2025 trade package #21: Sport Card Collectors

Tonight I'm covering my lone October trade envelope which I think arrived about a week before a super busy month for my mailbox. This one's a fun collaboration as Dion (Dion's IP Autos Only) sent it to me on behalf of buddy of the blog Matt of Sport Card Collectors. Matt sends me PWEs throughout the year pretty regularly and this was a fun way to get one as he traded Dion for some Michigan cards I could use. (He also sent me an early Christmas package but you'll have to wait a few days until I catch up to November!)

Please enjoy this 100% Michigan-themed trade recap!

Larkin represents baseball tonight, and he's a pretty good option given he's probably the most notable Michigan alum in MLB of the past 50ish years, though that's nothing against guys like Jake Cronenworth, Rich Hill, JJ Putz, and many others. The HOF SS looks great in his School Colors.

Michigan Basketball is certainly having a season to remember (along with the hockey team, though they're not represented here tonight), firing on all cylinders with an 8-0 start that includes four games in which they scored 100 or more. These two guys have long since left Ann Arbor but Bufkin and the younger Wagner bro, as seen on Wild Card Alumination cards, both put up good enough numbers over two seasons each to get drafted in the first round. Wagner's turned into a star for Orlando and that's been fun to see, especially as my collection of his cards continues to grow.

Football ended up comprising 75% of this envelope and that's 100% fine with me! First we have former Bills (and three other teams) QB Todd Collins appears on items from 1995 Classic and Superior Pix. They get me a couple cards closer to the century mark with a current total of 92, and of course I'm digging the college action photos.

I'll talk more about the other football guy in this scan since

he appears four more times in this one! Before Blake Corum's Michigan career Mike Hart was my all-time favorite Wolverines RB, and I think that may still be the case, but they're very close. That's why I was super excited to see the last card of the first scan, a 2008 Topps Rookie Progression Gold parallel that's numbered /199 on the back. I have 140 cards of Hart but it feels like it's rare for me to get anything this nice of him anymore. That makes this insert my favorite in the package.

But that's no slight against the rest. 2008 UD Draft Edition's set included a number of multiplayer cards, some of teammates and others of guys who shared positions. The one of Hart with #1 overall pick LT Jake Long, who blocked on many of Mike's TDs, is especially cool, and the other pairs him with fellow back Darren McFadden, the first-rounder out of Arkansas who played 10 seasons with Oakland and Dallas.

The other two Hart cards also describe him very well. 2009 Topps Magic is a fantastic set, and it was magic how often Hart ran without losing yards or fumbling, and how often he'd pick up key blocks while stoning players much bigger than him. And if he was "Mini" sized, well, he made up for it in strength, toughness, and determination. That makes him a great choice to be the most prominent player in this envelope.

Last up is another very tough Michigan RB from the 2000s. Chris Perry was a Heisman finalist in 2003 as he had a crazy 338 rushing attempts for almost 1700 yards, plus 18 runs for scores (in addition to a pair of TD catches). He embodied persistence with a school record of 51 carries for over 200 yards against rival Michigan State that year, leading the Wolverines to a tough 27-20 win in East Lansing.

I love that the maize & blue really pop on the two 2004 Press Pass cards Matt got from Dion for me: a base card and Showbound insert.

Thank you again to Matt for getting these for me and Dion for making the effort to send them my way. I may just have Christmas items in store for both of you! As I mentioned I'll show off the next package from Matt soon, but first I need to do a quick recap of October's show. That package will then lead off at least six November trades from current/former bloggers, and I'm looking forward to thanking each person for what they sent me.

9/5/25 card show report: $70 in September

Tomorrow's a show day, likely the last of 2025, so as I continue catching up on stuff from earlier this year let's take a look back at my September trip to TaylorTown.

Pickings were a bit slimmer this time but still not as paltry as they were when I spent a yearly low of $55 in April. $70 was my total and I came home with these:

That Crawford/Kaline/Kuenn quartet is a very nice one, with "Wahoo" Sam and the '53 AL ROY showing off some pleasant Diamond King designs and Mr. Tiger repping the Zenith subset from '23 Panini Chronicles. Those bordered cards are always winners for me. Fellow Tiger Riley Greene joins in the fun on a Topps Chrome Refractor from this year's product.

No Griffey or Gwynn this time, but I did fish out one each of Maddux and Ripken. Mad Dog hails from DK's "The Club" insert while the Iron Man is seen on an '86 Fleer Star Sticker.

Just one many Verlander from that trip, but at least it's a numbered one: a '23 Topps Gold parallel of his league leaders card appearance noting that he led the AL in wins with 18 (against just 4 losses), good enough to earn his third Cy and second as an Astro. His fellow Tiger from 2005-2010, Jeremy Bonderman, represents the purchase's lone hit: a 2004 Studio Game Day Souvenirs relic. As you can see this is the "Number" version with the swatch cut out to display Bondo's #38. Speaking of numbering, it's limited to 300 copies, and marks my 7th hit (all relics) of the 2001 first-rounder. I miss the old Donruss!

