2007 TK Legacy Michigan box #2

As I've mentioned in a few consecutive posts now, the second box that I purchased at last weekend's show was a second box of 2007 TK Legacy Michigan.  My first box proved to be very interesting, as I picked up several players for whom I never would have had a hit.  I enjoyed it enough to set aside money ($45 for 10 packs, one autograph per pack) specifically for a second box this time.  Michigan's win on Saturday was just another kick in the pants that convinced me to pull the trigger.


Here's how I did:

Interesting inserts:

The Legend of Anthony Carter:  Exciting Play--Indescribable Player:  I don't know, "exciting" sums up AC pretty well if nothing else.  I do find it interesting that they went with a quote from (at that time) head coach Lloyd Carr instead of AC's own coach, Bo, before he passed away, but this is a fairly low-quality set in many ways, so I guess I'm not surprised.  I love the photo, though.

Program Cover:  1912, Cornell:  This is probably a great set across the various college sets.  In my case, I lucked out this time and nabbed this guy, from a very old cover, no less.  Continuing the low-quality them, though, we've got "Fileding Yost" as the coach, plus an "it's" instead of an "its."  Cue Bob the Angry Flower:

This concludes today's grammar lesson; back to your regularly scheduled Michigan content.

Game Day Diary--the Rivalry:  1943:  This series focuses on the Game, which gives it plenty of fodder for one set.  Last time (and this time, unfortunately) I pulled a card of an OSU victory, but this time I also nabbed a card describing the 1943 game, a Michigan blowout (in front of what now would be a paltry Big House crowd).  I love the note that this team included one of the great college names, Elroy "Crazy Legs" Hirsch.


Autographs:  new stuff:

Rondell Biggs:  Now THAT's a football name.  Rondell was a DE here for a good chunk of my college career--2003-2006.  Needless to say, this is my first autograph of him since he didn't make it to an NFL team.

Scott Dreisbach M-Stat:  This is my second Dreisbach, the other also being a numbered insert that I pulled in the last box.  I know a couple of you are Virgina fans, so you may not want to read the back (or the front).  A cool card commemorating a great game.

Remy Hamilton:  Remy was a kicker from 1993-1996 before plying his trade in the NFL with, among other teams, the Lions for a brief stint in 2005.  This is my first (and likely last, considering the odds) of him in my PC.

Gary Moeller:  As we were opening this box, Dustin was asking me who some of the better pulls might be.  I mentioned that I already had Steve Breaston so I looked at the checklist and figured former head coach Gary Moeller (1990-1994) would be the next best for me since I didn't have him and prices for the guy seemed pretty good.  So of course, in the final pack, Dustin pulled this card.  Moeller's tenure was brief after he inherited the job from Bo, but that was due to a stupid drunken incident at a restaurant, a mistake that ultimately cost him his job.  He was pretty successful while he was here, though, compiling a 50-37-6 record and 4-1 bowl record (yeah--we used to win bowl games a LOT).  Lloyd Carr took over the program and a couple years later won our last title.  Moeller rebounded from getting the ax, becoming an NFL assistant coach with the Bengals, then Lions before being named Detroit's interim coach in 2000.  He then went to Jacksonville and Chicago before retiring in 2003.  So this card has all that history behind it, plus a great signature!

Carl Tabb II:  Carl was a WR from 2003-2006 and I think I recall liking him mostly because he was a local kid (Ann Arbor Huron HS).  He playing pretty sparingly, but it's still pretty cool getting my first (and again, probably only) auto of the guy.

Autographs:  the doubles:

Since I said the box came with 10 autographs and you see five "new" ones above, do the math.  Here are my five doubles, which are now part of my Michigan for sale/for trade album (which I'm only trading for other Wolverines):

Yep, my doubles included a second Carl Tabb in the same box (oy), then dupes of Jeremy Vanalstyne, Tyler Ecker, Marcus Knight and an M-Stat of Hayden Epstein (this time #d 81/100).  I'm not shocked that I got so many doubles given the tiny autograph checklist, I'm just annoyed that I got two of Tabb in the same box.  All the same, I'm happy I got five new ones, and even better I now have some Wolverine hits to use as trade bait (but, again, only for other Wolverine hits!).

All in all I think I again got my $45 worth.  I'll be working on getting boxes of the other series if I can ever find them, and if I do, you can bet I'll be showing them off!  

Between this box and the rest of my show haul I now sit at 342 football hits, and 350 is just around the corner, though I'll be curbing my blowout spending for a while so I don't spend all my money on something as nonessential as cards.  Fortunately, that should get me more motivated to work on trades, get organized and get my trade bait posted, so as always, there's a benefit for you, the reader.

Box recap: TK Legacy Michigan VI

This won't be a more formal review partly because it's a set that's not widely available, plus I didn't get images of the box before I ripped it.  Therefore, here's a quick recap.

