Another overdue trade post - ARPSmith's Sportscard Obsession

I find that I'm like a lot of bloggers in the fact that I like sending out packages to others. When I know what people are collecting (team bloggers make that easier) I tend to keep a little bit of an eye out when I'm looking through piles of stuff at shows, and then every now and then I try to mail out a bunch of shipments. I really don't care if I get anything back or not, but I do love it when others keep me in mind when they see interesting Browns cards.

After sending such a package to ARPSmith, he sent me a note saying he would put together a package of Browns for me. Woo hoo! But, before he did so, and after I had made a post about the various 2008 Score parallels, I decided to look through Sportlots to see if I could find any missing parallels, and what did I find? A seller named arpsmith that had a couple of cards that I wanted/needed. After a quick email to him to ensure it was the same person, I spent some time going through his football listings to find Browns cards that I needed. There was a lot, but he said that he would send them along as a trade instead of having me buy some of them. Thanks!

So, what did I find?

(I had scanned all these cards onto a memory stick when I was home in Ottawa before Christmas, hoping to post them then. Now, still in Arizona, I'm looking at all the files, and not remembering what order I planned on putting things in. Ah, who needs organization? I'll make something of this post.)

Well, after the long intro, was anyone surprised to see some 2008 Score parallels? All except the Scorecard parallel of Martin Rucker are Glossy parallels. The Scorecard is numbered out of 649.

Continuing with Score, these cards are all from the 2009 Score Inscriptions set. You have to love when they put out a whole different parallel set! The Hot Rookies parallel is numbered out of 499.

Some collectors out there collect the players in their college uniforms. Here are some.

Top left: 2005 Topps All-American #14
Bottom left: 2005 Topps All-American - Chrome #50 (#/555)
Right: 2008 Press Pass Legends - Silver Holofoil #92 (#/499)

I was wearing my Ozzie Newsome jersey last weekend in a bar in Phoenix, watching the Browns win their first game of the season. He's still one of my favorite players, but I can't say I cheer for his success as the GM of the Ravens.

Former Heisman winner Charles White let drugs and partying ruin the start of his NFL career in Cleveland. He had success with the Rams, and his old college coach, after joining them following his release from the Browns. I think that I've mentioned in my blog before that I really had neglected picking up White cards because, frankly, I just forgot about him.

Top: 2006 Topps DPP #161 - Chrome Black and Chrome Black Refractor
Bottom (l-r): 2006 Topps DPP - Chrome Black Refractor #134; 2006 Press Pass SE - Gold #12; 2006 Press Pass SE #12

D'Qwell Jackson was a successful 2nd round draft pick out of Maryland. He had some injury issues with the Browns but played well for them before being signed by the Colts after the 2013 season.

Darrell Hackney was an undrafted free agent out of UAB. He didn't make the team yet I now have 18 different cards of his in my collection, including four autographs on cards where he is in a Browns uniform.

L: 2008 Press Pass - Reflectors Blue #83
R: 2008 Upper Deck Draft Edition - Exclusives Green #237

For the Mizzou collector, here are a couple of cards of former Tight End Martin Rucker, He only played in a handful of games with the Browns, catching two passes. I now have 33 different Rucker cards in my collection, including nine autographed cards.

L: 2009 Bowman Draft Picks #141
R: 2006 Fleer - Silver #149

I had a parallel of the Alex Mack card, but didn't have the base card, The Browns missed him at Centre this year, but had to know that he was going to opt out of his contract when he was able to last season, and that he wasn't going to re-sign with them. He wanted to go to a winning situation, and has really helped the Falcons. I wish him luck in the playoffs!

An old roommate is a big Washington State fan so I knew quite a bit about Jerome Harrison before the Browns drafted him. I'm always happy to add more of his cards to my collection.

Top: 2009 Playoff Prestige - NFL Draft #4
Middle: 2009 Press Pass #95
Bottom: 2009 Donruss Certified #237 (#/399)

The Browns don't draft many players out of Ohio State, and I'm not sure why. I believe that Brian Robiskie was the last Buckeye that the Browns drafted.

