BIlls! Bills! Bills!

The key to Bills Fandom is to never get optimistic. That makes the letdown when they lose far more manageable. That said, today is the perfect day to go through a whole pile of Bills and Bills-related cards that have shown up recently. These cover trade envelopes and COMC acquisitions.

They could have combined both players on the card to highlight this play, but what's the fun in that? That's especially true since both ends of the 98 yard TD deserve a nod.

This one was inspired by a recent repack. I noted how the back included not only the player's college, but that school's nickname. I can appreciate finally knowing that Kutztown's nickname was the Golden Bears.

Speaking of colleges, here's three cards of players I didn't think would get any as Bills. I'm 2 for 3 with that prediction, as Taylor Rapp showed up in Mosaic this year. Sadly, he wasn't wearing his Guardian Cap in that photo.

Punter card!

And a nice memory for the player preserved forever on cardboard to end the COMC portion of this post.

Rasul Douglas making his collection debut starts off this group from sportlots. Torrance appeared in 2023 Score, but only as a Florida Gator with the NFL shield on his card. I think he was the only one not listed with the team that drafted him. Here is one of his first cards where he was granted the dignity of appearing on the team. I like seeing guys like Evans and Beebe appearing as legends for a team that gets a lot of repetitive players for this portion of new sets.

Off to the mailbag, and a pair of nothing-but-Bills PWE envelopes that showed up this week from Crazie Joe. I was amazed at how many of the Pro Set cards in this were NOT dupes. Well over half of them were new to the Bills binder. I think those ended up with a better rate than the non Pro Set portion.  That Andre Reed Action Packed entry might be one of the least flattering photos for a star player ever. Why? Of the Pro Set cards, I love that Steve Tasker in the upper corner - it is just a wonderful depiction of a frigid game in Orchard Park.

Here's the start of the football portion of the TMV mailer. Both the Peterman and both the Grahams were examples of cards that I was certain I had, but didn't. Both Bruce Smith cards see him paired with another player. On the Nemeses card, he's matched up with Bruce Armstrong. A division rival on the OL makes perfect sense for a card of that nature. Bernie Parmalee on the other is a little less direct, but at least he's paired with a division rival that he probably often saw on the field.

Here's the numbered ones. Looking at the MVP's foil card does confirm that I still haven't been arsed to clean my scanner bed.

Let's start the Hit Parade, this time with some actual Bills cards instead of the NCAA versions. Antowain Smith was perfectly fine with the team, but he was given the impossible task of following Thurman Thomas at RB. He still had a 1000 yard season with the team, and would move on to New England and pick up a pair of Super Bowl rings in the process. As for Dustin Hopkins, he's still in the league. The 2013 draft wasn't exactly one of the best, so to see someone who is still around, even as a kicker, is surprising in the 2024 season.

Speaking of that 2013 draft, here's the Bills top draft pick that year. He didn't work out, and was off the team in 2017 when this card dropped, having moved on to Oakland. Judging by the numbering of this card, I guess Panini had 5 stickers left at Panini HQ.

And there you have it!