pelts of elk and bison and manny, oh my!

i picked up a few dodger autograph and relic lots a while back.  it's great when folks group a bunch of dodger specific stuff together and the price of the whole is less than the sum of the parts.  you know what i mean.  for me, the star of this particular lot was this 2009 upper deck o-pee-chee card featuring andre ethier, james loney, and matt kemp.

this is the 'elk' (ethier, loney, kemp) referred to up in the title.  yes, i was stretching for a catchy post title.  anyway, i like the colors on the card.  i used to have a similar card featuring three non-dodgers, but i traded it away and mildly regretted it ever since.  i have a soft spot for o-pee-chee, don't you know.

speaking of which, here's a 1998 pinnacle plus card of mike piazza that was part of the lot for some reason.  it includes a text line straight out of o-pee-chee's playbook - 'traded to mets 5/22/98'

which, while correct, totally ignores the 8 days he was with the marlins.

back to the relics, here's a 2010 topps allen & ginter matt kemp card

and an andre ethier card from the same set

ethier showed up thrice in the lot thanks to this 2010 upper deck offering

so we've seen the 'elk' and we've seen the bison, that means it must be time for the manny.  this is from 2010 topps national chicle, a set that holds a bit of allure for me.  i have grown to like it a bit more.  not enough to try to complete it or anything like that, but i'm not repulsed by it either.

that is a decent likeness, even if the batting helmet is too clean.  as is the one on this 2009 upper deck goodwin champions card

not sure how that happened, although i suppose it is possible that upper deck cleaned the helmet up a bit.  i like how the storm cards are gathering around manny in 2009 while it is merely cloudy on chad billingsley's card from the same set.

manny served his first suspension in 2009, while chad was doing his usual 190+ innings of work.

finally, for this lot anyway, we have a 2001 bowman relic card from alfredo silverio

who appeared and homered in the 2011 all-star futures game.  he hit .306 in 132 games at aa chattanooga in 2011, but sadly was injured in a car accident in early 2012 forcing him to miss the entire season.  i haven't heard anything lately, but i am hoping he is able to return to the minors this season.