2019 trade package #36: Sport Card Collectors

As I mentioned yesterday I had a terrific Christmas, and now I'm finally back to get started on thanking people for some especially generous Christmas cards!

Today I'm celebrating envelope #20 from a particular trader, one who first sent me cards about three years ago.  Back in January of 2017, Matt of Sport Card Collectors became one of my new trade partners after claiming some giveaway lots I'd done a couple months earlier, and then he was nice enough to send a Miggy relic my way.

From there it was a parade of PWEs stuffed with Tigers and many new additions to my Griffey collection (a PC we happen to share) among others, until earlier this month when he let me know I had something a bit more substantial heading for my mailbox.  Dude wasn't kidding--this thing was packed with great content that hit the collections I just mentioned, then went all Santa Claus on my Michigan Football PC!

Without further ado, here's the contents of a package fit to be found under the nicest tree:

First up is the Tigers content.  Scherzer is a Diamond Kings subset card from 2019 Donruss that takes me back to some fun 80s designs.  Pitching prospect Spencer Turnbull and two of the Verlanders are from this year's Topps Walmart Holiday product, and Turnbull's card plus the JV below are the Metallic version where the white-ish decorations are a bit raised and glittery.  Verlander also pops up on a 2017 Topps insert called Bowman Then & Now.  Why was it inserted into Topps, then?  I dunno, but it reminds me that I should try to find his '05 Bowman RC at some point.  Last up is a pair-a Cabrera:  a 2015 Heritage Now and Then insert highlighting his 400th HR hit in 2015, and 2019 Topps Historic Through-Lines insert pairing him up with Mr. Tiger himself, Al Kaline, who also won a batting title.  Miggy crushed #400 on 5/16/2015, and has gone off for 77 more since, but is still short of the big milestone due to injury and decline.  His pace is still 31 bombs per 162 games played over the past three years, though, so I see him getting there within the next couple seasons.

Here's a group of Griffey cards that could have easily been another PWE from Matt, but I'm glad they were included here.  Only two (card #2, '08 UD, and the second horizontal issue, UD Masterpieces from the same year) were dupes, so I got a nice chunk of cardboard for his collection.  The portrait ones are from 2008 SP Authentic (love that swing!), 2016 Topps Tribute to the Kid, and 2017 Topps Fire.  The Tribute card is my 13th of the set so it was nice making more progress here.  Meanwhile, the landscapers are from 2000 Upper Deck Victory's Junior Circuit subset (my fifth of that group) and 2008 Upper Deck X's Xponential 2 variation (I already had the "regular' version).  These look fantastic and the red & white cards are very season-appropriate.  I now have a crazy 898 Griffeys, so he's catching up on Cal Jr. a bit.

Now with the bowl game coming up, let's switch to Michigan Football content.  There's a pretty nice maize & blue theme going on here with inserts of Adrian Arrington, Devin Funchess, and Jourdan Lewis in their college unis.  The latter is just my fourth of the talented DB, a Blue Back parallel #d 174/175, and as you might imagine, some of the features on the back are done up in (light) blue.  GOAT QB Tom Brady also gets in on the action with a Blue parallel of his 2019 Absolute base card.  Looks pretty nice to me!

Now here's where things take a turn for the insanely generous.  Everything you've seen so far could have been split up into a few PWEs, but not this bounty:

And this isn't even everything!  More on that in a minute, we'll look at this bunch first.

When Matt asked me for a list of guys I collected, I in no way expected eye-popping hits like what you see above.  Like PC guy Jason Avant on a 2006 Absolute jersey/ball/jersey card.  Or WR Amara Darboh starring on an autographed issue with a sick Seattle patch, hit #31 of his 42 cards(!).  PC leader Chad Henne (129 hits) gets a nice boost with two rookie-year jerseys ('08 Topps Rookie Progression and Upper Deck) and a double swatch from 2010 Sweet Spot.  Bonus points for two of them being Michigan uni images and swatches!  Henne is nearing a milestone of his own as I now own 299 of his cards.  The guy Miami took #1 overall before selecting Henne, Jake Long, adds to his own crazy count with hit #83 thanks to a Gold (#234/350) version of the '08 jersey you just saw of Chad.

RB Thomas Rawls (who transferred out, but I still collect) is another guy whose name I recall mentioning to Matt, which ended up being a good idea since he included my first auto of Rawls (3rd hit), a Capstones card from 2017 Panini Vertex (#63/99) that comes with four nice Seahawks swatches.  And last up in this group we have former highly-rated CB recruit Donovan Warren on one of his few issues, a 2010 SAGE HIT Silver auto.  Once again I love the #collegecontent.

Now we'll flip things a bit and look at four more(!) relics to round out the package.  Underachieving All-Star and WR Ronald Bellamy pops up for a rare appearance in what's just his 6th hit (and first relic) in my collection, a swatch from the East-West college all-star game for seniors/upcoming draftees.  It's not 100% a college uni card but he is wearing the most iconic helmet in the sport so that's a big plus.  Speaking of WRs, Matt sent me lucky hit #13 of the oft-injured Devin Funchess, a 2015 Topps Valor Courage patch, with just a hint of Panthers teal (or whatever you call it).  I believe the different versions correspond to the numbering, and this one is #17/50.

Last up today is another blog favorite, former QB Denard Robinson.  A PC I got over the 100-card mark not long ago, he gets two new hits for a total of 46 as he remains a popular passenger of trade envelopes and a target of my purchases too.  On the left is a large Jags swatch out of 2013 Panini Momentum (#004/299), and to the right is a Topps Strata offering from the same year, a Gold Patch relic (#39/90).  This one has less patchiness than the Funchess but I know such swatches happen from time to time, and I'm just happy to see more new Shoelaces I get to keep.

This incredibly generous mailer from Matt jumps my football hits PC all the way up to 1443 items, and while it's extremely unlikely I'll finish the year with 1500, that milestone is tantalizingly close, and I may pass it early next year.

Thanks again for a wonderful Christmas surprise, Matt, and I look forward to trading with you more in 2020!  I'll be back at it soon chasing down some Griffeys and Giants for you, and with any luck, some Rodney Hamptons and Kerry Collins stuff too!