2023 trade package #7: Bob Walk the Plank

Well, so much for "rapid-firing" through these trade packages (with more having arrived!), but at least I'm back today with another one!

I sent Matt of Bob Walk the Plank some stuff around Christmas and he returned the favor last month with a very nice baseball/football mailer I was quite pleased with:

Four active players, three currently with the Tigers. Baddoo just got called back up with Austin Meadows out for an indeterminate stretch due to anxiety. Baez needs to start hitting! I hope Miggy (appearing on two very nice Stadium Club parallels) has a wonderful sunset season, even playing on a dead-end team like the '23 Tigers. The Castellanos cards are all quite nice with the first three being numbered Panini offerings. You all know I love those Stat Line parallels, and numbered cards in general, so hell yeah to those!

Will Mize be another super high draft pick pitcher who flames out in Motown? I love the Leaf card of Pudge that borrows from the old Sportcasters design, which I've always thought looked cool and unique. Also, it's numbered to just 50 copies! Short came to the Tigers in a 2020 deal for Cameron Maybin and I don't get the impression he's the answer to the team's need for middle infield hitters.

And then, how fantastic is the trio of (too many!) Verlanders? Matt and I don't tend to go as high-end as we used to in our deals but these are approaching that territory. Check out a fresh-faced JV on cards from 2005 Fleer Classic Clippings and Topps Update (x2). The Fleer card has a bronze look going on including the foil and is very consistent with a number of their brands back then like Greats of the Game, and more importantly it's a RC of the sure-fire HOFer. Meanwhile, his Topps Update base isn't a RC since that was found in the flagship set earlier that year, but it's still a very desirable card. You know I love the Gold parallel numbered to the set's year, 2005, even more. Thanks for helping me stick with my blog's brand, Matt!

The rest of the baseball portion includes three horizontal cards. I was happy to see Jim Abbott's '22 Stadium Club base as I didn't already have it (or just about anything else in this envelope, actually!). Joining Verlander with adding a Topps Gold to his collection is Miggy on a 2015 card that pairs him with fellow AL RBI leaders Trout and cheater Nelson Cruz (boo!). Lastly, a very appreciated new Cronenworth hails from 2021 Topps Gallery, and this is apparently the Green parallel even though the rookies in the set have much, much less of the color on their cards than the vets. It's numbered /125 which helped me ID it, and it's a great looking item to boot.

It would be impossible, though, to compete with the next two cards of HOFers in terms of star power and quality. Hit #1 is an Al Kaline bat relic from Panini's 2013 Golden Age. Team logo or not, it's a very nice looking card of a team icon known for his bat. You don't just throw around Kaline cards without a thought in trades so I really appreciate Matt's generosity here. That looks to be my 11th Kaline hit, split between four relics and seven signatures.

Speaking of generosity, how about the second item, which had my jaw dropping? For a relatively underappreciated HOFer, Barry Larkin's autographs can sell for some pretty solid money. That's why that term applies to Matt picking up the above 2022 Ginter X autograph of the Michigan/Cincy legend, signed in a sharp silver pen and numbered to a tiny 25 copies. Wow! This is the kind of item I love to add to my collection but don't tend to focus on because of the cost, opting for quantity over quality. Do yourself a favor and find a trade partner like Matt that'll get something like this for you, then load them up with good stuff and they might just return the favor like this! I count 23 different Larkin hits in my collection, and this is my eighth auto. Again, wow!

We'll end today's post with some football items, and while nothing was quite as explosive as those last two cards we looked at, there was zero drop in quality. That starts with a base trio of GOAT QB Tom Brady from 2004, and of course it makes me wistful to see three totally different manufacturers represented there. The two cards of fellow UM QB Brian Griese are even better as they're numbered to 150 (2004 Topps Black) and 32(!) copies (2008 Score Artist's Proof). Numbered inserts all day, please! A '22 Score insert of beastly DE Aidan Hutchinson, seen in college action (with, I believe, LB Nikhai Hill-Green making a cameo) represents a newer generation of football alumni. And we bookend this scan with a pair of cards of another GOAT, DB Charles Woodson. I appreciate the '22 Score base plenty but I really liked being gifted his second appearance in Fleer's '98 Ultra set. The earlier card has a beautiful college action shot and serves as his RC but this first one of him with the Raiders is also a big plus.

What can I say? It was another Bob Walk the Plank mailer filled with greatness as he never misses. Thanks so much for being one of my most trusted trade partners, Matt!

Back with more trade action soon!