The word of the day when it came to basketball was "color" as I nabbed a veritable rainbow in the dime and/or quarter boxes (I can't remember). LeVert is already in his 10th NBA season and happily his first with the resurgent Pistons. Poole liked his "W" teams as he was drafted by the Warriors and later traded to the Wizards. He was traded to New Orleans in a three-team deal earlier this year.

I found an even bigger quantity of LeVert's new teammate, Duncan Robinson, in those same boxes. Panini's Donruss Optic, Prizm, and Select combine to form this crazy mix of colors. I'm just four away from the 50-card mark in Robinson's PC, so maybe I'll put a little more effort into finding a few of him tomorrow.

I picked up 10 basketball cards, so why not duplicate that effort with football? I was glad to score a few numbered inserts this time, starting with a 2002 Fleer Premium Star Rubies insert. It takes the already beautiful base design and gives it a ruby motif with a red border and foil background, plus it's numbered to just 100 copies. I don't know if Charbonnet is taking the league "by storm" but the third-year RB seems to be making the most of his opportunities, and he's already matched last season's total of 8 rushing scores with a few games to play, which is awesome. Nico's been a bit banged up at times while dealing with a very inconsistent QB, but he's got 4 receiving TDs plus he just ran in a score as well, and he still has time to eclipse his own 8-TD personal best.

Speaking of injuries, LB Junior Colson unfortunately can't stay healthy, but at least I can still buy cards of his like this 2024 Panini Certified Pink parallel that's numbered /225 on the front. If the Bowman Chrome U of Donovan Edwards looks familiar that's because it's the base version of the Purple card I showed off this past Saturday when I recapped August's show! And EDGE Rashan Gary is as laser-focused on piling up sacks and TFLs as the Oranger Laser Prizm you see above.

Ty Law continues to appear in releases from long after his playing days, like 2024 Topps Chrome (and its X-Fractor parallel) and I think that's awesome for the HOFer. Speaking of Refractors, I scored one of early 2000s Michigan QB John Navarre's 2004 Topps Chrome RC. One of the flat-out nicest cards of the day was a Gold-Framed parallel of WR David Terrell's 2001 Private Stock rookie, numbered to just 49--quite a low number for the era. And GOAT DB Charles Woodson closes things out with a 2024 Topps Signature Class insert called "After Image" that looks pretty nice considering Topps came up with it (and it lacks team logos).

That should be it for September, I think, though I'll verify that before moving on to October. I'll also be doing some Christmas shopping at tomorrow's show if I can, then supplement that with eBay if necessary, before sending out Christmas cards (I'm skipping COMC entirely this year for obvious reasons). I hope the rest of you stay safe and warm as the holiday season heats up!

2025 trade package #20: the Collective Mind

I've been blogging here since the last week of August of 2010. That's 15 years that have included lots and lots of trades with fellow bloggers. Still, in all that time there are some folks I haven't traded with for whatever reason.

Happily, I was able to cross Greg of the Collective Mind's name off that list in September after we made a jumbo-sized deal via TCDb. You can find him there under his username of LoQtus, which is a nice reference to a huge story line from Star Trek: the Next Generation.

Back in June he'd commented on one of my Facebook purchase recaps where I mentioned that the pile included a nice stack of a number of recent football base, especially from 2024. Greg mentioned he'd be interested in a starter lot of '24 Prestige, and I could certainly make that happen.

In total I sent him almost 400 cards between 2024 Prestige and Zenith retail, plus a few other baseball and football items, and in return I chose around 90 baseball and football cards that I could use. Win/win!

Here's what Greg sent my way:

I almost always sort things to scan alphabetically so it was a happy coincidence that scan #1 is a bunch of Tigers legends. Sparky and "Wahoo" Sam Crawford have the best looking cards thanks to the might of Topps' Gallery HOF product, and Crawford sees his same photo used on UD's also fantastic SP Legendary Cuts set. Miggy stars on a Stadium Club card representing a product that deserves to be in the HOF. Cobb and Gehringer (All-Star MVP ring) join in thanks to Panini's Hall-focused Cooperstown product. Gibby was still managing Arizona in the fourth of his five seasons there when his Panini Hometown Heroes card above was made, but he's known more as a Tiger (and to some degree, as a Dodger, but just for one very significant moment!). And of course there's another of my favorites in Grandy. Let's count: one many, two many...

...three many Grandersons! And this one is the best looking of the trio, but that's not much of a competition with UD Documentary and GQ being the other options anyway.

After Grandy there's a nice little run of Griffeys that extends into scan #3. The brands and years are all over the place and that's something I never fail to enjoy. I'd have to say my favorite overall here is the Ultra card because we get lots and lots of views of Griffey's sweet swing but not as many of his fielding prowess.

