April Card Show Report: PC edition (and quick mail update)

First, the quick mail update:

I went a little overboard last week, starting with a couple random Blowout purchases, followed by an extremely productive few hours on Sportlots, capped off by a couple COMC grabs and an eBay win.  If USPS stops randomly stealing some of my mail, all of that will get posted when it starts arriving next week.

This was actually my first Sportlots experience, and while I'm not 100% happy with the workings of the site, I'm thrilled with the results.  I won't reveal just how many of my wantlist sets I completed amongst all the purchases I mentioned above until I've received everything, but needless to say, I think you'll be impressed.

One of my Sportlots purchases actually arrived already today, which is awesome considering I just ordered it Thursday!  A 2008 SAGE Hit football card of Paul Raymond, #71, completes that set for me.  It's a slow start, but I promise you I'll finish with a bang!

Ok, card show report, personal buys:

Dustin and I hit up the card show this morning/afternoon, and it went pretty well, although I didn't find as much stuff for my PC this time.  I did do fairly well in terms of grabbing even more trade bait stuff, though, and you'll see that in a post in the next couple days.  Here's what I grabbed for myself:

Not pictured:  an opened box set (sans autograph, probably of a scrub) of 2010 Donruss Rated Rookies football.  I've wanted one of these for a while, and a seller (from whom I grabbed a couple other cards listed below) wanted $5 for it.  Sold!

Rich Hill 2008 SP Legendary Cuts Destination Stardom Memorabilia jersey

Rich Hill hit #17 (which I think I bought from the Rated Rookies set guy above for like $2), a decent jersey with the positive distinction of having a Cubs pinstripe.  Not too shabby.

Andrew Cogliano 2010 SP Game-Used Edition Authentic Fabrics jersey

My first hit of Cogs, a star forward for two years at Michigan (24 goals in 2006-07!) who unfortunately bolted early for the NHL after being drafted 25th overall by Edmonton (by the way, my first Oilers hit too) in 2005.  A solid Oilers jersey card that I snagged for $2.

Brendan Morrison 2007-08 Be a Player Signatures auto

I'm surprised this is my first Morrison hit because I'd swear I had another one; I guess not.  Anyway, the guy was a stud at Michigan, and just about nobody was better than him except Marty Turco.  He netted a ridiculous 284 points, won the Hobey once and brought the word championship back to Michigan in 1996 with a game-winner against Colorado College in OT.  He was drafted by the Devils at #39 overall in '93 and has played for six different NHL teams.  While he hasn't been quite the star in the NHL that he was in college, he's enjoyed a very nice career, and he'll always be a legend here.  As Brendan did, I hope talented Canadian scorers continue to flow to Ann Arbor instead of wasting the opportunity for a great education (while receiving quality NHL preparation) in the junior leagues.

Steve Shields 2002 Be A Player Signature Series auto

It was a day of hockey firsts, so why not?  Shields is, for some reason, my second favorite Michigan goalie that I never saw in-person (#1 being Turco, of course).  I honestly couldn't tell you why, but regardless, he was a great goalie here, and after being drafted by Buffalo in '91, he played for a total of six NHL teams until retiring in '06.  This was a fun pickup for me--yet another Michigan hockey player I didn't have, and it was a good auto from a well-liked brand.  Although he's not among the active group, I also want to mention that (seemingly as usual) Michigan leads the NCAA in terms of hockey alumni in the NHL.

Adrian Arrington 2008 Bowman Sterling Gold Refractor auto RC

So this one scanned better than I'd hoped.  I've got so many cards with this image I no longer feel like linking to each of them, so check them out here.  For a ridiculous $3, I got the Gold Refractor version of this card, and it's the good old eBay 1/1, #1/25.  It's a good way to start my small football haul, although I sure hope you like Arrington because

Adrian Arrington 2008 Playoff Contenders auto RC

Here's #2.  Got this one from the same guy and for roughly the same price, I believe.  It was a good day for buying Arringtons from that guy, such as

Adrian Arrington 2008 Press Pass Signings auto

I already had a Press Pass Arrington auto, but not this one--a nice, simple design with AA in his Michigan uni.  That goes well with the last one I grabbed,

Adrian Arrington 2008 SAGE Red auto

I cheaped out on this one and got the  Red version, not so much to save the $1 over the bronze (which the guy also had) as because I liked the red look to the card.  I think I like it because it goes with my Arrington-Henne auto from the same set.

Braylon Edwards 2008 Finest Finest Moments auto

C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!  Yep, the only other Michigan football card I grabbed today was a Braylon Finest autograph for $10, a price I was willing to pay for my 3rd Edwards autograph.

So, not a huge haul, but I did break the 250 football hit mark, made it to 16 Arringtons and Edwardses each, plus hit my 17th Rich Hill and 12th hockey hit.  That's a pretty good day by my measure.  I'm pretty sure Dustin had a good time, too, and I know he'll be showing off his loot pretty soon--he seemed pretty proud of what he snagged, and I think he should be.

Coming up in the next day or so:  trade bait results from the card show (hint:  even more than last time).  And after that, hopefully, some set-finishing mail days.