Some Browns first round picks and Christmas packs 12 and 13

I mentioned in my last post that I had found some really nice deals at AZ Sports Cards in Phoenix when I met up again with Daniel from the It's like having my own Card Shop blog. I guess that is one of the good things about cheering for an unsuccessful team with plenty of disappointing first round draft picks.

I was shocked to find these two cards at such a low price.

I mean, really, that is way lower than I would expect to pay for Trent Richardson autographs on pretty cool cards. The Strata card was a redemption for somebody, possibly even the store. No matter, I was very happy to grab these cards at those prices.

I like that the store put the price tags on team bags that surrounded the card holders. Here are some better scans.

2012 Topps Strata Hobby - Clear Cut Rookie Autograph Relic Gold #CCAR-TR (#/99)

I like the signature on the plastic, and the cut out portion showing the piece of jersey.

2012 Topps Prime Hobby - Autographed Relics Level 5 #PV-TR (#/250)

No jersey number on the sticker autograph on this card. Just something that I noticed when I compared the two cards.

I also found another very inexpensive autographed rookie card of a former first round pick to add to my collection.

2006 SP Authentic #185 (#/1175)

Now I know that there are 1175 of these floating around, but I didn't have one, and was more than willing to buy it for so little.

I stayed in the store for a little while after Daniel left so he wouldn't have seen me pick up these two cards from inside the showcases in the store.

I think that I'm a sucker for clear plastic cards, especially autographed ones...

2014 Panini Elite - Rookie Inscriptions #24

 ...and, yes, even of this former first round pick.

Okay, that's unfair. I don't hate the guy. He wasn't the quarterback that I wanted them to pick when they did, but when he was picked I hoped for the best. I thought it was an ultimate boom or bust pick, and that there was a chance it would be a very good pick. It didn't work out, but it isn't as though he is the first Browns first round pick that didn't work out. I hope that he has gotten his personal life in order, and that he does return to football with the Hamilton Tiger Cats. If he does, I'll likely even go see him play when he comes to Ottawa.

This wasn't a two or three dollar card, but Manziel's autographs have really come down in price.

This next card is one that I regretted passing up when I saw one a few years ago, but wound up paying less for it by waiting. It is different than the preceding cards.

It isn't an autographed card, it is a memorabilia card instead, but not the usual piece of fabric.

It is a card featuring a Browns first round pick, but not an unsuccessful one.

2001 Topps Archives - Relic Seats #AS-JB

Yeah, again, I can be a sucker. This memorabilia piece has nothing to do with Jim Brown other than putting his rookie card on it, but it does have a piece of stadium seat from Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The scan does bring out the cracked paint on the seat. I love it!

I only saw one game at the old stadium. It was a win. What a nice feeling. I hope to experience it again some time.

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With that, I'll move on to more of my Christmas baseball packs. This time we have two packs of...

...1990 Fleer! (Sadly, not the Canadian version.)

Pack 1:

We'll start with a nice Padres sticker.

I can't complain about finding Nolan Ryan in the first pack.

But to me it pales next to getting a card of my all-time hero, Gary Carter. No matter what anybody else says, this is a successful pack.

Pack 2:

Cool! Bo Jackson and Tim Raines. Not going to complain about the first part of this pack.

Trammell, Alomar, and Sandberg. Not too shabby. But I still think I prefer my Gary Carter.

Recent Arizona trip and Christmas pack 11

I was pretty much caught up on organizing my collection when I received my COMC Black Friday order, except for a few minor things, but once again have found myself falling behind. Part of this is because of my Christmas and January trips to Arizona, but part of it is because I keep putting cards aside that I want to blog about. I really have to work on getting better at this.

Even though I have older cards to show, I'm going to jump to some cards that I picked up during last week's trip to Arizona, because I want to show a few photos from my trip.

