2013 trade package #13: great sports names from a HOF trader

Yesterday I received a much-anticipated trade package from Tim of the Great Sports Name Hall of Fame.  He had picked up a few things on me from Listia before that well grew dry/expensive, and while I didn't know what to expect, I was excited all the same since Tim's very sympathetic to my Michigan collection.  Here's what I got:

Well, why not start out with a great sports name!  This is a Trezelle Jenkins 1995 Classic NFL Rookies Die Cuts insert, which is cool enough just for the die-cutting on the left side into the shape of a one, but then there's this:

Hand-numbering on the back!  This is definitely a cool and unique insert to add to my PC, which I'm certain has a dearth of Jenkins cards.  Trezelle, a Chicago native, played OT at Michigan from '92-'94, then was drafted 31st overall by KC in 1995.  Unfortunately, to say he was a bust would put it mildly--he started just one of his nine career games over three seasons with the Chiefs, then bounced around a few more practice squads before calling it quits.  He's still one of the best Michigan names ever, and thanks to future fellow alumni Jake Long and Taylor Lewan, it always makes me happy to see a Wolverines OT wearing #77.

Maurice Williams 2001 Press Pass SE Bronze auto

Well, this package just keeps looking up!  Williams is a brand new addition to my football PC, subject #121 overall.  Better yet, it's a college uni card featuring a superb auto.  Maurice was an OL in Ann Arbor from '97-'01, at which point he was drafted in the 2nd round, #43 overall, by the Jaguars.  He went on to play nine seasons in Jacksonville, starting 100 of 105 career games.  From the looks of the photo on this card, I don't think I'd mess with him even now!  Welcome to the PC, Maurice.

Charles Woodson 2003 Upper Deck Game Jersey jersey

That's plenty of offense, so it's time to get some D up in here!  Well, actually, Woodson could hold his own on O as well, but he'll go down in history as the first primarily defensive player to win the Heisman, not to mention one of the NFL's greatest DBs ever.  I definitely wasn't expecting something of him to come out of this package--Charles' stuff still goes for a much-deserved premium, so I'm only at six hits of the all-time great, and that makes this one a great add to the PC.  The sides are a tad rough and there's a bit of creasing around the swatch, so you could say it's been well loved, but the best cards always are.  Even nicer, despite the fact that this hit is 10 years old, it features Woodson in his current uniform!

Thanks again, Tim, as always, for surprising me with some great stuff!  I promise to get you back, even if it's only fodder for you to trade/sell to further your Senequest2013.  Readers, please point your browsers in a SpastikMoossedly direction and enjoy some fine blogging!

2013 COMC pickups #14: C-U-P. I want a C-U... Oh, my God!

Well, hockey fans, it's the first game of the 2012-13 Stanley Cup Finals, and as far as I'm concerned, this year's matchup looks like this:

Chicago is the giant douche, obviously

Basically, not the pair of teams I was hoping for, since Boston fans are no prize either.  No Red Wings and no Michigan alumni left means I pretty much won't be watching, not that the NHL will miss me.

Still, all the same I decided to commemorate today's Game 1 by showing off my remaining hockey pickups from COMC:

Andrew Cogliano 2007-08 SPx dual jersey auto RC (#336/999)

Andrew Cogliano 2009-10 Upper Deck Champ's Signatures auto

Wow, that's the way to kick things off!  You've seen Cogliano here before, but as a quick recap, he was a two-year starter in Ann Arbor who scored 36 goals and 46 points in 77 collegiate games.  Edmonton made him the 25th overall pick in 2005, and he then went straight to the NHL after his sophomore season, putting up an 18-27-45 line in his rookie season.  He was traded to Anaheim before the 2011-12 season and has been with them since, continuing to put up double-digit goal totals.  