The bottom Robiskie card was one of a few cards that were thrown in that I needed. Either I missed it, or it wasn't listed, but I am very happy that it was included.

Top: 2007 Leaf Rookies & Stars - Rookie Crusade Purple #RC-9 (#/25)
Bottom (l-r): 2007 Topps DPP - Chrome Black #115; 2009 Topps - Gold #14 (#/2009)

Joe Thomas is, without doubt, the most successful Browns player since expansion in 1999. It was announced that he made his tenth straight Pro Bowl this year, one of very few players to have ever done so. He has made the Pro Bowl each year that he has spent in the league. Not knowing this year's All-Pro team, he has made eight of the nine All-Pro teams in his career (seven 1st team and one 2nd team). He will be in Canton one day which is why I was thrilled to get these cards.

Moving on from Thomas and his success, let us go to Browns Quarterbacks.

Top: 2004 Fleer Platinum - Pro Material Jerseys #PM-LM (#/250)
Bottom Left: 2006 Leaf Certified Materials #34
Bottom Middle: 2006 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia - Retail #37
Bottom Right: 2006 Topps Chrome - Blue #40 (#/50)

Top (l-r): 2008 Bowman - Blue #12 (#/500); 2008 Topps Chrome - Refractors #TC18
Bottom (l-r): 2007 Bowman - Gold #112; 2010 Topps Chrome - Refractors #C70

Staying with the skilled positions, lets see some other offensive players.

L-R: 2004 Fleer Platinum #125; 2009 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia - Retail #25

Top (l-r): 2008 Donruss Gridiron Gear - Performers Silver #6 (#/250); 2001 Pacific Private Stock - PS2001 #116
Bottom (l-r): 2004 Fleer Platinum #104; 2008 Stadium Club #167

The Dante Lavelli card is nice following my last post of buying a mini helmet with his autograph, and is also a preview of an upcoming Black Friday COMC post.

Any time I look through my cards, or assemble a post like this, I miss Fleer and Pacific. Even if their cards weren't original I enjoyed them.

Top (l-r): 2007 Topps DPP #75 - Chrome Black Refractor and Chrome Bronze
Middle: 2007 Upper Deck Artifacts - NFL Facts #NF-KW
Bottom (l-r): 2008 Donruss Threads - Silver Holofoil #131 (#/100); 2008 Stadium Club #64 

Top (l-r): 2005 Topps - Black #415; 2008 Leaf Rookies & Stars - Gold Retail #25 (#/349)
Bottom (l-r): 2009 Donruss Elite #26; 2009 SP Authentic #73

A couple of play-makers that the Browns drafted. Although each made the Pro Bowl in 2007, neither had quite the career with the Browns that fans were hoping for. 

Hmm, looking at it, that SP Authentic card doesn't belong in my collection, it's a Jets card. Oops. Well, I did ask for it.

That brings me to confusing Browns cards. Well, I know they are Browns cards, but sometimes other people think differently.

Top (l-r): 2005 Donruss Throwback Threads #33; 2007 Playoff Prestige - Xtra Points Gold #11
Bottom (l-r): 2009 Donruss Elite #25; 2010 Panini Prestige - Xtra Points Gold #47 (#/250)

The cards on the left show the Browns uniform but have that small print mentioning they are with different teams. The cards on the right have the different uniforms but are indicated to be with the Browns. All have good enough reasons to be in my Browns collection.

And I did get a few cards of defensive players.

Top (l-r): 2006 Leaf Certified Materials #185 (#/1000); 2009 Topps Mayo - Silver #57
Bottom (l-r): 2007 Playoff NFL Playoffs - Red Metalized #167 (#/399); 2007 Score - Gold Zone #201 (#/600)

Some more D'Qwell Jackson, along with a couple of parallels. You would think that finishing with a final Score parallel would be a good way to bookend the post, but there are a couple more cards to show.