Occasional deals like this one help me to have a player like Griffey chase overall collection leader Cal Ripken Jr., whom we'll see in a bit in a smaller quantity. Ken's less than 100 cards short of Cal's 1360 as of this posting, and that's not bad!

Mr. Padre Tony Gwynn is next and the second of the big four PC guys in this bunch. I managed to get him over the 1000-card mark at some point this year which is super exciting, and I look forward to having all four over that milestone soon. You'll see more of him in the next scan plus another below, and again there's a fun mix of designs. I can't easily pick a favorite look here but I do really like the photo on the Topps Opening Day base.

There are just three more Gwynns to choose from here but I love that the Pros & Prospects card makes him look like he's breaking the sound barrier thanks to those lines in the middle.

The guys I already mentioned got nice boosts to their collections but I think Maddux, #3 of the four big PCs, got the nicest bump in this trade, both in terms of quality and quantity. '97 Zenith is a particularly nice looking set but the others aren't exactly chopped liver either.

Numberwise Maddux is behind Barry Larkin (994) with 968 on the way to 1000, but the best part is that I don't care who hits it first because I win either way! It's great that he gets an entire scan to himself here, not to mention some more very nice designs like Fleer Genuine/Insider, Leaf, and Sweet Spot. The Topps Moments & Milestones numbered card is apparently my 26th from that voluminous product, and I seem to have way more of this card (#15) than the others (12, 13, and 14) from the 2007 set combined.

Maddux even encroaches on this scan with one more vertical card, but we'll be seeing him again momentarily.

Before getting to the 4th big PC guy I did come up with a couple other Tigers stars. 3x WS winner Jack Morris made the cut with cards from '88 Donruss All-Stars (the oldest card in the deal) and 2004 Donruss World Series Heroes. The latter is actually a Blue Holofoil parallel and numbered /100, and the color works very well for the team it's celebrating. Magglio joins Gibson in Tigers lore with a big playoffs homer of his own, plus you see him here on a 2008 Topps Chrome Trading Card History insert, one of the manufacturer's fun chase cards from back when they gave a shit about them.

Lastly, I "only" ended up with two Cals, but one of them is a '97 Burger King card, which gives me five of the eight in a set I'll eventually complete. And while I'm not much of a Ginter fan, I do like the insert celebrating his record consecutive games played streak.

Moving over to the horizontals, Panini's Cooperstown pops up a few more times for Detroit/Philly HOFer Mickey Cochrane, Gwynn, and Mr. Tiger Al Kaline. That quote on Kaline's card from Ted Williams is very high praise, no? Meanwhile, Griffey gets one more appearance, Gwynn gets a few more, including a pair from the excellent Donruss Champions product, and Mad Dog returns. He indeed won his third Cy in '94, and would finish with a consecutive quartet thanks to an insane 19-2 1995 campaign that included 10 complete games, plus of course a World Series ring.

At last we approach the end of the Maddux cards. The Classic Clippings base is quite nice but it stands no chance against the 2005 Elite Face2Face insert that pairs him up with Bagwell and is numbered /1500. Speaking of numbered cards, I thought the 2008 UD Piece of History Cut From the Same Cloth Silver insert /149 was cool as it pairs up Carlos Guillen with the previously seen Ordonez. Those two were instrumental in the Tigers surprising everyone by making it to the '06 World Series.

Lastly, minis of Gwynn, Maddux, and Verlander (just one many!) from GQ and Ginter close out the baseball items. I did, however, include Michigan Football coach Fielding Yost in this scan since he didn't fit in nicely with the rest of the stuff from that sport. The West Virginia alum was a pioneer and innovator of the sport, winning six national championships and lots of games in Ann Arbor and getting his name all over the place, including the current hockey arena on campus (formerly a field house).

The first of three football scans mostly focuses on star WR Braylon Edwards and transfer RB Justin Fargas, but TE Devin Funchess and QB/HC Jim Harbaugh make cameos as well, with the latter being almost literal on a card that includes journeyman QB Mitchell Trubisky.

Things get pretty exciting for me in this scan as I love picking up anything new of RB and former position coach Mike Hart, especially numbered inserts. The Playoff Contenders Round Numbers Gold (/1000) pairs him up with Thomas Brown while the other is a Press Pass Reflectors parallel numbered /500 (and featuring a college action photo!).

I wouldn't usually pick up a card celebrating a Tom Brady interception but that was Michigan-on-Michigan crime thanks to CB Marlin Jackson. He's joined by another star Michigan defender in Jabrill Peppers. The we get a nice little bunch of cards of Denard Robinson, one of which includes The Good Place favorite Blake Bortles.

