2021 trade package #8: Cards on Cards

Not too long after receiving an envelope from one of my older college-collecting trade partners on one coast, I was surprised with a fun package from another. Adam of My Cardboard Mistress was responsible for the 10th trade I recorded 10+ here years ago on TMV (TMG at the time!) and just a couple deals later came Kerry of Cards on Cards.

It's always been easy to deal with Kerry since he collects an MLB team plus a university (go Ducks!), and I've kept trading with him for more than a decade because he always sends great stuff my way. This time, that included three of the four major sports and some very cool cardboard (and cardboard-adjacent materials)!:

Let's start things off with the guys who'll be back in regular season action soon. Miggy's probably in line for another back end of his career-type season but that doesn't dim my excitement of adding new stuff of him, like a Donruss Optic Pink Prizm, a couple 2020 Topps Update base items (of course he's an active leader in a number of hitting stats!), and a 2021 insert in the style of '52 Topps, because the manufacturer is celebrating its 69th anniversary this year, right? I can't wait to see the latter in Archives, Heritage, Archives Heritage X Ben Baller, and the Chrome versions of all of the above.

As for the other Tigers guys, first we have Miggy's teammates Matt Boyd and Joe Jimenez bringing color to the proceedings, with John's favorite non-Freehan Tiger Boyd, Detroit's opening day starter, a Pink Chrome Refractor, and bullpen guy Jimenez a Red parallel. Then there's one of my favorite recent former Tigers, Kinsler, on a Topps Fire base, and Castellanos on a card I figured I had until I flipped it over and found that it was from a team set. Those aren't always that easy to track down so I surely appreciate them in trade packages!

And here are the rest of the Tigers Kerry sent, mostly Topps stuff. Agrazal was grabbed from the Pirates late in 2019 but never pitched for Detroit before being let go a year later. OF prospect Cameron is a Camo Bowman parallel and I hope we get to see him make some Daz-ling plays at Comerica Park in the future! Cron provided some nice pop last year before an injury made his short campaign even shorter, and I was surprised Detroit didn't make more of an effort to keep him. McKay pitched a bit for Detroit the past two seasons and Schwindel never suited up for the team; both are now gone. And Greiner is a Don Kelly-level automatic out that's gonna need his defense to shine if he wants to sniff playing time.

Hey, get a load of these too many Verlanders! I was excited to discover that I needed every single item you see here. A good chunk of the scan is Topps Update and Big League cards, but I was treated to some other items as well, like my first 2021 Topps base example, which just so happens to be an SP! Kerry also included a '52 insert for my blog's namesake as well. And there's a pair of smaller items as well: a 2020 Topps 206 mini, plus a 2015 Topps Sticker (the lone Tiger of the bunch).

Oh, you were wondering why I hadn't mentioned this one? It's because I knew it needed its own scan! I was a big fan of Stadium Club Chrome during its initial release around 20 years ago so I'm happy to see that it lives on in name and quality. Better yet, this guy's a Refractor! This is easily my favorite card in the package and I can't thank Kerry enough for it.

He also hit one of my non-Tigers PCs in Junior Ripken with this five-pack of 2020s. #1 is a Donruss Optic insert called Retro '86--not a surprise given the use of that year's design--and the rest are from 2020 Topps/Chrome Update. The latter had different checklists which means that even though the cards look exactly the same, the numbering is different. I guess I can't complain too much about that bloated checklist if it means more items of my guys like the players above and Cal, highlighted here for his performances in the '01 All-Star Game and '91 HR Derby.

College collecting protip: trade with others that collect a college team because when you send them cards of their college, they'll send back some of yours! Like Howard, LeVert, Rose, and Webber here. What coach of the year Juwan has done this season can't be understated. He and the other guys here were no strangers to March Madness, and I hope Howard's team can continue this year's success after defying all expectations and reaching the Sweet 16 as a 1-seed. (Side note: good luck to Kerry's Ducks as well, unless they play Michigan, in which case NOPE!)

And last but not least is this cool Michigan Football trio, all of which are new to my collection. Collins is from Donruss' purdy Preferred brand, and I was surprised I didn't have it yet. The other current coach in this post, Harbaugh, is from the 2000 version of Topps' Collection set, which got somewhat confusing in future years, but in this case featured a nice clear stamp to distinguish it from flagship. And we'll end the day with a Michigan uni card: super talented Pats rookie Josh Uche, out of 2020 Absolute. The latter is a bit confusing as there are hobby and retail versions, and after some deliberation I'm thinking this is retail since hobby is supposed to have more of a holofoil finish. If that's the case, I'm glad retail buyers didn't get stuck with lower-end versions, and either way I'm glad to add a new Uche, just my second!

Kerry, thanks again for another great surprise envelope! Whether you knew it or not, everything here was new to me except for one of the Topps Update Ripkens, quite the feat when you consider how large my collections of some of the players are. As I've been saying to everyone lately, I'll hit you back when it gets easier to acquire stuff for trade bait. Until then, good luck to your favorite teams with bird mascots!