Early this summer I found some nice cards at Phoenix Sports Cards in Glendale. I didn't make it back there during my second summer trip, or at Christmas so I figured that I would try to get out there again to see what they might have. I found some great cards there, and may have spent a little more than I wanted to but that was more because of quantity as opposed to prices. (Although, Daniel if you're reading, the prices might not have been quite as good as some of the cards I found at AZ Sports Cards when we were there at Christmas.) It's just one of those things that if I lived in the area I might tempt fate and leave a few behind and pick them up a few at a time, but since I didn't know when I would be back again, I didn't want to leave them.

Here are most of the cards that I bought.

Top Left: 2001 Fleer Game Time - Uniformity Courtney Brown

Top Right: 2002 Michigan TK Legacy - Mates Autographs #MM7 (#/250)

Bottom Left: 2004 Leaf Limited - Common Threads #CT34 (#/50)

Bottom Right: 2005 UD Ultimate Collection - Game Jersey Gold #GJ-BK (#/50)

 It is always nice to find older insert cards that I need. The backs of all the jersey cards state that they are all game-used. If they are, it is cool to have a piece of Hall of Famer Warfield's jersey, but a shame that it would even be cut up in the first place.

Ever since I started cheering for the Browns, I have had a fondness for their Tight Ends (okay, that sounds bad) so I was happy to see this Aaron Shea card that wasn't even on my wantlist. It may have been one of the cards I was most excited about from this whole purchase. It isn't something that I would have regularly been looking for.

Top Left: 2005 Topps Turkey Red - Autographs Gray #TRA-BE

Top Right: 2006 Donruss Threads - Football #36 (#/250)

Bottom: 2007 Ultra - Comparisons #UC-TF

I like adding missing Braylon Edwards cards to my collection, but still really hate his comments towards Cleveland fans after he was traded to the Jets. Even if most Browns fans are Buckeye fans, they are perfectly willing to cheer for Wolverines that play hard for the Browns. Fans just don't like their Pro Bowl wide receivers dropping balls they think should have been caught, especially when they remember commercials like this.

I love the piece of football in the Droughns card. It's a nice change in a memorabilia card than a piece of jersey.

As for the Joe Thomas card, what can I say? Even if I had already owned a copy, which I didn't, I will always grab a Joe Thomas rookie year insert card for less than a dollar. I really hope he comes back to play again next year. I think he will as he was still playing great when he was hurt.

Top: 2012 Topps Chrome - Rookie Relics #RR10

Middle: 2012 Topps Chrome - Rookie Relics Purple Refractors #RR10 (#/75)

Bottom Left: 2012 Bowman - Accolades #BAC-TR

Bottom Right: 2012 SAGE HIT - Autographs #A103

A nice collection of cards from the Browns two first round picks in the 2012 NFL Draft. These cards would have been considered nice pulls when they were opened but are now pretty inexpensive pick-ups to fill holes in my collection.

Left: 2013 Fleer Retro - Ultra Autographs #64

Middle: 2014 Topps Chrome - Purple Refractors #146

Right: 2014 Topps Fire - Forged By Fire #FF-JMA

I think I have to show Barkevious Mingo cards because of his name.

As much as I might complain about parallels, I have always enjoyed the different colored refractors for Topps Chrome. Again, a large part of that might be because they are generally easily identifiable.

I shake my head when I buy missing Johnny Manziel cards, and know that there are plenty of them for me to buy, but I really enjoy this die-cut one. I just wish he had set the league on fire.

Top Left: 2015 Leaf Draft - Autographs #BA-XC1

Top Middle: 2015 SAGE HIT - Autographs Black #A127

Top Right: 2015 SAGE HIT - Autographs Red #A132

Bottom: 2015 Panini Crown Royale - Rookie Royalty Signatures #RRS-DA (#/199)

The Browns had twelve draft picks in the 2015 NFL Draft, with Danny Shelton being drafted in the first round, Xavier Cooper being drafted in the third round, and Randall Telfer being drafted in the sixth round. Nice to pick up more autographs of the three of them.

