7/31/26 card show report: Whatever

The past few weeks have been a bit "whatever" sports-wise, what with Michigan Football struggling with its transition to a new coaching staff that was supposed to help; the Tigers' season going out with a whimper and the Red Wings starting with one, proving once again that the Illitch family needs to sell both teams; and the NFL is in full swing but it's hard for me to find any team actually likeable, so I just root for individual former Michigan players.

That "blah" kind of feeling has sort of carried over to my blogging, even though they're not really related. I just don't get the itch to post very often, though don't worry, I don't intend to leave anytime soon because I still really appreciate the trading aspect blogging brings, and I have plenty to show off.

And more importantly, that stuff hasn't dulled my interest in the hobby at all. As a matter of fact, on the last day of July, for what would technically be August's show, I headed east to Taylor and tied my high for show spending for the year at $170.

A large chunk of that money was spent on higher-dollar cards, including a few for myself, but then again, "whatever," right? I haven't been spending like crazy this year (or even the past few years) so a splurge every now and then is fine, especially if I enjoy what I'm bringing home. The results of that thinking are below:

To start with, my 381st Rich Hill card may look somewhat plain, but it's actually the Vintage Stock version of his 2018 flagship base, and is therefore numbered /99. I'm glad to add anything new of his, but a numbered card is even better!

Speaking of pitchers I love to collect, one of my absolute favorites this time was the 2001 Stadium Club Capture the Action Game View of Maddux that you see above. It's not quite a 90s insert as it was made in 2001, but the creativity it brings is certainly in the spirit of the golden era of chase cards. Stadium Club offered some gorgeous insert designs in addition to the perennially awesome base looks, and the addition of the embedded slide is a winner. This is also numbered to just 100 copies. Would you rather have something like this or a slightly different colored variant of the usual Fanatics junk? That's what I thought!

A couple cheap Pudge inserts (which actually demonstrate Topps' most recent lack of design) give way to my first relic of young Tigers IF Colt Keith. It's from 2024 Select and the crazy pattern you see is called a Flash Prizm. No, I can't keep track of all of those either. Colt hasn't turned into the star people hoped he would after promising years in 2024 and '25, but he's still just 25, is versatile, and is locked up on a reasonable contract, so he's got time to become a long-term guy.

Another former Tigers IF, George Kell, made the trip home from this show along with the Maddux above, and I think one or two other cards. His 2002 SP Legendary Cuts bat relic caught my eye and I know I didn't pay as much for it as I thought. The addition of the olde English "D" on the bat chip was a nice touch! That appears to be my first relic of Kell, which surprised me.

Last up from baseball is a relatively understated but pretty solid Cal Ripken Jr. relic. As I march closer to 1500 of his cards, my most significant recent addition to his PC is this 2000 Skybox E-X Genuine Coverage jersey, which is a lovely orange Orioles swatch. There's not a whole lot going on with the design but sometimes that's a good thing. That's relic #10 of the Iron Man in my top player collection.

The football content goes just as hard, if not harder, if you can believe it. The Select base of former Vikings QB McCarthy was from the cheap boxes, but the rest certainly weren't! I'd seen two or three of the big cards in this scan in this seller's "as priced" boxes for quite a while (I'm talking more than a year at least!) and finally said to myself, "whatever," and asked for his best price on them along with the rest of the stuff I picked out. I was satisfied with what he asked and now I own them.

First up is my 78th card of Amara Darboh, and hit #52 (yep, I sure like that ratio!). Hailing from 2017 Rookies & Stars, it's a Longevity Signatures Green auto, and since the serial numbering is right up front you can see why I was especially interested in this one. At just five copies it's my lowest numbered Darboh aside from a printing plate, not to mention the 37th that includes his signature.

Keeping up the WR theme--he was a "TE" briefly in name only at Michigan--is Devin Funchess on a variation of his 2015 Panini Contenders auto/RC. This is the "facing forward" version while a "facing right" front image also exists. This one wasn't nearly as pricey as the others here but was still a fun addition as it joins 36 other cards in my bunches of Funchess.

The last WR in the group is possession guy Jason Avant, a sure-handed receiver for Michigan and then the Eagles. The card you see of him above is from 2006 Leaf Limited, way back when the Leaf name still meant something other than "Endless garbage 1/1s and stupid Trump shit." The bright foil you see is due to the card being a Gold Spotlight parallel of his RC, and it comes with both Avant's signature and a nice two-colored jersey swatch. Though you wouldn't know this by the front, it's almost as rare as the Darboh above, limited to just 10 copies. Just another gorgeous piece of one of my best looking football PCs, now sitting at 67 cards strong.

Last and kind of least, since it pales in comparison to the others--but is still much appreciated--is my third relic of ex-Minnesota QB J.J. McCarthy. The national champ shares a 2004 Donruss Rookie Holiday Dual Sweater insert with former teammate Dallas Turner. As always, these are kind of gimmicky, but also no worse than "event worn" cards, and at least the multiple colors make them more interesting. I'm hoping JJ gets more of a chance with the Giants (or someone else) than he did with the Vikings, who cut bait on him pretty early, at a time when it's become clear a number of young QBs need years to develop. But that's fine since I have no love for the Vikes anyway. "Whatever" again, right?

And that's another successful show in the books. I've got two more to recap and will get to them whenever I feel like it along with the other stuff that's hit my collection since then. Until I do, I hope many of you are doing better than "whatever" when it comes to the teams you root for. Unless you like the Yankees, in which case I'm not sorry!

2026 trade package #16: Bump and Run Football Card Blog

I'm back to show off an August trade package on a day I knew would be bittersweet, but unfortunately ended with mostly a bitter note. Justin Verlander made his final MLB start in what ended up being a walk-off homer win for the good guys. Then Michigan Football left Iowa in the game too long and suffered their own last-second loss after the (correctly called) season-opener against Western Michigan. It always sucks to lose, but it happens and I'll move on. I mean, the Tigers lost more than they won this season and it didn't kill my year.

