2014 trade package #10: JV's in play thanks to Doc Holoday

Well why not, we already had four in a row, so how about five?  Today's package comes from Red Sox fan Matt, a.k.a. DocHoloday.  Matt worked on the same 2014 Topps Olympic set as I did, and he was able to provide me with a quarter of the cards on that wantlist:

None of these ladies won a medal this time around, but Bleiler is still very well-known, and I'm happy to add the trio to my set.  Spoiler alert:  I have the rest coming via eBay soon.

So that's what kicked off this deal, but little did I know that Matt would also be throwing in some Tigers:

We start things off with 40% of this year's rotation.  I'm glad to be building a bit of a Smyly collection, so the Gold is a nice addition, and is numbered 0135/2013.  As for Anibal, you saw the Blue version yesterday, which is the same insert as the middle Smyly.  Next up is a pair of Gypsy Queen HOFers:  Hal Newhouser (which is an SP) and Ty Cobb.  Last is a trio of prospects--erstwhile Tiger Avisail Garcia, IF prospect Harold Castro, and closer hopeful Bruce Rondon.

And then there were the Verlanders, of which there weren't too many because I didn't die in a valiant attempt to scan them all.  Still, it was an above-average number of Verlanders, and I would give it an "A" on a report card that solely graded number of Verlanders in a trade package.  Here they are:

The GQ No-Hitters card appropriately celebrates his pair of no-nos while the Topps insert highlights his earlier postseason scoreless streak.  Next, the Bowman Platinum cards make a nice pair.  But the most enjoyable is the A&G Hometown Heroes card, because Verlander's birthplace, Manakin Sabot, is located in a county in Virginia called Goochland, which includes a place named Rochambeau Farm.  All of a sudden I'm hearing banjo music for some reason....

Oh yeah, there was one more Verlander in the package:

Justin Verlander 2013 Topps Manufactured Patch

Whoa, cool!  It's a manupatch reprint of JV's 2005 Topps RC.  Topps has ramped up both the reprint and manu-relic concepts the last few years, so this was a natural fusion.  It's a fun card I like because cards designed with that display window kind of thing have that little something extra going for them.  In some ways, stuff like this is even better than team logo patches--especially the ugly-ass ones that awkwardly try to shoehorn team mascots in.  This was definitely a surprise and I'm happy to add it to my JV PC.

Thanks again for the set help, Matt, and for the surprise extras as well!  I'll have you know that I have a Boston-flavored return package 99% ready (pending a COMC pickup) to send your way soon to show my thanks.  Folks, twirl your old-timey handlebar mustaches as you head on over to DocHoloday!