Some other cards were thrown into the package outside of what I requested, and they were beautiful vintage ones.

Top: 1957 Topps #102
Middle: 1957 Topps #114
Bottom: 1958 Topps #17

Aren't they pretty? 

The Don Paul was needed for my collection, but I have yet to look to see if the other two are upgrades or not. In any case it was a great surprise to get them.

ARPSmith, thanks again for the wonderful cards, and I'll keep looking for interesting Giants to send your way!

Browns win! Thank you Santa Claus!

I went into today's Browns game hoping for a win tonight regardless of whether it cost them the first overall draft pick. As it turns out, my Christmas wish came true! The Browns won their game and then the 49ers also won leaving the Browns in position to keep the first pick.

I really didn't want the Browns to join the Lions as the only 0-16 team in NFL history and now I don't have to suffer the jokes that would come along with that record.

I'm thankful for the win. It really puts me in a good mood for Christmas.

Yesterday I bought myself a Christmas present with money that my boss gave me for Christmas. It isn't a card but it is Browns related.

Getting a mini helmet signed by two Hall of Fame players, with a display case for $50? Yeah, I'm okay with that! What a nice Christmas present from my boss.

I think that I mentioned that my choir had a busy Christmas season. What I didn't mention is that I had a solo this concert season. Our director approached me before the season and said that she had a solo she would like me to perform. I was flattered and then she said that it was a non-singing solo! I didn't know what to think of that!

Anyway, she asked if I could learn a version of "'The Night Before Christmas". After listening to an audio recording of what she wanted me to do I said that I would give it a try.

One of my friends recorded it at our final concert and sent me a copy that I will share with you. I hope you enjoy the effort that I put into this.

Thank you to Dr. Jim Henry of the Gas House Gang barbershop quartet for this version.

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope Santa is good to all of you!

Hey, Santa!

I'm posting this from my mom's house in Scottsdale and don't have access to a scanner so I'm going to use my Blackberry's camera.

Like many other bloggers, I joined the Secret Santa group that Matt organized. On Tuesday, just before I left for the airport, I checked my mailbox and saw a nice bubble wrap envelope sitting there for me. I threw it in my carry-on bag to open at the airport. As it turned out, I had plenty of time to look at the cards as my flight was delayed just over two and a half hours.

Opening the envelope I discovered that my Secret Santa was AJ at The Lost Collector blog. I had enjoyed reading his blog but hadn't had any dealings with him in the past so it was a nice way to be introduced to someone new.

He sent me a six-pack of Browns cards. Santa must have known that this is just what I wanted!

Aren't these beautiful?

Top left, we have a 1950 Bowman card of former Browns Guard, Alex Agase.

As with many of the early Browns, he was a veteran of World War II. The final line on the back of his card, which I would copy if I were on a computer instead of my tablet, reads: "Led Marine extreme right flank, Okinawa."

Bottom left is a 1950 Bowman card of Halfback, Dub Jones. The back of his card summarizes his war service with: "Served 3 years aboard a submarine."

Do you think these guys would have chuckled at all of the color analyst's comments of football being a battle and all the other war comparisons?

To the right is a 1953 Bowman card of Tom Catlin. He is a one-card wonder and I'm happy to add his only card to my collection. (A funny thing is that when I first looked at my wantlist I didn't even see this card listed so I thought that AJ really found one that I had no idea I needed. As it turned out it was there and I was just blind.)

Here are the modern cards that he sent.

On the left is a 2011 Finest Autographed Jumbo Relic of Greg Little, numbered out of 599.

Top right is a 2004 Leaf Rookies & Stars Materials Gold card of former Running Back, William Green, numbered out of 75.

And the bottom right card is a 2016 Panini The National hat relic card of first-round pick, Corey Coleman.

Thanks, AJ!

And thanks to Matt for organizing this.

Now to hope for a Christmas miracle of the Browns winning tomorrow and avoid the winless season because I really don't see them beating the Steelers next week.

