2018 COMC purchases: soMe More uncoMMon coMc iteMs

That's one "M" for each former Wolverines baseballer in today's post, the penultimate in this series.

Speaking of Michigan, please head over to TMM for a look at some fun football hits, including a non-zero number of printing plates!

Now on to the aluMni:

A pair of new Rich Hills already makes this a good little haul for me as I work to keep up with the still-relevant Dodgers lefty's cardboard appearances.  On the left is the Sapphire Edition version of his 2017 Topps Chrome issue while the other is another parallel, the Rainbow Foil variation of his card found in this year's flagship product (which I managed to grab before landing the base card).  In each case blue is a very appropriate color for the former Wolverine!

This was another Barry good package in terms of my Larkin collection (no apologies for the pun).  Card #1 is an insert from Donruss' 2005 Throwback Threads product called Generations.  Larkin is joined by fellow HOF SS Ozzie Smith and B.J. Upton, who at the time was one of the top prospects in the game.

#2 is one of my favorite parallels, a 2012 Panini Cooperstown Crystal Collection Blue (#027/499).  These Cracked Ice-style cards look great in this color which, again, is very apropos of today's post!

And speaking of colors, our third card is all about them:  2017 Panini Contenders Draft Picks Old School Colors.  Any new card of Larkin in his college duds is a big win for me.

Former Red Hal Morris is one of my supercollections so of course I was happy to knock this pair off of my wantlist.  The Bowman Tiffany you see on the left was the oldest card of his I needed and that gives me a run of his stuff from 1989 into 1993.  That's joined by his 1997 Bowman Chrome International insert, an ideal card to show off this week.  I now count 259 of Morris' 359-card run in my collection.

Sox pitcher Zach Putnam remains on the shelf after elbow surgery but that hasn't stopped me from chasing his cards, especially since I'm thankful for his few recent cardboard appearances.  I was glad to see him make the cut for last year's Topps flagship product, which meant he'd also appear on the various parallels such as this Gold parallel (#0099/2017).  I have 25 of the 44 cards on Putnam's checklist and 49 overall, so I can look forward to another mini milestone soon!

Representing the team from Chicago I actually like is former Cub Bobby Scales on this 2009 Bowman Sterling Black Refractor (#11/25) that finishes up the four-card rainbow from that set:

It's not quite a Christmas card but tracking it down at a reasonable price was definitely a gift for me!  That's my 23rd of Scales' 31 cards, putting me at around 3/4 of the way done with his run.

And now we'll travel all the way back to 1939 and one of the oldest Wolverines in my collection, "Gorgeous" George Sisler, who can be seen on a base card from Upper Deck's 2005 Hall of Fame product (#358/550).  This nicely designed card highlights the outstanding hitter's election to Cooperstown that year, joining Lou Gehrig, Eddie Collins, and Willie Keeler.  This makes a fine addition to my Sisler collection, how 82 cards strong.

With these in the books stay tuned for the big finish:  some fantastic looking cards for one of my favorite PCs (along with some great stuff of my favorite football collections over on TMM), probably this week!