Last up is this very nice octet of horizontals, all but one of which are college cards, to my great joy. Braylon makes one more appearance from one of his brief tenures with the Jets, and Funchess adds a couple SAGE HIT cards to his collection.

The rest here represent a bunch of my favorites from the draft class I still love the most from 2008. WRs Adrian Arrington and Mario "Too Many" Manningham(s) are joined by RB Mike Hart and QB Chad Henne on some Press Pass and Reflector cards (also /500 like the one from earlier) while Henne gets a solo card from 2008 SAGE Aspire's 5 Star insert, very apropos for today being the first day of the early signing period. I really love the look of the rainbow foil, numbered Reflectors paired with Press Pass's design from back then.

Once again, many thanks to Greg for making this huge trade! It was awesome working with him and I hope to do so again, but until then, keep following him at the Collective Mind as he gets settled in from his recent move and reestablishes his card room.

I believe I'll be back soon, possibly as early as tomorrow if possible, to cover September's show before attending the December version to close out the year. Stay warm, stay safe, and try to enjoy some stress-free holiday planning!

8/1/25 card show report: August additions

Well, 2025's edition of The Game didn't go Michigan's way, but that streak was bound to end at some point. Now I'll root for Indiana next weekend and then await the Wolverines' bowl fate.

With my Saturdays much more open for the next few weeks maybe I'll even try to get more caught up on posts! In an effort to get that going, here's what I think should be the final one for August: a quick recap of that month's show.

I don't remember exactly how I ended up spending an odd number like this, but my total cost was $89, and that included the usual stuff plus some '90s gems from an unpriced box my favorite seller let me look through. I was very pleased with what he was asking for the '90s inserts considering what some of them can go for these days, so that felt nice along with landing some other fun PC adds.

Here are my keepers from this one:

A pair of Cronenworth Refractors is definitely a nice way to start! Griffey's cards represent our first of three instances of "90s inserts rule" here. #1 is the super shiny '97 Ultra Power Plus (from Series II, since you can find him in both), featuring an outstanding batting photo plus super reflective foil to go with the power/electricity motif. Speaking of shiny, that card's joined by a 2000 (close enough to the 90s for the tag!) Topps Gold Label The Treasury insert that also brings along a rainbow finish and gold accents.

An AJax 2011 Topps Heritage Chrome (numbered /1962 on the back to honor that year's set design) is a quick intermission before we head back to my favorite cardboard decade. And that card would be the other Jr., Ripken, from 1999 Ultra's Thunderclap. Similar to Griffey's card, this has a lightning theme going for it, and several aspects of the card are raised and/or done in glittery foil for a fun design that does its decade justice.

The second-to-last baseball item features--you guessed it--more holofoil! Pudge stars on a 1999 Upper Deck insert called Forté from back when UD was teaching me new words like "echelon." The blue foil looks great as does the action shot of one of the game's greatest ever catchers.

And last up for baseball is my newest Brandon Inge hit: a jersey/auto out of 2001 SPx. That's my fifth hit of the versatile former Tiger, who's opening up a baseball performance center in nearby Brighton, and it's my third that includes his signature.

In terms of basketball I scored a couple cheapies in a THJ Prizm and Topps Chrome base of Fab Fiver Jalen Rose, then added a very affordable jersey relic of Kobe Bufkin from '23-'24 Contenders to mark his third appearance in the hits collection.

And as for football, all four of these guys beat the Buckeyes at least once in their time in Ann Arbor. One of the best to do it, RB Blake Corum (who never lost to OSU in three tries), goes first with RCs from '24 Finest (bleh, airbrushing) and Panini Phoenix as well as a '24 Donruss Optic relic with a design that looks like it was ripped straight from a 2000s pop can. That's ok, it was cheap, the swatch is nice, and it's just my second hit of "The Great."

Edwards, Blake's fellow RB with a fun nickname "The Don," who went 4-0 against the mouth-breathers down south, is next thanks to 2024 Bowman University Chrome. The scan makes it look a bit bluer than it actually is since it's a Purple Mini Diamond Refractor (/375), but the great maize & blue photo is all I need. Speaking of "maize," Mazi (pronounced "MAH-zi," sadly) is next with a maize-ish Gold Ice Prizm from '23 Prizm Draft, which also offers a cool college action photo of the former Cowboy. He was 2-1 against OSU if you care, though he barely played for the '19 team that was the last one to lose to the Buckeyes.

Last up is '97 Heisman Trophy and national title winner Charles Woodson, who enjoyed big rivalry wins in all three of his college seasons, with none bigger than 1997. He's seen here on a 2005 Donruss Classics Stadium Stars Goal Line Bronze insert that's numbered /750 on the back. It's one of nearly 400 cards I have of the GOAT DB, and it takes me back to one of my favorite eras for football inserts.

Once I get these put away I'll get to work on September's posts, which shouldn't take took long as I think they should comprise one trade and a show. In the meantime, with Michigan Football out of action for a while, good luck to the dominating hockey and basketball teams--GO BLUE!

