2018 COMC purchases: whateva, I'll do what Avant!

It's been a few weeks between posts, so today I'm finally getting around to showing off the first bunch of pickups from my COMC purchases near the end of last year.

Tonight is all about sure-handed possession receiver Jason Avant.  I'm not sure why things worked out this way but he's one of my top football guys in terms of quantity and quality.  Click on his name in the first sentence of this paragraph to see what I mean.

Speaking of quantity of quality, here's 10 great new hits for his collection:

First up is a five spot of vertical cards:  four autographs and a jersey relic.  The signatures hail from sets produced during his draft/rookie year of 2006 and include:

• Bowman Chrome Rookie Autographs Blue Refractor (#75/75), my third in the autograph rainbow
• Donruss Classics Significant Signatures Gold (#020/100), a fine example from that product
• Select Autographs Red (#02/25), a nice combo of foil and the color red
• 2006 Ultimate Collection RC (#247/275), a relatively cheap pickup from a high-end product

Meanwhile the jersey is one of his three versions of a 2011 Topps Triple Threads Unity Relics Emerald parallel (#01/18).  I thought I had others of Avant from this set but got him confused with Steve Breaston.

Next is a fun trio of horizontal stuff, all from 2006.  The first two are from Panini's fairly confusing Gridiron Gear product where a bunch of the variations on the cards were numbered to 50, making them hard to differentiate.  Fortunately I was able to deduce that the two you see are a Rookie Jerseys Combos Prime Autographs dual jersey auto (#21/50) and Rookie Jerseys Jumbo Swatch Autographs jersey auto (#035/150).  The "prime" pieces look great with the sticker 'graph on the first, and the signed pull-out swatch on the latter is a fun feature.

Joining those is one of the more mundane cards this evening (along with the Triple Threads above), a 2006 Leaf Rookies and Stars Longevity Target Sapphire Parallel jersey (#042/249).  That's an absolute mouthful from another one of those often confusing products (is it the regular Rookies and Stars Longevity parallel or the set named Longevity itself?).  The blue (you can call it "sapphire" all you want) looks great, though the Eagles' green kind of gets in the way.  Not bad for $0.88!

Last up tonight is not just one but two 1/1s, my first of the former Wolverines WR.  Up top is an autographed plate, the Cyan version, from Jason's 2006 SAGE Autographs.  A quick count tells me this is just the 13th of my 117 1/1s to be signed, and it's a Michigan uni card!

I was also stoked to grab Avant's Black plate from 2012 Topps since it's nice to have something more "mainstream" to pair with the college-only SAGE version.

Nine of these 10 cards came from one seller who was either a big collector of Avant or an Eagles fan at one point.  All but the R&S Longevity jersey came to me for a bit over $28, and I feel pretty good with paying an average of $3 per card for what you see here!

Before this post Avant sat on the cusp of a milestone at 49 hits so I was glad to get him over that hump and up to 59.  That jumps him to sixth place overall and makes him the ninth player to make it to 50.  Denard Robinson is likely to be the player that will get the club membership into double digits so keep an eye out for that!

As for his overall PC, I now count 112 different cards, more than half of which are hits.  I wasn't kidding about that quantity of quality, guys!

Next time I'll have more COMC football purchases, though I haven't decided which group to post yet.

2018 Sportlots purchases: wide world of WRs

It may be a new year but I still have lots of 2018 pickups to get through.  Before I show off some bigtime scores from COMC let's have a look at my latest Sportlots haul.

I'll open things up with a group of WRs:

Former Iggle Jason Avant is celebrating finally crossing the century mark thanks to this 2006-07 four spot.  The Michigan uni card is a 2006 SAGE base and the next two are from that year as well:  a Score Glossy parallel of his RC and UD insert.  A Black parallel of his 2007 Topps Draft Chrome card closes things out.

Steve Breaston went from the Maize & Blue to wearing red for most of his career.  The outstanding 2007 SAGE HIT base is actually a dupe (one of a few this time) so it'll be heading Jeff's way eventually.  The rest is mostly a mix of Panini and Topps base from 2009-12.  Another Score Glossy parallel (from 2011) pops up here, and you'll see a few more in this series.  The 2012 Bowman design (card #6) was so different from the rest of the product's history that I can't help but be interested in it.  And a 2011 Topps Rising Rookies Draft Selection insert reminds you that the dynamic playmaker was selected in 2007's fifth round.

