2023 trade packages #21: Scribbled Ink

Well once again it's been far too long since I've posted--we're in October now!--but here I am back with another trade package, and boy is this one a doozy.

Buddy of the blog Paul, who I believe is enjoying some recreational R&R right now, mailed me a couple sizeable packages back in August and I'll cover them together this evening. I'm curious to see if everyone else will be as blown away as I was!

Scan #1 is all cardboard/whatever they use nowadays. Paul's a dude for the three-card assist for my Cronenworth PC which has eclipsed the century mark since he fired these westward. Panini brands like Prizm and Mosaic were the stars of this one and I'm totally cool with that. Why not when another PC guy like Junior Griffey gets in on the fun with a pair of great shots at the plate? Hill's a rare non-Panini entry here but very much appreciated. I'm curious to see if Mize is part of the team's future next year on a roster that could very much use him back. Ripken was the most represented player this time at five cards, and the best in my eyes is the Gallery parallel you see here in spot #9.

Cal continues to dominate my baseball player collections (and all sports, in fact) with over 1200 cards thanks to generous packages like this one. JV's Astros are headed back to the postseason, and nothing against the dude himself but I hope his team falls to the winner of the Jays/Twins series. Woodson's blue (what else?) parallel was a fun football throw-in.

And then we have the biggest (literally) card of the envelope: a dual jersey booklet of two of my favorite Tigers of the past 20 years! It's weird to me that A-Jax retired a year sooner than Grandy, who debuted six years prior to Jackson, and then of course they were both involved in the three-team trade between the Tigers, D-Backs, and Yankees. And here they are together again! If this booklet looks familiar that's because I previously nabbed the slightly rarer Gold version:

I really appreciate Paul tracking this down on COMC and sending it my way!

That's it for the card portion of the two shipments (though they hardly deserve a "that's it) but Paul had bigger things up his sleeve.

I know Paul to be many things and one of those is an excellent photographer. He's taken some great looking photos, many of which I've seen, and one thing he likes to do is print out some favorites and get them signed. He did exactly that when Tigers pitching prospect Reese Olson and the organization's AA Erie SeaWolves visited Paul's nearby New Hampshire Fisher Cats late last year. He ended up with three very vibrant photos of the future (and now current) Tiger warming up, then sent those off to be signed. He kept one, sent one to John, and included one for me here as well.

As you can probably tell I slightly ruined the bottom of the photo trying to remove the blue painter's tape holding it to the cardboard it shipped in, but I figure I can either cut off that portion or cover it up with framing. The popping colors and cool baseball action can't be overridden by something that small anyway.

I really liked that he included not only the COA from the local-ish (to me at this point, not him!) signing, but a ticket from that game as well. That's a perfect compliment to a piece I'm glad to have. And I hope Paul continues pursuing his photographic hobby at other games.

So that leaves one more item, something that came in an oddly shaped box:

(5000-card monster box for scale)

Ok, so I knew in general what the item was by the shape, but not specifically what he'd paid a hefty amount to send me. That ended up being this:

Wow, that's a black beauty of a bat! Louisville Slugger is obviously one of the most well known makers of MLB lumber and this one is a stunner. But wait, that's that?...

Do my eyes deceive me or is that name up there one Dean Palmer, celebrated slugger of some 90s Tigers squads and a favorite of this guy right here? Hell yeah it is! And it's my first game-used memorabilia item as far as I'm aware. What an absolutely amazing item for my collection!

(Admire my knob)

While I decide how I want to display this, likely with at least one or two other bats that would be worthy to join it, I'll just celebrate how cool it is to have it and throw some big respect Paul's way for acquiring it (I believe along with something for his own collection) and going to the expense of shipping it 700+ miles from New Hampshire to Ann Arbor. WOW!

I owe Paul a huge thanks for some absolutely huge--both size and how impressive they are--items I had the pleasure of showing off tonight, and now I'm glad I found some quality stuff I could send his way the last time I hit him back, which I'll try to do again very soon. Thanks, Paul!

For the folks reading this, what's your favorite item Paul sent me this time?

I'll be back with lots more stuff to cover soon, and I may go a bit out of order so I can make some trade bait available in anticipation of sending out a pretty large stack of packages after this Friday's show. Stay tuned!