2025 trade package #19: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

Happy American Thanksgiving, friends! As always, I'm thankful for all of you who follow, read, and comment here, trade with me, and post your own content.

And I specified the "American" part above to highlight the sender of tonight's trade package. Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store recently celebrated Canada's version of the event, and now thanks to him I have a ridiculous smorgasbord of cards to feast on! Here's a quick run through them because there's just so many and I know I'll need a nap afterwards:

Part 1 of baseball opens with a Wolverine in Abbott, but the rest are Tigers. Lopez's card is from the '81 Tigers Coke team set, and Skubal's Topps Holiday card is perfectly timed for the season.

Part 2 of baseball offers a Verlander (can't have enough of those!) and a good chunk of the OPC cards in the package (along with a note hoping I liked/didn't mind getting a bunch of that brand. I did indeed like them!). Sparky, Bergman, and Lemon were all '84 Tigers of course so those were my favorites.

HOFer Jack Morris joins that '84 group from above to form a nice quartet from the Canadian brand.

Then we have some cool hits to flip through! Zack Semler was a Michigan IF back in the late 2010s and he joins the collection courtesy of a Leaf Perfect Game signature. Thank you to Doug for going the extra mile and finding a new Wolverine once again!

As for the Tigers, Dylan Smith is a pitcher who made his debut this year and earned a win over 7 solid relief appearances. The 2021 3rd-rounder is here by way of Donruss Elite Extra Edition. Walker ('23 Topps Chrome) was a White Sox 2018 2nd-rounder who bounced to Texas (with whom he enjoyed his only MLB action), San Francisco, then Detroit, and it looks like he's been out of affiliated ball since the Tigers released him in 2023.

Ziomek (2013 Bowman Sterling Orange Refractor auto /75) was also a second-rounder, taken by Detroit in 2013, and he never advanced above the high-A level of the minors. Manning, though, is no stranger to my collection even though the 2016 #9 overall pick was sent to Philly at this year's deadline and is now a free agent after failing to pan out like his rotation-mate Casey Mize did. His Diamond Kings Rookie Expression jersey is one I'm glad to add to Manning's collection even though a return to Detroit is unlikely for now.

Doug went above and beyond again when it came to basketball because not only did he send me the usual excellent selection of players that are generally mainstays, but he also included three newbies in the form of women's hoops alumni Leigha Brown, Naz Hillmon, and Stacey Thomas! Brown transferred from Nebraska and spent three seasons in Ann Arbor, then played a bit for the 2023 Connecticut Sun. Hillmon was a big deal in her four seasons with the Wolverines, being named their first All-American among many other honors. She's now in her fourth season with the Atlanta Dream. Thomas put up four productive college seasons of her own and then spent 2000-05 in the WNBA, winning it all with the 2003 Detroit Shock, the motor city's previous pro team. Many thanks to Doug for this outstanding trio!

As for some of the stalwarts of past envelopes, Howard and Rice are always appreciated. And given the way Michigan Basketball has opened this season, I hope they're celebrating at the end of the season as Rice once did.

Taylor, Vaught, and Webber are also common names to find in these packages and are just as welcome. So are '91-'92 Panini Stickers of the previously seen Rice as well as Gary Grant!

Basketball got its own hit parade as well, opening with my third auto of Calbe Houstan (not "Houston," UD) out of Goodwin Champions. Juwan's kid Jett is up next with his hit collection debut out of '23-'24 Topps Chrome, and he's in his third season with the Orlando Michiganders, who also roster Mo and Franz Wagner plus Colin Castleton. And speaking of Mo, Doug treated me to my first signature of the older Wagner bro, this one thanks to 2019-20 Prizm. As with Houstan, his signature is, uh, not the most detailed, but about par for the course given the stupid amount of cards/stickers these guys have to sign these days.

Numbered inserts of Steve Breaston, Devin Funchess, and Karan Higdon are a great way to segue into the football content just a couple days before The Game. Steve's card is the rarest, numbered to just 25 on the back, while Funch goes for 194 and Higdon's is rarer at 50. Shoe Carnival is an apt sponsor for a card starring Lewan since the nicest thing I can say about him is that he's a clown. CB Ambry Thomas joins the numbers game with a blue Prizm parallel ("No-Huddle" to be specific) that's SN79 on the back. And the hit here is a good omen for Saturday's Ohio State tilt as I fondly Buckeye-killer Hassan Haskins piling up FIVE rushing TDs to lead Michigan over OSU in 2021. That Absolute jersey card above has a swatch just about nice enough to be a patch (or "prime" as they're sometimes calls) and it looks excellent as hit #5 (hey, there's that number again!) in his collection.

