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.

Holiday trade package #3: Screaming Line Drive

Today's trade package came from daddyohoho (a.k.a. Sean) of Screaming Line Drive.  This Philly-centric blogger (who's actually a native of D.C.) claimed a couple of that city's teams in my fall cleaning lot giveaway, then sent me some even nicer stuff in return. (which appears to be a theme of these posts lately!)  He did that after having sent me a ridiculously nice Charles Woodson insert a couple weeks ago.  So what did he send me this time?:

A nine-spot of Lions:  a couple Black Friday pulls of Megatron and Sidearm McIdiot; a quartet of 2012 Topps Chrome including a Refractor of Ndamukong Stuhpid, and more importantly, a RC of the promising-but-injured WR Ryan Broyles; and a trio of Leaf R&S base, including Brandon "Butterfingers" Pettigrew.  God damn do the Lions suck again....  Great cards, though!

These were the highlights of the Tigers Sean sent, and they're excellent:  a pair of Kaline inserts with classic shots of Mr. Tiger during his playing days; a Magglio insert celebrating a home run that's well-known among Tigers fans; a new Tettleton!; Turkey Red Red and Turkey Red Black!; and a new Cecil Fielder.

That's not all he sent, though, as he was obviously embracing the giving spirit of the season:

This here is a Luke Staley 2002 SP Authentic auto RC (#d 0854/1150).  Staley was an All-American RB out of BYU whom the Lions chose in the 7th round back in 2002.  Injuries derailed a career that never got off the ground, but at least he had a nice college career.  Hooray for a new Lions hit!

AND, there's this Chris Shelton 2006 Artifacts Auto-Facts Signatures auto (#402/750).  Shelton, who's apparently the cousin of 49er QB Alex Smith, was a Rule 5 pick from the Pirates who started out the 2005 season with a bang--or rather, nine of them in his first 13 games.  He proved to be just a flash in the pan, though, despite a decent finish to that season, and he last played in the Majors with Seattle in 2009.  He's got a pretty nice autograph, though, and this is heading straight to my Tigers PC.

Thanks again, Sean, for a super nice Christmas trade package, and I promise I'll get you back with something nice in return before long--probably of the Philadelphia sports scene variety!  Everyone reading this should jump on over to Sean's relatively new blog, Screaming Line Drive, while you stay tuned for the other two trade packages I have coming up.

A trade package from TMB's Kevin, plus some updates

First, a few quick notes.  I hope everyone had an excellent Thanksgiving, and better yet, was able to spend it with people you care about.  I got some quality time in with a couple friends I hardly ever see, then had a fantastic day with the family, so I couldn't have asked for anything more.

And yet, I got it.  While a good chunk of America was freezing its collective ass for four days to save $50 off a crappy TV, I put in a bit of time with COMC's own Black Friday promotions (from the comfort of my home!) and scored some fun new stuff.  Yes, I just had a large package delivered from purchases over the course of the summer, but this was as good a time as any to drop $100 on some sale cards and score free shipping--I mean, when are you gonna see THAT again on COMC?  So stay tuned for those whenever they get delivered, though most of them will again be featured over on the other blog.

Next, I wanted to update everyone on the fall cleaning team/other lots.  I'm extremely pleased with how many have been grabbed already, and I promise to work on getting those out this week, a bit at a time.  I scored a bunch of bubble mailers today and I believe I also have enough cardboard boxes to handle the larger lots, but for now, please consider it a work in progress.  Thanks again to everyone who participated.

I also wanted to update everybody on what's left, because these are still very much available:

Baseball:

• Detroit Tigers
• Florida/Miami Marlins
• San Diego Padres

Football:

• Arizona Cardinals
• Atlanta Falcons
• Baltimore Ravens
• Cincinnati Bengals
• Detroit Lions
• Jacksonville Jaguars
• KC Chiefs
• Miami Dolphins
• San Diego Chargers
• Tampa Bay Bucs
• Tennessee Titans

Basketball:

• Atlanta Hawks
• Boston Celtics
• Charlotte Bobcats
• Dallas Mavericks
• Denver Nuggets
• Detroit Pistons
• Houston Rockets
• Indiana Pacers
• LA Clippers
• LA Lakers
• Miami Heat
• Milwaukee Bucks
• New Jersey Nets
• New Orleans/Charlotte Hornets
• New York Knicks
• Sacramento Kings
• San Antonio Spurs
• Seattle Supersonics
• Utah Jazz
• Washington Bullets/Wizards

Please step right up and leave a comment claiming as many lots as you want!

