2020 trade package #7: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

I'm finally back, and it's about damn time.  It's just been hard to get motivated to write since I'm working from home and don't really feel like being around my computer, as opposed to normal circumstances where coming home and doing card stuff like blogging is a nice treat.

But I couldn't keep putting off posting because I have another amazing envelope stuffed with cards from Canada to show off.  As usual that means a generous blowout of a package from Sports Cards From the Dollar Store's Doug.  Last month he sent me a mailer with a little bit of everything and I was once again blown away:

I combined the baseball, non-UM hockey, and basketball into one scan.  My newest Barry Larkin is another high-end base, this time from 2019 Triple Threads.  Cal adds to his lead with a 2019 Panini Black Friday card, which got me thinking: how many fewer people would know about these if it weren't for the Internet?  And the group of Wings looks great, even if their most recent season wasn't.  Lidstrom's Elite base is giving me the 90s feels, and these remind me that I need to get my cards of the team entered on TCDB at some point.

Moving onto the court, Doug's been one of the most generous when it comes to my Michigan Basketball collection.  That's on full display here, starting with my first hit (and actually first card) of one-and-done Lithuanian (by way of Canada!) Iggy Brazdeikis, who was a lot of fun to watch over the course of the '18-'19 season.  That's a really nice blue Knicks swatch on his '19-'20 Prizm jersey card.  Next is a guy appreciated by all Michigan fans, Trey Burke, on a 2015-16 Totally Certified relic that brings the shiny (and is numbered /49), with Trey pictured on his original team (sort of, as he was a draft & trade by the T-Wolves).  Last up here is NCAA tourney hero who didn't write the fantastic Get Out, Jordan Poole, on just his fourth card and first hit, that being an Orange Ice jersey from the same Prizm product as Iggy's above.  What a nice trio!

Heading over to the gridiron, it was largely the Braylon Edwards show, but he had a few friends join him for the trip, making for a nice variety.  As a matter of fact, the first two cards of his in this scan are RCs--2005 Score and Topps Draft (college uni!)--and a first-year of former (Bills!) QB Todd Collins completes the trio, joining Bray-Bray on a posed design.  Edwards' quartet here (with more to come) is finished off by a pair of numbered cards:  2006 Bowman Blue (/500), the best color of course, and 2008 Triple Threads (/779).  Speaking of parallels, one of a pair of Rashan Gary issues Doug he me with is a Red version of his 2019 Score RC (Michigan uni again!).  Plus he went all the way back to the 90s and Fleer's heyday with a Stealth parallel (/300) of Brian Griese.  And last up in this scan is former UM and 49ers S Dwight Hicks on his '83 Topps base, a card pulled from one of Doug's beloved repacks.

The football fun continues on the other axis with this trio.  Braylon insert #1 is a 2006 Gridiron Gear insert called Player Timeline Gold (/500) with a cool college-to-the-pros theme, while #2 is Leaf Certified Materials' often used Certified Potential name (/800).  Rashan Gary then gets his second card of the envelope, a 2019 Contenders Round Numbers insert (another one used plenty in the past) that notes he and new teammate (and fellow Big Ten-er) S Darnell Savage Jr. were top picks last year after Green Bay traded back into the first round.

And then just like that Doug goes back into crazy generous mode with not just a Rashan Gary rookie year auto, but a variation at that!  The base version features the Green Bay logo inside the circle with the team's name, plus the photo shows Rashan in a green jersey running to the card's left.  I was already happy to add this as my second auto of the talented New Jersey native, but I also appreciate that the signature is an upgrade over the Panini Legacy one I bought myself which used about 15% of the sticker.  It's a very nice addition to my football collection and I'll have to work on finding something nice to thank Doug.

As usual in a Buckstorecards package, the icers get the place of honor.  Hockey Mike #1 is Cammalleri on a fun three-team trio.  Connor, who enjoyed a third straight 30+ goal/25+ assist season, gets a beautiful UD pair that really makes me miss the brand's baseball offerings.  The scan closes out with a triple "H" combo that's better than the WWE version:  Hagelin, Hughes, and Hyman.  My Hughes collection is minuscule thanks to his star power so I especially appreciate that slick insert of the D-man who was electrifying in the few games I got to see him play while he was in Ann Arbor.

The Hockey Mikes tour continues with Knuble and Komisarek, both of whom join Hagelin in the previous scan on a nice Score design.  Knuble isn't pictured with Detroit here but his fellow WolverWings Dylan Larkin and Aaron Ward are.  Larkin's collection finally crossed the 30-card mark, and that Aaron Ward is a throwback to the old Classic brand.  Talented blue-liners Jacob Trouba and Zach Werenski close out the scan UD style.

And now I get to end this post with a two-part bang.  #1:  a brand new plate!  Hit #3 of defenseman Greg Pateryn is somehow my second 1/1 of the former Canadien, a magenta plate from a brand I'm not terribly familiar with since I don't really buy any hockey stuff.  In typical Upper Deck fashion, 2016-17 Compendium looks quite nice, and I'm very happy with how the scan came out.  I love collecting these and it was very cool of Doug to send it my way given how 1/1s can be valued by sellers these days.

And this card makes it "bang-bang!"  Even though I knew it was coming it was still exciting to see it in person.  What you're looking at is an Upper Deck Trilogy manupuck auto of the previously-mentioned Jacob Trouba.  This is the Team Logo version with the signature done in beautiful gold ink on a manurelic that brings to mind UD's old brand Sweet Spot, and you can see that it's hand-numbered to just 19 copies.  I now have 11 Trouba hits, many of which Doug sent to me, and this one just elbowed its way to the top of the heap as a flat-out beautiful piece.

Doug, thanks again for another incredible mailer.  I bow down to your card-acquiring skills, and I hope I can return the favor in the near future when it's easier to buy stuff again!

Now that I'm just about done with trade packages I may take a quick detour and do one of those top-10 lists folks are posting because they've offered some pretty cool insights to how those people collect.  Stay tuned and stay safe!