On the ice, the Wings have had their ups and downs this year, but generally seem to be better than last year so far. Guys like Chiasson and slightly more recently Franzen and Holmstrom take me back to the joy of watching the team succeed starting in the 90s for a good couple decades.

Kocur, Lidstrom, and McCarty were also key contributors on some of those Cup-winning teams, and I'm happy to see them in any group of cards someone sends me. Larson and Micalef are fun vintage-adjacent throwbacks to before I was old enough to follow hockey.

Seider's a star defenseman for the current team but guys like Zetterberg, Draper, Hull, and Shanahan all realized Cup glory with the Wings. The OPC stickers of Ivan Boldirev (1983), Reed Larson, and Paul Woods (1982) were a fun surprise.

And to close out the Hockeytown content we've got a bevy of hits! There's a nice jersey of Cholowski, one of many failed 2010s first-rounders, though he's still in the NHL (New Jersey) and has an excellent first name. Allure provides a colorful autograph of C Robby Fabbri, who was with Detroit for five seasons and put up decent numbers. Howard was an above-average goalie that was with Detroit for his entire career, and that's a beautiful red jersey swatch above to celebrate an All-Star nod in his penultimate season. And my favorite of the bunch is an SP Game Used jersey of Tomas Holmstrom, the enemy of goalies everywhere as he set up camp in front of the crease and was a pest, often putting back rebounds when not making netminders' lives a living hell otherwise.

A jersey of "Double A" begins the horizontal trio, made during his five-season stint with Detroit to open his career. That's joined by white and red jerseys, respectively, of winger Taro Hirose and D-man Gustav Lindstrom.

The Wings may be looking better than last year but they're nowhere near as hot as the NCAA's current #1 team, Michigan Hockey! They're 13-3-0 with 83 goals (good for 5+ per game!) and absolutely cooking right now. So why not look at some cards of past Michigan icers?

There are some absolute beauties in this first scan, especially thanks to UD brands like Allure and Synergy. The latter remind me a bit of Pacific's Invincible thanks to the circular inset photo. I'm also a big fan of Hyman's Canvas insert thanks to its great design and cool throwback jersey.

This scan includes a couple hockey Mikes, relatively recent G Jack LaFontain (Synergy again!), WolverWing Dylan Larkin, and hey, what's more thanksgiving than John Madden? Ok, it's not the turducken guy, but did the Raiders coach win three Cups like this guy did? I don't think so!

In this scan the Norris and Power (SN699!) cards are great, but I'm choosing to highlight the collection debut of Cristoval "Boo" Nieves. Boo played at Michigan from 2012-13 to 2015-16, and I remember seeing the C with the cool nickname play live a few times. TCDb lists just 34 cards for him and a good chunk of those are 1/1s or local/minor league issues. Therefore I'm grateful to get an NHL uni card of him, and even more thrilled that it's on the great looking Upper Deck Ice design (and numbered /1299 to boot). Cool!

And we'll end tonight's post with a few of the best cards in the whole package. Werenski also gets in on the Synergy fun, but the Pacioretty has even that cool set beat. The former player who joined the coaching staff this year as a special assistant features on a Black Diamond Diamond Might insert that's basically a thin acetate layer sandwiched between four thick cardboard pieces that are held together on each side by the action image. The overall effect is extremely cool and I love having something to enjoy that's an insert and not a hit. Also it's numbered /99 on the back. A winner in every way!

Last up we have two more hits, and more very nice ones at that. First up is a 2023-24 Upper Deck MVP Cyan Plate of WolverWing Andrew Copp where he's even pictured as a member of the Original Six team! That's my first 1/1 of his out of five total hits, and I believe 21st subject in the hockey collection to appear on such a card, plus it's obviously the best card I have of him so far.

He's joined by just my second autograph of D-man Christ Tamer, who was drafted by the Penguins and also suited up for the Rangers briefly, then Atlanta (as pictured above) for his final five seasons. His fairly legible signature and bonus jersey number inscription appear on a 2020-21 SP Signature Legends Gold Spectrum insert, one that has a very nice design.

Oh wait, I'm not actually done because Doug included these surprises as well! Canadian soccer player Shelina Zadorsky is indeed a Michigan alum, having played for the Wolverines from 2010-13, including acting as captain her senior year. Wikipedia says she won bronze (2016) and gold (2020) medals with the Canadian Olympic team, and now I'll have to do some research to see which other Wolverines earned Olympic medals in sports I don't tend to follow.

Thankfully my Canadian friend was aware of Zadorsky's alma mater and sent me this 2018 Goodwin Champions base and auto pair. She's the fifth member of my "other" Michigan sports category collection, and represents IMO the most legitimate "sport" of the bunch (two pro wrestlers, a boxing writer, and an auto racer). What a cool find!

Before I close things out, I also want to note that thanks in part to the cards in this post, I now have more than 2700 Michigan sports hits, so I'll once again express thanks to all who've contributed to that collection. Here's to the run to 3000 and more!