Trade with Kevin:

Ok, time for the feature of today's post.  As I also wrote over on TMM this afternoon, where I featured another card he sent me, I got a fun little trade package back from Kevin (Mojo Beard) who was hitting me back for some Minnesota-type stuff I sent him recently.  Besides that sweet Breaston, he included another football card he knew I'd like:

This here is a 2010 Playoff Contenders Playoff Ticket insert of Detroit's best player since Barry Sanders, Mr. Calvin Johnson, Jr.  It's actually a lot shinier than the dull scan makes it look, and as always looks better in-person.  Even better, it's a #d insert, which I almost always like, and is #d 88/99.  This may be another one of those "lost" seasons for the Lions, but Megatron still gives Lions fans some hope, not to mention reasons to collect.

Thanks again for the package, Kevin, and please keep on keepin' on with your fantastic blogging!

More Sunday fun: things Rob Ryan can eat

In the annals of shit-talking gone wrong, few have been shittier and more embarrassed than Dallas Cowboys D-Coordinator Rob Ryan.  The portly, long-haired Cowboy coach's ill-advised, ignorant and ultimately incorrect assessment of of Lions star WR Calvin Johnson blew up in his face spectacularly today:

“We work against better receivers with Miles Austin and Dez Bryant,” Ryan said. “They are probably two of the premier receivers in football, but this guy is right there. He’s almost that good. He’s excellent.

“We’re going to get after him. I know he’s on some touchdown thing like that, whatever. [Detroit offensive coordinator] Scott Linehan has done this before with great receivers withRandy Moss. If the guy is as good as Randy Moss, I’m going to go in there and hide. Thank God he’s not, but he’s a pretty damn good player.” 

To be fair, Dallas' (inevitable) epic collapse is not entirely on the Cowboy DC who needs a haircut and some exercise.  Tony Romo (who I respect a ton for playing through a significant injury) made some bad throws, three of which were intercepted, two of which were returned for Lions TDs.  Additionally, in a key spot, Felix Jones dropped a pass in the two-minute drill that allowed the Lions to get fresh D-linemen in, which immediately caused a key sack.  Add to that the fact that on the final Dallas offensive play, the WR ran out-of-bounds well short of the first down...on fourth down. (which Joe Buck didn't seem to notice either, but really, who's surprised?)  Finally, it's unfair to act like the Lions aren't a very talented team with the potential to come back in a game like this.

Pictured:  Rob Ryan, relaxing at home

Still, the brunt of the blown 24-point lead and ultimately the loss falls on the considerably large shoulders of the Dallas DC.  How did the untalented, not-as-good-as-Randy-Moss Johnson fare today despite working with an inaccurate-for-some-reason Matthew Stafford?  How about eight catches for 96 yards and a record fourth straight game with two TD catches, one of which was the game-winner?  Besides the fact that blown coverages and overthrown passes could have meant more receptions for Megatron, CJ made the game-winning catch at a crucial moment when Dallas had TWELVE MEN ON THE FIELD.  Ryan's crew couldn't even defend Johnson (inexplicably in one-on-one coverage again!) when they were cheating!

Therefore, a brief list, in no particular order, of things Rob Ryan can eat:

• His words
• His foot
• Coupons for free haircuts and weight loss programs
• A bowl of dicks
• The knowledge that he is responsible for a historic Dallas collapse
• Everything at an all-you-can-eat buffet

Congrats, meanwhile, to the Lions on an excellent 4-0 start, proving the current regime is finally making the changes necessary to turn a floundering team around.

293! or, Hooray for an excuse to post something

Welcome back to another edition of "I post stuff I bought on Blowout and get a bunch of hits because that's what the page count stats tell me people like!"

