Wednesday, March 13, 2024

A super 2023 TCDb trade roundup, part 2

As is sometimes the case I have a lot of non-card stuff going on right now, hence my posting even less than usual, and that includes needing to temporarily move my collection and other things in my house for carpet installation. Still, I'm trying to sew up my 2023 pickups, so let's blast through the rest of the trades/PIFs I received from TCDb friends last year.

I specifically grouped these together because these items came from four of my closest friends on the site, some of whom I talk to just about every day, discussing checklist updates/fixes, fun new pickups, and anything else we feel like.

First up is Shawn, a.k.a. corky. The former Washington resident (now in Arizona) hangs out on the site once in a while and does great work when he's around, plus he's an excellent trader.
He sent me some very cool Griffeys, including a '96 Ultra promo, plus an oddball of another former Mariner I collect in Putz. And former UM CB Dave Brown is included on a sweet Seahawks card which stars another well-known Seattle guy in Largent.

Thanks, Shawn!

Next, Wisconsinite Brian (firesnbeers) sent me a bunch of stuff throughout the year in PIF form. The 2023 TCDb Member of the Year--and very deservedly so given his hard work and generosity on the site!--went to the National, so some of what you'll see below came from there, plus some came from a card shop not too far from him.
These came from a PIF about a year ago. That Conlon card is Vick's lone cardboard issue listed on TCDb, and it's now part of my Michigan Baseball PC. He played baseball and football for the Wolverines in the late 1910s/early 20s, apparently liking positions starting with a "C": catcher and center. Though his MLB career, 57 games over four seasons with the Cards, was short, he did win a ring with the '26 champion St. Louis squad, though he didn't actually appear in the Fall Classic.
There was a good bit of football content in that mailing as well, including the QB-heavy group above.
I can also often count on Brian to send me a nice bunch of Packers stuff since that comes with his territory, and he's especially reliable for getting oddball-ish stuff like police issues. Hence the additions to my Des and Woodson PCs from the group above.
The next bunch of scans came from a big August '23 mailing that included some National pickups, interesting stuff from his card shop, and lots more. Sweet Miggy cards here!
Gwynn, former Tigers, and a Rich Hill, excellent!
Hell yeah, even more of yesterday's birthday boy Dick Mountain, and in numbered form in a couple cases! More Tigers and another Michigan Baseball alum too.
Former Tigers in the wrong uniforms start off this scan but there's other cool stuff, including even more Hills! And one of the top cards in the whole package is the second oldest George Kell in my collection, out of 1955 Bowman. Wow!
He picked out these Topps Mini Pink parallels from the National after finding a nice deal on them and I thought that was very cool, though I did make sure to send the Jones to Paul as he still collects JaCoby.
A few more very interesting items here. The two columns of '79 Topps cards are from a box or uncut sheet or something, I forget which, but I thought it would be fun to add because of the presence of Bergman, another former Tiger in Corcoran, and of course the Maris/Aaron combo. Northrup is a '71 Topps Super and represents my first piece of that odd but great product's run. And last up is an Al Kaline mini record that was also made in 1971 by Mattel. That quickly became one of the most unique items in my collection!
There was plenty more football in this package as well, and a really nice mix of players to boot.
More football and more recent guys in Michigan unis. SAGE even managed their usual level of QC by calling former Michigan star DB Hill "Draxton" instead of Daxton.
And the last of the football and this package overall. A couple Topps Total multiplayer cards feature ex-Wolverines, a Score Red Siege parallel of former WR Chris Calloway looks great, and backfield bowling ball Leroy Hoard is high-steppin' on an extra tall Fleer GameDay card.
And now we're into the last PIF Brian sent me which was back in October. The first of two baseball scans offers more Miggy, three quarters of my Griffey/Gwynn/Maddux/Ripken quartet (don't worry--Cal's included in the next scan), and, oh yeah, just another vintage HOF card: Al Kaline's '71 Topps. Awesome!
There's the Ripken I was referring to, along with Gwynns big and, uh, normal, and another Maddux.
And lastly, Brian made a big trade with another member and arranged to acquire cards for a few folks, which was very nice of him. I took advantage of his offer by picking up all of these needs for my '94 Finest and Pinnacle and '95 Finest sets.

Thanks again for a bunch of amazing PIF cards, especially the vintage and oddball stuff, Brian!

