The TCDB Michigan Box part 2: football

I had a great time at this afternoon's monthly show and will be recapping that in relatively short order, but this evening I'm happy to finally take care of something I've had on the back burner for more than two years.

Last March I did a quick recap of the basketball stuff I needed from what I've been simply referring to as "The Michigan Box", a 5000-count monster box that was nearly full of UM basketball and football dupes from the collection of TCDB member cijt. As a quick reminder, back in May of 2020 he sent me the box in return for a mix of some of my dupe Michigan hits and a few other things that fit his collection.

It took me quite a while to sort through everything, especially the football stuff since it was sorted by player but then brand/year instead of my preferred year/brand. Plus I had to filter out anything I already had a copy of, plus any additional copies in many cases.

Still, it was a lot of fun to do that work and very productive for my collection as well--I was able to add more than 1600 new cards to my Michigan Football PCs! Putting them away will coincide with my project of expanding the home of those collections from four to five monster boxes because they were getting pretty snug.

Here's a look at what was left in the box after I removed all the dupes (and the basketball stuff that I'd previously covered). I won't be showing all 1600+ cards, but I will show one for every player represented, plus a few of the items you see in the fifth row of the box pictured above as well.

I also snagged a picture of the players' piles to try to give a sense of scale so you can see who benefitted the most from this trade. I know by the spreadsheet I created to track all this that Jim Harbaugh was the big winner, with Brian Griese, Evlis Grbac, Derrick Alexander, and Tyrone Wheatley following in his wake. I should also point out that the vast majority of cards were from the late 80s, 90s, and early 2000s (Chris apparently set a cutoff of who he collects around 2008). The second-to-last pile you see is guys who only had one or two new cards added, and those are followed by some new TK Legacy adds.

Because this is a lot of cards to cover I'm presenting the scans without comment other than identifying the players, mentioning how many new cards they added to their PCs, and then in parentheses noting their current collection counts as of this posting on TCDB.

There are 10 scans covering the 84 players whose collections were hit followed by a scan of TK Legacy stuff, and then a few more scans with something out of the ordinary at the end. Please enjoy this mix of years and brands of football cards!:

Bobby Abrams: 1 (2)     Derrick Alexander: 130 (189)     Jason Avant: 2 (121)

Ron Bellamy: 1 (18)     Tim Biakabutuka: 89 (230)     Keith Bostic: 2 (3)

Tom Brady: 28 (288)     Steve Breaston: 2 (130)     Jarrod Bunch: 22 (34)

Jerry Burns: 2 (4)     Chris Calloway: 41 (55)     Anthony Carter: 55 (100)

Todd Collins: 30 (72)     Evan Cooper: 1 (3)     Thom Darden: 3 (7)

Dan Dierdorf: 4 (9)     Dean Dingman: 1 (4)     Tom Dohring: 1 (1)

Glenn Doughty: 2 (4)     Braylon Edwards: 31 (338)     Jumbo Elliott: 17 (28)
Matt Elliott: 1 (4)     Mike Evans: 2 (4)     Steve Everitt: 7 (27)
Justin Fargas: 2 (27)     Jay Feely: 1 (2)     Chris Floyd: 1 (9)

Devin Funchess: 1 (79)     Ian Gold: 3 (10)     Brandon Graham: 1 (47)
Elvis Grbac: 136 (191)     Brian Griese: 165 (386)     James Hall: 1 (3)
Mike Harden: 4 (6)     David Harris: 2 (94)     Mercury Hayes: 2 (7)

Drew Henson: 3 (38)     Leroy Hoard: 70 (87)     Steve Hutchinson: 1 (15)
Marlin Jackson: 2 (65)     Jon Jansen: 1 (4)     Trezelle Jenkins: 2 (11)
Dhani Jones: 2 (14)     Cato June: 1 (12)     Mike Kenn: 19 (30)

Ty Law: 59 (91)     Randy Logan: 1 (3)     Jake Long: 1 (148)
Rob Lytle: 1 (4)     Tom Mack: 2 (6)     Tony McGee: 49 (71)
Greg McMurtry: 25 (33)     Jamie Morris: 1 4()     John Navarre: 1 (32)