Before his disappointing NFL career and saying stupid things about the program post-retirement, Braylon Edwards was largely a force in Ann Arbor.  Here he is on a trio of college uni cards from 2005 Press Pass brands.  The first is one of his two appearances in the main product's base set while the others are his SE base appearance and a Gold parallel of that card.

It's a-me, this here blog's namesake!  I didn't find too many Manninghams this time, but as I headed into this purchase with 199 cards of #86 I was happy to get over the 200-card milestone.  Press Pass's 2008 Legends set is one of my favorites in that brand's run, and a Primetime Players insert from the main brand also looks great with its college action.  Those are joined by another 2011 Score Glossy parallel.  You can ignore the 2011 Playoff Contenders base as I apparently already had it!  Or not, since it looks great in my opinion.

Former #1 David Terrell comes in first today with the most new cards at 32 (though you'll have to stay tuned to see the guys with the most new additions in this series).  I was thrilled to nearly even him up with the always-linked Anthony Thomas, and when all is said and done in this bunch they'll be within a single card!

This group kicks off with a couple 2001 Press Pass cards, including the very cool SE Old School insert.  Then we move on to a bunch of 2002 cardboard from Panini/Donruss, Fleer, and Pacific.  I tried to go with a mix of quantity and quality, though in general the former won out.

The 2001 rookie came with a lot of hype so he appeared in lots of 2002 products as well.  Here we have three more Pacific offerings (including a Red parallel of the previously-seen Adrenaline), a couple Playoff brands, Score, Topps, and UD.  The photo on the Score base is terrific and the kind of thing I think we should see more of when it comes to receivers.

I told you that the 2002 group was big--Upper Deck's XL is the right name to finish up that year.  2003 is then largely represented by well-known names like Fleer Platinum, Score, Topps/Chrome/Total, and Upper Deck MVP, though UD's serial-numbered Finite is a relative outlier.  Then the 2004 Fleer Tradition you see last is a Blue parallel.

A Topps Total is the last of the 2004s and then the rest (of the horizontals) are '05s.  The Score and Throwback Threads cards note Terrell signing with the Pats in early 2005 but he never played for them, instead suiting up as a Bronco for one game that season, the final regular season tilt for Denver; he failed to catch his lone target.  The lone horizontal card in the bunch is a 2002 UD Piece of History base that looks like it could benefit from a more zoomed-out photo.

Former Giants great Amani Toomer joins Braylon as a program malcontent in this post, but man was he fun to watch before all of that.  He also joins the milestone club today by topping the 200-card threshold at 208.  Since I obviously already had a lot of his stuff I tried to go higher-end this time and succeeded, I think.  Cards from Flair Showcase, Bowman's Best, Quantum Leaf, and Topps Gold Label are the highlights of this pretty nice scan.

Football's 2000 Bowman's Best is one of my all-time favorite designs and I prefer it over the '01 version, though that's not exactly chopped liver.  A 2002 Pacific Exclusive and '04 Absolute Memorabilia (retail, unfortunately) base keep up the shiny theme while we get typically excellent outings from Fleer's 2005 and '06 Ultra designs.

Last up today is a very college-centric scan starring Marquise Walker, a receiver who put up 1000+ yards and 11 TDs during my freshman year in Ann Arbor, 2001.  At 61 cards he's my smallest football PC of a player that doesn't play defense, but since he never did play a down in the League it stands to reason that he didn't appear on a bevy of cards.

What I did land was pretty fun, though.  Once again Press Pass features prominently as I chased as many college uni cards I could find, and here five of the seven are exactly that, so, success!  I've long admired the Big Numbers insert, especially the die-cut versions, and that's my favorite of the bunch here, but the other Press Pass cards are plenty nice to look at too.

That's it for today but I still have plenty more football goodness to show off, even while the playoffs are still in full gear!

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!

2018 COMC purchases: PC partying like it's 1999 in red, white, and blue

It's time for the big finish in this latest series of COMC pickups, and I promise you the meaning of the title will soon be clear.

This time I managed to score at least one card of all of my football PC guys except for Tom Brady, since his prices are never reasonable and you guys send a nice amount of his stuff in trade packages because you're awesome.

Here's the results of a couple more months of COMC digging:

Just one Adrian Arrington this time, a 2008 Leaf Limited Silver Spotlight (#55/99) parallel, but that's great since it knocks another card off his checklist (79/370).  I now have 80 unique cards of the former WR.