Ok, maybe that wasn't so quick, but anyway, this stunning pair of cards comes to my collection for the crazy low price of about $5.50 combined!  SPx has turned out some pretty sweet RC hits in multiple sports, and this one's certainly a shining example of that.  I was very happy to get a pair of different colors of jersey swatches which, as a bonus, weren't white.  The signature, featuring his jersey number, is a huge plus.  That's no knock against the UD mini, which looks fantastic, especially in-person where you can get a better sense of scale.  These cards represent my 6th and 7th of Cogs, and given how talented of a scorer he can be, I'm going to get to work on reaching double digits as soon as I can!

Andrew Ebbett 2008-09 SPx dual jersey RC (#0631/1299)

Today's other Andrew, Ebbett is also no stranger to this here blog.  He stuck around for his four-year Michigan tenure before signing with the Sens as a UDFA.  He then signed with the Ducks the following year, and bounced up and down before being claimed by the Hawks and Wild over the course of a few seasons, then signed with the Coyotes before ending up with Vancouver, his current team.

This is a beautiful three-color dual jersey RC of a guy I hope sees more playing time next year.  And of course, it's another great example of a spiffy SPx rookie!  Chalk up card #4 of Ebbett.

Brendan Morrison-Marty Turco 2001-02 Titanium Double-Sided Jerseys dual jersey

I've kind of moved on from relic cards for the most part, not so much because of their questionable authenticity as much as a lack of interest compared to autographs.  That went completely out the window when this dual-sided jersey card showed up during my usual COMC searching.  For $1.89 I grabbed a dual relic of my two favorite all-time UM icers!  Better yet, while Morrison's swatch is a single color, it's not a boring-ass white piece, and Turco's features two colors.  This is definitely a big win for my collection, and I applaud Pacific for recognizing the link between a couple college hockey alumni.  Speaking of those two guys, their new hit totals are 13 for B-Mo and 14 for Turco.

Steve Shields 1997-98 Be A Player auto

And speaking of cards with interesting backs, this Shields auto is the only one today that features a blurb about the player instead of a second relic or a "congratulations" message.  The reason that interests me:  "A standout for four seasons at the University of Michigan where he became the NCAA all-time wins leader" is the sentence that begins the back blurb.  Because Turco is often celebrated as one of the all-time great NCAA goalies, I hadn't realized that Shields was the first collegiate goalie to 100 career wins.  Turco later surpassed that mark, but it's still crazy impressive.

Steve played for six NHL teams in his 12-season career and is one of a proud line of Michigan-graduated NHL goaltenders.  And he's got a pretty sweet signature too!  This is my fourth Shields PC card, all of which are still autos, a streak I hope to continue.

Well, today's five added in to the old hockey PC make for a new sport total of 76, meaning I surpassed yet another resolution goal before the year was even half up.  While this may again be too conservative, I'm going to amend that to 100, and I won't be surprised at all if I get help from north of the border!

To those watching the finals tonight, good luck to your favorite team (even yours, Jeff).  Me, I'm just looking forward to the end of the NBA finals (and hopefully a Miami embarrassment) so we can get back to having the spotlight on baseball once again.

2013 COMC pickups #13: must post Putz!

I'm steadily working my way towards the end of my COMC showoff posts that cover my pickups to-date, and you should see just a handful in the next few days as I cover the rest.

Today I'm doing another Putz post since I still had a bunch of his cards to get through, so this will be the first of his last two posts; the beginning of the end, if you will.  Here's 15 new J.J.s that are dy-no-mite!:

J.J. Putz 2004 Donruss Team Heroes

J.J. Putz 2005 Donruss Champions

J.J. Putz 2005 Donruss Champions Impressions Blue (#073/100)

J.J. Putz 2005 Donruss Champions Impressions Red (#128/250)

J.J. Putz 2005 Donruss Signature Century Proofs Silver (#56/75)

Today we kick things off with a few Donruss base/inserts from 2004 and 2005.  I really like how the Mariners' blue and teal (or whatever they call their colors) are featured in the first four, even if the Champions cards leave a bit to be desired in the design department thanks to all that unused space.  Those four are also related in that they're the first representatives of each set in my Putz collection.  I do have a few other versions of his '05 Donruss Signature card, though, including Century Proofs Gold, auto, and INKcredible auto.  2004-05 Panini sets are a bit of a weak spot in this PC for now, but there's plenty of time to address that! 

