2016 trade package #11: Sports Cards Ate My Scanner

Finally, on to April trade packages!  The first one up absolutely dwarfs all comers and came from Scott (and his amazing avatar) from Sports Cards Ate My Brain.  I believe Scott and I had only traded once before, just before Christmas in 2014, so I was quite surprised to find a flat-rate box packed to the gills (but very professionally packaged!) with cards that hit pretty much every area of my PC.

There was so much great stuff that I didn't want to further hold up the proceedings while I got everything scanned/labelled/uploaded, so I won't go into too much depth here, but at least you'll get an idea of the amazing quality/quantity one-two punch Scott sent my way, including...

...Tigers, and lots of good ones!  The Cobb and Kaline die-cuts are great, and Iglesias' parallel is numbered to 500, but the big get--and it's a big one indeed--is the 2014 Update Black parallel of Miggy, numbered to 53.  Nice!

More Tigers.  Take me down to the parallel city!  There was a nice selection of oddball in this package (you'll see more shortly) including the Kaline and Parrish cards to go along with some nicer current stuff.

The way I scanned these, Upton was the odd man out so I decided to give the new Tiger (who needs to start hitting more!) the spotlight.  I had been sending my Uptons to My Cardboard Mistress but it looks like he may be in Motown for a bit so maybe I'll keep a few like this one for myself.

And the last of the Tigers (OR ARE THEY?), with a pair of Shelton relics to go with former top prospect Juan Encarnacion.  For those who don't remember 10 years and a month ago, Shelton, a.k.a. "Red Pop", was 2006's version of Trevor Storey, and then completely fell off the map.

And now it's time for the baseball PC guys, starting with...

...Junior Griffey.  Scott sent me a ton of everybody's' favorite 90s player, including this nice mix of earlier stuff.  Just about everything was new to me, especially the oddball stuff.

When I say tons, I mean tons, if not literally.  Scan #2 features some outstanding 90s inserts (which rule!, as the tag says), especially Pinnacle's dufex-y Spellbound and a pair of '98 Donruss-branded inserts--Diamond Kings and Hit Parade--numbered to 10,000 and 5,000 (with REAL numbering), respectively.

Finishing out the tons of Griffeys are these five from the 2000s, including shots of him back with Seattle.  I can't wait to add these to his collection soon!

Alphabetically next is a pair of Mr. Padres, Tony Gwynn.  There's another superb late-90s Pinnacle insert to go with UD's super-classy SP Legendary Cuts.

A Michigan/MLB favorite, Barry Larkin also checks in with a pair of cards, including the double-sided "Passing Through Time" subset from 2005 Leaf (with the back being Barry's '95 Leaf front).

Pitching immortal Greg Maddux was the other player to get the honor of two scans, including this starting nine that includes an oddball, some Pacific, and a few more gem inserts straight out of the 90s, such as the Refractor-like Stadium Club Extreme right down the middle.

The back nine also has some nice stuff, including even more Pacific, but the big-time highlight for me was the clear credit card-like Studio Stars insert, which kind of makes me want to chase that set.

Another blog favorite, Cal Ripken Jr., gets in on the action with three oddballs and a nice 2008 UD Heroes parallel dual with the previously-mentioned Gwynn.  I love getting cards pairing up the two all-time greats that played for one team and entered the Hall together.

And swinging back to Motown, here's a trio of oddball Trammells along with an '89 Fleer insert AND an oddball of his double-play partner Lou Whitaker.  That Nestle set gets a lot of run in this post, so I hope I can score some advertising bucks!

Last up for the baseball haul is six many Verlanders, three of which are rookies.  I believe the most notable here is the Flair Showcase as it's one of the higher-end first-years you can get of the future Mr. Kate Upton, but I'd be happy with any out of this trio.  The newer inserts and Heritage base are much appreciated as well, especially the UD Heroes parallel.

Keeping up the Motown theme, here's some Red Wings Scott generously included as well:

Here's some vintage-like items I certainly wasn't expecting, such as a '68-'69 O-Pee-Chee of D-Man Kent Douglas, some 1970s issues including notable Marcel Dionne, a trio of 80s guys (Oates and Probert!) and a 1990 OPC insert of Wings legend Sergei Fedorov, who we'll see again in a minute.

The newer stuff was dominated by modern Wings legends Nick Lidstrom (love the numbered Holo-Gold card!) and Steve Yzerman, with some top-notch cards like the die-cut from Pacific, plus a mini of Pavel Datsyuk, whose run with the team likely ended this year.  Nothing can top the gorgeous Gold Label Bullion featuring the explosive offensive trio of Yzerman, Shanahan, and Fedorov, easily my favorite squad from NHL Open Ice, the hockey equivalent of NBA Jam.  Wow!

Speaking of wow, how about an O-Pee-Chee RC of HOFer Brett Hull?  I already had the Topps version, but I believe the OPCs like this one are usually more sought-after.  Anyway, I'm thrilled to have both.  The offensive beast played in Detroit from 2001 to 2004 and helped bring the Cup back to Hockeytown in 2002.  I'm happily adding this to my Wings PC.

Speaking of that collection, here's a very cool hit to add to it: an autograph of 1950s-70s center Norm Ullman, who played most of his career with Detroit (13 seasons) and Toronto (eight), and made his way to the Hockey Hall in 1982.  His excellent signature rests on this card from 2008 Donruss Americana Sports Legends, and I'm happily adding this to my Wings collection as well.

Amazingly enough, that's not even everything!  Please head over to TMM to see more goodies, including Jim Abbott, plenty of vintage, a couple autographs, and more!

Scott, I can't thank you enough for the insane bounty you sent my way, but I'll try.  Although I know you're not asking for anything in return I may try to send you a few things I think you'll like that won't take up too much space.  Either way, your generosity and attention to detail when it comes to who and what I collect were amazing and I really appreciate it!

Stay tuned for another trade post once my scanner recovers from overheating.