2020 Facebook Marketplace purchases: Go Blue? Don't mind if I do!

I'm now caught up enough for a minute that I can finally show off at least one of my two Facebook Marketplace hauls.

Way back in mid-March when "stay the hell at home" wasn't quite what it was now, I actually came up with a diamond in the rough of Marketplace's mix of scams, overpriced crap, and poorly-spelled listings:

Those of you who followed Too Many Manninghams for a bit would know that I absolutely love the TK Legacy Michigan product and am out to get everything I can from its base, insert, and autographed sets. So this was quite exciting indeed to come across before even taking into account the ridiculously low $20 price point. I'm generally willing to pay up to $5 for TK Legacy autographs I need, so I definitely consider this a steal. The image you see above includes 18 Michigan autos, three of Michigan State guys (Drew Stanton is pictured with the Lions), plus an Omar Vizquel IP/TTM. You can also see stacks of TK Legacy base and inserts for both the Wolverines and Spartans.

The in-person pickup went fine and I added the following new items to my collection:

This group includes three of what I consider the "base" cards (numbered with "L" for "Lettermen", I believe), one Coach, and five checklists. There are two new Braylon cards, one a checklist, and a Bo as well. TCDB tells me I now have 31 of 197 base cards, one of five coaches, and half of the 14 checklists.

This next group opens with four cards starring former Michigan fixture Bennie Oosterbaan. The player and coach whose name graces the team's field house is one of four players (Anthony Carter, Brian Griese, Mike Hart) to get the "Legend" insert treatment, and I only need card #3 in this set of five. Then it's on to a quintet of the eight "Game Day Diary - The Rivalry" inserts I added this time, cards that cover the storied back-and-forth between the Wolverines and Buckeyes. I particularly like the 1902 and 1940 game scores!

And here we have the rest of the inserts, including the other three rivalry cards, one of which covers the enormous 1969 upset victory for the good guys. I now have 10 of the 22 cards in this set, and in case you're interested, a similar one was made for the UM/Minnesota Little Brown Jug rivalry. The other five are from the Program Covers series, a very cool look at past programs. I have eight of the 56 made, and these are hand-numbered to either 400 or 250 copies each. For those interested, here's the games and their results:

• Minnesota, 1923: 10-0 Michigan
• Wisconsin, 1926: 37-0 Michigan
• Ohio State, 1927: 21-0 Michigan
• Chicago, 1905: 2-0 Chicago (the only points Michigan gave up that year!)
• Ohio State, 1941: 20-20 tie

And last up are the autographs I needed, one each from five different sets. The one new Go Blue autograph is my first of the amazingly named Hercules Renda (named after dynamite!), a former player and assistant coach. His signature is beautiful and this is a textbook example of why this set is so great, besides covering players that wouldn't get cards otherwise: look at all the detail he put in, listing his playing years and jersey numbers, plus a notation mentioning his coaching. Wow! Speaking of being impressed, that's my 130th of 185 autographs in this set.

Next is my first All-American auto from a pretty solid 18-card set. Muransky--or apparently "Big" Ed Muransky!--was an OT in the late 70s/early 80s. I'm now short just his base card of his three appearances in this product as I've had his Go Blue signature for a while.

The Quarterback Club Autographs set (which is sometimes changed to "Quarterback Collection" as seen here) is a 30-card set, and David Hall ('82 and '83) is my sixth of those. These are hand-numbered in quantities between 50 and 500 copies, and Hall's is /200. As with Muransky, I already have his Go Blue auto and just need his base issue.

The most well-known player in this group is former WR #1, Anthony Carter, and my 10th of his autographs happens to be my first from the 10-card Playbook Autographs set, one highlighted by legendary coach Bo Schembechler. Each subject drew out a favorite play that got printed on the card, which they signed. The back mentions that this play "was used in a 9-3 victory over Ohio State in 1980 in Columbus," so that's pretty cool. It's also hand-numbered /300.

Last up today is former RB Billy Taylor from the M-Stat set that focuses on a key number or record tied to a player. Taylor's claim to fame here is a 102.4 YPG average (3072 rushing yards over 30 games (he didn't record a carry in three other appearances)). One of my favorites, Mike Hart, appears to own the record now. Anyway, Taylor has a great looking signature on yet another hand-numbered (/100) autograph, my third of the 34 in the set, and second Taylor to go with--you guessed it--an M Go Blue auto.