J.J. Putz 2005 Topps Total (with Aaron Sele)

I don't really have a good way to group this with anything else today, so it gets featured by itself!  I was really more of a fan of the earlier Total sets, especially 2002, but I won't rule out piecing together the other ones, like 2005, in the future.  The back of this one is quite interesting in its future assessment of J.J.:  "Putz had been relieving for less than two years when he saved nine games in '04.  Long term, he's a middle or set-up man."  Wrong again, Topps!  Just two seasons later he busted out with 36 saves, and other than some injury issues, has been a pretty effective closer.

J.J. Putz 2007 Fleer

J.J. Putz 2007 Fleer Mini Die Cuts

This isn't my first experience with 2007 Fleer--I have the same two versions of Rich Hill--but I see the set rarely enough that I'm intrigued whenever I do.  The top card, of course, is his base version, but the latter, which I tried to scale a bit to give an accurate idea of proportion, is a "mini" that's something like 25% smaller (maybe?  I'm not good at math...) and has a die-cut rounded upper-right corner.  That feature is pretty difficult to show off in a scan like this, but trust me, it's there.  Now to track down the Gold Mini Die-Cut version....

J.J. Putz 2008 Topps Co-Signers Hyper Plaid Blue (with Felix) (#49/50)

J.J. Putz 2008 Topps Co-Signers Silver Gold (with Felix) (#099/150)

This pair represents the first two '08 Co-Signers variations of Putz I've picked up, which feels strange since I've looked over what seems like a ton of them on COMC.  These are the only two whose prices were right, but there's eight more to go and I intend to get 'em all!  Of these two I prefer the Hyper Plaid since Putz is more visible, and anyway, doesn't "Silver Gold" sound like any oxymoron?

J.J. Putz 2007 Topps Heritage

J.J. Putz 2008 Topps Heritage Black Back

J.J. Putz 2009 Topps Heritage #371

J.J. Putz 2009 Topps Heritage #586

J.J. Putz 2012 Topps Heritage

The last bunch of cards today hails from 2007-2012 Heritage sets.  The '07 isn't the first of its ilk as I had already picked up the superior Chrome version.  Similarly, the '08 Black Back goes with the Chrome I already have (though not the SP base version).  The '09s come from what I think may be Heritage's best design, based off the 1960 set.  I was happy to pick up the 2009 Series II card as that's the one Larry from My 2008 Topps Set Blog got autographed for me!  It's comforting to know that while his uniform changed that season, his facial hair did not.  The 2012 base puts me one step closer to his run of cards from that year, all of which are Topps brands, of course.  I'm 2/3 of the way to those 21 issues, with the Topps Mini Silver /5 being the only real challenge.

With one post left, Putz's latest IHAS count stands at 123, with three more 1/1s.  It won't be too much longer until he joins most of my other baseball PCs in reaching the 50% mark!

Tune in next time for some cards from a different sport....

2013 COMC pickups #12: the rest of the gets of Getz

Welcome to this here blog's 250th post!  All it took me was a year and a half to get here--I haven't seen someone take this long to hit 250 since Josh Hamilton this year!  (Wait, that doesn't work, he still hasn't done it yet....)  I'm usually more about the card milestones than the blog ones, but this one seems like it's worth celebrating, don't you think?  By the way, I'd like to send thanks once again Jeff's way since he contributed some of those.

Also worth noting recently is this year's MLB draft, which finished up over the weekend.  Wolverine OFs Michael O'Neill (yep, Paul's nephew), a junior (103rd overall, round 3) was selected by the Yankees, while senior Patrick Biondi (266th, round 9) will join the Mets.  The last time Michigan had someone selected this high was OF Ryan LaMarre, by the Reds in the 2nd round of the 2010 draft, #62 overall.  I wish both of them luck with their new teams, even if I can't stand either franchise!