I actually own a Xavier Cooper jersey, and when I'm wearing it, I often get asked who it is, and why I have it. One of my old roommates is a big Washington State Cougars fan and decided to buy me the jersey for Christmas after the Browns drafted him. After playing with the Browns in 2015 and 2016, he was released at the end of training camp before the 2017 season. The 49ers claimed him off waivers, and he played five games for them before being released and signed by the Jets for the end of the season.

Until writing this post, I assumed that Rannell Hall was an undrafted free agent that the Browns signed after the draft but it appears as though he was originally signed by the Buccaneers and then the Browns signed him off of the Buccaneers' practice roster late in the 2015 season. It looks like this card doesn't actually fit the self-imposed parameters of my Browns collection. Oh well, it isn't the first time I've bought a card that doesn't fit into my collection. Any UCF fans out there wanting this card?

Top Left: 2016 Panini Absolute - Rookie Force Materials Red #8

Top Right: 2016 Panini Black Gold Collegiate - Quad Materials White Gold #22 (#/99)

Bottom Left: 2016 Panini Classics - Significant Signatures Bronze #279 (#/49)

Bottom Right: 2016 Score - Rookie Signatures Showcase #435 (#/99)

After the twelve picks in 2015, the Browns had fourteen picks in the 2016 NFL Draft. Cody Kessler was drafted in the third round, while Rashard Higgins and Jordan Payton were both drafted in the fifth round.

I will be surprised if Cody Kessler is with the Browns next year. Although they expected him to be the starter in the off-season, he was out of that role before training camp ended, and although I expected him to be given a shot to start at some point during this 0-16 season, obviously Hue Jackson didn't need to see if he could win a game. One thing that I appreciated in his 2016 season was his accuracy and low turnover numbers.

I think the Browns will sign a veteran quarterback, and use the number one draft pick on a quarterback, and keep DeShone Kizer to develop. This leaves Kessler as the odd man out. I'm sure that another team will sign him and give him a shot as their backup quarterback.

I almost missed the Black Gold Collegiate card as I was looking through the available football cards, but then I noticed Kessler on it at the last moment. You can't really tell from the scan, but the USC players on the card are (clockwise from top left) Cody Kessler, Nelson Agholor, Tre Maddon, and Su'a Cravens.

Top Left: 2017 Panini Elite Draft Picks - Draft Picks Autographs #130

Top Right: 2017 Panini Gold Standard - Golden Jumbo Threads #34 (#/99)

Bottom: 2017 Panini Preferred - Preferred Pairings Booklet #27

Matthew Dayes was drafted in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL Draft out of NC State, and was a kick returner and back-up running back for the Browns this year.

I was surprised to the see a booklet card in the monster box of cards I was looking through. As it turned out, it was a Browns card. But really to me, except for the fact that it had a Brown on it, it is quite a boring card. However, I don't own too many booklets, and since it was reasonably priced, I picked it up.

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These cards came from the only card store I went to during my trip. I had to spend most of the trip around the house, or with family. I really only had the one day that I went to the card store to myself, and wasn't even sure if I was going to get to the store or not.

One of the days that I was there, my sister and older cousin woke me up to ask if I wanted to for a hike with them. They decided they were going to hike the Pinnacle Peak trail.

It was a beautiful morning, more so since the weather at home was so miserable, so I went with them. Okay, part of the reason was that I didn't want my sister to be able to bug me about being too lazy to join them.

Here is one photo from part way up the trail looking down at the Four Seasons Resort in Scottsdale.

From the hike, this is the only good photo that I took. My cousin took way more photos, but has not forwarded them to me.

I had a good time on the hike, and finished it, but was standing there sucking wind on more than one occasion. This was a little embarrassing when young mothers would jog past you on the trail with babies strapped to their backs. I should probably make a point of climbing the trail once on each trip - or maybe look for different trails. I have to remember that exercise is good for me.

On my free day in Arizona, I almost went to some small car auction that was going on there. If any of my friends from home were with me, we would have gone for sure. We all seem to spend a lot of time watching it on tv so it would be fun to be there in person. However, going alone wasn't as appealing as joining my mother's next door neighbor for a couple of hours in the desert.

