MIKE JAMES!
I mentioned in my last post that lately it's been nice to add to some of my more accessible collections lately. The weirdest of those is my Mike James collection, as it has a lot of cards I still need but a finite number given that there doesn't seem to be a current Mike James active in a sport. With that knowledge, I added about 5% of the Mike James cards that exist to my collection lately. Let's check some out!
The closest guy to being an active player is a new addition to my collection - the second NBA Mike James. I've mentioned the retired Mike James who won a championship with the 2004 Pistons before, but there's a younger Mike James (Born in 1990) who has mainly played overseas but had a successful Phoenix Suns stint in 2017 that led to him appearing on 50 cards. I now own two.
He averaged 10.4 points over 32 games, but with low shooting percentages so it's been tough for him to stick around the NBA. He mostly recently was on a 10-day contract with the Nets in 2021 but is currently back to playing overseas, likely ending his cardboard days.
The other new Mike James I acquired was a 2004 Red Sox draft pick. He spent five years in the organization, finishing with a 10-14 record and a 4.26 ERA. So not the most notable career - but I have his autograph which is super cool!
The other Mike James I picked up are from more usual suspects. That includes a few cool cards on the elder baseball pitcher, which includes the base version of what could be my second favorite cup card.
I also grabbed a few of the football RB. He has some awesome rainbow parallels to chase and I'm digging these ones especially so far:
The bottom was billed on Sportlots as the purple, which is /5. But it's actually the red holofoil /25. Still cool, still looks purple!
He has a weird auto set that is all super short printed, and I already owned the /20 and /10. So I grabbed the /15 for cheap on Ebay:
I also had my longest package wait in a while - it was around a month for this Score auto. Multiple purchases came and went while I waited for this PWE to arrive in my mailbox:
As usual, the guy I chased most was the aforementioned OG Mike James, the former NBA champion one. I actually grabbed one of his first cards, which showcases him with the Boston Celtics, a team I had totally forgotten he ever played for.
It's pretty rare you find a Mike James card where the jersey matches the team name though...usually you find stuff more like these cards:
Even the backs showcase this pretty well, like this career highs card with multiple teams listed in one season:
Or this other one that just shows how he's been all around the world in just a few seasons:
They're all magical, and they're all Mike James. May this ridiculous collection never die!
Hope another Mike James comes along soon. Maybe hockey or soccer?
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