Mel Owens: 1 4()     Bubba Paris: 5 (9)     Chris Perry: 1 (122)
Robert Perryman: 6 (8)     Jay Riemersma: 14 (32)     Denard Robinson: 2 (119)
Jon Runyan: 1 (5)     Greg Skrepenak: 5 (17)     Jim Smith: 1 (5)

Tai Streets: 15 (48)     Mike Teeter: 3 (3)     David Terrell: 3 (157)
Anthony Thomas: 41 (196)     Amani Toomer: 87 (318)     Jerame Tuman: 1 (12)
Jon Vaughn: 29 (41)     Derrick Walker: 8 (12)     Marquise Walker: 2 (68)

Gabe Watson: 2 (32)     Tyrone Wheatley: 111 (237)
Charles Woodson: 2 (325)     Butch Woolfolk: 1 (4)

Lou Baldacci: 1 (2)     Dave Brown: 2 (7)
Curtis Greer: 2 (6)     Ali Haji-Sheikh: 4 (7)
Jim Harbaugh: 205 (368)     Desmond Howard: 64 (103)
Reggie McKenzie: 3 (6)     Trevor Pryce: 1 (4) (Griese also pictured)

How awesome was that variety?! Lots of Michigan uniforms and plenty of shininess I wanted to highlight as well. The majority of what I added was base with a few inserts mixed in, but I don't care because I love adding any new Michigan stuff I can. Speaking of that...

These were the TK Legacy cards I needed, and many of the names are notable--the Wistert family was big here, Leach was a sensation, and Morrison and Turco are two of the most successful alumni of the hockey program.

Speaking of TK Legacy, a product I broke several boxes of, Chris included an empty pack (shown roughly actual size) from an unknown year (I could probably figure it out but don't feel like doing the research) with Braylon Edwards front and center. I didn't keep any of these from my previous boxes but think I'll hold onto this one.

And lastly, there was a whole mess of tickets/stubs that I was excited to add to my collection. I love the mix of images used on these, from game action to campus sites, and many of them came from wins as well! The first two scans include 20 tickets from games between 1976 and 1984 while the final one includes plain game passes instead of tickets along with three stubs that are hard to pin down. Similar to what I did with the cards and player collection info above, I looked up the score of each game and posted the results below:

• 1976 vs. Wake Forest: W 31-0
• 1977 vs. Wisconsin: W 56-0
• 1978 vs. Arizona: W 21-17
• 1978 vs. Michigan State: L 24-15
• 1979 vs. Minnesota: W 31-21
• 1979 vs. Wisconsin: W 54-0
• 1979 vs. Ohio State: L 18-15
• 1980 vs. Cal: W 38-13
• 1980 vs. Michigan State: W 27-23
• 1980 vs. Purdue: W 26-0

• 1981 vs. Notre Dame: W 25-7
• 1981 vs. Navy: W 21-16
• 1981 vs. Illinois: W 70-21
• 1982 vs. Indiana: W 24-10
• 1982 vs. Michigan State: W 31-17
• 1983 vs. Purdue: W 42-10
• 1984 vs. Washington: L 20-11
• 1984 vs. Michigan State: L 19-7
• 1984 vs. Illinois: W 26-18
• 1984 vs. Minnesota: W 31-7

Total record of these: 16-4

• 1979 vs. Minnesota: W 31-21
• 1979 vs. Ohio State: L 18-15
• 1980 vs. Northwestern: W 17-10
• 1980 vs. Cal: W 38-13
• 1980 vs. Michigan State: W 27-23
• 1981 vs. Iowa: L 9-7
• 1981 vs. Northwestern: W 38-0
• 1981 vs. Illinois: W 70-21
• Purdue: unknown
• Michigan State: unknown
• Houston: either 1992 (W 61-7) or 1993 (W 42-21)

Total record of these: 7-2 (with 2 unknown), with some overlap with the games above.

I'm excited that I'll finally be putting these away after they've been sitting in the box for over two years, and it'll be fun seeing for myself just how big they make each of the players' stacks instead of just relying on a number on a list!

