

As I explained on TMV this evening the second show I hit up last month was a bit different--different location, different sellers.  While that ultimately meant that what I took home was less than usual, I still found a few Wolverines to add to the ol' collection.  This time it was a 100% football affair.  Check it out:

First up is a pair of 2017 RCs:  Denver TE Jake Butt from Donruss and Cleveland...I dunno, LB/DB?...Jabrill Peppers out of Prizm.  That's my third of Butt (that's right, I've almost got a Dr. Mephisto special!) and second of Peppers, and I have to say I was surprised to find the latter in a box of relatively cheap stuff!

It also came as a bit of a shock to me to find this insert of a guy who's both a Michigan alum and current Detroit Lion.  Evoking images of '94 Finest baseball Here's backup QB Jake Rudock on a 2016 Donruss Optic Red and Yellow parallel, which probably also could have been called "Primary Colors".  I hope the Lions let him go and he gets a chance to start somewhere since the franchise continues to think highly of Matthew Stafford.

My other insert pickup was this Charles Woodson 2005 Playoff Honors Class Reunion that pairs the school's upcoming commencement speaker (I might have to try to make it to that!) with 2018 HOFer Randy Moss.  Both were drafted in 1998's first round with Woodson, who'll join Moss soon, going fourth overall, and the enigmatic but talented Marshall WR lasting until the 21st pick.  Moss is the first from that draft to be enshrined but won't be the last with Woodson and Peyton Manning sure to follow.

Just as I did on the baseball side of things I added a solid hit to tie things up nicely.  In this case it was a 2006 Donruss Elite Passing the Torch Autographs auto (#22/99) of PC guy Braylon Edwards, my 72nd hit of the outspoken WR.  This is the solo version of Braylon's signature but of course the famed Passing the Torch set features dual cards as well, and Edwards was paired up with another former first-round WR for Cleveland, Paul Warfield, which kind of sucks since he played at Ohio State!  Then again, Warfield had twice as much success as Edwards in terms of years played and TD receptions, so there's that.  Anyway, it's a fun new autograph on one of my favorite designs, so I was happy to end my day by adding it to my purchase.

And now stay tuned for one more show recap covering the one from earlier this month, one that was a bit kinder in quantity.

2017 trade package #8: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

You wouldn't know it by the score, but today's victory over Cincinnati was a close one for a large part of the game thanks to a pile of mistakes by the Wolverines.  Still, a win's a win, plus Michigan seems to have escaped the game with everyone healthy as far as I can tell, so I'm more than satisfied.  2-0!

Let's celebrate with a third straight 2017 trade package from buddy of the blog Canadoug, a.k.a. Doug from Sports Cards From the Dollar Store.  A couple months ago he teased me with a partial image of a huge pull from his 2017 Score Football break, then sent that very card plus lots more football content (with a side of hockey) my way, and now I'm finally getting around to showing it all off.

Let's start with the sport of the moment, football:

From another of Doug's breaks, a box of 1989 Panini football stickers, here's career Packer LB John Anderson, whose RC I showed off in this post last April.  My brother and I were big into the baseball versions but not football, and frankly I can't even remember if they were available around here or what.  Anyway, it's nice to see a defensive guy here.

Next is a pair representing QB Tom Brady.  On the left is some pattern or another from 2015 Topps High Tek (which should just be "Tek" in my opinion since it sounds better), while on the right, Twelve is joined on a 2017 Score insert by since-departed RB Blount (off to be ineffective away from New England again) and out-for-the-year receiver Edelman.

Now let's take things back a bit to 1970 and a vintage OPC CFL issue of RB Dave Raimey.  This is my second Raimey as I have his card from the following year, also thanks to Doug, and it features a fantastic photo on a colorful design!

Now we'll get back to the present and this year's Prestige product.  This Panini offering almost always features college unis and excellent designs, and I'm happy to say that this year is par for the course.  Better yet, this Xtra Points parallel of shutdown corner Jourdan Lewis is Blue!  I'm looking forward to grabbing the base versions of all the first-year Wolverines from this one.

Speaking of football rookies, here's a four spot of those courtesy of Doug's 2017 Score break.  Once again I'm a big fan of this low-end Panini product and its simple design plus college action photos.  He was able to pull four extras, giving me my first RCs of TE extraordinaire Butt, DL beast Charlton, all-everything Peppers, and the also effective Wormley.  I'm excited about the Peppers the most because his college career means he'll get plenty of NFL hype, upping the prices of his cards...

...cards like this one, a Red parallel from the same product.  That looks nice, but I'm not the biggest fan of the color.  Maybe Doug could find something a bit different...

Yep, that'll do!  I was very happy for him to have pulled this because I'm sure it would have covered the price of the box, and now I'm even happier that he was generous enough to send it my way.  Of course I've wanted a Peppers auto since they were made and now I'm thrilled to own one with a college photo, low numbering, and a blue border to boot!  The first Cleveland Brown I'll be rooting for in quite a while is the 205th member of my football hits collection and I couldn't be happier to have him.

