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 trade package #11: Chronicles of Fuji

If it wasn't already obvious from the eight other times I've posted packages from him here (or the 10 on TMV), Mark of the Chronicles of Fuji is a person everyone should get to trade with.  Not only did he give a nice boost to a bunch of my favorite baseball collections, he also went out of his way to include some great Michigan stuff as well!

Such as 80% of the Fab Five, looking extra fab in their college unis on some great Classic and Signature Rookies cardboard.  The SR Kromax cards look especially great and I'll likely peel them at some point.

It may look like Fuji Bipped me with five cards of the late Robert "Tractor" Traylor, but these are actually all different.  From what I can tell, cards #1 and 3-5 are base versions (#s 4, 46, 63, and 64) with the latter two featuring Stephon Marbury and Tracy McGrady, respectively, and the second is a much thicker version of card #36, leading me to believe it's a parallel.  More Michigan uniform goodness!

Speaking of which, how about this bunch?  I was extra motivated (e.g. at all) to post these today after Michigan's dismantling of Nebraska yesterday.  Most of these 90s/early 00s guys went on to some kind of NFL career, with Jenkins and Walker the ones who didn't amount to much.  That acetate card of Amani Toomer from 1996 Clear Assets is ridiculously cool and I'll be on the lookout for more of my guys now that I'm aware of it.  Marquise Walker was the other PC guy to get a bump today thanks to a 2002 SAGE base.  What are you doing, Marquise?  You're a WR, not a QB!

As was the case beginning with this evening's TMV post, the hits kept coming!  Braylon is seen here on jerseys from 2005 Upper Deck and Fleer's 2006 Hot Prospects.  That reminds me--before they won last Thursday, was 2006 the last time the Browns won a game?  Sure feels like it!  That's 73 hits of the former #1 WR.

Next is longtime QB Brian Griese, and I can easily call this my favorite card in the bunch.  a 2003 Leaf Certified Materials Mirror Red jersey (#031/150), I'd love this even if it wasn't that nicer (and rarer) parallel.  The Donruss/Leaf/Playoff brands were responsible for some gorgeous designs for their hits around this time, and this one is simple proof of that.  I'm thrilled to add it as my 10th relic of Griese and 18th hit of his overall.

And we'll end things on a high note with a trio of hits of a guy we already saw, Giants WR Amani Toomer.  The solo jersey is a somewhat early example of a relic card from 2001 SP Game Used Edition and stars a nice Giants blue swatch.  Then there's the big highlight in the form of a helmet piece from the same year's UD Game Gear Helmets offering.  I count just four other examples of that piece of equipment in my collection so it's definitely a rare treat, not to mention a fantastic looking card.  

Last up is a shared dual jersey relic from 2002 Playoff Prestige (#036/500) that also includes former Giants (and well-traveled) QB Kerry Collins (too bad it couldn't have been Todd instead!).  While Collins never tasted glory it was Toomer that would earn a ring with New York in 2007.  Thanks to Mark I can now claim 24 hits of the Giants WR great.

Once again thanks for your generosity and attention to detail, Fuji!  I hope I can respond in kind before long with some west coast winners.

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!

2017 COMC purchases: new year, Rookie Blue year

As I mentioned at the end of my last post we're headed away from the court and ice and onto the gridiron for the rest of this series.  Today's additions are all heading to my football RC collection as I continue to chase almost 1500 cards of almost 200 players (both of which are numbers that will look hilariously out-of-date before much longer!).  14 cards, 11 players--let's do it!

First of all, it's been quite a while since I scanned these so I don't know why this one only has five cards instead of six like the next one.