Falling behind on posting so let's catch up on eBay purchases

Yesterday finished a very busy period between work and my choir's Christmas concert schedule. Our final concert went well but due to weather we didn't quite get the crowd that we wanted. I had quite a few friends that didn't make it out. Too bad, they missed a good show.

However, while I was preparing to sing yesterday, a friend that I share my PO Box with was driving home from Ogdensburg where he picked up my mail. I had three card packages - two eBay wins, and my COMC Black Friday shipment (which included other cards purchased throughout the year).

The COMC shipment will be providing me with many days of posts, and I have a few other days of posts to create from a trade post and a Sportlots purchase, but I'll post now about the two eBay purchases that my friend delivered to me.

The first package is an exciting one. While searching for Cleveland Browns Starting Lineup on eBay, I found an auction for 24 Cleveland Browns Starting Lineup cards, and even better, it had a picture of all of the cards. Looking at the photo, it had all of the Browns cards that I was missing that were issued with figures. (There is still a 1989 Earnest Byner Starting Lineup card out there that didn't come with a figure. I stupidly didn't bid enough on it the only time I saw one pop up on eBay.)

These are the 1988 Browns cards that I was missing. I have really been working on my Starting Lineup collection over the last few months. I've been meaning to post about them for a while, but I'm down to needing only one sealed Browns figure out of the twenty one that were issued. And that missing figure is the Brian Brennan. It is nice to at least have his card right now.

As stated above, these almost finish the 1989 set, I just need the Earnest Byner card that wasn't released with a figure. It could be hard to find.

The 1990 set had two cards for each figure - a regular card, and a yellow "rookie year" card. Even though there were two different versions of the Bernie Kosar figure (brown and white jerseys), they shared the same cards so there were only four players to find. I already owned both of the Eric Metcalf cards, so that left these:

I knew that I needed the eleven cards shown above, but I scanned the following three cards not knowing if I had them or not because there isn't a checklist on the Trading Card Database for 1990 Starting Lineup cards yet. (Maybe I should look into posting one.)

Anyway, I should have looked at my previous blog posts because I've shown the Newsome before. I needed both Couch cards though.

When I looked at the original auction post, it was starting at $19.99, and I thought that I had needed fourteen of them. Shipping was a reasonable $2.99, so I had to ask myself, how high did I want to go to pretty much complete the Starting Lineup cards that I needed?  I put in a decent bid with 5 days to go in the auction and then waited, always wanting to boost my max bid since if I tried to buy them individually they would be a lot more than I was bidding.

I waited for the days to pass, and then actually sat at my computer as the auction was winding down. As it turned out someone tried a token snipe bid with about 10 seconds left, but they only bid $21.50 which pushed my bid to $22.00. That is where the auction ended. I think it was a real steal.

Well, that wasn't all from the same seller and the first package.

As with most auctions I bid on, I will look to see if the seller has any more Browns auctions (or Buy It Now) on the go. This seller did. It looks as though he was selling his Browns collection - and good for him at collecting all of these Starting Lineup cards! (Other than the Byner, all he was missing was the 1994 and 1995 Eric Metcalf and Michael Dean Perry cards which I already owned.)

As it turned out, the seller had another lot that interested me. He was selling was a lot of Browns cards from the 1965 Philadelphia set. The lot didn't contain the Paul Warfield rookie card, but it did have the last two Browns players cards that I needed from that set. (Silly me will still try to get the checklist where they list the team.)

I won this auction for the starting bid of $19.99.

The picture in the auction didn't show the creases in the upper left of the Jim Brown card, but I could see the rounded corners. No matter, it isn't as though you find many cheap vintage Jim Brown cards, and really I haven't seen this one available for less than twenty dollars, even in worse shape than this one.

The Jim Houston card is his rookie card that I just hadn't been able to find before, but to be honest, I really didn't remember to look for it very often.

Pretty nice pick-ups, but when I went to finalize my purchase I found out that the dealer didn't combine shipping. Oh, well, the auctions were still worth it.