And anyway, I still have this fantastic hobby to enjoy. Tonight that means I get to celebrate a trade package from Trevor of the Bump and Run Football Card Blog. Trevor has some things going on that I know make blogging, trading, and doing other things difficult for him, so when I say that I appreciate him sending these cards my way, I really do mean it. I'm grateful that he found the time and energy to do so, plus what he picked out for me turned out great:

On the baseball side of things we open with this year's starting catcher, Dillon Dingler, and a 1B/DH of yesteryear in Cecil Fielder. Both hail from Topps Chrome Platinum and Big Daddy's card is Prizm Refractor. It's nice to see fan favorites like Cecil in newer products.

Former Tiger Skubal gets to head back to the playoffs, this time with the usual favorites, the Dodgers, and believe me when I say I'm not rooting against him, just for a different team to win. You see him down the middle there on a Chrome-ified trio from Bowman Chrome and Finest, including a Mojo Refractor.

Speaking of Refractors, IF Trey Sweeney stars on that parallel from Topps Chrome, whereas he hasn't starred or even played in the Majors since a poor '25 season and shoulder injury.

The man of the day, JV, joins Skubal from that Finest release, and he truly was the finest Tigers pitcher of this century, good for 183 wins, ROY and Cy Young/MVP seasons, five playoff appearances, and two Pennants. I'm sure I'll put together some sort of career and collecting retrospective given the name of this here blog!

Last up from baseball is one of the offense's few top performers, OF Riley Greene, in relic form. The Topps Heritage Clubhouse Collection jersey of the young star who made his third straight All-Star team in '26. It wasn't a career season for the former first-rounder, as he had fewer hits and HR than last year (in fewer games), but did cut down on strikeouts big time and increased his batting average and OBP. At least we should get to enjoy him a bit longer before he hits free agency in a few seasons. For now that's my second relic of Riley and fourth hit overall.

Like I said, my favorite football team lost, but that's happened to each of the guys in this scan, and they were actually the ones playing, so I'll live with it. First, the shiny Collector's Edge card of HOF DB Ty Law--who won three Super Bowls--is numbered to 3000 on the back, and is a nice addition to one of my football PCs that's over 100+. McCarthy's had little time to find success in the NFL, and hasn't done enough when given a chance, but he did go and win a National Title, so he's got that going for him. You see him above on a Score Throwback insert in his Maize & Blue uni along with a Score-a-Treat issue that would fit right in in a post a week from today when it's October.

Joining him from that set is Charles Woodson, another HOF DB and one who won BOTH college and NFL titles. I have 401 cards of one of the greatest to play for Michigan and in the NFL. And last up is a very cool Press Pass Big Numbers die-cut of one of my college favorites, possession WR Jason Avant, who wore #8 (like one of my MLB favorites, Cal Ripken Jr.). He missed out on the Eagles' success by a bit but was fun to watch, and I love this card combining a jersey number I love with an awesome die-cut design.

Trevor, thanks again for thinking of me with these great new cards! I may actually be able to send you a decent return before long. Until then, please be well and take care of yourself, and enjoy the hobby however you can.

I'll try to be back before the calendar flips to another month with more. Until then here's hoping for Michigan Football to pick itself back up, and for the Dodgers, Yankees, and Red Sox to flame out in the MLB playoffs!

2024 COMC purchases: Nine from November

With the finish line now in sight I'm even more motivated to get this post done and call 2024 a wrap! Here's a look at the cards I bought for myself during COMC's Black Friday sale:

First up is hit #1 of another UM WR to wear #8 (besides another guy in this post), Ronnie Bell. The receiver/returner outplayed his practically anonymous recruiting rankings and was a key contributor as the Wolverines marched back to respectability under Jim Harbaugh. The Bowman's Best University card pictures him with the Wolverines (instead of the 49ers who'd eventually draft and then release him) and that's a great start for his hits collection! Sure, it's a sticker auto and he signed with his initials, but at least he added an inscription with his jersey number.

The day's other "first" is my second hit but first signature of LB Devin Bush II, a three-year Wolverine who did some nice work in 2017 and 2018 in Ann Arbor. The Steelers took him in the first round in 2019 and he's since bounced to Seattle and Cleveland, but was good enough to appear in an autograph insert (#d /299) in 2020 Panini Legacy.

In spot #3 is the other WR #8, the sure-handed Jason Avant, who was able to rescue the planted Michigan flag in Columbus this past season after Buckeye Jack Sawyer threw his hissy fit once his OSU team lost to Michigan again. Avant never won a Super Bowl with the Eagles but did have a solid 10-year career mostly spent with them, and I was thrilled to add another Triple Threads jersey/auto of his from his 2006 rookie year. The one you see above is the Sepia version /75 and is hit #66 of #8.

Next, RB Chris Evans appears to be out of the league at this point, but that wasn't going to stop me from picking up a third Michigan uni autograph of his. I may have passed on other brands but usually tend to like the simplicity of Score's rookie autos, so I had no problem ponying up a couple bucks for this one.

Sure, we've already had Devin, but what about second Devin? I paid less than $6.50 total for the cool pair starring former Panthers WR Funchess and I think that was a steal. The card on the left is a 2015 Panini Black Gold Sizeable Signatures Rookie Jerseys prime version, and I'm thinking you'll agree that it lives up to its "sizeable" and "prime" descriptors with ease. The other is a 2015 Panini National Convention VIP manupatch auto, which isn't the kind of thing I'd pay a premium for, but I do like seeing athletes sign things other than stickers. Funch moves up to 34 hits thanks to the pair.

I'll move down one spot horizontally to discuss the next card, a Jake Long 2008 Topps Triple Threads Sepia parallel. This one came with three really nice multi-color Dolphins swatches to go along with his signature (and numbering /75, like the Avant above). It's a great looking card to add to a collection that now stands at a very nice 98 hits, though he remains in third place behind our next two players.