Anyway, we'll start with FB B.J. Askew on a gorgeous 2003 Donruss Classics card (#296/900) that combines an excellent design with my favorite type of photo.  Current RC count:  21/27

Next is one of the few first-years I still needed of sure-handed WR Jason Avant, this one out of Topps' 2006 Turkey Red product.  I think I preferred TR as an insert instead of its own product, but at least the cards look nice.  Current RC count:  20/22

Former Lions OL Jeff Backus is the star of our other Michigan uni card for the day.  The 18th overall pick of the 2001 draft (one behind future HOFer Steve Hutchinson) is seen here in a set called Topps Debut (#0145/1499), which is just my second rookie of his.  Current RC count:  2/5

The last player in the scan is former national champ and journeyman NFL QB Brian Griese, who comes to us from two decades ago in 1998.  These hail from Leaf Rookies and Stars and Playoff Momentum (the Hobby version).  More on the latter in just a bit.  I'm getting to the point where the ones I still need are starting to get pretty rare.  Current RC count:  32/39

Recently retired Jets/Patriots LB and tackling machine David Harris kicks off this scan with the always confusing Leaf Rookies and Stars Longevity product (from 2007), as always not to be confused with the base product parallel of the same name.  These shinier cards have the same numbering (/999) as the non-Longevity product, and this one is #612/999.  Current RC count:  22/24

For a guy who appears on as many rookies as he does I don't really get to show off many new cards of the next player, TE Bennie Joppru, so I'm glad to have a pair of them today.  On the left is the weird 2003 Playoff Hogg Heaven product (#0213/1000) which looks even worse when compared to the excellent Playoff Honors (#073/550) on the right.  By the way, I must be paying more attention than I usually do because I actually noticed the fact that he's wearing two different jersey numbers there!  Current RC count:  22/32

I done didn't mess up the scan of the next player, TE A-A-Ron Shea--his 2000 Playoff Momentum RC (#188/750) was just a bit too shiny to scan very well.  I'd call it a fun reminder of the craziness and abundance of choice from the early part of the previous decade.  Current RC count:  7/15

Now it's time to move up a year with David Terrell and another somewhat confusing card.  For whatever reason both of his base issues from Upper Deck's 2001 UD Graded set are considered RCs; both are #52 and are #d /500.  The only difference is the photo used, with the variation being a portrait as opposed to what you see above (which is #354/500).  Sometimes cards hurt my brain.  Current RC count:  26/53

The last guy in this scan is another star WR, Marquise Walker, and he comes to us in this close-up from 2002 Sweet Spot (#0696/1050).  Walker's card in the set is special in that pretty much the rest of the first-years are action shots while he gets a nice portrait.  Current RC count:  29/50

I was originally going to end the post there but then I decided to include three more cards that you'll be seeing in a future post that focuses on my player collections:

Shoelace makes a non-remotely-rare appearance here on one of the last few rookies of him I still needed, 2003 Absolute (#181/199).  While I still have to track down the retail version I was glad to have found this shinier, rainbow foil version first.  And I paired it with a few things I think some of you will find pretty interesting!  Current RC count:  24/27

And here's a pair of aces I was excited to land.  Well, aces in the sense that they're RCs of the legendary Charles Woodson, at least.  The 1998 Collector's Edge Masters card (#1615/5000) is decent, though not my cup of tea.  But the Playoff Momentum Retail card on its right is atrocious and a good illustration of why I hate hobby/retail versions.  For comparison's sake, here's the Hobby card next to the Retail from above:

U wot m8?  Playoff is a brand I generally liked but what the hell were they thinking making a decent hobby version, then covering up half the card with a butt-fugly football pattern that was probably made in MS Paint?  The card on the left is pre-2006 Topps and the right one is everything after.  The hobby card is Scott Baio on Charles in Charge and the retail is Scott Baio, Fox News commentator.  Woof!  Current RC count:  39/43

That's it for today but I still have plenty to show you in the next three posts so stay tuned!

2018 trade package #1: Scribbled Ink

Fellow Michigan resident (if not necessarily college fan) Paul from Scribbled Ink was nice enough to toss a few Wolverines into the first trade package he's sent my way:

The basketball portion begins and ends with Sauce Castillo, a.k.a. Nik Stauskas.  The Mississauga, Canada native was recently joined by fellow basketball alum Caris Levert in Brooklyn.  This is Nik's RC from Panini's 2014-15 Prestige set, made when he had been drafted in the first round by Sacramento.

And the football goods are impressively 100% college uni certified!  PC guy Mike Hart and should-be future HOF CB Ty Law join in the fun from Topps' outstanding debut of Magic from 2009.  The product peaked early and was never the same as this beautiful original.