Doug, thanks once again for this feast of cards from August that I'm finally enjoying on Thanksgiving. I appreciate it as always and as is also usually the case, I'm looking forward to returning fire before Christmas.

Next, I'll see what I feel like getting to this weekend depending on how I feel before and after The Game. GO BLUE!

2025 trade package #18: Cards on Cards

It's almost Thanksgiving and I've finally made it to my August cards! First up is a fun package from Kerry of Cards on Cards, whose Oregon Ducks are still solidly in the playoff chase while my Wolverines have some heavy lifting to do.

Kerry sent me a typically excellent mix of baseball, basketball, and football, so let's dig in to the pile:

Panini's Mosaic brand has kind of gotten stale in my eyes but Select offers some cool parallels like the Orange Flash Prizm--a Tigers color match if there ever was one--that serves as my first card of Tigers IF prospect and 2023 second-rounder Max Anderson. While he's potentially part of the team's future, a Miggy Absolute Green parallel of his retail version is a nice reminder of the past. Back to the present, Kerry treated me to a card of his namesake Carpenter, the slugging OF for Detroit.

A '25 Topps Blue Holofoil (numbered /150) leads off the next trio, and that puts me just a few away from 150 cards of the former Wolverine. Even logoless, the Select Gwynn looks great with a cool shot of Mr. Padre about to add another hit to his total. Likely 2026 3B Colt Keith finishes off the group with a ready-for-Christmas Donruss Red/Green Laser parallel from this year.

Another former Wolverine leads this group as Larkin offers a Green Prizm that comes with hints of red, not to mention more of that hue thanks to the name of his team. Someone managed to find an image of Leyland not smoking for his Donruss Optic appearance. And Meadows, who may get shopped this offseason as Detroit looks to improve in center, joins Carpenter from Heritage, though in this case his is a holofoil card.

While Mize can't quite claim the "Titan" status that Skubal and his pair of Cys has earned, he's looked quite good in the rotation. The Donruss Red/Blue of Rainer is just my second of Detroit's first-round SS from '24 who ranks among the top 100 prospects in the game. And Tork was certainly a gem this past season compared to his previous struggles.

Verlander needs zero introduction here and is among the Finest in my collection for sure. The auto of left-side IF prospect Rucker out of '25 Donruss was a very nice surprise, and I look forward to seeing if the '23 fourth-rounder can move up in '26. And Gwynn closes out the baseball stuff in style thanks to an '85 Donruss jumbo card that gives a nice look at an old San Diego uni.

As a Portland fan, Kerry knows basketball well, so I'm never surprised when he includes some new basketball stuff for my collections. I like the mix of players, designs, and color here. You can see Poole on both versions of '24-'25 Totally Certified--one plain, one foil--and I'm not entirely clear which is the "base" going off of TCDb images, but I'll figure it out at some point. Also, my Franz Wagner collection (plus a Mo!) got another nice boost thanks to this envelope. I'm now over 60 items of the younger German Wolverine bro.

And that's partially also thanks to this bunch of Panini stickers! Bufkin, Poole, and the Wagners were seen above while 2025-26 Pistons teammates LeVert and Robinson fill out the group. The foil of Franz is my favorite because it takes me back to my childhood days of ripping Panini sticker packs (usually baseball) and hoping for the foils and holos.

And we'll end on a high note with football. I believe Colson's out for the year but love the look of his Prestige Xtra Points parallel. Corum picked up his first NFL TD against the Titans in week 2 and I hope he gets more chances. Browns first-rounder Graham's been a bit quiet this season but I think given time he'll be creating chaos on the DL in the NFL just like he did in college.

Speaking of excellent defenders, the trio of Hutch/Paye/Gary has been a very good one for their respective teams! They've combined for 18.0 sacks this season with lots more sure to come. As for the next guy, the question isn't Will Johnson be great, but Will Johnson stay healthy? If so, he could be a draft steal (second round) for the Cardinals after a decorated career in Ann Arbor.

Those accolades included winning the '23 national championship with the next two guys. McCarthy's still showing some rust after being injured all of last season but if he can get right and limit his mistakes, he could be the next great Michigan QB in the NFL. And Sainristil's college play was as shiny as his Mosaic parallel above, a game that I think will translate well to his job with Washington.

Last up is easily my favorite card in the package because it's a new (and relatively recent!) autograph of former blog namesake guy Mario Cashmere Manningham! You all know Super Mario was one of my favorite college receivers and I was excited to see him win a Super Bowl ring even if he had to catch passes from gumpy fivehead guy Eli Manning. Despite his short career he continues to pop up in products more than a decade after his final season, and that includes last year's Panini Mosaic offering. This marks hit #101 and card #33 with a signature on it. Hell yeah!