Forever #1 guy Chad Henne continues to outpace the rest by a mile with his 146th hit, which happens to be one of the higher-end items in his collection. The 12th 1/1 I've landed for him, the card you see above is his 2008 Finest Yellow Plate (the non-auto version). It set me back a reasonable $14 which I don't mind paying for a top PC guy like Henne, whose hit collection isn't too far off of that from all-sports leader Rich Hill. As always, I'm a fan of when manufacturers do the border thing with their plates to make it obvious which color you have, especially in this case where the back is otherwise normal.

And last but not least is former blog namesake guy Mario Manningham. The 2008 Leaf Certified Materials auto you see above (#d /100) is everything I love about 2000s-era cards of some of my favorites, but it may be the most significant from this post for an entirely different reason: it puts Super Mario at exactly 100 hits, making him just the second player behind Henne in the football collection (and third overall including Rich Hill) to reach that mark! It actually wasn't 100% intentional as I would have been happy for Jake Long (again, 98) or Braylon Edwards (95) to make it first, but I only found one of the former I liked and none of the latter this time. So it looks like I get to celebrate Too Many Manninghams as my 2024 year of collecting comes to a close! (The football hits collection also surpassed the 1700-mark before the calendar turned, basketball went over 150, and hockey moved up to 350, with baseball very close to 450.)

Once again, thanks to everyone for making 2024 a great year of trading, blogging, reading, comments, shows, and more! I'm looking forward to treating you to recaps of the cards I've picked up since 2025 started including (at this point) seven blogger-related trade packages, two shows, and four TCDb deals. Look for a post covering the first blogger trade of January soon!

2020 COMC purchases: look at these 'graphs (and more!)

Time to finish up a look at my late-year purchases from COMC so I can close the book on cards I bought in 2020, a year that often felt as bad as a Nickelback song.

I decided to throw all of the football content in one post and just try not to get too verbose about it. That way I can get this stuff put away and move on to other incoming items and stuff I want to post about. I'm showing off 35 cards tonight and the vast majority include signatures, hence today's title and the meme above. Let's get down to business:

The other 34 cards fit nicely into two scans each of nine (vertical cards) and eight (horizontal), so I'll give the only non-hit its own spot here to start. Old Ty joins Amani Toomer (back-to-back in the set, in fact) in my collection of the amazing 2000 Bowman's Best Acetate parallel, which is so cool I scanned both sides for this post!

Ok, on to the (mostly) 'graphs! Many of the cards you'll see were excellent deals that fortified some of my better football PCs. Avant's from the era of shiny stickergraphs and is numbered /125. Breaston did play a couple seasons for the Chiefs, who could repeat as champs tomorrow evening. J-Booty's auto comes on an Optic card, making it shiny in a different way than Avant's. Taco (Michigan uni!) was drafted by Dallas but is now potentially in line for a ring as a bit player for the Chiefs. I continued to bolster Darboh's collection with the three autos you see here (and more in a bit), and Jeff and I have lots of those in common which I noticed while adding them on TCDB. Braylon's huge Browns swatch (/150) was a nice value. And I scored another, uh, signature? of Gary, who had a solid sophomore campaign with the Pack.

Now this is a top three I can get down with: a trio of college uni cards! Gentry's tiny John Hancock graces a Prizm card, Big Mo is one of those acetate cards from Leaf Trinity's Clear line, and I tracked down auto number two of former lineman Trezelle Jenkins. Then it's on to just four out of an absolute bounty of Jake Longs, including a quad jersey/auto, autograph, and not one but two plates (2008 Topps Mayo and 2010 Topps), the first I've acquired of the former #1 overall pick. It's been a while since I've posted a new pickup of former college star DL Mike Martin so why not celebrate his return with a beautiful UD Black signature (/199)? And I enjoy seeing former stars like Toomer get recognized after their careers in Panini's various products, like this Certified jersey (/49) of Amani "It's Not A" Toomer.

Not everything was autographed in this bunch but most was. One of the exceptions was a cool rookie year Avant jersey (/499) where the shininess of the card is better than the swatch. Leaf's cards are fantastic values for college collectors like this sick giant patch/auto of WR Jehu Chesson that cost me less than $3. The three other Darboh cards I found were jersey/autos, two of which came with nice pieces of what's becoming a familiar Seahawks jersey for me as a collector of his cards. Braylon's Topps "patch" isn't terribly impressive but was a cool find for under a buck, and the large jersey number relic card (/25) is even better. Panini's Contenders/Draft products are also outstanding for those pursuing cards of their favorite schools, and here I was glad to find my third signature of former DB David Long.

And the last grouping allows me to end the post with a bang. I was very pleased with my Long haul (pun intended), nine cards for about $33 that also included four jersey/autos and an auto/manupatch. The Gridiron Gear card is one of those where the signed swatch can be pulled out, similar to the Denard that follows the group, though I think in Shoelace's case the signed piece isn't from a jersey. I was thrilled to add another of A-Train's beautiful signatures to my collection. And we'll end on a non-auto, a dual relic of WR Marquise Walker, representing Tom Brady's Bucs in this post.

Once again I had a great time landing some amazing pieces for my collection at pretty nice prices, even if my trade bait purchasing was less than ideal this time around. Just a few quick collection notes: Long zoomed past Braylon thanks to his big day, with the OT hitting 97 to the WR's 93 (Manningham's in between at 95), and threatening to become the second member of my 100-hit club (Henne). Despite his cards being relatively recent, Darboh's already over the 40-mark to 41. And Avant gets to 65 hits, good for sixth overall. Michigan's former WRs feature heavily at the top of my collection with #s 3, 4, 6, 7, 11, 12, 14, 16, and 17.

With these finally able to be put away in their boxes I'm not sure where I'll go next: possibly my first Baseballcardstore.ca order, or perhaps an interesting purchase from a new vendor, not to mention an incoming trade envelope. If I manage to get myself to put up a Super Bowl-related post tomorrow I know which one it'll be, and I'm curious to see reactions to it.