John Navarre is a guy whose cards I would pick up more often if his prices weren't so confusingly astronomical.  I have traded with someone in the past who claims to be a cousin of his, so maybe his family is driving up prices.  Anyway, that means I was plenty glad to see this 2004 SAGE HIT base of the former QB.

And lastly, the Marquise Walker RC from 2002 Pacific Heads Update was my favorite of the bunch.  Why?  The fact that I didn't have it would be the obvious reason, but more importantly, when I went to check it off of my checklist I found I hadn't included it for some reason.  That made me go back through his 2002 RCs and led to my adding two cards I was lacking on the checklist for some reason.  Crisis averted, thanks to a fun college uni RC, my 28th of the ex-WR's 50 (the correct total!) first-years.

Paul, thanks again for these great additions as well as the Tigers/PCs I showed off on TMV this evening.  I've already got a nice pile I'm working on for your return and I'm hoping to be able to give them to you in-person at a show soon!

9/2/17 card show report: Bo knows

You're here for the Wolverines content from the September show I attended, and that's exactly what I have for you:

I don't get to show off Bo Schembechler cards here too often so this was a fun pickup.  It actually comes from a baseball product, Panini's 2013 Golden Age, and while I'm not a huge fan of non-baseball stuff in baseball products (cough cough A&G and Gypsy Queen cough cough) I'm happy to see Bo land somewhere that might get his name out there to younger generations.  This was an easy quarter pickup for me.

The only $1 I picked up for myself is this 2002 SAGE HIT Autographs Emerald auto of former Michigan WR Marquise Walker.  It's not exactly my favorite design, with a grainy-looking photo that may have been printed on an old HP DeskJet, and a way-too zoomed-in one at that, but I still like that it's a Michigan uni card, and I love any autographs of Wolverines.  As is often the case with SAGE the sticker doesn't scan very well, but I still got my money's worth for my 22nd Walker hit.

And now, the big purchase of the day:

I saw this in the seller's showcase and--

Sorry, just a sec...

::grabs hammer and chisel, uses both::

Aaaahhhhhh, MUCH better!  Sometimes (read:  most of the time) grading is just stupid.  Who gives two rips about an 8.5?

Anyway, I saw this in the seller's showcase and he wanted $30 for it, but better yet when I tacked it on he took $5 off my total purchase to make it an even $50.  So what do we have here?  It's only my first hit (finally) of young Wolverwing star Dylan Larkin!  The ultra-talented forward spent the 2014-15 season with Michigan, then jumped to the Wings when they took him in the first round that year, apparently making the right decision since he's been with the big club both seasons since.

Because of that, I've wanted a nice hit of his for a long time, but had some difficulty since young stars can command high prices.  $30 isn't exactly chump change but the timing was right for this super cool manu-letter patch auto, which is even better since it's the first letter of his nameplate.  Will I try to complete that project?  Maybe.  But I'm very proud to have this one if nothing else.

What's even cooler is that Larkin here is the 50th member of my hockey PC, a milestone I didn't even realize until I went to add him to the spreadsheet.  Great card, nice bonus!

I may hit next month's show, but until then you should get to see some fun COMC pickups before much longer.

2016 COMC purchases: happy Rookie Blue year!

Now that I'm all caught up on the rest of my 2016 stuff I can show off the fruit of my COMC labors in the form of purchases around Black Friday weekend and going back a few months.  If you came over from TMV you already saw a bunch of Michigan-related cards as I posted pickups of baseball PC guys, and now I have some football stuff to show you.

Specifically, I went back to the first-year well to further my Michigan Football rookies collection, a.k.a. Rookie Blue.  Because new players can be added anytime this checklist is a bit of a moving target, but I'm up for the challenge!  Here's 14 new cards of 10 players:

Yo!  This card is from 2008 Leaf Rookies and Stars Longevity (#969/999) (I'm still missing the regular Rookies and Stars version).  Like most of today's cards it's numbered and a bit shiny.  I now have 16 of 19 first-years of the WR from my favorite draft class.