Kerry, thanks so much for this outstanding envelope! It remains a pleasure to trade with someone who has similar preferences in sports (especially when it comes to colleges) but different teams. I also received your recent box(!) you sent me and will happily show that off when I catch up. Until then, I'm looking forward to hitting you back right around Christmas. Also, good luck to your Ducks, and may they take down the Trojans this weekend!

I'll be back with more trades soon and will be enjoying my own college football Saturday tomorrow as Michigan takes on Maryland. GO BLUE!

2025 Retail purchase: Valiant Victors

I'll set the scene: it's mid-July and Ann Arbor's Art Fair is in full swing. The big event draws in nice crowds every year and sometimes means interesting deals to find in the city's stores. I head to Rally House, the location that took over the well-known MDen retailer (which somehow managed to go out of business despite the football team winning a national championship, due to financial mismanagement) to score some cheap t-shirts, and take a peek at the collectible stuff on my way to check out.

Then I see them: two boxed complete sets of the 2022 Valiant football team cards. This was the first of two years they made them, and you may recall that I picked up hand-collated sets of the '23 version last year. While I knew packs were available for each year, usually at high prices due to the possibility of pulling some cool autos (and generating NIL money for the players), this was my first time seeing complete sets in boxed form.

"Oh cool," I thought to myself, "those should be a bit cheaper since you don't have to buy a bunch of $15 packs to complete a set. In my mind I was expecting the cost to be in the neighborhood of $100 because I think they may have been more than double that on the old MDen site (when I never even saw them in the store). And though the '22 team wasn't quite as successful as the '23 guys, falling to TCU in the first round of the four-team playoff, I was still interested in getting cards of a bunch of guys that wouldn't appear on any otherwise, plus those of a few alumni I still collect. So basically I was fine paying a decent chunk of change for these.

Wait, $50? That's way better than I thought! There were exactly two sets left on the shelf and I grabbed the other one to send to Jeff like I did with the last one, though he paid me back for that one given the price I paid. And I knew he could get me back with money or trade items for just $50, so why pass that up?

I went to check out and the staff member let me know she'd had her eye on these sets herself but hadn't snapped them up for whatever reason. "Oh well," I thought, you had your chance. Then she scanned both sets and my total came up: $40+tax. WUT. Yep, they weren't advertised as being on sale, but came out to just $20 each. Score!

So as promised I sent a set Jeff's way and kept one for myself that I finally opened for scanning. As it turns out I got dupes of one ex-QB Cade McNamara's three cards and will need to hunt down the missing one, but I'm still very happy with my purchase. As the box notes, it's 144 cards (including three checklists), with the first 100 or so being upperclassmen and well-known youngsters, and the remainder comprising incoming and rising recruits.

WR Andrel Anthony (who transferred to Oklahoma and then Duke) and future star QB JJ McCarthy both get two appearances while I already mentioned that '21 starter McNamara (who was supplanted by McCarthy, to the benefit of the team) has three.

As with the '23 set these have a very nice maize & blue theme paired with colorful action shots, and I really like the look of the set. The backs look like they might have pulled bio and stat info straight from the official MGoBlue.com site, which seems like a reasonable thing to do. The backs also prominently feature the MDen name, which is kind of amusing now.

Ok, that's plenty of description. If you'd like to see the whole checklist please take a gander here, otherwise here's a few stars and other big names I decided to scan:

A few of these guys are in the NFL and even got drafted, and Corum remains my favorite of the bunch. It's fun that Bredeson is still with the team, both as a legacy (his bro Ben played for Michigan) and an absolute weapon of a blocking FB/TE.

This one includes a couple more first-rounders and three different QBs. I showed off one of the two McNamaras I got (like I said, I'm missing the third, #68) but both McCarthy cards because the latter is clearly better. Who didn't love seeing Orji come in on obvious run plays and pick up a big first down? Sainristil remains my defensive MVP for this team.

Wilson was JJ's go-to guy and good for 12 TDs in 2023. Zinter was a key OL who was injured in the Game against OSU but served as inspiration for Blake Corum who scored on the following play and held up a "6-5" for one of the guys who escorted him to the endzone so often. And Grant was one of the "gifts from the football gods" coach Jim Harbaugh often cited, along with Mason Graham, that formed a fearsome DL that anchored a top-notch defense.

I included the checklists (which I now see I scanned backwards, oops!) and a few backs to give you an idea of what those look like.

All in all I was very happy with this purchase and obviously would have been even if I paid more. Sure, I have to track down one card that should have come with the set, but I guess that's the kind of potential QC issue you can get buying from a manufacturer that's not generally known for creating cards. It's all good, and until then I'll happily enjoy owning even more college items of some of my favorites from Michigan's outstanding 2023 team. GO BLUE!

With this post I'm finally done with July and may try to expedite my remaining posts to catch up so I'm not still posting 2025 content in '26. Stay tuned for more!