Oh, and if you were wondering, yes, the seller did ship them in the same envelope, but I'm sure that it was more than the $3.99 that one auction alone would have been so I'm not worried about it.

The funny thing with these two auctions is that I'm not sure which one is my favorite. I love getting a vintage Jim Brown, but I love oddballs and getting all those missing Starting Lineup cards in one shot at such a great price...  I guess I should just enjoy both of them!

There was also a second eBay package. Although it isn't as interesting as the one above, it was also a lot cheaper!

I won an auction for 44 Browns cards, mostly from this year for one whole dollar, with $3.50 shipping added to it.

Again, the auction picture showed the cards included, and I knew that I had most of them, but I did need the following, and they were easily worth more than I paid.

The Barnidge was the last veteran base card that I needed from this year's Panini Absolute Memorabilia set.

That is actually the 2016 Donruss - Press Proof Blue parallel for Ozzie Newsome even though it kind of looks purple. When I move it around, it needs the right light to look blue to me.

A couple more veteran base cards, this time from this year's Panini Prestige set. As much as I like Dansby, and was upset that the Browns let him go before the season, I think that he was replaced as a starter by Christian Kirksey who I consider to be one of the better players on the Browns this year.

Some of this year's Panini Prizm parallels. The top ones are Red, White and Blue Disco parallels. Ummm, okay. The bottom ones are just plain old Green parallels.

With just these cards, I would have felt the auction was worth it, but there was still one more card that I saw in the photo that added to my bidding on it.

A relic insert card of this year's rookie quarterback? As part of an auction added to the other needed cards above for less than $5.00 including shipping. Okay, I'll take it!

I would say that I don't know why someone else wouldn't have jumped at this at all, but then I remember that it is the Browns, and I know how hurt I feel with how the season is going, and I figure that other fans might just be finished caring for the season. I can't blame them if they are.

Favorite 2016 card

P-town Tom at the newly re-named Eamus Catuli! blog started a contest to ask what is the favorite 2016 card that you've added to your collection.


Now this wasn't asking me what is the favorite card that I've added to my collection in 2016, because that would be easy, getting a Jim Brown rookie card. No, this question wanted a new 2016 card.


After looking through all the 2016 Browns cards in my collection I became a little depressed. It really hasn't been a good year for cards, and a lot of that comes from the 0-13 record that the Browns own this year.


Giving it some thought, I found my winner.




2016 Panini Certified - Mirror Green #80

Why this card? Well, first things first, it is a card that I picked up at the card show in Syracuse where I had a great time, and met Night Owl.


Second, it was the day before the season started. I knew it would be a rough year, but I still had optimism, and looked forward to watching the season pass. Now, of course, I just want it to end! (With at least one win in the final three games, please.)


Third, I got a good deal, on a low-numbered card.

I wasn't expecting to find a card numbered out of five at a show. And was more than happy to pick it up.


Sadly, the season has worn me down. I still watch the Browns games, but after their game is over I just want to get away from watching football. I haven't been watching too many Sunday or Monday night games recently, usually just catching parts, or the end of the game. I can't remember the last time that I felt this way about football. Oh, wait, yes, I can. When the Browns moved to Baltimore. Ah, well.


Anyway, I would probably have other choices based on the photos or designs in other years, and may even feel differently about my 2016 cards if you asked me again next year, but at this moment of time, this card is my winner.




I know the contest mentions "one card", and that is it above, but I felt that I should have more than one card in this post so I've added the following two cards.


Honorable Mentions:

Ozzie has always been a favorite player, and I like seeing him still included in current sets. Other pluses to this card are the fact that he's wearing the old traditional uniform, as opposed to the current uniforms, and the fact that the color scheme on the cards matches the Browns colors at the time. (The other Browns cards in the set have a brighter orange that matches the orange on the current Browns uniforms.)

2016 Panini Certified - Certified Potential Mirrored Signatures #CPS-CK

I don't think that anyone would have expected Cody Kessler to be starting for the Browns in Week 3 this season. I have been encouraged by his play as a rookie, but there is still a lot of room for him to develop. (Don't hold on to the ball for so long!)


