2022 trade package #1: Baseball Card Breakdown

That's right, it's February, but at least I'm done covering blogger trade packages from 2021! I still have to go back and recap my TCDB trades from the end of the year once I'm caught up on the other stuff but, hey, it's a start!

So my first trade package of 2022 arrived a few days after the new year from not-quite Christmas baby Gavin of Baseball Card Breakdown. Because the anniversary of his birth falls right around that major holiday I try to make sure to include him in my annual Christmas cards mailings, and last year was no different (see his post here where what I sent is part of a roundup). As he often does at various points throughout the year, Gavin hit me back because he's a good dude.

Here's what the BMWT from Oregon contained this time:

Six many Verlanders! I mean, it's in the name of my blog so you can't go wrong sending me some and I'm always happy to add to his collection. He's so well represented in the envelopes I receive that I've put much less focus and money into collecting him because I don't have to.

With one exception these are all from the past 2-3 years so you mostly see him as an Astro, which I've pretty much gotten used to. Still, I'm happy there's one exception: a Tigers card in the form of his 2016 Bowman base. Looking at TCDB that was his final appearance in the brand with Detroit, and he wouldn't be back in the base set until 2019, which you can see as the third card in the scan.

These break up nicely into three pairs, and the second duo includes the fairly similar 2018 Topps Archives (#2 in the scan) and 2021 Topps Heritage (right below it). Maybe Topps will flip flop the designs on each product once again and I'll have two more similar cards!

Last up are two 2019 cards that have similar designs, which makes sense since Opening Day and flagship/Update don't really deviate from the main look. JV threw seven innings of one-run ball with 9 Ks in a 5-1 win over the Rays on Opening Day 2019. He also started the All-Star Game, his appearance of which is noted on his Update card, and struck out two of the batters he faced in his inning: Javier Baez and Freddie Freeman. Not bad!

Now we'll switch over from a former Tiger to Tigers parallels (of mostly former Tigers). Shelton and Urbina are Refractors from 2005 Topps Chrome. While the flagship version that year wasn't one of my favorites, it did lend itself nicely to the Chrome product, and I think these Refractors look terrific. Shelton was a Rule 5 pick from the Pirates who came out of nowhere to hit 34 HR between 2005 and 2006 (and what a difference between those two teams!), though that would end his run with the franchise.

Urbina was a pretty good closer in the early 2000s and won a ring with the '03 Marlins, then signed with Detroit before the '05 season. I fondly remember him only because he brought back 2B Placido Polanco in a deal with the Phillies, and I think even less fondly of him now that he's out of prison after 14 years for attempted murder. Yeesh.

Thompson's card from 2012 Bowman Draft didn't scan as nicely as its fellow Refractors but it is indeed that type of parallel. Jake was Detroit's 2nd-rounder that year as a high school pitcher out of Texas. He returned to his home state in a deal with the Rangers two years later that brought RP Joakim Soria to Detroit, and then a year later he was flipped to Philly in a deal headlined by Cole Hamels. He was considered a pretty good prospect for a while but appeared in just 42 games between 2016-18 and after bouncing around a bit more (including a return to the Tigers system) he hasn't been affiliated with a Major League team.

Last up in this group is a 2021 Topps Royal Blue parallel of former top prospect starter-turned-reliever Michael Fulmer. That color is blue enough for this Michigan fan to give it a nod of approval, and I still like collecting Fulmer, whom I hope has another good run out of the 'pen this season if we end up having one.

Those two scans include some nice new cards for me but would hardly justify a bubble mailer by themselves. It turns out they were just along for the ride with this:

Much to my surprise I'm now the owner of former Wolverine Clayton Richard's 2018 Topps Big League Topps Vault Blank Back 1/1! For those of you not in the know Topps will occasionally make these available to consumers, usually via eBay, and they come with a hologram sticker on the back and a separate certificate of authenticity. Above you see the cert and here's the (otherwise) blank back:

It's kind of a fun way to acquire a 1/1 if you don't feel like chasing down printing plates and similar items.

This actually isn't my first Topps Vault item as I have three similar cards that were sent to me by Matt (Bob Walk the Plank) a few years ago, along with a couple signed Topps contracts also sent to me by Matt.

Richard's card here came in a stickered magnetic one-touch which I opened to grab a scan for my collection and then reassembled so it'll be easier to tell apart as a special card. As you can see the other three came in Beckett slabs and I may crack the cards out of them to make storage simpler.

I tip my cap to Gavin for sending me such a nice card of a guy not everyone thinks of when they think of me (or in general, I guess). Others may consider him a forgettable low-end guy but I love acquiring new items of any of the former Wolverines I collect so this is great. By the way, it happens to be my 10th plate/1-of-1 and 15th hit overall (yep, two-thirds of them are 1/1s!). That 10-spot places him third behind J.J. Putz's 11 and Rich Hill's ~26 (with more to properly identify).

Gavin, thanks a lot of thinking of me and sending such a cool package of Verlanders, Tigers parallels, and a surprise big UM Baseball hit! As soon as I can get back to shows and other sources of cardboard acquisition I'll be working on another envelope to send to the other side of the country, hopefully filled with Gavins, Black Refractors, #12/24 cards, and other stuff you like.

Look for more trade recaps coming whenever I feel like it!