2019 COMC purchases: 2019 was an a-maize-ing year!

It's the second Sunday in February, 2020, and I'm finally ready to close out my 2019 pickups so I can move on to this year!

Today's post will cover Michigan Football guys that I consider PCs in the sense that they have their own albums, though I may change how I present those soon to make things a bit easier for everybody.

Let's get to the cards:

QB #7 Chad Henne had himself a day (or a sale weekend, as the case may be) with this seven spot of new hits.  I scored a new auto out of the 2008 UD Icons product I'm not exactly in love with (but a signature's a signature!) and two relics from 2011 Panini brands:  a Gridiron Gear "prime" piece and a normal Dolphins green swatch from Limited.  Those photos look preeeetty similar....

On the horizontal end I came up with three more 2008 SPx cards from the Rookie/Winning Materials sets that have multiple configurations.  The first two are /75 and the last is /50 but all three are dual swatch versions.  A quick check tells me I have 15 different cards featuring Henne from this product, 11 of which are from the two inserts I mentioned.  They're joined by my third example of a 2008 UD Premier issue, all of which include four swatches and an autograph.  This is the Silver and is #d /60.

These additions are fun on their own but they also happen to bump my Henne collection over 300 to 306 total cards, second only to Charles Woodson, not to mention 136 hits, tying him with baseball leader Rich Hill!  I look forward to adding more of his stuff this year.

I think I promised a good showing in my posts leading up to this one, and maybe you'll agree that I delivered between the Hennes, these vertically oriented offerings, and the horizontals in the next scan.  Here we start with my second "A" and third letter overall in Jason Avant's 2006 Donruss Threads nameplate.  I'll keep looking for the "V" and "T" I need so I can have another completed project to show off.  His former teammate Alan Br--

--ANCH KILLS QBs!

Branch, gets a 17th auto to his collection, and we'll see him again shortly.  The final 1/1 this time is a 2011 Inception Yellow plate of Braylon Edwards, and I love the border that makes it abundantly obvious which version it is.  Leon Hall and David Harris help maintain the offense/defense balance in this scan with signatures from 2007 Bowman Sterling and 2011 Prime Signatures.  I was able to sneak in a fairly cheap Manningham in the form of a dual signature with Marcus Monk from UD's 2009 sticker dump SP Signature, which works for me!  That's hit #94 of my former blog namesake.  Denard, who we'll see again in the next scan, can be seen on a rookie year 2013 Topps Triple Threads Purple parallel /27, with cutouts for the swatches spelling out his various positions.  I wish he'd been given a shot to play QB in the NFL just for fun.  Last up is Gabe Watson, who I forgot isn't one of my PC guys since he's only at 30 cards.  Oh well, that 2006 Absolute auto (his 8th) is still pretty cool!

The horizontals start with a cheap Avant relic and then a 2007 UD Premier dual auto that pairs another couple guys we've already seen in Branch and Hall, who were fellow rookies in the stacked '07 class.  Jake Long gets his own 2008 SPx appearance, joining fellow '08 Dolphins draftee Henne, and this dual jersey /99 is my 10th of Long from the set and 8th from the Rookie/Winning Materials versions.

Then come three new 2013 Denard autographs.  His prices are low enough that I can pretty much pick up stuff like the ones you see above for under $3.  The Prominence card includes a helmet thing but I don't think I filed it as a manurelic; Panini's Totally Certified came with a nice jersey swatch; and Topps Platinum called the third card a patch auto, so that's what I'll go with.  Those additions plus the Triple Threads above were enough to put Shoelace right at 50 hits, making him just the 10th player in my collection to hit that mark!

The last card of the last post for 2019 is a cool rookie auto of yet another star defensive guy from 2007, LaMarr Woodley.  It's funny to end with this card because it's the very first one I bought toward this last shipment, way back on September 8, or almost three months before the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales responsible for the rest of my purchases.  I couldn't let this Ultimate Collection signature slip away after it went on sale for just $1.75.

2019 was yet another great year of collection for me, and maybe I'll go back to that well one more time with a summary post soon (or maybe not!).  Either way, I finished it with fewer than 25 hits to go for 1500 in the football collection, and I'm fairly close to fun milestones in the other sports as well.  Although I may revise my definition of "hits" for those collections, for now I can say that I began the year with more than 2200 such cards of former Wolverines, which is a great place to build from in 2020.

Whew!  With those finally done I'm excited to show you my first trade package of 2020, eBay pickup #1 of the year, and recaps of both card shows I hit in January, plus I have a couple other interesting ideas in mind.  It may be February, but happy new collecting year!

2019 trade package #36: Sport Card Collectors

As I mentioned yesterday I had a terrific Christmas, and now I'm finally back to get started on thanking people for some especially generous Christmas cards!

Today I'm celebrating envelope #20 from a particular trader, one who first sent me cards about three years ago.  Back in January of 2017, Matt of Sport Card Collectors became one of my new trade partners after claiming some giveaway lots I'd done a couple months earlier, and then he was nice enough to send a Miggy relic my way.

From there it was a parade of PWEs stuffed with Tigers and many new additions to my Griffey collection (a PC we happen to share) among others, until earlier this month when he let me know I had something a bit more substantial heading for my mailbox.  Dude wasn't kidding--this thing was packed with great content that hit the collections I just mentioned, then went all Santa Claus on my Michigan Football PC!

Without further ado, here's the contents of a package fit to be found under the nicest tree:

First up is the Tigers content.  Scherzer is a Diamond Kings subset card from 2019 Donruss that takes me back to some fun 80s designs.  Pitching prospect Spencer Turnbull and two of the Verlanders are from this year's Topps Walmart Holiday product, and Turnbull's card plus the JV below are the Metallic version where the white-ish decorations are a bit raised and glittery.  Verlander also pops up on a 2017 Topps insert called Bowman Then & Now.  Why was it inserted into Topps, then?  I dunno, but it reminds me that I should try to find his '05 Bowman RC at some point.  Last up is a pair-a Cabrera:  a 2015 Heritage Now and Then insert highlighting his 400th HR hit in 2015, and 2019 Topps Historic Through-Lines insert pairing him up with Mr. Tiger himself, Al Kaline, who also won a batting title.  Miggy crushed #400 on 5/16/2015, and has gone off for 77 more since, but is still short of the big milestone due to injury and decline.  His pace is still 31 bombs per 162 games played over the past three years, though, so I see him getting there within the next couple seasons.

