A Furious Flourish Of Football

It's just about Week 7 in the NFL season, and it seems like it's been that long since I posted here.  Football is in full force, aside from a few rescheduled games.  I was sure the season was going to shut down about Week 4 or so because I was leading my ten-team fantasy league.  But of course, that subsided and I'm now fifth.  There was even a Tuesday game, which doesn't help me tear away from the TV long enough to get back into the posting groove again.  Three days a week is plenty, but four is just overkill.

And there is still baseball.  I was hoping some smaller market teams would make it to the end, but it came down to the four most dominant teams in this express-lane season.  You could say the Rays qualify, I guess.  Not sure if I'll watch the World Series or not.  I won't mind the Dodgers winning.  It's been a while for them.  And like the Nationals used to be, they keep getting close but can't ever quite finish.

So before it becomes totally irrelevant, I thought I'd throw up the football stuff I got late last month.  (I did actually just go to my local monthly show for the first time since February last weekend, and have Chantilly coming up in a few days.  But most of what I got so far is just A&G and flagship inserts from 2020 and a few '70s football stars, so nothing really eye-catching there.  Will see if I get cooler stuff in VA.)

 

These are all from 2008 SP Rookie Edition by Upper Deck.  It's almost like the Upper Deck version of SP Heritage, because it has the same crop of rookie players in several different throwback designs.  A couple of the series feature retired legends instead of rookies.  The set is a little bizarre in that it is numbered up to 434, but there are several numbers missing, so it only totals 413.

Along with those, I got these 2014 Prestige inserts (and the one base rookie).  Prestige has some nice inserts, but there are so many sets of them, to collect them all takes forever.  I started these when they were new, and got like six insert sets all in one shot, but still have a bunch to go for the rest.  Those NFL sheilds are die cut and clear acetate.

 

The other set I'm still working on for the same year is 2014 Score.  This has most of the insert sets in four different colors.  Makes it even harder to finish those, since you pretty much have to commit to one color for each.  Most of the time the blue versions are listed without the color designation, but I've gotten the wrong color a few times.  They're just too complicated even though they're pretty.  I even just now finished the base set with those above.

 

Next was a set that I'm actually finished with the base and only lack 35 cards for the THREE parallel sets.  It's the 1996 Fleer Ultra Sensations.  These look like they'd be inserts in the regular Ultra set, but they are a standalone product whose base cards are the plain gold, and have parallel sets in blue, marble gold, and pewter borders.  There is a fifth parallel - Rainbow gold, but they're much harder to find.

And finally, I got a big stack of Priest Holmes for my wannabe "Supercollection".

And yes, there were still duplicates.  *Sigh*

But the kicker is, all the cards you see in this post were from the same SportLots order, and they were from one seller.  Most of them were a quarter each or less.  Priests were a bit more.

Yeah, I binged...

3 Boxes Of Ginter, Just For Laughs (cont'd)

Since I haven't seen an overabundance of Ginter breaks on the blogs (I'm probably missing 60% of them since I'm not on Twitter or anything), I'll lead you through a quick look at my other two boxes' contents...

Freeman topped off the second box.  And can top off any trade...

Again the minis, regular and two black ~ again all trade bait.  Some great names.  There's that Dobbins guy again.

All newer guys in the A&Gs.  And that dude from Great Britain.  I didn't need to see him any more.  Probably a delightful fellow.  Just have no clue who he is.  Contest winner?

The best of the inserts this year.  Monsters I mentioned last time.  I like the Booming Cities look, and I finally got one of the "9 Ways to First Base", which is the ultimate example of the twists on the familar game themes that Ginter comes up with regularly that flagship wouldn't ever fathom.  Please trade me more of these!

A stroke of luck in the Field Generals - I was going to have to get an extra Munson to send in trade, but got two in the same box!  Worked out very well for both of us!

Full size inserts flowing right along.  Got a dupe or two along the way, but not a lot, which makes me happy.

Second Bale Of Hay, but it's good trade bait for the ones I didn't get.

Double Debuts and Rocks.  No real tie-in unless Griffey owns some Opals.

Nice dark swatch from Sano.

Red Sox fans!  I must say I like the round swatch designs better.  the "diamond" ones almost look like they're framed in two-by-fours and barbed wire.

Mr. Joc for the trifecta.  Don't guess Night Owl is wanting this one?

And the "bonus" hit (-ish) is this Brooklyn back mini /25 of another Red Sox dude, Verdugo.  Tradeable for Soto, Mussina, Robles, Scherzer, Turner, Palmer, Torre, Fisk, Kieboom, Kendrick, Strasburg, Weaver, or in their absence, any of the HOF'ers.

On to Box 3!

Greg G., ya got first dibs, but I don't think you want this one, unless it's for the PC binder.  Let me know...

Minis - Glavine in mini form before I got the base card.  (Still need 31 base cards after three boxes! And only half that many SP's!)  More Cubs love (vs. Expos etc.) with Dawson.

Robles is staying with me.  Rest are trade bait, as are all the other player minis.

Nobody spectacular in the A&Gs, though I'm decent at pulling David Price over the years.

Monsters still awesome...

And Lagos, Nigeria.  I used to work with a guy from Lagos.  Good dude.

Safaris offset again, and a castle near the Pennsylvania / Jersey border?  Ok maybe not.

Really vivid images of some cool architecture.  Have a double of one of these.

Any home run series would be incomplete without Aaron.

Silos, chickens and an extra Tractor.

A pitcher Debut finally, and more minerals.  Wonder which Labrador dog the first one is named after?

Three users of "the tools of ignorance" and one for my PC...

The Fisk trifecta in one box!

Two non-sport obscure guys as "hits".  Ok, so the one on the right could be a "set-worn" piece, as in comedy set performance, or tv/movie set, but is the other one worn while typing out a Goosebumps or Garbage Pail Kids book?  That's a new twist on "GU".  I think I'd still like non-sport relics to be of babes instead.

At least Andrus keeps it honest with a bat relic.  Don't think this is the first piece of his that I have available.  

My lists are at the top of this page.  Send me your wants and trade offers!

And as a special reward to all those who have made it this far.  Yesterday was a trifecta of Birthday Beauties.  

Monica Belucci from the Matrix movies and several more....

Hallmark Channel heroine Lacey Chabert

(And yes, I watch the Hallmark channel now and then when certain gals are starring.  It's an attempt to increase my belief that all that romantic stuff happens in real life.  Can't say it's worked very much so far.)

And finally, a lady whose beauty I hadn't really discovered until watching a biography about ~ Fran Drescher.