Sitting in a Can-Am Maverick

Yeah, spending between 90 minutes to 2 hours playing in the desert was fun!

This picture doesn't really do justice to how beautiful the desert is.

Our trip took us down to what I believe is the Verde River, in the Tonto National Forest, which I had driven to the edge of before, but didn't continue down to the parking lot where we parked and I took this photo. My mom's neighbor told me that he has seen wild horses here in the past.

I can't believe how much fun I had, and the ridges we climbed, and the hills we rode down. It was a great time, and I can't wait to do it again some time in the future!

After finishing, I had time to drive to the card store and then meet some friends to play Buzztime Trivia at the Tilted Kilt in Scottsdale.

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Finally, on to the next pack of Christmas baseball cards that I'm going to show. This is one that I opened a lot of when it came out.

Here's what I found inside.

I've always liked the artwork checklists, and Kevin Mitchell is a former Met, so that is a nice card. Also nice to get one of the Nasty Boys.

I really like the photos on the Ozzie Smith, Ron Hassey, and Jack Armstrong cards. (Can you imagine what Armstrong feels when people bring this card to him to sign?)

Jack Clark and Don Mattingly join Ozzie Smith in adding star power to this pack.

No Reggie Jackson insert, but still the team hologram to show.

I guess this turned into a bit of a Reds hot pack, with three cards and the hologram.

Great vintage from the Five Tool Collector and Christmas pack 10

I just got back last night from a last-minute trip to Arizona for a family birthday. I only decided to go once I heard that a cousin was travelling there with my sister so I felt that I should go too. I had a lot of fun, but not too much free time to myself so I didn't contact any of the Arizona bloggers (sorry, guys, if you care!), but did manage a quick visit to one store on Tuesday afternoon. I'll post about the trip later.

I had this post ready to go before I left, but set it up wrong to post automatically. At least it makes it easy to post something today.

Before Christmas, while looking at the Five Tool Collector's blog, I realized that I had a couple of 1969 Topps 4 in 1 Baltimore Colts that he needed. I quickly sent a message to him asking for his address and sent them off in the mail to him. The day before my trip I received some cards back from him.

Wow! He hit me back with older vintage.

Look at this beauty!

1952 Bowman Small #67

 But it says Ohio State, why is it a Browns card?

Ah, that does it. It's a Browns card.

The amusing thing is that he didn't play a game for the Browns. This card back says that he was signed by the Packers and transferred to the Browns for the 1952 season.

Pro Football Reference shows that his hole career was spent with Green Bay where he played the 1952 and 1953 seasons, and that he was drafted by the Browns in the 11th round of the 1952 NFL Draft.

I think that I'll trust Pro Football Reference's information.

L-R: 1964 Philadelphia #35 and #32

Don't you love these 1964 Philadelphia cards with the cars in the background?

I needed this Green rookie card, and will check to see if the Costello card is an upgrade or not.

Ernie Green played from 1962-68 and shared the Browns backfield with two Hall of Fame running backs, Jim Brown and Leroy Kelly. He made two Pro Bowls (with Leroy Kelly) in 1966 and 1967. He averaged 4.8 yards per carry in his career, rushing for 3204 yards.

1966 Philadelphia #42

Gary Collins also made two Pro Bowls in his ten year career with the Browns. He wasn't just a receiver for the Browns, he was also their punter in his first six years with the team. In his 1965 Pro Bowl season leading into this card, he caught 50 passes for 884 yards and 10 touchdowns, while punting 65 times, leading the league with a 46.7 yard average.

Bob, thanks for the wonderful cards! I'll have to keep an eye out for any interesting Baltimore Colts cards that I run across. (Arizona update: picked up one cool card for you.)

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On to the Christmas pack.

1989 Topps Big

The front of this card stuck to the wrapper - you can see it on the sides of the card.

Let's see the back of the Hall of Famer.

Rock on the front, Tim on the back.

On to the rest of the pack.