I like having a signed rookie card in his Browns jersey and helmet, but I have to wonder, where are his legs!!!


Thanks, P-town Tom, for giving me a look through my collection.

Hitting a local card show

Yesterday was the monthly local show near my house and I picked up more things for others than for myself (an minor aftershock to #BombBob may occur), but I do have a couple of things for myself to show. There just isn't enough football at these shows for me, but a few dealers have said that they will look around to see if they have any Browns stuff back home.

L: 1999 Pacific Crown Royale - Gold Crown Die-Cuts #1 (#/976)
R: 2003 Bowman Chrome #205

I had never seen these oversized Gold Crown Die-Cuts so I was surprised when a dealer pulled it out for me with the oversized card in the picture below.


He also had a couple of other Browns cards that I picked up, including a Terrance West autograph, but as it turned out I already had all the regular size cards that I bought from him.

L: 2000 Pacific Crown Royale - Cramer's Choice Awards #1
R: 2015 Bowman - Rookies Rainbow Blue #32 (#/499)

I had seen photos of the Cramer's Choice Awards but had never seen one in person until the dealer showed it to me. I think the two cards are nice additions to my collection.


The Hybl and Johnson cards came from another dealer that had seen me walking around the hall in my Browns jersey and jacket. He also had a couple of other cards that it turned out I already had.


There was one final item that I picked up from a dealer that usually has a lot of hockey and baseball oddballs. He was eager to point this item out to me, and I added it to the other items that I ended up buying from him.

This becomes the first matchbook cover in my Browns collection. The dealer didn't know what year the matchbook was from but he said that I could probably figure it out from the schedule inside.

 When I got home I did a quick Google search using the Cowboys/Browns game as a search tool. I  quickly found out that the Browns lost to the Cowboys 6-2 on December 12, 1970. (46 years ago today!)


Looking at the Browns results for the 1970 season, I did find that it matched this schedule. So this matchbook cover is from my birth year. Pretty sweet!


I find it really interesting that the Cardinals and Chargers played one of the their pre-season games in Cleveland as part of a doubleheader on September 5. I wonder why they decided to do that. I can understand playing games in neutral markets where they don't have a team but this seems odd.


For those interested, the Browns finished the 1970 season with a 7-7 record. It was only the second non-winning season since the Browns franchise started in 1946. To contrast that, the current Browns have only had two winning seasons since returning in 1999. Sigh.

Box break - 2016 Panini Football, Part 2

Continuing from yesterday, and it looks like my one guaranteed hit should be in this half-box, and there are still plenty of Browns to look for. Let's get to it!

Pack 13:

74     Vic Beasley Jr. - Falcons
68     Joe Haden - Browns
63     Cecil Shorts III - Texans
116   Dre Kirkpatrick - Bengals
106   Tyler Eifert - Bengals
196   Von Miller - Broncos
Decorated 15     Emmitt Smith - Cowboys
Shining Armor parallel 293   Darron Lee - Jets
217   Emmanuel Ogbah - Browns
207   Sheldon Rankins - Saints

Well, two Browns in the first pack makes it a good start.

Pack 14:

59     Kamar Aiken - Ravens
34     Matt Ryan - Falcons
187   Tavon Austin - Rams
179   Torrey Smith - 49ers
172   Jordan Matthews - Eagles
Knights of the Round Die-Cuts 12     Marshall Faulk - Rams
Royal Family 4     Sterling & Shannon Sharpe - Packers / Broncos
Sacrifice Die-Cut 52     Jason Witten - Cowboys (#/199)
297   Kamalei Correa - Ravens
288   Pharoh Cooper - Rams

Okay, this pack just threw the six base veteran cards out the window, but I don't think I should complain too much about getting an extra insert, and one that I hadn't seen yet.