Today's featured player is a not-quite-so-recent Wolverines draft pick:  Chris Getz (White Sox, 4th round, #125 overall in 2005).  His stats haven't exactly been stellar this year, but he still plays reliable defense and offers a veteran presence and yeah, I'm pretty much reaching at this point, but what can I say?  I like the guy, and I like collecting him.  Here's the last chunk of Getz cards from my COMC hauls thus far:

Chris Getz 2008 Bowman Chrome Draft Prospects

Chris Getz 2008 Bowman Draft Prospects Blue (#153/399)

Chris Getz 2008 Bowman Draft Prospects Gold

These three help me put a bit more a dent in Chris' 2008 Bowman Chrome/Draft rainbow.  I'm now halfway to his 10 versions, though most of the remaining ones will be tougher than these.  As always, the numbered Blue parallel is a plus while the Gold makes me roll my eyes.

Chris Getz 2009 Topps Update Wal Mart Black Border

Hey, a Wal-Mart parallel, I love those!  With this one knocked off the list I just need Getz's Black and Target versions plus his Silk card to finish up '09 Update.

Chris Getz 2010 Topps Copper (#014/399)

Chris Getz 2010 Topps Wal Mart Black Border

Doesn't it seem weird that the Copper cards are rarer than the Gold?  I like it otherwise, though, and of course it blows away the lame-o Wal-Mart crap.  I need a few more parallels of his from the set, but the toughest card here will be his SPed variation, which is currently ridiculously difficult to find, unless you care to pay $45.25 on COMC!

Chris Getz 2010 Topps 206 Mini Old Mill

Chris Getz 2010 Topps 206 Mini Polar Bear

Here's a couple more Minis I needed, both from 2010 Topps 206.  The American Caramel and Cycle cards will close the book on this set, so I hope I can find them soon.  Of these two I like the Polar Bear back more since the blue/white look makes it much more interesting than the Old Mill.

Chris Getz 2011 Topps

Chris Getz 2011 Topps Gold (#0817/2011)

Chris Getz 2011 Topps Hope Diamond Anniversary (#58/60)

Chris Getz 2011 Topps Target

Kind of hard to believe I hadn't picked up Getz's 2011 Topps base card til now, eh?  As before, I think this is a great action shot of Chris turning two against Oakland's Cliff Pennington.  I'm still partial to the Gold parallel and like the Hope Diamond (other than the numbering identical to the Blacks), and while I continue to rail against the retail exclusives, the backs of the Target cards are great.  Getz's black and Wal-Mart parallels will be enough to shut the door on 2011 Topps for me (and the entire year of 2011, actually), so I wants 'em!  As a reminder, I just picked up the Black Plate version of this card too.

Chris Getz 2012 Topps

Chris Getz 2012 Topps Gold Sparkle

Chris Getz 2012 Topps Wal Mart Blue Border

Chris Getz 2012 Topps Mini

Yeah, I also hadn't picked up his 2012 flagship base yet--wanna fight about it?  What's even funnier is that I scanned the Mini Silver #4/5 before getting around to his base of that.  The Gold Sparkle looks pretty cool, though I still much prefer the regular (and numbered) Golds.  And finally, the Wal-Mart Blues are lame, lame, LAME!

Chris Getz 2008 Bowman Sterling Refractors auto (#170/199)

Chris Getz 2010 Topps Triple Threads triple jersey auto (#97/99)

And today I tried to save the best for last again.  Getz doesn't have a TON of hits (though more than some in my PC), but the ones he has are pretty good.  I got the Sterling pretty cheap, and that goes with the ones I already have:  his auto/RC and the Gold version, meaning I just need the Black Refractor (#d /25) to finish those up.  It's not a bad card for a set that features sticker autos.