Next we have my fellow Michigander Jason (jasongerman9), the first of this group that I've met in-person, which I'll detail more in a future show recap. Jason's a baseball coach at a college near where he lives close to the Michigan/Indiana border, and it's easy to find stuff he can use as he has a huge wantlist of Reds and other PCs. He sent me a few nice sized PIFs last year broken down like this:
PIF #1 last February included a fun mix of baseball, basketball, and football stuff. If that Mosaic Kaline isn't emblematic of today's Panini, I don't know what is! I knew Jason was sending me the two IP/TTM autos of NCAA champ Glen Rice but they were still fun to get all the same.
There was even more football to enjoy but the top highlights by far were the super vintage mini RCs of Albert "Ox" Wistert and John Greene out of 1948 and '50 Bowman, respectively:
Albert was one of three brothers (Francis, a.k.a. "Whitey," and Alvin a.k.a. "Moose") to suit up for Michigan (but not at the same time) and all of them were OTs. This one played in Ann Arbor from 1940-42, then was selected by the Eagles, with whom he earned a selection to the first ever Pro Bowl plus a pair of pre-Super Bowl Championships. His #11, worn by all three of the brothers, is one of six to be retired by Michigan. He joins a few other ex-Wolverines in the '48 Bowman and/or Leaf sets as a rookie and represents a tie with Bob Nussbaumer from the same set as the oldest card in my Michigan PC!

Meanwhile, the '50 Bowman RC of ex QB/OL/other and wrestler Greene is just one of two cards in his name cataloged on TCDb, with the other being a 1986 reprint of this exact card, which hails from the same set as that of HOFer Elroy Hirsch's first year. He played in Ann Arbor in the early 40s before being drafted by the nearby Lions where he was basically a TE from 1944-50.

These two very early RCs are incredible and I can't thank Jason enough, probably because I owe him even more thanks for...
...this super cool custom jersey of my favorite former Michigan RB...
...Mike Hart! It turns out that Jason had a connection that could make something like this and asked me what name/number combo I'd want if such a thing was possible. I thanked him profusely for getting this made for me and was glad to wear it a few times last season during the team's national championship run with Hart guiding the running backs. Sadly, Hart is no longer with the team apparently for personal reasons, but I'll always be thankful for his contributions on the field and the sidelines (and to Jason for my favorite Michigan jersey in my entire wardrobe!).
Moving ahead to July, he sent me a Tigers-filled PWE with some great looking stuff in it. I was especially happy to get more Miggy stuff during his sunset season, but the Orange Refractor of Castro is quite cool as well.
These are limited to just 25 copies and this one was fairly close to being a Christmas card!
And here's the rest of the Tigers from that envelope highlighted by two guys I hope to see remain in the rotation throughout 2024 without any injuries, Manning and Skubal.
And finally in December he sent me some really nice Christmas cards. This scan features a lot of shiny stuff which I'm always a sucker for, and it's mostly Tigers plus a Cronenworth I didn't have. Sparky's Topps Chrome Platinum parallel is called a Platinum Toile Cream/Fuchsia Atomic Refractor (Topps and Panini parallels have long since jumped the shark) and is numbered /100. Meanwhile, I'm still a fan of Topps Tribute base cards I can get on the cheap or in trades because they look so premium.
TCP pops up in scan #2 as well and we're not even done yet after these! Remember when Grossman was a Tiger for a minute there? The two parallels you see of him are a Blue Mini-Diamond Refractor (/199) and a Black and White Mini Diamond Refractor. IF prospect Jack Lopez looks to appear on a similar version to the first Grossman but that's actually a Platinum Toile White/Blue Refractor numbered /199. OBVIOUSLY. Anyway, they look cool and that's a plus. Also, I've received so many copies of that Heritage Hill I don't know what to do with all of them!
And here's an exciting way to close out this group. Tram's sweet looking issue is a regular old (but plenty appreciated) Refractor. Charley Maxwell's 1962 Post Cereal card, just my third item of his, was one of two huge surprises in this envelope. The other was a 2009 SAGE HIT Cyan Plate of ex-Wolverine Tim Jamison! The Michigan DE played between 2005-08 and therefore saw the end of the Carr era and the beginning of the RichRod experience. He put up a reasonable 18.0 sacks and 28.5 TFL before appearing in a solid 56 games over six seasons with the Texans as an UDFA. I'm excited to have such a nice piece for my small collection of him!

Thanks for your generosity last year, Jason--that was some really impressive stuff you sent my way, and I look forward to more trading and hopefully meet-ups this year!

