Since there were no interruptions today (ie nothing in the mail) I present to you the second part of my CheckOutMyCards haul: Michigan football:
Adrian Arrington 2008 Bowman Signs of the Future auto: Hi, I'm this picture of Adrian Arrington. You may remember me from such cards as
this one, and the one below! I'm hoping I've now cornered the market on this image and can move on. Nice design, though.
Adrian Arrington 2008 Bowman Sterling auto RC: shiny autographed rookie card goodness. Hmmm, I wonder if I could get away with triple dipping on projects at work too....
Alan Branch 2007 NFL Trilogy America's Game Signatures auto: I don't acquire that many Branches anymore, but it's still fun to get something of him every now and then, especially as cheaply as I got this one.
Anthony Thomas 2003 SP Signature Autographs Blue Ink auto: The people asked for MOAR A-TRAIN, so moar A-Train you get. Ok, nobody asked to see more of Thomas, but he's a very collectible (and cheaply collectible) Wolverine NFLer so here he is. I really like the shot of an intense A-Train and the signature looks pretty nice too--not necessarily legible, but there's a lot of loops or something so it sort of looks cool that way.
Anthony Thomas 2003 Leaf Certified Materials Mirror Gold jersey: This card has two obvious factors in its favor: a pretty nice dual-colored jersey swatch and its Mirror Goldness (#d /25). The scan doesn't do it justice, but still, it's a great looking card. Minor digression: were any of you collecting years ago when Mirror Golds (not even autos/relics, just inserts) first came out? Doesn't seem funny now how popular they were at the time when nowadays the same card would be a throwaway non-hit for many collectors? Personally, I think the idea is great, I just don't feel that we need 10 different color parallels. Nothing wrong with a little limited gold action, though.
Anthony Thomas 2003 Gridiron Kings Gridiron Cut Collection jersey: The last A-Train in the bunch, I promise. As always, I have to point out that I don't particularly care for boring jersey swatches, but I generally like the rest of the design of the card (Diamond Kings are always winners, just like Masterpieces). Can't go wrong for a couple bucks.
Brian Griese 1998 Score Rookie Autographs auto: I'm not sure how it took me this long to acquire a Griese hit, but here we are. This is a great way to start, though--an autograph from his rookie year, and pictured in a Michigan uni (sans winged helmet for whatever reason, which always bugs me), #d /500. Brian, Bob's son, will always be a legend in Ann Arbor for walking on, beating OSU three times and winning Michigan's most recent national title as the Rose Bowl MVP in 1998. Although his NFL career didn't live up to his college performance (good luck filling John Elway's shoes, son), I'd say he did pretty well for a former walk-on. Nice signature from a great player.
Brian Griese 2002 Leaf Certified Mirror Red Materials jersey: And then there were two. It looks like we've got a Broncos jersey here, which is pretty cool and this colorful parallel (another good choice) is #d /100. I'm sure I've got a RC lying around to form a trifecta here.
Chad Henne 2009 Gridiron Gear Player Timeline Jumbo Jerseys jersey: There's a lot for me to like about this card: it's Chad Henne, he's pictured as a Wolverine and Dolphin and the sharp, Michigan blue jersey piece is huge. Plus it's #d /50. Not a bad addition to the Henne PC.
Chad Henne 2010 Topps Peak Performance Autographs auto: I can always use more Henne autographs, you got me? MORE. What confuses me about this design is that they shrink the picture area so much to make room for a sticker that takes up about 1/3 of the rest of the space, meaning there's a lot of wasted space. Anyway, it's nice to see a card emphasize Henne's accuracy, which would be apparent if the team had an offense that made sense and would actually support the guy and put him in situations where he could succeed.
David Harris 2007 Playoff NFL Playoffs Signatures Red auto: Just one David Harris today but it's a pretty nice autograph, #d /100. One of the Jets best players, the team franchised him this year, and it's nice to see that they recognize his importance to the team and playmaking ability, something Michigan fans have been well aware of for a while. Still, it's not much fun rooting for the Jets and their jackass coach, even with another Wolverine, Braylon Edwards, on the team.
Jake Long 2009 Playoff Prestige Rookie Review auto: Wow, just one Jake Long autograph this time? And it's not even from 2008? I'm as surprised as you are. Not the greatest design in the world, but at this point I'm still willing to take whatever I can get of the 2008 #1 overall pick.
Jason Avant 2006 Topps Paradigm Rookie Dual Jersey Autographs: For whatever reason, some of my nicest cards are of Jason Avant, and I've got no problem with that--he's one of my favorite possession-type WRs of all time. Yes, the jersey pieces aren't multi-colored or anything, but again, anything other than white is an improvement. I can't believe Topps had a set called "Paradigm", though. Really? Were they thinking outside the box? Did their metrics prove it to be a value-added, green, forward-thinking, organic product with upward mobility in a market that valued synergy and low-hanging fruit?
Leon Hall 2007 Topps TX Exclusive Rookie Autographs auto: If you don't like Leon Hall, you might want to scroll down a bit--fair warning. This is another of Topps' stranger sets, but the design kinda works for me. I'm not a big fan of green, but it ends up working here. Hall's signature is a fairly decent one too in this case.
Leon Hall 2007 SAGE DECADEnce Autographs Gold auto: Hand-numbered to 25, eh? Not too shabby. Throw in a Michigan uni action shot and this one's a winner for me. When I looked at this one I thought it was interesting that it noted Hall's NFL draft team--it seems like SAGE, Press Pass et al usually don't denote NFL teams, because of licensing, timing or some other factors. I like the fact that it emphasizes that he was a first-round pick, so that works for me.
Leon Hall 2007 Playoff NFL Playoffs Signatures Red auto: As with some others in my collection, this one goes along nicely with Hall's former teammate David Harris above. I'm pleasantly surprised that both turned into quality or better NFL players for the respective teams.
Leon Hall 2007 Ultimate Collection Ultimate Rookie Signatures auto RC: This would probably be considered the highest-end of the quarter of Halls here (it does say "ultimate" on it a lot), but COMC tells me I only had to give up $5.85 for it, under 25% book price. More autographs of a promising young DB isn't a bad thing at all.
Mario Manningham 2008 Topps Rookie Progression Signatures auto: Only one Jake Long AND only one Manningham? At least I got two Hennes. Anyway, this one's a winner for me--the design is visually striking and colorful, and Mr. New Math looks good in his old Michigan uniform, relishing the days of not being a teammate of Eli Manning. I got this one in a nice $8 deal along with another card you'll see another day, a pretty nice deal for a card from Super Mario's rookie year.
Marlin Jackson 2005 Upper Deck Rookie Debut Ink auto: I've pretty much said all there is to say about Marlin's injury-plagued NFL career, so let's just admire what ended up being a pretty cool card. Kudos to UD for the Michigan uni shot, and the rest of the design is pretty nice too.
So there's 19 more Michigan football cards to throw on the pile, putting me up to an unofficial 220. Next up is the remainder of the haul: baseball. Depending on what else shows up in my mailbox in the next few days, you should see those relatively soon. For now, try to tide yourself over with yet another post filled with large scans of my PC cards.
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