Here's a group of Griffey cards that could have easily been another PWE from Matt, but I'm glad they were included here.  Only two (card #2, '08 UD, and the second horizontal issue, UD Masterpieces from the same year) were dupes, so I got a nice chunk of cardboard for his collection.  The portrait ones are from 2008 SP Authentic (love that swing!), 2016 Topps Tribute to the Kid, and 2017 Topps Fire.  The Tribute card is my 13th of the set so it was nice making more progress here.  Meanwhile, the landscapers are from 2000 Upper Deck Victory's Junior Circuit subset (my fifth of that group) and 2008 Upper Deck X's Xponential 2 variation (I already had the "regular' version).  These look fantastic and the red & white cards are very season-appropriate.  I now have a crazy 898 Griffeys, so he's catching up on Cal Jr. a bit.

Now with the bowl game coming up, let's switch to Michigan Football content.  There's a pretty nice maize & blue theme going on here with inserts of Adrian Arrington, Devin Funchess, and Jourdan Lewis in their college unis.  The latter is just my fourth of the talented DB, a Blue Back parallel #d 174/175, and as you might imagine, some of the features on the back are done up in (light) blue.  GOAT QB Tom Brady also gets in on the action with a Blue parallel of his 2019 Absolute base card.  Looks pretty nice to me!

Now here's where things take a turn for the insanely generous.  Everything you've seen so far could have been split up into a few PWEs, but not this bounty:

And this isn't even everything!  More on that in a minute, we'll look at this bunch first.

When Matt asked me for a list of guys I collected, I in no way expected eye-popping hits like what you see above.  Like PC guy Jason Avant on a 2006 Absolute jersey/ball/jersey card.  Or WR Amara Darboh starring on an autographed issue with a sick Seattle patch, hit #31 of his 42 cards(!).  PC leader Chad Henne (129 hits) gets a nice boost with two rookie-year jerseys ('08 Topps Rookie Progression and Upper Deck) and a double swatch from 2010 Sweet Spot.  Bonus points for two of them being Michigan uni images and swatches!  Henne is nearing a milestone of his own as I now own 299 of his cards.  The guy Miami took #1 overall before selecting Henne, Jake Long, adds to his own crazy count with hit #83 thanks to a Gold (#234/350) version of the '08 jersey you just saw of Chad.

RB Thomas Rawls (who transferred out, but I still collect) is another guy whose name I recall mentioning to Matt, which ended up being a good idea since he included my first auto of Rawls (3rd hit), a Capstones card from 2017 Panini Vertex (#63/99) that comes with four nice Seahawks swatches.  And last up in this group we have former highly-rated CB recruit Donovan Warren on one of his few issues, a 2010 SAGE HIT Silver auto.  Once again I love the #collegecontent.

Now we'll flip things a bit and look at four more(!) relics to round out the package.  Underachieving All-Star and WR Ronald Bellamy pops up for a rare appearance in what's just his 6th hit (and first relic) in my collection, a swatch from the East-West college all-star game for seniors/upcoming draftees.  It's not 100% a college uni card but he is wearing the most iconic helmet in the sport so that's a big plus.  Speaking of WRs, Matt sent me lucky hit #13 of the oft-injured Devin Funchess, a 2015 Topps Valor Courage patch, with just a hint of Panthers teal (or whatever you call it).  I believe the different versions correspond to the numbering, and this one is #17/50.

Last up today is another blog favorite, former QB Denard Robinson.  A PC I got over the 100-card mark not long ago, he gets two new hits for a total of 46 as he remains a popular passenger of trade envelopes and a target of my purchases too.  On the left is a large Jags swatch out of 2013 Panini Momentum (#004/299), and to the right is a Topps Strata offering from the same year, a Gold Patch relic (#39/90).  This one has less patchiness than the Funchess but I know such swatches happen from time to time, and I'm just happy to see more new Shoelaces I get to keep.

This incredibly generous mailer from Matt jumps my football hits PC all the way up to 1443 items, and while it's extremely unlikely I'll finish the year with 1500, that milestone is tantalizingly close, and I may pass it early next year.

Thanks again for a wonderful Christmas surprise, Matt, and I look forward to trading with you more in 2020!  I'll be back at it soon chasing down some Griffeys and Giants for you, and with any luck, some Rodney Hamptons and Kerry Collins stuff too!

2019 COMC purchases: preposterous PC pickups

I'm back this evening to end this latest COMC series, which is good since it won't be long until Black Friday/Cyber Monday time when I'll be loading up once again.

Today's the big finish for this haul, with cards scanned in groups because I originally planned to split them up into smaller posts before realizing that would just drag things out unnecessarily.  On a day that mark's the birth of one of college's top 10 players of all time, Charles Woodson (who's not included in this post) let's have a look at the remaining Michigan Football hits:

Scans 1 and 2 include WRs and RBs, with this one covering the verticals.  Outspoken wideout and guy who can't keep his foot out of his mouth Braylon Edwards gets three new jersey relics added to his total (now 85, good for third place), including a multi-color swatch from 2010 Epix.  

You'll see A-Train again in a minute (with his partner in crime), but for now have a look at a simple jersey card from 2002 Pacific.  

And another wideout also gets one of multiple appearances in Marquise Walker, who shares a 2002 Playoff Honors card with Bucs RB Travis Stephens, a guy that outshone Walker by catching his only pass in one NFL game.

And now for the horizontals.  Sure-handed receiver Jason Avant leads things off with a simple jersey from 2006 that I would have sworn I had if I hadn't checked.  Nope, it's new to me and it's hit #60 in his collection, one of a few fun milestones today.  Also, you can ignore the Chris Perry jersey, which looks great and would be nicer if I didn't already own it.  Oh well, trade bait!