I had seen cards from this set before, but had never opened any. Pretty neat but I'm sure the odd size wouldn't help in storing them.

COMC Mets purchases and Christmas packs 8 and 9

A couple of years ago I decided to start a project to try and collect the starting nine New York Mets for each season of their existence. I haven't really posted much about it, but I have been working at it, and put a good dent into it last year.

I picked up some more cards during my Black Friday COMC purchases, adding 13 cards and completing 8 more seasons.

1962 Topps #365

This 1962 Charlie Neal card brings me up to six of the starting nine expansion Mets.

When I set up the idea for my project I wanted to only have cards of the players in Mets uniforms. The 1962 season is an exception to that - there were no previous year photos to use. At least Topps made things easier by using photographs of the players without hats.

L-R: 1967 Topps #370; 1968 Topps #572; 1970 Topps #83

These three cards completed the 1967 opening day starters.

I think I may have to include scans of completed pages on my project page. Something to think about. Any thoughts?

L-R: 1968 Topps #563; 1986 TCMA All-Time Mets #3M

Ed Charles completes the 1968 starting lineup, while the Bud Harrelson card gets slotted into the 1970 season, completing that lineup as well.

L-R: 1973 Topps #4; 1973 OPC #540

Those of you that have received cards from me will probably get a kick out of the fact that I found an O-Pee-Chee card to help finish the 1973 starting lineup.

1976 SSPC #535

Until I started reading other blogs I was not really aware of the SSPC sets. This isn't my first SSPC card, but I don't have many of them. I really enjoy the ones I own and will probably try to grab more of them as opportunities arise.

This Del Unser card slots into the 1975 starting lineup, leaving me with only a Dave Kingman card to find to complete it. (I'm trying to find a 1975 or 1976 SSPC Kingman, or a 1976 Hostess one.)

L-R: 1999 Finest #159; 2000 Upper Deck #173

For some reason I was always unable to find Mets cards of Rickey Henderson while looking in stores and at shows. It was easy enough on COMC to find cards to complete the 1999 and 2000 starting lineups.

I had to get the Upper Deck card of Henderson diving. It captures him. Hard to believe that he was over 40 in this picture.

L-R: 2001 Topps Gallery #126; 2014 Topps #US-16

Mike Jacobs had an interesting Mets career. He was drafted by the Mets in the 38th round of the 1999 MLB Draft, played with their minor league teams before being called up and playing 30 games with the Mets in 2005. After the season he was traded to the Marlins as part of a trade for Carlos Delgado. In 2010, Jacobs found his way back to the Mets on a minor league contract, and started for them on opening day that year. He only played seven games for them in 2010. As far as I could tell there were no Mets cards made for him after 2006 so I found this card from his earlier stint in the organization. This card completes my 2010 opening day lineup.

The Andrew Brown card completes my 2014 starting lineup, and makes it so I have complete lineups from 2006-2017.

I now have 471/504 cards towards my project, and 45/56 seasons are complete.

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Moving on to my Christmas packs brings me to two packs of...

...1989 Topps!

Pack 1
The important stuff! And, I'm still not trying the gum.

Wax stains on the back, and once again a contest that wouldn't have been open to me since I wasn't a US resident.

It was a pleasant surprise to see the first card in the package was a Randy Johnson rookie card. I remember when he was traded to the Mariners for Mark Langston.

Speaking of Expos trades, Winningham was part of who they received from the Mets in the Gary Carter trade.

Heh. I think that I'm proving that I don't know how to set up the cards on my scanner very well when I try to scan nine cards.

It's weird to see Guerrero and Pena in Cardinals uniforms, and nice to see a Jack McKeon card.

This turned into an Expos hot pack! I think I know where the Wallach card will wind up.

Pack 2:

A different ad card in this pack.

Spotting the checklist as the first card wasn't as nice as the Randy Johnson rookie in the first pack.

Andy Hawkins double.

That Ansley card looks familiar...

Opening two packs and getting two doubles really brings me back to when I was young. It's still fun opening these however.