Pack 15:

26     Jeremy Langford - Bears
17     Ted Ginn Jr. - Panthers
7       Kelvin Benjamin - Panthers
166   Paul Posluszny - Jaguars
145   Randall Cobb - Packers
139   Jordan Reed - Redskins
Accolades 14     Aaron Rodgers - Packers
Knight's Templar parallel 267   Kevin Dodd - Titans
280   Christian Hackenberg - Jets
273   Malcolm Mitchell - Patriots

After the back-to-back Panthers was another blue bordered card for the Jaguars. At first I thought that I might have pulled three consecutive cards on one team.

Pack 16:

58     Duke Johnson - Browns
56     Martellus Bennett - Patriots
19     Kenny Britt - Rams
181   Heath Miller - Steelers
174   Allen Hurns - Jaguars
168   Carson Palmer - Cardinals
Combine Champions 14     Braxton Miller - Texans
Shining Armor parallel 131   Richard Sherman - Seahawks
227   DeAndre Washington - Raiders
218   Jared Goff - Rams

I just had to show the Steelers uniform here. It bumps out the number one draft pick from the scan.

Pack 17:

9       Chris Long - Patriots
99     Kirk Cousins - Redskins
90     Danny Woodhead - Chargers
163   Mike Wallace - Ravens
159   Carlos Hyde - 49ers
134   Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie - Giants
Decorated 14     Terrell Davis - Broncos
Knight's Templar parallel 173   Anthony Barr - Vikings
208   Su'a Cravens - Redskins
298   Demarcus Robinson - Chiefs

I do like the Chargers powder blue uniforms.

Pack 18:

82     Darren McFadden - Cowboys
75     Golden Tate - Lions
69     Justin Forsett - Ravens
126   Sammy Watkins - Bills
117   Amari Cooper - Raiders
107   LeGarrette Blount - Patriots
Accolades 13     DeAngelo Hall - Redskins
Chainmail Armor parallel 141   Bobby Wagner - Seahawks
289   Dak Prescott - Cowboys
281   Nelson Spruce - Rams

I'm sure that Sammy Watkins is more frustrated than any Bills fan at his foot. With his talent, I hope that he gets and stays healthy.

I'm happy for Dak Prescott and the start to his career that he is having. He's lucky he didn't wind up behind the Browns O-Line.

Pack 19:

64     Mohamed Sanu - Falcons
60     Melvin Gordon - Chargers
57     Tom Brady - Patriots
197   Aaron Donald - Rams
188   David Johnson - Cardinals
180   Andrew Luck - Colts
Legends of the Shield 14     Marcus Allen - Raiders
Sacrifice Die-Cut 134   Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie - Giants (#/199)
274   Connor Cook - Raiders
268   Leonte Carroo - Dolphins

I'm really surprised at the Cardinals offense this year. Johnson seems to be holding up his end.

One of my friends will be happy, I seem to pulling a lot of Raiders.

Pack 20:

27     Josh Norman - Redskins
18     Emmanuel Sanders - Broncos
8       DeMarcus Ware - Broncos
173   Anthony Barr - Vikings
167   Malcolm Smith - Raiders
162   Reshad Jones - Dolphins
Combine Champions 15   Justin Simmons - Broncos
Blue Knight 42     Tony Romo - Cowboys (#/99)
263   Laquon Treadwell - Vikings
259   Kevin Hogan - Chiefs   

Many people were surprised when the Panthers let Josh Norman go. He seems to be playing well in Washington.

Although Kevin Hogan is now a Brown, this card doesn't fit my Browns collection.

Pack 21:

98     Jameis Winston - Buccaneers
89     Buck Allen - Ravens
81     Marshawn Lynch - Seahawks
140   Justin Houston - Chiefs
133   Teddy Bridgewater - Vikings
125   Eddie Lacy - Packers
Knight School 13     Ezekiel Elliott - Cowboys
Knight's Templar parallel 167   Malcolm Smith - Raiders
234   Jordan Howard - Bears
226   Vonn Bell - Saints

I figured that I had to include Marshawn Lynch in here, a true character in the game. I understood what he was trying to do with his press availabilities but thought he was a bit ridiculous with some of his antics.

