No, YOU check out MY cards: October purchase baseball and hockey

Now that we've taken care of all the posts about filling my wantlists, let's have a look at some of the fun PC stuff I grabbed from CheckOutMyCards this time.  I did this a few months ago with my last major COMC purchase (links:  baseball, football and hockey) and while this time the package included a heavy number of set wants, I did pick up a nice number of baseball, football and hockey hits.  Notice I didn't specifically say "Michigan" hits this time, and you'll see why that's the case soon. (though, fair warning--this is going to be the usual Michigan-centric post)

Today we're going to look at eight of the hits I grabbed, seven of which are baseball and one of which was hockey.  I picked up a good number of these (as well as the forthcoming football haul) from just a few sellers because of the always advisable COMC strategy of combining and offering, hence my process of starting with one card I want, picking a seller and combing through their collection for each and every player I collect.  It takes a while but as with SportLots, it often pans out, especially in terms of pricing.  I also had some luck by sifting through some of the site's classifieds as they note sellers who are heavily discounting and/or auto-accepting various offers.  The lesson:  put in your time and you will be rewarded.

Enough walls of text, the tl;dr crew is screaming at me for some scans, so here they are:

Hockey:

Brendan Morrison 2008-09 Upper Deck Trilogy Two-Way Threads dual jersey:  I definitely don't have as many Morrison hits as I'd like, but it's something I can work on provided I can continue to find nice prices on his stuff on COMC occasionally.  I do at least have an autograph of him in my PC already, but considering he's one of the best players in Michigan hockey history, I should definitely have more.  MOAR!

Baseball:

Cal Ripken Jr. 1982 Fleer RC:  I figured I'd lead off the baseball section with this guy because I'm pretty excited about finally having it.  Thanks to a package deal with one of the wantlist cards I bought, I got a pretty nice price when my offer was accepted, and now I have all three of his RCs from that year. (Donruss and Topps here)  The Topps is my favorite (you know I love multiplayer RCs even when the other guys aren't great) and this one would be my second because of the cool action photograph, but I definitely don't like the rest of the ugly, boring design that year, so Donruss takes second despite its close-up headshot.  Anyway, as with some of the insert sets I completed, it took me way too long to finish this trifecta, but now it's done and part of my Cal Ripken PC.  Maybe someday I'll also pick up his highly sought-after 1982 Topps Traded as well!  This was my only non-Michigan PC card of the order, but it was definitely a nice one.

Clayton Richard 2006 Bowman Draft Signs of the Future auto: Every time I go to add a hit of the former Michigan QB and pitcher to my baseball PC I think "Wait, don't I already have that?"  What's funny is that before I added this guy, I literally only had one hit of the guy--this auto.  I think the problem is that I've seen a good number of his hits but only jumped on these two so far.  Anyway, he's had a bit of success in the gaping chasm that is Petco Park, and since I don't really care for the White Sox I'm happy he got traded away from them, even if it was to the Padres.

George Sisler 2010 Topps Update Manufactured Bat Barrel:  This one was a key card on my singles wantlist and I'm thrilled to have it after pulling a not-nearly-so-interesting player in my 2010 Topps Update box. (let's just say it wasn't Werth it)  I believe it was actually the very last card I grabbed before I hit the "ship" button because I didn't feel like having a heap of COMC credit left over and just sitting there.  I made a lowballish but fair offer and it was accepted fairly quickly.  Now I have a manubat from a set I really like (before Topps went downhill with the ugly-ass leather patches) of a great player.  Who couldn't love a Hall-of-Famer who held the single season hits record (257 in 1920, until Ichiro broke it in 2004) and played at Michigan while studying mechanical engineering?  Communists, that's who.

Rich Hill 2009 Topps Unique Solo Shots auto:  You all know I can't go very long without picking up Rich Hill stuff.  Out of today's bunch, this was the only one that included him in an Orioles uni.

Rich Hill 2009 Upper Deck Spectrum Spectrum Swatches jersey auto:  This was definitely the best Hill of the three I picked up.  A lot of bloggers use the cliché "The scan doesn't do this card justice" and I believe most of the time they're correct because this is a good example.  A jersey/autograph that's numbered fits in my collection any day.

Rich Hill-Randy Johnson 2008 SP Legendary Cuts Generations Dual Memorabilia dual jersey:  I often don't like multiplayer hits because the combinations make me cringe. (remember when Topps thought Kevin Orie was good enough to pair up with Cal?)  Obviously I'm happy to make an exception when the player I like most on the card is the weaker one and he happens to be paired up with a future HOFer.  This isn't the type of card I actively search for, but when it's part of a COMC seller's portfolio and I'm already grabbing some stuff from him, it's a reasonably cheap add, and a win for my PC.  This makes 23 Rich Hills for me, for those of you who are counting.

Zach Putnam 2009 Bowman Chrome Prospects auto:  My 10th Zach Putnam is my third of his from this set. (Refractor, XFractor)  Still, I'm only 25% done if I want the rainbow, or 43% done if you don't include the FIVE 1/1s this card has. (four plates and a Superfractor)  Who says collecting is dead?  Anyway, this mini-rainbow is pretty cool, and it's kind of funny that I saved the most common version for last.
My Michigan baseball PC now tips the scales at 51 cards, so that's a nice little milestone to have cleared, even if it's only a fraction of my football stash.  Don't think I won't keep plugging away at collections for my favorite, Rich Hill, or the legends, like Bill Freehan and Barry Larkin.

Still, you all know football is king at this here school, so keep your eye out in the next couple days for that portion of this COMC package!