As usual I was scanning the FS/FT threads looking for stuff I wanted and a Chad Henne caught my eye.  I checked the dude's PhotoBucket and found a few more things I liked, haggled with him and arrived at a price we both liked.  Bada-bing, bada-boom, I had four Michigan hits coming my way.

Or so I thought....

A day or two later he let me know that he couldn't find one of the hits, a Henne jersey (which I didn't like all that much, I just threw it in to kind of justify the price).  He felt bad and wanted to know if I saw anything else I liked, and I did--a Calvin Johnson Rookie Premiere Materials triple relic, which was kind of too much to ask at that point.  I told him I collected Michigan players and asked him to do his best.  He appreciated that I didn't freak out because of the delay and I was cool with how he was handling things.

Flash forward to Thursday when I checked my mail and found a package from him.  It contained three of the four hits I'd previously picked, a Henne jersey he didn't previously list (putting me back even, essentially) AND a Calvin Johnson jersey.  Classy!

So here you Blowout-lovers go, my latest haul:

This is the CJ jersey I mentioned, which I thought was pretty cool as a throw-in.  It hails from 2010 Elite and is #056/299.  It's my first Lions relic I can think of, and definitely my best card of Megatron, but I'll probably put it up for trade because I really don't collect non-Wolverine Lions (wait, does that make sense?) and I'm betting there's someone who'll appreciate this more than me.

Next up was the replacement Henne jersey, which I actually like better than the original one I'd picked.  This guy is from 2008 Topps, his rookie year set, and was worn at the Rookie Premiere.  Unlike a couple of his classmates (Long and Manningham) I don't have his autograph from the set, but I really like the design of this relic, probably mostly because I'm partial to the 2008 design.  I do think it's kind of goofy that the relic took a huge bite out of his torso, but whatever--it's still pretty cool.

This 2010 Finest Refractor dual jersey/auto is what initially caught my eye.  I've been trying to get one to pair with my non-Refractor version, and his asking price for this one alone was something like $12, a good start.  I don't know why, I just like the look of this set, maybe because it's so colorful, and the Refractorocity is icing on the cake.  In fact, I'm fairly happy with how well it comes out in the scan since that's not an easy thing to do.

That pair of Hennes vaulted Chad above Jake Long and David Terrell into the #1 spot in my Michigan collection with 26 hits (almost 10%!) including 12 autographs.  That 2008 draft class has become more of a primary focus for me and I think Henne's my favorite to pursue, so that makes some sense.

Speaking of 2008 Refractors, here's another gem I found in his Bucket, a Bowman Sterling auto RC of Super Mario Manningham.  I've displayed the various incarnations of Adrian Arrington's cards from this set in previous posts, but this is my first MM.  I really like the Gold Refractorness, which makes up for the scribbled sig.  I also want to note that this guy is serial numbered on the back, #032/250.

The last new member of my PC is this 2007 Topps Co-Signers auto of Steve Hutchinson and Walter Jones.  While I tend to shy away from multiplayer cards that include non-Wolverines, I made an exception here because Hutch, as an O-Lineman, really doesn't get much love, despite being one of the best ever.  That's probably why this is my first auto of him, and only my second hit after my Bowman Sterling jersey I picked up a while back.  If you somehow read my blog enough, you might remember that I have one other Michigan '07 Co-Signers autograph, this one featuring LaMarr Woodley and David Harris, which is an absolute beast of a combination.

Those four hits bring me up to 293 unique Michigan football hits, and I'm now tantalizingly close to another milestone.  One way or another I'll make it happen soon, I can promise you that.

I try to be somewhat open here about what I spend, so I don't mind saying that I got these five cards (originally four) for $30 shipped.  A lot of my card dollars have gone to BlowoutCards forum sellers and so far I haven't regretted that since I've negotiated some nice deals, found some excellent additions for my PC and haven't had to deal with the bullshit of eBay.  It's been a great complement to my two other favorite means of acquiring cards through the internet:  trading with bloggers and readers and CheckOutMyCards.  Thanks primarily to those three activities, I've practically stopped wasting money on lame boxes and really filled out my PC nicely.

That's it from Blowout for now, but you know I'm always looking.  Stay tuned in the next week or two for an upcoming trade post featuring Beardy, one that's bringing a new big hit to my collection which I'm very excited about!