2013 BA Benny Bonanza part 3: I ain't Lion

Previously:  Part 1 (complete sets), Part 2 (Cal Ripken Jr.)

Today's post will focus on the Detroit Lions portion of the package.  While I recently declared the team dead to me, Mike did include a couple keepers, plus some very nice trade bait:

We start with a few base cards, an insert, and a couple nice RCs.  The mini is TE Brandon Pettigrew, the Suh is, of course, his 2010 Topps RC, and the Delmas is #d 450/999.

Mike sent a ton of pretty nice Lions hits, and while none of these are players I collect, I'm betting they make for good trade bait or COMC fodder!  The Fitzgerald/Williams is #d 026/100 (too bad they couldn't have waited a year for Calvin Johnson!), the Young 067/499, the Pettigrew/Williams 314/500, and the McMahon (remember him?) 073/850.

Here's a few more tradeable hits.  Calhoun was a pretty good RB out of Wisconsin but couldn't cut it in the NFL.  Stanton is a Spartan so it was no surprise that he sucked.  Still, he was better than Joey "Blue Skies" Harrington!  A second Derrick Williams dual card pairs him up with former Buckeye Brian Robiskie, and that card is #d 193/250.

And now for a couple keepers:

I believe this is one of those cards you can get from retail stores where the package promises you a card/jersey swatch guaranteed.  The card says Topps on it but the back says the piece was put together by a company called "Vintage."  It's designed in such a way that the back can pop out so you can stand up and display the card.  I have a great deal of respect and admiration for Megatron, the game's current #1 WR, so I have no intention of letting this go!

This is one of the more oddball items that was pretty obvious from my initial teasers of the package.  Sanders was another Lion that was easy to respect and admire due to his obvious skill, professionalism and lack of ego, just like Johnson.  The card is an oversized Action Packed Mammoth issue from 1994 and is numbered to an ultra-rare 16018/25000.  As with anything else made by AP, parts of the front are raised to give it a unique feel.  I decided to open it to make it easier to scan and enjoy, and I'm glad I did.  You can even almost make out the Lions logo in the left-middle of the back, which is whiter than the rest of the back.  Also, a stamp on the front lists him as a "'94 Rookie Member" of the NFL Quarterback Club, which seems like a goofy award for a RB, but whatever.  This is simply a fantastic portrait of one of the greats of the NFL and Detroit Lions.

So for the third (or so) time, thanks, Mike!  I'll keep at it and get to the rest of the package very soon.