And last up tonight is a nice stack of stuff I got from longtime member Dan (vrooomed) to go with all of the other great items he sent me earlier in the year that I already covered. This was kind of a combination of a trade with a few surprises thrown in.
Dan threw in some newer Tigers to go with some Fielders I picked out, plus he included a cool STAR promo (and a shiny Miggy too). For those that don't know, he worked for the STAR company back in the 80s and therefore knows a good amount of what goes into producing cards. Also he had quite a few extras from those sets over the years to clear out, which you'll see more of in a bit.
Big and small, I trade for them all! Former Wolverine Ignasiak is another STAR card I'm sure I wouldn't have found otherwise. Keller joins my '91 Swell Greats set chase. And the minis of Bergman, Henneman, and Parrish join others in all three PCs!
I mentioned that Dan had lots of STAR cards to offer, and that included these nine minor league team sets that all included at least one PC guy I collect. Here's a quick list of the sets:
  • 1988 Charlotte Rangers, Florida State League All-Stars, Ft. Lauderdale Yankees, Lakeland Tigers
  • 1989 Burlington Braves (missing a few at the end of the checklist), Cedar Rapids Reds, Hamilton Redbirds (Cardinals)
  • 1990 Elizabethtown Twins, Memphis Chicks (Royals)
I ended up with 10 player collection needs which was great, including two new Dean Palmers. Wolverines P Greg Everson got three new cards added to his total (including one in the next scan where he's referred to as "Chuck" on the front) and I now have five of his eight issues. Kamieniecki's well known enough, I think, and I've mentioned the late Powell a few times. However Karasinski (Braves P who didn't make the bigs) and Morse (Twins 2B, same) are making their collection debuts; Lata also gets a second card to his name.
I'm going to keep all of the sets intact because why not? Since I needed to scan the third Everson as the 10th card in the bunch, I thought I'd pull a few other stars that caught my eye. Juan Gon and Sosa joined Palmer in a star-studded '88 Charlotte set, Felipe Alou was a coach for the '88 FSL All-Star Game, and Conine was the best card found in the '90 Memphis Chicks set featuring future Royals.

Dan, once again, thank you for some super fun trading throughout 2023 and your generosity in sending some very useful items my way!

And thank you once again to all four of these guys for being awesome friends and fellow TCDb members! The site is better with all of you actively trading, handling IRs, and providing advice, and I appreciate all that you do!

Lastly, thanks to everyone who doesn't care that I post like once a month sometimes. I'll be back at some point with my final 2023 post recapping my COMC Black Friday pickups.

Thursday, February 15, 2024

12/1/23 card show report: December dimes and more

I'll probably do the other half of my TCDb trade recap next time, but to break things up a bit I'm finally covering what I brought home from December's monthly show.

I headed to Taylor on the first of December last year and threw down $80 for some nice stuff, though it's been long enough that I can't remember the breakdown. So just assume it was the usual combination of dimes, $1/$2/$5, and everything in-between!

First up as always is the trade bait:

Belt /250; Grieve /1995; Loney /520; Manny /150; Blackmon /499; Burleson /600
Carricker /2249; Cole /2000; Cotchery /2007; Curtis /999; Cutler /999; Delhomme /250; Farmer /1999; Henderson /500; Holiday /599
Johnson/ 175; Leftwich /750; Okoye /999; Pumphrey /175; Salaam is a promo; Shenault /399; Williams /2010

Claim 'em in the comments or make me an offer on TCDb!

And now for my keepers:
I was surprised to find this complete and still shrink-wrapped 1989 Donruss the Rookies set in the $5 or 5/$20 box and I immediately grabbed it. Not only does the set contain quality players (though not true RCs) like Sheffield, Deion Sanders, Edgar Martinez, and Randy Johnson, plus guys in my PC like Jim Abbott and Gary Wayne, but there's also a reasonably big deal rookie year guy:

Junior! You're probably much more likely to be paying in the neighborhood of $10 for just this Griffey than getting the whole set (albeit minus the box and Spahn puzzle) for just $4. So I was pretty happy about this one.
The mix of dimes & more starts with a couple nice Tony Clarks. The ex-Tiger and current MLBPA prez stars on a couple mid/late 90s issues. The Stadium Club Onyx Extreme of Griffey may have been another $5 box card, but then, this isn't just the "regular" version of that insert--it's an even cooler die-cut parallel that I don't think I'd ever seen before. Looks like I paid around a half or even third of the going rate for this, and earned this post my coveted "90s inserts rule" tag.