Pack 22:

97     Danny Amendola - Patriots
88     Josh McCown - Browns
80     Malcom Floyd - Chargers
132   Lamar Miller - Texans
124   Victor Cruz - Giants
115   Aaron Rodgers - Packers
Legends of the Shield 15   Eric Dickerson - Colts
Knight's Templar parallel 162   Reshad Jones - Dolphins
267   Kevin Dodd - Titans
262   Maliek Collins - Cowboys

The McCown card was the last of the veteran Browns needed for the base set. Still need a few rookies though.

It's funny, I rarely think of Dickerson as a Colt. I remember him with the Rams and Raiders. When I saw this card I went, "Oh, yeah."

Pack 23:

73     Jadeveon Clowney - Texans
67     Julian Edelman - Patriots
62     Dez Bryant - Cowboys
105   Ezekial Ansah - Lions
195   Jonathan Stewart - Panthers
186   Demaryius Thomas - Broncos
Rookie Calligraphy RC-YN   Yannick Ngakoue - Jaguars
Sacrifice Die-Cut 216   Jalen Ramsey - Jaguars (#/199)
240   Jacoby Brissett - Patriots
233   Chris Jones - Chiefs

My hit was found! And I much prefer an autograph over a relic. I'm not a Jaguars fan, but at least I pulled a rookie that is having a very good season. He has 6 sacks, 3 forced fumbles and 1 interception twelve games into his rookie season.

I can honestly say that I didn't remember my hit when I started scanning this box break. I remembered it wasn't from one of the favorite teams. It was summer, and to tell the truth I didn't know who this player was. It is nice when a forgotten hit turns out to be pretty nice.

Pack 24:

40     Philip Rivers - Chargers
33     DeAndre Hopkins - Texans
25     Chris Ivory - Jaguars
178   Larry Fitzgerald - Cardinals
171   Karlos Williams - Bills
149   Pierre Garcon - Redskins
Combine Champions 16     Derrick Henry - Titans
Sacrifice Die-Cut 109   Matt Jones - Redskins
225   Vernon Hargreaves III - Buccaneers
216   Jalen Ramsey - Jaguars

It was nice to see Larry Fitzgerald move into the #3 spot on the all-time receptions list over the weekend. He's a great player that I will be happy to say that I saw play live.

Should I be surprised that Panini doesn't use the ç in Garçon?

Some good news before I look at the numbers from this half-box - no doubles in the box.

71/200 base veteran cards - giving me 143/200
24/100 base rookie cards - giving me 48/100
4/11     base Browns cards - giving me 7/11

2/20     Accolades insert set - giving me 4/20
3/20     Combine Champions insert set - giving me 5/20
2/20     Decorated insert set - giving me 4/20
1/15     Knight School insert set - giving me 3/15
1/40     Knights of the Round Die-Cut insert set - giving me 1/40
2/20     Legends of the Shield insert set - giving me 4/20
1/30     Rookie Calligraphy insert set - giving me 1/30
1/5       Royal Family insert set - giving me 2/5

Checking out the consecutive numbers from yesterday, the trend continued here. All of the inserts where I have multiple cards gave me sequential numbers from the checklist. I guess they can be more certain of their collation that way, but I would hate to wind up getting a whole box of duplicate inserts if that were to happen by doing it this way.

4 Sacrifice Die-Cut parallels (#/199) - giving me 8
4 Knight's Templar parallels, I think - giving me 8
1 Blue Knight parallel (#/99) -giving me 2
2 Shining Armor parallels, I think - giving me 4
1 Chainmail Armor parallel - giving me 2

As with most people, I have fun opening boxes. However, I really think I bought it more because I just wanted to open something this summer, not because I really needed to. Especially since it was a retail box, not a hobby box. As with a lot of other bloggers, and since I'm not trying to complete a set, I think that I'm better off just buying the Browns cards that I want at the various online sites.