Speaking of shiny numbered cards of WRs, here's a very colorful RC of receiver/returner Steve Breaston out of 2007 Absolute Memorabilia (#442/699).  You really have to see these in-person to get the full effect, so for now just take my word for it that it looks fantastic.  I'm nearing the 75% mark with 19/26 Breaston rookies.

WR?  Check.  Shiny?  Very much so!  Numbered?  No!  This is a very cool clear card of Funchess, the second-round Panthers receiver, and possibly my first interaction with Panini's Clear Vision product.  This is the "base" version as it features straight lines in the background while the variation has a different pattern going on.  The card is my 16th of Funch's 24 rookies.

The oldest card of the bunch goes all the way back to 2000 and this Rookies and Stars RC of LB Ian Gold (#0117/1000--hey, the numbering's back!).  These are a bit tough to find since the set carries a bit of a premium--it seems that Patriots QB that's gonna go down as the GoaT also has a rookie in this product.  This marks my fifth of Gold's nine first-years.

Tackling machine David Harris is still doing his thing in the NFL, even if it's still for the sad sack Jets.  Here he is on a 2007 Donruss Gridiron Gear Retail RC (#432/599).  While I understand the difference between hobby and retail boxes and packs, I've never understood why manufacturers think it's necessary to make different versions of the base set sometimes.  I'm closing in on Harris' 24 rookies with a new count of 20 thanks to this one.

Here's a card you'll see again in a future post as I cover other pickups for his PC.  Mike Hart's RC from the interesting/weird 2008 Topps Letterman product also fits in with today's mostly numbered theme as my copy is #109/419 (419?  Why 419?!).  It's a bit too reflective to scan perfectly, but I think you get the idea.  I'm just three cards shy of the 25 RC run of my favorite Michigan RB.

You'll also see this Henne in another post soon and I'll be glad to do that to help get my money's worth; I paid more for this than I usually spend on rookies for this project, but I had a good reason:  it's the last of Henne's 22 cards that I needed!  It also happens to come from a set I don't particularly care for due to two reasons:  it doesn't look particularly nice, which is rare for UD, and they're just so difficult to find for reasonable prices (which is why I still need Jake Long's, Mike Hart's, and Shawn Crable's copies).  Needless to say, I'm happy to knock off Henne as my 120th complete player in this project.

RB Chris Perry keeps up the mostly offensive players trend with this pair of 2004 Fleer-branded cards.  First up is Authentix (#211/750), a fun product that briefly ran in the early 2000s, and this version included an embedded ticket stub, adding to the set's motif.  The other, Sweet Sigs (#041/999) was a one-off, and I'm not too surprised that the design didn't really catch on despite its potential.  Perry has 30 first-years for me to chase and these two give me a new total of 18.

Walker was one of the more heralded receivers in Ann Arbor so he has a crazy 48 cards for me to chase.  I'm happy, then, that I was able to add three at a time here.  First is 2002 Fleer Genuine (#278/599), a product I think I'd like a bit more if the photo wasn't so limited.  Next is Throwbacks, a somewhat forgettable product that doesn't quite do it for me despite its simplicity.  Finally, UD Authentics (#0158/1000) looks great thanks to its callback to UD's origins.  These three got me out of my 50% rut to a new total of 27 Walker RCs.

Our final player today is big Gabe Watson, another guy for whom I found multiple cards this time.  On your left is his 2006 Donruss Threads Retail Rookies RC (#727/999), and again I have to wonder why Panini made hobby- and retail-specific versions, especially since the hobby version looks great.  That's joined by his base out of 2006 Sweet Spot (#259/699), a product I've often enjoyed thanks to its fun manu-helmet/auto cards.  In this case, Gabe is surrounded by a lot of Cardinals red, which makes sense to me.  I'm happy to say that I'm just three cards shy of his 22 first-years.

Thanks to this bunch I'm getting very near the millennium mark with an overall total of 985 cards and counting.  Hopefully I'll continue to make progress in 2017, and maybe I'll even land a couple of the higher-priced vintage issues or Bradys that I need.

Stay tuned for more COMC loot and some trade packages soon!