With these covered I'll be back soon, possibly as soon as this holiday weekend, with a card show recap. I hope everyone has a safe and relaxing Fourth of July weekend, even at a time when the Supreme Court has made it impossible to celebrate.

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.

Card show report: 11/27: a Michigan Man will buy Michigan cards

Previously:  a trade with Dustin (No Relics Pulled), some sweet vintage

Finishing off my pickups from Sunday's show, here's a look at two other purchases I made:

First off, I grabbed three cards from a guy who cut me a reasonable deal and also told me to be on the lookout for a Jim Abbott autographed baseball the next time I'm there.  The hits:

Mike Comrie 2003-2004 Upper Deck Rookie Update Top Draws auto

Not the only hockey auto I picked up on the day, this is my second of Comrie.  Mr. Hillary Duff inked a nice signature on this card, even if he didn't take advantage of ample space, and he thought to include his uniform number too.

Jim Abbott 1990 Topps in-person auto

For a couple bucks, I couldn't resist adding my first autograph, even if it's not certified, of the former one-armed standout.  Besides being an excellent pitcher, not to mention an inspiration, Abbott reminds me of one of my favorite scenes from the killed-far-too-soon-but-funnier-than-the-rest-of-the-crap-on-these-days Party Down (still available on Netflix Instant!):

Yes, Veronica Mars fans, that's Jason Dorhing, a.k.a. Logan Echolls, and one of many VM actors to cameo on this outstanding, hilarious show, including Kristin Bell herself.  Check it out!  Jim Abbott?  Jim Abbott!

Rick Leach 2004 TK Legacy auto

This card of a former Michigan dual-sport star allows for a great juxtaposition later, so keep an eye out for that.  Another $3 steal, at least in my book, Leach fits several of my PCs:  Michigan baseball, Michigan football and the Tigers, as he was Detroit's first-rounder in 1979.  Though he never lived up to that billing on the diamond, his baseball skills were probably on par with his football acumen, so you can't blame the guy for going that route, and to his credit, he didn't exactly go full Henson on us, plus he did beat Ohio State three times.  His dual-sport skills merit my picking up a football autograph of his before long as well.

My second purchase involved three more TK Legacy singles plus a couple packs.  Here's what the two 2004 TK Legacy III packs yielded:

These are the six base cards, and I didn't have anything of any of them, so they were cool pickups.  Of course, I bought the packs for the one-per-pack autos which were:

Erick Anderson and Marcus Ray, both new additions to the PC.  Anderson, the 1991 Butkus award-winner as best LB, played here from '88-'91 and went onto a brief NFL career.  Ray, a safety, played from '95-'98, including, of course, the '97 championship team.  He's since gone on to coaching at several levels and, as a Michigan Man, is sure to excel at whatever he goes on to do.

Those two packs were part of a package deal for two MORE TK Legacy singles:

Welcome to the football PC, Bill!  Yep, along with Leach, a football star who played baseball, here's Freehan, an eventual baseball star who also played football for the Wolverines in 1960, from the 2003 set.  I'd seen this one on COMC but could never get a good deal on it, so I pounced on it in this package deal, and now I have 59 different subjects among my 387 football PC cards, more than 250 of which are autographs.  Not a bad feat thanks to ANOTHER UM baseball/UM hockey/Detroit Tiger!

And then there's this bad boy from 2004, my favorite pickup of the show.  I briefly considered a couple other dual autos, but in the end this one won me over.  Hand-numbered 002/100, this card combines autographs from probably the two most important people in Michigan hockey history--legendary coach Red Berenson and goalie Marty Turco--two men who are responsible for Michigan's two most recent hockey championships.  If names like Bo, Woodson and Harmon are synonymous with college football's best historical program, these two are among the gods of college hockey's flagship school.

As you can see, despite there not being much of a mix of brands, I ended up with a nice assortment of Michigan sports hits this time instead of focusing exclusively on football, despite my desire to hit a nice round 400 before the end of the year.  Part of that was due to a dearth of stuff I needed, but fortunately I know where to look next time for some top-notch stuff like the Berenson/Turco.  You may just see stuff to that effect in just a few weeks, so stay tuned.