So why not throw in another to make it twice as nice?  Completing the tri-Pep-ta, here's an excellent maize & blue-theme Panini Father's Day College Memorabilia relic of the Cracked Ice variety.  Some of the Father's Day manurelics are fine, but I'm happier here with this blue college jersey.  Going from zero to two hits of Jabrill sure is exciting!

And now we'll finish up with a handful of hockey:

No doubt from one of Doug's favorite dollar repacks, this Knuble/Turco pairing hails from 2008-09 Upper Deck Victory, something like UD's answer to Score.

And finally, from last year we have an Upper Deck Trilogy Rainbow Green jersey (numbered 238/629) of Columbus D Jack Johnson, a former fan favorite in Ann Arbor.  It features a larger-than-usual jersey swatch, and a bold red one from the Blue Jackets' 'Murica-esque sweaters to boot.  That makes 13 hits of Johnson in my Michigan Hockey collection.

What an awesome wealth of Wolverines, Doug, and thanks again especially for the amazing Peppers stuff!  Once again I hope to return the favor soon.

Turning the NFL draft up to 11

11 #NFLDraft picks. #ThisIsMichigan#GoBlue #ProBlue pic.twitter.com/OcunrF48tz

— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) April 30, 2017

If you weren't paying attention this past weekend, Michigan enjoyed a historically excellent draft, seeing a program record 11 Wolverines get selected (including two first-rounders), most of any school in 2017.  That total equals Michigan's production from 2013-16 and is the highest since back-to-back drafts with seven Wolverines selected in 2007 and '08.  In addition, out of the eight players that went undrafted, seven signed with NFL teams as free agents, meaning a crazy number of 18 new alumni could appear on pro rosters this year.  What a difference a few years make!

In celebration I thought I'd take a quick look at where and by whom each player was drafted and where they can be found on early cardboard in terms of rookie cards and autographs.  NOTE:  I own none of the cards pictured below, though hopefully I'll be able to add a few of them eventually!

Jabrill Peppers (Everything)

Cleveland, Round 1, pick 25 (#25 overall)
RCs:  Elite Draft Picks;  Score
Autographs:  Elite Draft Picks;  Leaf Metal Draft;  Leaf Ultimate Draft;  Panini Contenders;  Score

Taco Charlton (DL)

Dallas, Round 1, pick 28 (#28)

RCs:  Score
Autographs:  Elite Draft Picks;  Leaf Draft;  Leaf Metal Draft;  Leaf Ultimate Draft;  Panini Contenders;  Score

Chris Wormley (DL)

Baltimore, Round 3, pick 10 (#74)

RCs:  Score
Autographs:  Elite Draft Picks;  Leaf Draft;  Panini Contenders;  SAGE HIT Premier Draft;  Score

Jourdan Lewis (CB)

Dallas, Round 3, pick 28 (#92)

RCs:  Elite Draft Picks
Autographs:  None

Delano Hill (S)

Seattle, Round 3, pick 31 (#95)

RCs:  None
Autographs:  None

Amara Darboh, (WR)

Seattle, Round 3, pick 42 (#106)

RCs:  Elite Draft Picks;  Score
Autographs:  Elite Draft Picks;  Leaf Draft;  Leaf Metal Draft;  Leaf Ultimate Draft;  Panini Contenders;  SAGE HIT Premier Draft;  Score

Ben Gedeon (LB)

Minnesota, Round 4, pick 14 (#120)

RCs:  None
Autographs:  Leaf Draft

Ryan Glasgow (DL)

Cincinnati, Round 4, pick 32 (#138)

RCs:  None
Autographs:  Elite Draft Picks;  Leaf Draft;  Panini Contenders

Jehu Chesson (WR)

Kansas City, Round 4, pick 33 (#139)

RCs:  Elite Draft Picks;  Score
Autographs:  Elite Draft Picks;  Leaf Draft;  Leaf Metal Draft;  Leaf Ultimate Draft;  Panini Contenders;  Score

Jake Butt (TE)

Denver, Round 5, pick 1 (#145)

RCs:  Elite Draft Picks;  Score
Autographs:  Elite Draft Picks;  Leaf Draft;  Leaf Metal Draft;  Leaf Ultimate Draft;  Panini Contenders;  Score

Jeremy Clark (S)

Credit:  maizenbrew.com

New York Jets, Round 6, pick 13 (#197)

RCs:  None
Autographs:  None

Undrafted free agents:

Kenny Allen (K)

Credit:  maizenbrew.com

Baltimore

RCs:  None
Autographs:  None

Matt Godin (DL)

Credit:  maizenbrew.com

Houston

RCs:  None
Autographs:  None

Kyle Kalis (OL)

Credit:  touchthebanner.com

Washington

RCs:  None
Autographs:  None

Erik Magnuson (OL)

Credit:  mgoblog.com

San Francisco

RCs:  None
Autographs:  None

De'Veon Smith (RB)

Miami

RCs:  Score
Autographs:  Elite Draft Picks;  Leaf Draft;  Leaf Metal Draft;  Leaf Ultimate Draft;  Panini Contenders

Channing Stribling (CB)

Cleveland

RCs:  None
Autographs:  Elite Draft Picks;  Leaf Draft;  Panini Contenders

Dymonte Thomas (S)

Denver

RCs:  None
Autographs:  None