The Triple Threads, of course, is the real prize today, though it's actually the most common version of his three TTT cards I now own, including Emerald (/50) and Gold (/25).  Unlike the 2008 version (which includes Rich Hill), this one doesn't have two variations of everything, so I just need to more to finish these up:  Sepia (/75) and Sapphire (/10).  Rest assured you'll see those when I get them in!

These two hits bump Chris over one small milestone, as he's now up to 11 hits, the 6th player in my baseball PC to reach double digits.  The bigger landmark he passes today, though, is 50% of his non-1/1 PC; his IHAS count is 47 of 80 (and I do have that plate to make it 48 overall).  I'm hoping I can make even more of a dent in those remaining 33 soon, so here's to more gets of Getz!  And while I'm at it, here's hoping I can stay focused enough to make it to 500 posts on this blog in your lifetime!

2013 trade package #12: Colby sends me Wolverines from out of the (maize and) blue!

As I alluded to yesterday, I had a fun and unexpected trade package show up in my mailbox the other day.  Although I haven't featured a trade from him on this year blog until today, the address was plenty familiar to me, as I'm sure it is to many of you as well:

"Look at that subtle off-white coloring. The tasteful thickness of it. Oh my God, it even has a watermark!"

Colbey has proven to be a generous trader (not to mention fantastic blogger and outstanding group break-runner) time and again, but I was still pleasantly surprised by what he managed to include this time:

Avant is just the appetizer as we dive straight into eight of the package's 10 Tom Brady cards.  The extreme similarity of the last two Panini offerings got a chuckle out of me, I'll admit.

Two more Brady cards and then it's off to the races with a lucky seven Breastons.  My favorite, of course, is the Topps DP&P that features Stevie back in Ann Arbor!

What's this, only TWO Braylons?  The Hall, pair of Hennes and pair of 2012 Topps defensive standouts are all well and good, but I really like the duo of Dhanis since I really don't have as many of his cards as I'd like.

Finally, there's this 2012 UD Junior Hemingway rookie.  I actually already own it having picked up a copy in a trade last year, but I never did show it off by itself in its full glory.  This is a great shot of Junior wearing the #21 Desmond Howard "Legends" jersey after that tradition was instituted last season.  Very cool!

Thanks, Colby, for an unexpected trade that made my day!  I also enjoyed the baseball stuff you sent my way, which can be seen over at TMV this evening.

Those of you reading this should be following Colby's Braves/Panthers/everything-centric blog Cardboard Collections and get trading with this southern gentleman!

2013 COMC pickups #11: Hingle McCringleberry and other college football stars

A youtube video (a bit of an oldie but a goodie) inspired me to do today's post.  Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Key & Peele's "East/West College Bowl":

I'm wondering if I didn't make the wrong college choice--maybe I could have walked on at the University of South Flurrida.

Anyway, I decided it was time to do another COMC football pickup post, so here's 10 new ones for y'all:

Adrian Arrington 2008 Upper Deck Icons Rookie Autographs Rainbow auto (#135/135)

Please withhold your "eBay 1/1" jokes as those don't fly around these here parts.  Arrington consistently has a pretty interesting signature, and in this case it resides on a sticker on this card with a bit of a strange design.  I really hope AA gets a shot at some PT before all is said and done.  Make it 39 hits for Adrian.  Yo!

Jason Avant 2006 Finest Autographs Refractor auto

Jason Avant 2009 Topps Career Best auto

Speaking of consistency, Avant is the subject of some of my best football PC cards a large percentage of the time for some reason.  Maybe his rookie year, 2006, was a time for great card design.  Either way, I really like that Refractor auto--and really, it would take a LOT to get me to dislike any PC card that involves the words "Refractor" and "auto."  The Career Best auto is quite nice itself, and I really like the large amount of red on it for some reason.  By the way, I also have the Mike Hart from the same set.  Avant climbs a couple spots to 36 hits.

