2//14 Newness

 With one of two packages I'd been expecting from COMC arriving, I'll start showing off the new names in the 2/14 collection, since all of the new names for the binders were contained in this one.

The die-cut nature of this is puzzling, since I have zero clue what the shape it is supposed to represent. I wouldn't want to wear a jacket shaped like that, and it doesn't seem to be shaped like any letter you'd associate with Anthony Hill, the Texas Longhorns, or even Upper Deck. But it does allow Anthony Hill Jr to enter my collection. He's definitely the guy I'll be watching for collection purposes during the draft, as he's tabbed as a late first rounder or early second rounder. An autograph of his from Bowman is already sitting in my inventory awaiting another shipment.

NCAA addition #2. Brayson (or Bray, as he is on some cards) Hubbard does appear to be returning to the Tide for his senior year, so I won't have to worry about NFL cards for him. Yet. A blue parallel seems odd for a parallel of a set that literally had 'Crimson' in its name, but this was all that was available.

The biggest name in the class of '25, at least in terms of volume, is Bhaysul Tuten. He was a 4th rounder out of Virginia Tech, and even if RB has become somewhat of a less glamourous position over the past many years, he still got a bunch of cards. Even if he didn't get the Rookie Premiere invite and instead had training camp photos on many of his rookie cards. And hey, since V-Tech is tbe closest I have to a NCAA rooting interest (due to Bruce Smith fandom), it's a bonus niceness.

If I wanted to add Jay Higgins to my collection this year, I had to do so with an autographed version, as he had no cards that weren't autographed. Nothing. But that does seem to be the norm when companies don't want to waste a spot in a limited base set for someone that went undrafted and might not make the team that they were listed. But the Iowa product did make the Ravens roster, and appeared in 11 games for them.

Also, he has an interesting signature. While he does abbreviate it, the Jay Higg portion is legible,and that's always a plus.

24-25 Upper Deck CHL provides the two final newcomers to the collection. While Belanger is the better overall prospect of the two, I have to give the nod to Bleicher based on the great Owen Sound Attack logo (even though it will trail Sudbury's as my OHL favourite logo).

There youo have it!