You already saw those top two Jason Avant cards in my RC post from a few weeks ago, and I'll remind you that they were the last two of his first-years I needed, so that was an exciting development.  To those I added a 2006 Triple Threads Red triple jersey/auto, also from his rookie year, to one of my highest quality player collections of football hits, one that includes two other cards from that year's version of Topps' high-end offering.  Hit #49 of the possession receiver and American Ninja Warrior contestant is my 92nd overall Avant.

One of my PCs that benefited most from this latest shipment is a third of four straight WRs (out of seven in this post), Steve Breaston.  First I found a couple numbered parallels:  2007 Playoff NFL Playoffs Gold Metalized (#021/149) and 2010 Panini Plates and Patches Silver (#010/100).  Then I had even better luck in finding him on signature cards four times:  2007 Playoff NFL Playoffs Signatures Red (#014/100), 2007 SP Rookie Threads Rookie Exclusive Autographs (#083/100), 2007 Leaf Limited auto RC (#34/99), and 2009 SP Threads Stitch in Time Autographs.  Between the uniform and ink I even came up with a couple patriotic cards for the holiday!

These new additions give me 31 hits of the former Cardinal and 99 total cards in his collection.

I promise I'll get to other positions in a minute, but alphabetically this is where we are with our fourth receiver in a row, Braylon Edwards.  No hits today but plenty of numbered insert goodness!  The first two are Elite Series inserts from 2007 Elite:  Black (#334/400) and Gold (#0130/1000) versions.  Next is a 2007 Topps Chrome White Refractor (#391/869) that calls back to my previous inserts post where I showed off a few more of those.  A 2008 trio includes Donruss Threads Retail Blue (#339/350), Topps Triple Threads Emerald (#120/149), and 2008 Leaf Limited Bronze Spotlight (#038/125).  Last up is a 2009 Donruss Classics Timeless Tributes Silver (#067/100) parallel.  Those Elite cards are great but I have to give the nod to the White Refractor today!

The productive college receiver sits comfortably among my player collections with a new total of 243 cards.

Here's our first non-WR of the day.  QB Brian Griese certainly made the most of his quartet of cards if you ask me.  A super cool acetate/die-cut insert called Star Studded from 2000 Fleer Focus leads things off, and it has to be one of my top five cards from this whole purchase.  It's followed by the last example of 2000 Quantum Leaf's Double Team insert (#0779/1500) from this purchase, one where Griese understandably plays second fiddle to HOF RB Terrell Davis, whose 1997 and '98 campaigns were legendary.

Last up for the inserts is a 2003 Topps Chrome Black Refractor (#351/599) that notes Griese heading home to play for the Dolphins in 2003, the same team his father led for his whole NFL career.

Those cool new additions are joined by Brian's fantastic signature (and number inscription!) on a 1999 Donruss Private Signings auto card.  The design's a bit simple (and I could do without the purple) but NFL penmanship doesn't get much better than that!  Griese's hit total moves up to 17 and his overall PC now stands at a healthy 124.

Stud CB Leon Hall accounts for half of the Michigan uniform cards I have to show off today, though you already saw those--2007 Donruss Elite and Ultra--in the rookies post.  Those are joined by a couple more rookie-year cards: a pair of parallels.  First is a Contenders Playoff Ticket (#33/99), giving me another example of that fun insert in my collection.  Sometimes it's nice not to have to chase 20 different versions of a card!  Speaking of cards with lots of parallels, I paired that with yet another 2007 Topps Chrome White Refractor (#156/869), the last one I came up with.

These four put Hall's total up to a respectable 83 with some help from Sportlots incoming.

Don't call it a Hart attack because the only Mike Hart I picked up this time was his 2008 Upper Deck Icons RC you previously saw.  That's card #122 of the former Colts RB.

It was another good package for hits leader Chad Henne, if not for Hart.  Just one insert leads off this group, a 2008 Bowman Chrome Rookies Bronze (#195/329) parallel that looks a bit more like orange in the scan.  Then hit #1 is one of the best cards in the entire purchase, a 2014 Totally Certified Awesome Autographs Blue auto (#04/15).  I showed off the Gold version back in May and that one's numbered to 5 while this school colors-appropriate variation is a bit less rare, but all the more patriotic for it.  USA!  USA!

Hit number two is a 2008 Donruss Gridiron Gear dual jersey/ball (#18/25) that was a last-minute addition as I missed shipping a few cards in my original package and decided to fill out a smaller one.  It's my fifth hit from a brand with some cool cards that year.