Next is 2001 Bears duo David Terrell plus Thomas again, each on 2001 Playoff Honors jersey RCs numbered /725.  A-Train goes for a third score, as he often did, with a 2002 Gridiron Kings Gridiron Cut Collection ball relic (#317/550) on one of that brand's many cool designs.  Terrell now sits at 44 hits and 148 overall cards while Thomas pulls away a bit at 53 and 150.  Milestone #2!

Last up in this bunch is jersey this time of Walker, hailing from 2002 Leaf Rookies & Stars.  Again, we've got a simple design but a nice, bold jersey swatch, and you know I pick these up super cheap; I pretty much aim for $1.50 and under when it comes to "game-used" stuff.  The guy who wore #4 gets his 24th hit out of 63 overall cards.

Now we'll shift gears a bit with a scan that covers defense and QBs.  I rarely get enough of the D side of the ball to justify its own post anyway so I have to group them in somewhere!  As far as those go, we'll start with Leon Hall on an acetate auto out of 2007 Upper Deck Trilogy (#40/99).  This is one of those cards that's difficult to scan so if I didn't point out that it's clear you wouldn't know.  An autographed parallel of his RC from the product, it gets me to 39 Halls.

Joining him on defense is tackling machine David Harris.  We just saw the star LB in the inserts post, and how he's back with relics designed in both orientations.  Up top is a shiny 2012 Limited Threads jersey (#92/99) while a 2010 Topps Peak Performance Relic sits in the bottom-right corner.  Autographs are always better but I take what I can get with defensive players, and I'm happy to move up to a solid 31 hits (84 cards overall) of the former Jet/Patriot.

Though he played RB late in his college career and during his short NFL tenure, I still count Denard Robinson as a QB, so here he is.  Above you can see a pair of 2013 Absolute Rookie Premiere relics I scored featuring Shoelace, with one being the Oversize Jersey Number variant (#57/99) and the other spelling out "NFL" (#68/99). I now count 44 hits in my Denard collection, and a milestone-worthy 101 overall cards thanks to this pair!

Moving on to a guy who enjoyed a longer NFL tenure, you can see three horizontal Brian Griese relics along the right side of the scan.  All of them hail from Fleer brands:  2001 E-X and Ultra and 2002 Ultra.  Griese's relics that I find tend toward basic designs since he wasn't a big factor when those cards got a bit more interesting.  He's still a pretty big deal in my collection, though, at 23 hits and an almost-milestone 198 overall items.

The last two scans fall into the category of "the great 2008s," my favorite Michigan draft class, rivaled only by the guys chosen a year earlier.  I couldn't tell you which scan I prefer because both are amazing, and anyway, I don't have to!

Starting us off is a new 2008 SP Threads manu-letter auto of WR Adrian Arrington.  I haven't been able to complete his base set, last name nameplate yet as I'm short three of the nine cards, but I now have my second letter from the College Autographs version, which--get this--spells out the college's name.  I can add this "N" to an "I" I'd previously scored, putting me a quarter of the way toward that one.  It'll also reside in double-A's PC, which stands at 55 hits (#7 overall) out of 89 cards.

And then there's blog favorite QB Chad Henne with three new signature items.  First is a 2008 SP Rookie Edition auto that honors the '93 SP design.  I'll need to chase down the other three at some point.  Next is a signed version, featuring a cut out window for the main event, of his 2008 Stadium Club rookie.  I now own one of these for all five Wolverines in the set:  Henne, Arrington, Jake Long, Mike Hart, and Mario Manningham.  Maybe I'll show off all of them together at some point.  For now, though, the showstopper is a 2008 Upper Deck Premier quad patch/auto (#15/30) of the journeyman QB.  My purchase history says I plunked down a measly $4.21 for this beauty, and I'm glad I did!

Henne continues to the the charge with a crazy 128 hits (still the only guy above 100 for now) and an almost-milestone-ish 296 overall pieces.

Speaking of crazy, today's big winner has me celebrating too many Manninghams!  That's eight, count 'em, eight new hits of the super WR.  We'll take a run through them in a few groups.

The first two pairs all include some sort of jersey relic:  2008 Bowman Sterling Refractor, Leaf Certified Materials ("prime"), Donruss Threads, and one of those nifty LCM Souvenir Stamps stamp/jersey relic.  Pretty cool!

Next is a 2009 SP Signature triple auto card starring the man himself, former teammate Adrian Arrington, and...Lavelle Hawkins.  I guess the latter was also a 2008 draftee with the letters "A", "I", and "N" in his last name?  Anyway, I love cards with multiple Wolverines, and this one fits the bill.

Last up is a trio of 2008 SPx multi-jersey cards, adding to my huge collection from that product.  A quick check tells me I have 41, covering the vast array of variants like these three:  "Star and Position Dual 25," "Unique Shape Triple 15," and "Jersey Number Dual 25."  That's right, UD came up with a design and didn't know what the hell to call it either!

This was an insanely fun way to close out another fantastic haul for my collection, and it makes Manningham just the second player to hit the 90-card mark at 93 hits (216 cards overall).

As always I had a blast hunting down and scoring new pieces for my collection and I'm looking forward to doing it again in just a few weeks.  But before then I have lots more to cover, so be on the lookout for more posts here soon!

Blowout purchase: remember, remember the first of November!

Quick programming note:  I've done four out of ten posts showing off my complete set of 2003 Topps Total and you guys have stayed away in droves--they're averaging about 10 views.  Message received--I won't waste more time on those.

Another month, another purchase from Blowout!  It had been a while since I saw anything worthy of my hard-earned Paypal dollars, but one seller who had a ton of $3/four-for-$10 hits in his Bucket caught my eye.  $30 delivered later, I had 11 new PC acquisitions, plus something that I owed a fellow blogger, which you'll hopefully see on his blog within a week.  Here they are:

Braylon Edwards 2005 Upper Deck NFL Rookie Jersey Collection jersey:  Aside from the usual complaining about single-color jersey relics, why would I turn down my 33rd Edwards hit?