After yesterday's Desmond Howard/Anthony Carter signing, Dustin and I wandered around the (very few) tables at the show.  I found myself drawn to the one table with unopened boxes and recognized the guy as a seller I'd seen many, many times at the Gibraltar Trade Center shows I sometimes go to.  For $70 I picked up a $25 box of 2010 Topps Update hobby baseball and this $45 box of TK Legacy Michigan VI.  This is a series of boxes I'd often seen at the various shows I'd attended but never seriously considered for whatever reason (probably price).  However, $45 for 10 packs, each including a Michigan player auto, seemed like it would be fun.  And so it was, even more so than I thought.

It would appear that multiple series exist for each team that was represented, and each series includes a diverse set of players from various eras.  Even more interesting is the fact that a "limited" number of boxes are made (I believe my label indicated 680).  Each four-card pack included base cards, checklists and a couple different inserts, such as program covers and notable games.  As for autographs, there are base versions, plus different insert variations.  That being said, here's a look at what I pulled:

Base:

Hooray for players/coaches I know!  Most of them, anyway--I didn't really know Lilja, Zurbrugg or Kattus, but everyone else played (or coached, in Moeller's case) during my lifetime.  It was interesting getting a pair of kickers since Michigan's suffered a dearth of quality at the position the last few years.

MOAR KICKERS!  As I said, there's a big range of years represented here, though I don't know if there was any rhyme or reason to how they broke these series up.

The Rivas was my only base double, so I decided to show the back to represent one of those.  Not a bad design, if not exactly top-notch (at least it's not Classic or one of those really low-quality unlicensed cards!).

Inserts:

Yeah, I called the checklists inserts.  I decided to show the front and back of Checklist 1 since I pulled two of those.  I caved and decided to show the Troy Smith game "The Rivalry" insert because I could balance it out with a Michigan win (from 1943, though).  I didn't pull any actual sketch cards, but the ones showing off what you could potentially pull were decent.  The Program Cover was my favorite insert and I wish I'd pulled more.

Autographs:

Sweet, another Breaston!  Looking over the checklist he was about the best I could have pulled (though there weren't many to choose from).  Considering his autograph is usually just "SB", getting his jersey number was pretty cool.

One of several players for whom I had no hits (because they never would have had one otherwise), "Whatchoo talkin' 'bout" Willis was a safety from 2003-2005.  As you can continue to see, most of these players signed their jersey numbers as an additional inscription.

Actually my second Knight, Marcus donned the Maize and Blue from '96-'99, which means he was on the '97 National Championship team.  If "Marcus Knight" isn't a college football player name, I don't know what is.

Rockin' some serious sideburns is one of our recent kickers, Hayden Epstein.  I can definitely say I didn't have any of his previous hits, but now I have two!  (see below)  Epstein was Michigan's kicker from 1998-2001.

I have to admit I knew nothing about Kattus, a TE from '82-'85 (which means he started before I was born), so I found out through Wikipedia that he was a senior captain, drafted by the Bengals and also played for the Jets briefly.  With Brady Hoke back we may see Michigan tight ends in the NFL once more.

I remember hearing Oluigbo's name a bit during his stint at Michigan, but since he was a FB from 2004-2006 he wasn't exactly high profile around here.  Still, another first, which is cool.

My first Ecker, and instead of remembering him for NOT PITCHING THE DAMN BALL TO BREASTON in the clusterf#$k that was the 2005 Alamo Bowl, I like to remember his big play in the 4th quarter of Michigan's win against OSU in 2003, a 30 yard pass (I believe) along the sideline during which my reaction was "Go go GOGOGOYEAH!  Wait, who was that?"

Vanalstyne was a DE from 2003-2006, so there's not much more to say about him other than--yep--this is another first for me.

This here is an insert set hand-numbered to 100 (mine's #83) and I thought it was cool to get a QB I knew like Dreisbach, of whom I had nothing.  Dreisbach was here from '95-'98, though of course he didn't pilot the '97 champions--he played Drew Bledsoe to Brian Griese's Tom Brady, then the following year, with Griese graduated, backed up--guess who?--Tom Brady.  He did end up in the NFL, if only briefly.

#'d 73/100, Here's Epstein #2, part of an autographed insert set that celebrates various Michigan achievements.  This FG would have been in the 2001 MSU game, AKA the Clock Game, in which MSU (at home) inexplicably got an extra second on the clock from their own timekeeper, then won on the last play of the game.  What's funny is that that event can't be what's pictured on the card, which includes Tom Brady as the holder on what appears to be a botched hold.  Interesting choice, to say the least.

All that for $45 was a steal as far as I was concerned, and I foresee a few more boxes of this stuff in my future if I can continue to find them at decent prices.

Stay tuned for a look at my 2010 Topps Update baseball hobby box pretty soon, plus a ton of stuff I know I have coming in the mail this week.  Also, please make sure to head over to the Great Sports Name Hall of Fame as he's drumming up interest for a hit-filled trade bait draft #2, to which I may be contributing some stuff in an effort to increase the number of potential participants.  I was part of the first one and I can guarantee you won't wanna miss this one!