(I'll also mention in passing that a Kirk Gibson football card came up in the Michigan State pile so I decided to keep it but not show it here because this is a Michigan blog!)

In addition to what I showed off here there were lots more autos and other cards, and some of those are ticketed for future trade packages or TCDB, so they won't go to waste. Either way, I certainly got more than my money's worth and I'm thrilled!

Please stay tuned for an even larger recap of an even bigger haul coming up soon.

2019 Michigan Gameday #12: vs. Ohio State

I'll keep it short today because everyone knows the deal:  it's The Game, the one that's always at the end of the regular season, the one that matters the most no matter each team's record.  Once again Ohio State is rolling into Ann Arbor with an emphasis on "rolling"--they're 11-0 and have destroyed all comers on their way to another likely playoff appearance.  They have a new head coach who can continue the storied Buckeye tradition of winning a lot before leaving in disgrace--Woody, Tressel, and Urban say "hi"--not that the fans remotely care.

This was a true rivalry for the longest time, with each team experiencing peaks and valleys.  While the 30s-40s belonged to the Maize and Blue, the 50s-60s leaned scarlet and gray, until an upstart coach named Glenn "Bo" Schembechler came along to even things out.

Michigan enjoyed the mid-70s through the 90s before OSU went on their current 16-2 run.  The rivalry produced stars coming up huge in crucial moments like Desmond Howard and Charles Woodson, both of whom cemented Heismans with their performances against the Bucks.

In fact, that '97 game was the final push Michigan needed to win it all.

But the aughts and the 2010s were a low point for Michigan as outgoing coach Lloyd Carr let the game pass him by, and replacements Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke (who won UM's most recent game in 2011) made things worse.  Close calls in 2006 and 2013 were just that, and Jim Harbaugh hasn't gotten over that hump yet, though 2016 stands out (J.T. was short!).

Still, Michigan is peaking at the right time, as evidenced by a nice win at Indiana last week that saw the offense perform in a way the fans were hoping they would all offseason.  The reality says that OSU wins their 8th straight in the rivalry, but there's always hope, as The Game from 50 years ago reminds us.  Win or lose, it's been another fun regular season, and now it's time to leave it all on the field, just the way Bo would have wanted.

LET'S GO BLUE!

2014 trade package #37: this post is not a SCAMB

I'm showing off what may be my final trade post of 2014, though if that changes I certainly won't complain.  In this case, Braves fan Scott from Sports Cards Ate My Brain contacted me a couple weeks ago to let me know he had a vintage Tiger card he wanted to send me.  I was able to find a similarly vintage Brave for him, and thus a trade was born, and it's my first with Scott, which makes it even cooler.  Here's what he sent:

Dick Kryhoski 1950 Bowman

This is my vintage Tiger, and it doesn't get much more vintage-y than 1950 Bowman!  I believe this is now the oldest card in my vintage PC, so the fact that it's a Tiger is an even bigger bonus.  I didn't know much about Kryhoski, so of course I headed straight for baseball-reference.  He was a Yankees signee (no draft in those days) that was traded to Detroit in 1949.  The 1B was with the Tigers for two of his seven seasons, then swapped to the St. Louis Browns in a deal that brought fellow vintage collection member Cliff Mapes ('52 Bowman) to the Motor City.  He was then sent back to the Yanks in the 1954 deal that led to Don Larsen being in pinstripes; well, Larsen HAD led the league in losses with 21 (with just three wins) that year.

So now I know more about another former Tiger and can add a great, old card to my collection!

Scott threw in a few other cards including

Ripkens!  Four to be exact.  The UD card notes that "Hector Carrasco becomes answer to trivia question" as he was the pitcher that allowed Cal's 3000th hit on April 15, 2000.  Nice group of cards for sure.

Finally, Scott made this a special trade package by including a pair of legendary Wolverines:  Tom Harmon, who won the 1940 Heisman, and Bo Schembechler, Michigan's ubiquitous coach.  Harmon comes from a set honoring Heisman-winners while Bo, of course, hails from 2013 Panini Golden Age, which included several different sports.

Thanks, Scott, for a fantastic trade, and I'm looking forward to doing more dealing next year!  Readers, enjoy the controlled chaos that is Sports Cards Ate My Brain tonight.