That makes a couple nice Griffey cards, and Gwynn and Maddux are next with some dime box gems, mostly of the Pacific variety, though Mad Dog also gets a cool UD Fun Pack card as well, plus a '99 Bowman International parallel.
And a couple more of the HOF P while we're at it, from 2005 UD and 2012 Prizm. Just one Cal this time but he completes the big four PC quartet with a standard 2017 Ginter base. Scherzer's non-die-cut die-cut looked pretty cool as did the actually-die-cut Verlander, both of which offer a Refractor finish, and I met my recommended daily dose of two many Verlanders with a Gallery Printer Proof from 2022.

Meanwhile, the basketball group was relatively tiny with a couple shiny dimes of THJ and LeVert, but I did manage to snag myself hit #10 of college star Trey Burke: a 2013-14 Totally Certified jersey card (probably from the $2 box?).
And we'll finish with football. Nico is a shiny/laser-y Xtra Points parallel of his '22 Prestige base. 2022 rookies Haskins and Ojabo are seen on first-years from that season's Donruss Optic, and the Ravens defender gets a Select RC to boot. Lewan adds a Leaf card that's fun for the Michigan uniform aspect and not much else. Colts edge Paye adds another RC to his total as well out of '21 Mosaic. And lastly, I added yet another Braylon to his stack in the form of a 2011 Prestige Prestigious Pros Red horizontal card, one that looks more suited to Christmastime thanks to its colors.

I was pretty happy with how this show went, especially with the way it helped me bulk up some of the Christmas packages I sent out a couple weeks after.

And if any of you enjoy show recaps, you'll be quite happy when I start covering my 2024 stuff because I've already got three shows' worth of content, including a much-hyped blogger/TCDb meetup in Kalamazoo!

But before then I believe I'm left with one TCDb trade recap and my COMC loot for the big finish.

Tuesday, February 13, 2024

A super 2023 TCDb trade roundup, part 1

Tonight I'm bringing you one of a two-part series covering all of the TCDb trades I haven't yet covered here. There's lots to go over so I'll likely be fairly brief in terms of my comments.

avsbruins65 (PIF):

Mark is known to be a generous member and I was the beneficiary of that generosity back in December.
Former Michigan P John Locker joins the collection thanks to the 1990 minors issue you see above. He was a reliever for UM in 1988 and '89, and Boston took him in the 40th round in the latter season. He pitched two years for the low-A Elmira Pioneers and appears to have left the game after that.

Also, I love all of these SLU cards!
The football and hockey items were great as well.

bkim (PIF):
Robert has PIFed me at least once before and I was thankful he sent me this trio of PC guys, including a vintage (and therefore pre-Tigers) Darrell Evans.

budler (PIF):
I swear these aren't all PIFs--I'm just going alphabetically, but as with the first couple envelopes, this one from Jim arrived in time for the holiday season and I appreciated it a lot.

capper14:
In return for a numbered football insert I received this Michigan Football pair, which I think I now own a few each of, not a problem at all!
Anthony transferred but Haitian LB Colson went out as a winner with the '23 team.

Fellow Michigan fan Chris and I made a nice three-for-three swap that brought me a new Chad Henne hit (#143!) plus numbered inserts of two of his favorite WRs in Edwards and Manningham (you know I can't have too many of him!).
Edwards is numbered /249, Mario is /500, and Henne is /250.

John and I made a pair of deals late last year, and each time I sent him a trio of numbered football inserts for nine of my own wants. This first one brought a bunch of new football back.
#2 resulted in more great new gridiron PC cards plus a Gwynn to boot.

Drdirt:
A mix of some of my set-fillers brought back these eight cards I was very happy to get. Hell yeah, multiple Sparky cards! Two each of Cronenworth and Greene didn't hurt, and fellow '84 guy Morris joins Captain Hook from the '84 champs.

Speaking of Sparky, I knocked off another of his managing days cards, this from '77 Topps, thanks to a one-for-one deal in return for a '90 Swell dupe. That feels heavily tilted in my favor but I think we were both satisfied with the deal.
As is often the case the card was well loved which means it has more character. Still, no pencil marks on the checklist is a plus!

Mjprigge:
I pinged Matt about a trade in late October, getting some very cool items in return for almost 90 of his '95 Finest needs. The Topps/LJN cards were a highlight for me for sure, but the other classic Tigers are great as well.
I'm not going to get myself one of the players but these are just cool to have anyway.
Here's a few more Tigers, some of them recent, plus a couple '91 Swell Greats needs as I continue working on that set, just 19 to go.

