2021 trade package #7: My Cardboard Mistress

It's definitely nice that a hobby is something you can do at your own pace. I spend a decent amount of "card time" on a weekly basis but don't get the urge to blog much, so I write up the occasional post whenever I feel like it.

Adam ("Spankee"!) who blogs at My Cardboard Mistress seems to have the same philosophy, or at least found himself pulled in other directions enough that he posted once each year in 2019 and 2020 and has gotten one up this year. There's definitely nothing wrong with taking a hiatus from collecting and/or blogging, no matter the reason, because you can always get back into it if you feel like it.

That said, it's great to have him back, even if it's only temporary. Adam was one of my favorite trading buddies a few years ago because he's another guy that likes to collect baseball plus a college team (go Hokies!), and recently he surprised me by letting me know some cards were on their way to me from him. As I opened them it felt like no time had passed at all, other than the years of the cards being much more recent:

Sometimes I get annoyed when a manufacturer uses the same basic look in product after product, but I guess there's also something to be said for "Awww, this is a doub--wait, no, this is from the Holiday set, not flagship!" So hell yeah to a new Granderson, even as I look forward to the coming months when we'll hopefully be free of snow!

Everything else was football which is great since you know I love me some Wolverines. Mr. Brady here was the most well represented with six total cards, two of which are college shots. Nice! 

Tom's Rookie Debut was a 1/3 for six yards cameo in relief (I'm assuming) of Drew Bledsoe in a 34-9 loss to the Gary Moeller-coached Lions. How have things gone for both franchises since then, anyway? 2010 Sweet Spot was a fun product because the base set was college-oriented and looked great, plus you could pull those sweet signed manuhelmet cards. Contenders' ticket motif is pretty much always a hit with me, like that 2018 version. The Elite Primary Colors insert is definitely one of the coolest cards of the package, with many of the front elements raised a bit, and numbering /299 on the back to boot! "Hero" is definitely an apt word to describe the GOAT's on-field performance, and that holofoil Playoff insert looks sweet. And finally, TB10 is a staple in Panini's college products that include past players, and I'll take any of them that I can get.

The non-Brady items were just as nice. Two of my absolute favorites in Henne and Manningham join Brady out of 2010 Sweet Spot despite the set being released two years after they were rookies, and those look awesome as well. Big Mo Hurst is still trucking along with the Raiders after a questionable medical diagnosis made him fall to the fifth round. Adam provided looks at him in Maize and Blue and with the team that drafted him, the latter in the form of a really nice 2018 Contenders auto RC! That's just my third auto (and hit of any kind) of the big man, and I really appreciate my fellow college collector for including it here. And last up we have another UM favorite in Denard Robinson on a Rookies & Stars Crusade insert from his 2013 rookie year. It's a great reminder of one of Donruss's coolest, shiniest inserts from its heyday.

Adam, thanks again for this fun trade package! It looks like it's the first time we've swapped cards since 2015, and no matter how long the wait it's nice to be able to do it again. Hopefully when things get closer to normal I can put together another pile for you, but in the meantime please enjoy the envelope I just sent your way in return!