The other two are a couple more examples from the plethora of variations out of 2008 SPx.  As it turns out the top card ("Star and Position Dual 149", #045/159) was new to me as I'd believed but the other ("SPX Dual 199") was already in my collection.  That's easy to do when you have 11 cards from the same confusing product!

No worries, Henne still leads the way with 118 hits, though the missed opportunity at another addition keeps him in second place overall at 271 total cards.

Henne's college/pro teammate Jake Long popped up twice in this package.  The first was his previously seen 2008 UD Masterpieces rookie while I also came up with an autograph from the same year's SP Rookie Threads SP Authentics (#025/244).  The sticker auto is my 77th hit of the former #1 overall pick, and 118th card in his collection.

Let's keep this 2008 draft class run going with blog namesake Mario Manningham!  Our fifth WR today previously appeared in the RCs post thanks to the cards bookending this scan, hailing from 2008 Donruss Classics and Ultimate Collection, ending my search for his 23 RCs.  To those I added a 2008 Finest Moments Black Refractor (#88/99).  This parallel of the regular insert highlights Super Mario's excellent game-winning catch with a couple minutes remaining in the rivalry game at Michigan State in 2007.

With this new trio I'm nearing 200-many Manninghams with a new total of 193.

My Chris Perry haul was anything but, but that doesn't mean he got completely shut out this time.  Here's Chris on another Playoff Contenders Playoff Ticket insert (#04/99), this time from the 2008 iteration of the product.  And that's not the last one you'll see today either!  Before we get there, this is card #87 in my Perry collection, and I'm looking forward to getting him over the century mark with some incoming Sportlots items.

MGoBlog's brief celebratory 4th of July post includes a fun highlight video of our next player, Denard Robinson, which reminded me once again of how Shoelace remains the most electric player I've witnessed in-person in any sport.  It's no wonder I keep collecting his stuff like this pair of 2013 hits.  On the left is a Panini Prizm Autographs auto, and like a fine wine that's paired with a Limited Rookie Jumbo Jerseys RC Logo Autographs dual jersey auto (#78/99).  This shiny pair came in at a paltry $3 total and gives me 82 total Denards, 38 of which are hits.

Since you can't have one without the other I'll handle David Terrell and Anthony Thomas together.  Also you already saw all four of these cards in the football rookies post.  Terrell's 2001 Pacific Dynagon Retail puts him at 87 cards while the A-Train rides again with 2001 Fleer Focus, Private Stock, and Upper Deck Rookie FX over the century mark to 101.

Today's penultimate player is the final WR, Amani Toomer.  I turned up four very attractive parallels of him, starting with my favorite, a 2000 Bowman's Best Acetate Parallel (#239/250).  It's hard to tell by the scan but these live up to their names and are see-through, which makes them look fantastic.  I love when searching for new PC additions introduces me to nice looking stuff I didn't know about!

Joining that one from the year 2000 is a Topps Chrome Refractor, done up in a nice shade of blue.  We've definitely got all the colors of the flag today and those colors don't run!  That includes a very red 2001 E-X Essential Credentials (#190/299) parallel.  I recall the name and multiple versions from E-X's earlier iterations, and this one is a great example.

Last up is a 2004 Playoff Contenders Playoff Ticket (#137/150), which is an old enough version that it's numbered to 150 instead of the more common 99.  Toomer's Giants didn't reach the playoffs in 2003 but he did place second in TD receptions with 5.  And speaking of numbers I now have 104 different cards of Toomer.

Last up as usual is the GOAT, Charles Woodson.  You can see here that I finished my run of Playoff Tickets with the legendary DB in the form of this 2015 version (#031/199), which also carries different serial numbering.  The design is perfect for his Raiders uniform after his return to the team that drafted him.  And though it's just one card it ends up being important as it puts him alone at the top of my football PCs with 272 cards!  Not today, Chad Henne....

Once again I had a blast hunting down and scanning all of these new additions to show off, and the work paid off handsomely as I'm sure you saw over the course of this series.  With today's additions my football hits total 1297 so I have another fun milestone coming up, plus one I originally thought I'd hit today until my lack of attention led to a Chad Henne double:  2000 hits in my entire Michigan PC.  That's right, with the 13 football items I added today I'm now sitting at 1999 cards out of the four major sports plus a few miscellaneous areas.  No worries, though, as I have something fun to show off soon to hit that mark, so stay tuned!

Besides that you can look forward to my latest huge haul from Sportlots once everything is in and ready.  Until then I hope everyone has a safe and happy Independence Day!

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!