For just a single dupe of a Justin Verlander insert I scored myself another Cronenworth plus '97 Mother's Cookies food issues of PC guys Dean Palmer and Mickey Tettleton. Sweet! (Pun intended and delicious.)

mudville9 (Secret Santa):
Last year was my first participating in the yearly Secret Santa exchange on the site and I was quite happy with what this member sent me: a numbered autograph of Devin Funchess. I believe he actually apologized for not sending more but I told him I was more than happy with this great card as my present, and I'm sure I'll be joining up again this year.

NJDevils (PIF):
Joe is another of the site's especially generous members who treated me to a surprise PWE around Christmas--close enough that I originally thought he was my secret Santa. This mix of oddball baseball and some older football was a joy to open up during the season of giving.

Here's another one of those deals you're apt to make on the site where you just get an eclectic bunch of stuff you probably wouldn't find all at once anywhere else, especially give some of the oddballness.
This was another trade where I got some work done on '91 Swell.

I got a nice mix of Tigers guys in this one, with the highlights in the first image being the Conlon cards.
The Hajjar is yet another ridiculous Panini parallel but redeems itself with a college action photo so it's all good. It definitely feels good stocking up on Tork cards before a potential true breakout season in 2024.

SaintOrm (PIF):
Kurt is yet another member whose name you'll see quite often in the site's excellent "Pay it Forward" thread where folks thank others for surprising them with free or extra cards. The three scans' worth he sent me were very nice, and they start on a high note here thanks to a trio of Gibby cards I'm sure I couldn't have found easily otherwise plus a great mix of Griffeys.
More Griffey, cool oddball of Senor Smoke, a very interesting Kaline, a Cal insert need, and my first card of Michigan OF Miles Lewis, a transfer from North Dakota who played from 2017-19 in Ann Arbor. Before even heading to college he was captured in the 2013 Leaf Perfect Game amateur set, and his 17 cards found there are the only ones made of a guy who appears to be out of the game.
And how about finishing up what Kurt sent with this group? A few more of the killer "G"s, a mix of stickers, Topps Kids, and a shiny Pudge. I'm especially happy with the decent bump to my Gibson collection thanks to this PIF.

thesouthpaw:
This one brought me some more Michigan Football friends. The Collins leading off the scan is a retail Panini Illusions RC, and the Dax plus Kwity right down the middle are also first-years. The rest are all rookie-related except for DPJ's Mosaic parallel and the Red Score Peppers. How cool is it to see beastly defenders Hutch, Mazi, and Gary on the same card?

wvcabo:
This deal was mostly notable due to an item you'll see in the last images, but I have to say I was pretty happy with my baseball haul as well. Both UM guy Henry and breakout Tigers OF Carpenter are '23 Topps RCs here.
The football group included another card for my growing Bell collection plus the Bolts' new coach returning to one of his old teams.
Speaking of Harbaugh, I'd say that look on his face is familiar to many a ref. My coolest item in this deal was this '97 Pinnacle Inside (opened) can. I guess my trade partner was happy enough with his return to justify shipping it to me!

ymmat (PIF):
And this group ends this evening as close to the end of the alphabet as you can hit without getting to "Z." Joe is another another generous guy that I've traded with before and we've sent PIFs back and forth a couple times. It was great to see Riley leading off on this one but the playing card of UM P Ontiveros was a great addition as well.
And Owens is yet another new member of my Michigan Baseball PC. No matter how obscure you think something is, make sure to get it on your wantlist because you never know who might be able to send it to you! The Flint native is represented on his '82 TCMA Chattanooga Lookouts issue, which covers his second and final franchise (Seattle) after being Cleveland's 6th rounder in 1978.

As you can see, Joe hit up a number of my other player collections as well, just all over the place, really. The Chrome Platinum Skubal in the middle is quite a looker and I'm looking forward to what I hope is 100% health for him in 2024.
There was an embarrassment of (mostly 80s) stickers in this package starring some of my favorite players, mostly Gwynn, Maddux, and some '84 Tigers. Wow!
Football didn't get left out either and he even sent some vintage-y stuff of Wolverine NFLers that not everyone would know that well, so kudos to Joe for finding these!

That was obviously a huge bunch of trades and PIFs to cover, but I still have a few left in an upcoming post where I'll be highlighting the same courtesy of some of my closest friends on the site. Until then, thanks again to the great members represented here tonight for being great trade partners and gifters!