Brian Griese 2001 Fleer Tradition Glossy Traditional Threads jersey:  I definitely don't have enough hits of the most recent national championship-winning QB, so this solid blue jersey was a nice add.  Suck it, Tebow.

Chad Henne 2008 Gridiron Gear Rookie Gridiron Gems jersey-ball:  If this Henne looks somewhat familiar, it's because I also have the patch version.  #d 06/50, this is a great piece for my ever-growing Henne PC, and the 31st member of that group.

Chris Perry 2004 Bazooka Originals jersey:  If you were designing a relic card for the low-end, kid-friendly Bazooka set, this is pretty much how it would turn out, no?  I can always use more of the former Heisman finalist, so this'll do.

Derrick Alexander 2001 Pacific Invincible jersey:  Alexander was a first round pick, but it was back in 1993, so it's difficult to find much of him.  This foil-friendly, redtastic jersey from 2001 was a nice find, then, and goes along well with my other Alexander, an auto.  This one, as you can see, is numbered 100/250.  EBAY 1/1!!!

Jake Long 2008 Absolute Memorabilia Rookie Jersey collection jersey:  Let's be clear--if I was going to pick up a new Braylon, the rules clearly state that I had to pick up a Jake Long to keep pace.  I probably have enough green single-color Long relics to piece together my own jersey, and this is #34 of him in my PC, maintaining his crown.

Jason Avant 2007 Upper Deck Artifacts NFL Facts auto:  This one was tied for my favorite of the bunch.  It's shiny and holographic, and the signature--despite being a sticker--looks excellent.  Make it 21 of one of Michigan's most sure-handed WRs.

John Navarre 2004 Upper Deck ProSigs Diamond Collection Signature Collection auto:  This is an excellent Navarre auto, with a million bonus points for being in his Michigan uni, in which he was far more successful anyway.  A big-time Navarre collector on Blowout pinged me about selling it to him after I bought it, but I wasn't budging--I COLLECT these things, man!

Leon Hall 2007 SAGE Aspire auto:  My other favorite of this group.  I ding it one point for the signature section taking up half of the card, but I love everything else about it.  The photo they chose is outstanding, and typical of Hall's ability to make play on the ball, maybe in a game against Purdue?  The blue really pops on the bottom half and works perfectly with Hall's school colors, not to mention his excellent blue signature.  Defensive players don't get enough love when it comes to cards, but Hall is a star for the Bengals and I can at least count myself as a fan who appreciates his skill and stardom.

Mario Manningham 2008 Gridiron Gear Rookie Gridiron Gems jersey-ball:  Just like the above Henne, this is a pretty sweet pickup.  The more interesting piece of football makes up for the white jersey swatch, plus it's numbered even lower than Henne's, 11/25.  Make it 24 Super Marios in my PC now.

Terrance Taylor 2009 SP Authentic auto RC:  I'm now up to two autos of the former portly defensive stalwart.  This one doesn't feature him in his Michigan uni, but it is serial numbered, 756/999, plus I love that he signed his jersey number.

Those 11 pickups now put me at 378 Michigan hits, making me wonder if I'll hit 400 before the end of the year.  Either way, it should be a fun ride.

Tune in soon for a few more things I'm expecting in the mail, including a trade package, plus my haul from the Topps Super Bowl Legends Giveaway.

Buying frenzy non-set wantlist purchase #2

As I alluded to several times in the last week, I did end up snagging a single PC card from my biggest pipeline, the Blowout forums.  While I definitely scan them regularly as usual, I've heavily cut down on my purchases there, many so my spending didn't get out of hand, but also because I really haven't seen much I was interested in.

That changed a bit earlier this week when a seller posted a lot in the football forums that included something that looked nice--nice enough to be on my singles wantlist, that is.  When I asked him if he'd part with it by itself, someone else viewing the thread astutely swooped in and made me an offer I couldn't refuse.  A few days later, this

Jason Avant 2006 Playoff Contenders auto RC

was in my mailbox.  I'm definitely a fan of the Sweet Spot Signatures series that the football sets put out each year, and the evidence is in my Michigan PC, which includes such cards of Brandon Graham, Brandon Minor, John Navarre and Marlin Jackson.

Avant has been one of my favorite players to collect despite the fact that he was never a superstar in college and hasn't risen above his possession receiver status in the NFL.  He's just a solid, blue collar player who plays the game the right way, and I'm proud to have him in my PC.  As it turns out, Avant is one of my absolute best player collections when you see some of the stuff I have of him.  I'm now up to 19 of him, and only two of those aren't autographed or a patch.

After jetting to 350 cards in this PC (thanks to the amazing Michigan football acquisition skills of Jeff, he of friend of the blog My Sports Obsession, which is always worth a read, by the way) I now move up only one card, but fear not!  COMC is about to blow your minds.

It's like a virtual card show for about two-fiddy, plus WTF Chris Olds?

Mandatory Blowout purchase section:

Yadda, yadda, Blowout, right?  I realize I just did the mad libs thing, so I'll just keep this one simple:  six cards for $17 as they were $2.50 each out of the guy's Picasa Web Album (which he was still calling a Bucket for some reason).  I grabbed three for me and three that were trade bait, which explains the card show reference in the title--almost every time I go I get about 50% PC stuff and 50% trade bait, but never on purpose.


Trade bait:

• Brooks Foster 2009 Bowman Draft College Letter Patch Auto "R" (#039/173) (North Carolina)
• Aaron Brooks 2001 Topps Reserve auto
• Syndric Steptoe 2007 Leaf R&S patch/auto/RC (#093/299)

The Steptoe is destined to go to Tim, and if he doesn't take it, he'll be dead to me (people will say "Did you see Tim's latest post?" and I'll say "Yeah, it's a shame the way he went, though, at the fireworks factory--who would have thought he'd get run over by a clown car there?").