Brandon Graham 2010 Donruss Rated Rookies auto

I'm not going to go so far as to call this a "white whale" card, but I've been after it for quite some time.  I think the biggest reason for that is that it might actually be short-printed to just 25 copies (though it's not numbered) if I understand correctly.  I actually saw one come up on COMC a year or two ago and the price just wasn't right, but this time I gladly snapped up the copy I found.  I have a sentimental fondness for the Rated Rookie name, and picked up a box set (opened, no auto) of this release at a show a while back.  It just didn't seem worth it to play the lottery when there were so many scrub autos.  My patience paid off, and now I have one of my favorite Grahams of all time.  This one bumps him up to 16 cards, by the way.

Leon Hall 2007 SP Chirography auto RC (#123/399)

"Chirography" is another collecting name I'm very familiar with thanks to my many years in the hobby.  SP Authentic has a reputation for nice autographs and that certainly fits the bill here.  The design is quite nice, and the fact that this doubles as a RC is a good bonus.  I'm hoping for a return to some nice numbers like he had in 2009-2010.  Speaking of numbers, this is Hall #29 for me.

David Harris 2007 Topps Triple Threads triple jersey auto RC (#43/99)

It's been, what, a whole two days since we've seen a Triple Threads card around here?  Harris is represented pretty well in my PC, and a good sign of that is that this is my second TTT card of his as I'd already landed the Sapphire version.  Like the Hall above, I love that this doubles (triples?) as a rookie card of one of the better young defenders in the league.  So yeah, I'd say my 19th (I see a disturbing trend being established here) David Harris is a pretty nice one!

Mike Hart 2008 SP Rookie Edition '94 auto

All things being equal I'd rather see Hart in his old Michigan #20 jersey, but I just can't say no to the sweetness that is an SP throwback card.  As noted, this one reuses the 1994 design, and that's bookended by a pair of cards I already own, the '93 and '95 editions, both of which I also like very much.  Then again, I don't know that you can go wrong with any hit of Sparty's Big Brother.  Hart currently sits on the precipice of a major milestone with 49 hits!

Chad Henne 2008 Absolute Memorabilia Rookie Premiere Materials NFL jersey-ball-jersey (#093/199)

Chad Henne 2008 Leaf Certified Materials Rookie Fabric of the Game NFL Die Cut triple jersey (#29/99)

Chad Henne 2008 Upper Deck Premier quad jersey auto RC (#091/275)

I don't know if you've gotten to this point and assume I saved the best for last or if you already realize I've just been going alphabetically, but sometimes things just work out that way.  Yesterday you saw one of my COMC Henne pickups, which was definitely the most significant, but today's three are no slouches either.  I think I've well established that I'm a fan of Absolutes RPM cards, but if I wasn't clear, I own two other versions of Henne's alone:  the autographed version of the above, plus an "NFC" triple relic as well.

Speaking of triple relics, I think the LCM triple jersey card is pretty cool as well.  It's also "event-worn" from the Rookie Premiere, but isn't everything these days?  It pairs three nice swatches of Miami Dolphins jersey with a nice Henne action shot.

Finally, the Premier card is a pretty big win for me since I've been after it, or at least one of the versions of it, for quite a while.  It's definitely one of his better rookies, but the fact that it combines four jersey swatches and an autograph probably made that pretty obvious to you already.  There's just a lot to like about it and I'm happy to have picked it up.  These three ended a day of almost-milestones with a new Henne hit total of 59 as he bids to become player number two to hit 60 in my football PC (Jake Long with 64+).  That's just more motivation for me to get back to work on acquiring more cards of the players sitting on the nines!  That and I'm at 725 PC cards and counting as I move forward with my goal of 750 by the end of the year (uh, yeah, I think I'll make it...by the end of the month).

You should see another post from me pretty soon, and I'll be taking a quick break from COMC stuff to post an unexpected but very welcome trade package!