The other two are up for grabs for now.  The Brooks is a BA Benny-preferred card, but I'm certainly open to offers since I probably have more than enough to send his way.

Now for the stuff for me:

Adrian Arrington 2008 SP Rookie Threads Signing Day auto:  I'll start by saying I really like the design on these for some reason.  It might be the way the autograph section really pops, plus you can't really tell it's a sticker until you look up-close because it's clear.  It doesn't hurt that Arrington has an interesting autograph.  This is #18 of him in my collection and continues my streak of nothing but autographs of the former Michigan WR.

Charles Woodson 2006 Fleer Fabrics jersey:  W00t for doubling my Woodson hit collection.  Although he's pictured here as a Raider and the swatch might actually be from a black Oakland jersey (I really can't tell), I'm counting this as a Packers card because that's the listed team, that's who he just won the Super Bowl with, plus Oakland just outderped themselves and spent a THIRD-ROUND PICK in the supplemental draft on Terrell "Everybody murders" Pryor.

Jason Avant 2006 Prestige jersey RC:  A nice green rookie-year swatch of the sure-handed receiver.  I'm hoping for good things for Avant with Vick QBing now that he has a full year under his belt back from suspension.  This is Avant #17 for me, by the way.

Look for more, as usual, pretty soon, including another very exciting addition to one of my baseball PCs!

WTF, Chris Olds?:

I generally object to many of the things that Beckett's editor Chris Olds does--his box breaks annoy me to no end, and of course he's part of the "Hobby has never been better" up-your-ass smoke-blowing committee--but I picked today to ask "WTF?" about his latest piece of "journalism."  Here, Olds explains why Bull Durham is not his #1 baseball movie.  So far, so good--I'm not sure it's mine, either, and I have a hard time choosing one above the rest.  His main beef is that the teams Durham plays in the movie are geographically ridiculous and overall inaccurate.
While I disagree with this as a major reason to knock a movie down on your list, I don't dispute his right to use whatever criteria to order it.  What I'm most annoyed by   is that the article/editorial has zero purpose:  it's very short, its lazily-written, and most importantly, it doesn't even mention what his #1 baseball movie IS.  If you enjoy one-to-two sentence paragraphs explaining inaccuracies and literally nothing else, you're in for a treat.

It's crap like this that really makes me appreciate my fellow bloggers for the interesting and often insightful content they bring every day.  I won't pretend that as an English major I don't cringe at the usual array of spelling and grammatical errors that come with the territory (I'm only human!) but at worst I still get about 10 blogs worth of content a day from my subscriptions that trump the drivel Beckett's editor decided to crap out today.  Maybe Beckett needs to do a better job of incorporating user-generated content from, you know, the collectors that give its magazine a reason for existence (or, not really since its been a long time since the prices have been anything but obsolete).  That's my long way of saying, "WTF, Chris Olds?" and it may not be the last time I do.

Happy David Harris-ment awareness day, plus a contest plug

Contest plug:

In lighter news that doesn't involve the Tigers repeating their mistakes Groundhog Day style (at least he gets it in the end), Sam over at the Daily Dimwit is having a contest, the type that's ridiculously easy to join.  I've kind of been out of the contest game for a while due to disinterest and laziness, but I liked the combination of easiness and prize offerings so I'm in on this one, even if almost literally every other blogger I follow seems to be as well.  The prizes:

Be one of the lucky randomized five and get your choice.  Just hop over to the post, drop your name in the hat and pimp the contest like you see here for a couple free, easy entries.  Come on, just do it, Sam needs all the good news he can get now that he's an Alabama Mwa-own.  Hell, by the time the contest ends he may not even be able to read.

Sam, is that you?

Thumbs up for a cool contest, so get in now!

One other quick thing--Google+ invites:


I'd love to see more of you in my Bloggers circle on Google+, so for those interested, please feel free to swipe an invite from me here.  The link to my profile is in the upper-right part of this here blog.

David Harris all day:

Another day, another package of Wolverines from Blowout.  I scored a really nice deal on six cards of three different players, including a couple very low numbers.  The deal actually came about because someone noticed me working on a (failed) deal for some Wolverines and decided he wanted to get rid of some of his.  Voila:

Anthony Thomas 2002 Playoff Honors Honorable Signatures:  Boy does A-Train have a sweet-looking signature.  In some cases I even think it looks better on a sticker because it pops more.  Thomas #11 in my PC is only my third autograph of him, actually

Here comes a few David Harris hits:

2007 Prestige Draft Picks Rights auto/RC:  I don't really like the ugly "Draft Picks Rights" logo hovering in the upper-right corner, but the rest of the card looks pretty great--the Refractory background is pretty sweet, and this is a great shot of Harris looking mean during his Michigan days.  #d 066/150.

2007 Topps Co-Signers dual auto (with Brad Kassell):  I don't usually jump at multi-player autos that include non-Michigan players, but I thought this was a reasonable inclusion in the deal, and at least they're both on the same team.  This goes well with my other Co-Signers sigs.  

2007 Topps Performance Breakout Gold auto:  This was the highlight of the package for me simply because it's #d 5/5, see?:

I actually already had the non-numbered version of this, so with this guy and the next one, I'm actually a good part of the way towards having all of Harris' hits from this set.

2007 Topps Performance Rookie Autographs Silver auto/RC:  This goes well with my other versions of Harris from the set.  Also a highlight of the deal due to being #d out of 25:

Those four Harrises put me up to 14 hits, 100% of which are autographs.  Not bad for a guy that just got PAID.

Jason Avant 2006 SP Authentic SP Authentics auto:  It probably hasn't been that long since I picked up an Avant autograph, but I'm still always happy to get one, especially one that's on-card with as nice of a design as this one is.  At 15 excellent cards including 13 autographs, Avant is clearly one of my better player collections.

As usual I'm very satisfied with a Wolverine-filled deal from Blowout.  The PC now stands at 307 hits, 213 of which are autographed.  Hopefully more will be on the way soon!