2015 trade package #26: in da club with 2x3 Heroes

It's been about a month since I've had a trade package to show off, so I was excited to be the recipient of a Club PWE envelope from plain, white blogger Jeff of 2x3 Heroes.  The king of the PWE sent me a nice mix of Tigers and Wings:

First, the Tigers.  AJax may not be with Detroit anymore, but I have no problem continuing to root for a guy who seems like a good person on and off the diamond, so I was glad to see him join the Cubs.

On an unrelated note, how does Jeff Robinson get a freakin' DK card in '89 Donruss?  I see he went 13-6 in 1988, his second season in Motown, but Matt Nokes, Jack Morris, and Doyle Alexander weren't higher on the list?  Woof.

And the Red Wings, who as of this writing are on pace to run the table and sweep the playoffs.  Abdelkader is actually leading the team in goals thanks to a season-opening hat trick.  He's joined by the injured Datsyuk as the active Wings in this scan, though Filppula (Tampa Bay) and Hossa (Blackhawks) are still in the league.

Crozier is an interesting inclusion here mainly since everyone else was recently on the team.  After being traded from Chicago to Detroit, he played in parts of seven seasons with the Wings, winning a Calder and Conn Smythe trophy as one of the earliest goalies to use the butterfly style.  Hooray for a cool Red Wings history lesson!

Thanks for some great Detroit stuff, Jeff, and I promise I'll return the favor when I acquire enough stuff to put together a PWE for you!

2015 trade package #19: 2x3 Heroes sends 2 sports x 3 Nicks

It's been almost a month since I last posted a trade package from Jeff over at 2x3 Heroes, but in reality the amount of time between when that envelope arrived and I received another great PWE from the master of envelopes of the plain and white variety was actually much less than that.

I'll stick to my previous statement that Jeff is a classy guy because this time he sent me cards of not one but two of his teams' rivals:  the Wings and the Tigers:

First up is one of those cool Fire Die-Cuts from 2014 Bowman Chrome, and it's 3B Nick Castellanos, whose hitting has improved a bit in the last few weeks.  I'm a little confused that these look more like tidal waves in shape than fire, but the overall concept is fun.

Next up is a '93 UD card of "Top Prospect" P Rick Greene.  I avidly followed the Tigers in the 90s, awful teams and all, and I remember some of the guys who were potential blue chips like Tony Clark and Justin Thompson, but I definitely don't remember Greene, so I looked him up.  I was surprised to find that he was Detroit's first-rounder in '92 but not surprised that he appeared in literally one MLB game, with the Reds in 1999.  The Tigers took him ahead of guys like Shannon Stewart, Rick Helling, Jason Kendall, and Charles Johnson.  Oh, and some guy named Johnny Damon.  Hello, "1990s Tigers SUCKED" tag.

Lastly we have a 2010 Bowman Chrome rookie-or-not of former RP Brayan Villareal, who had a pretty solid 2012 before being flipped to Boston in the trade I mentioned again yesterday that brought Jose Iglesias to the Motor City.

Justin Verlander 2012 Triple Play (#291)

The other baseball entry today is this kid-friendly Panini Triple Play subset card of blog namesake Justin Verlander.  I believe I have his other base card from that set but I'll have to dig around to take a look.

Moving closer to the Detroit River here's the bulk of the Red Wings portion, which includes puck wizard Pavel Datsyuk, D-man Niklas Kronwall (Nick #2!), legendary Red Wing Nick Lidstrom (Nick #3!) and Jan Mursak, a Slovenian winger currently in the KHL.  Then there's a gorgeous Zenith Mozaics insert (remember the awesome baseball versions back in '96?) featuring young star Tomas Tatar, Lidstrom, and star forward Henrik Zetterberg.  I really love the design Panini used here in addition to the nostalgia factor.

Niklas Kronwall 2013-14 Black Diamond Dual Jerseys dual jersey

Oh yeah, and there was also this sweet dual jersey hit of Kronwall (too many Nicks!) to add to my Wings PC.  The thumping defenseman can now claim three entries in that group thanks to this six-piece relic and a solo autograph.  A nice surprise hit to be sure!

Once again Jeff, I thank you for your generosity and promise you that a package will be headed back your way once I find enough good stuff of the Hawks and Sox.  Until then, GO TIGERS CUBS!

2015 trade package #17: 3x3x3 Heroes, Red Wings-style

I don't think it gets said often enough, but Jeff from 2x3 Heroes is a classy guy.  Hey, stop laughing and get back here!  Or at least get back here.

For reals, though, he's a good person known for being very generous, especially when it comes to sending out PWEs.  He's even willing to send me his unwanted Red Wings even though his team is our hated rival, the Blackhawks.  To be fair, though, the 2014-15 champs are a very well-run organization (just like the Wings!) and have won multiple cups in a short span of time (just like the Wings!) and I have to give them their due for knowing how to put together a team...

...just like Jeff knows how to put together a PWE!  I like the Wings, I like cards in multiples of nine that scan easily, and I loved this stuff that he sent my way:

Page 1 includes:

• Justin Abdelkaer -- BOOOOO, a Spartan, though a good contributor for the Wings
• Jimmy Carson -- the guy traded in the deal that brought Paul Coffey to Detroit
• Chris "Chev" Chelios
• Dino Ciccarelli x2
• Paul Coffey x 3 -- the HOF defenseman who was traded to Hartford in the deal that brought Brendan Shanahan (and multiple cups!) to Detroit
• Matthieu Dandenault -- another multiple Cup-winner with the Wings

Page 2 includes:

• Sergei Fedorov -- if you don't know who he is, you weren't watching hockey in the 90s
• Glen Hanlon -- a former goalie who went on to coach the Caps
• Gordie Howe -- I dunno, some old guy
• Greg Johnson -- a former standout at North Dakota
• Slava Kozlov -- one of the members of the Russian Five!
• Martin Lapointe -- had an excellent career with the Wings, Bruins, and...HAWKS!
• Nick Lidstrom x 2 -- the best defenseman of my era and one of the greatest at the position of all time
• Chris Osgood -- well-known Wings goalie won three Cups and was a great return story in 2008

Page 3 includes:

• Xavier Ouellet -- a recent D prospect drafted in 2011
• Keith Primeau -- 3rd overall pick in '90, he never won a Cup with the Wings but was a force for his entire Detroit tenure (and was part of the deal for Shanahan)
• Yves Racine -- Wings first-rounder in '87, he went on to have a long pro career
• Brendan Shanahan -- huge part of Wings resurgence in the 90s is now Toronto's president and hired Mike Babcock away from his old team!
• Brendan Smith -- former Hobey Baker finalist at Wisconsin is now a regular on Detroit's blue line
• Steve Yzerman -- I'm pretty sure that "C" on his sweater stands for "Champion"
• Steve Chiasson -- (whoops, he should have been in the first scan!) former D-man sadly died after driving drunk in 1999.  His son was a senior at Michigan last year
• Henrik Zetterberg x2 -- late-round Swedish gem hasn't been as much of a force since the late aughts but was a key component on Detroit's last Cup-winning team in '08

Thanks again, Jeff!  I actually have a few things set aside for you and I'll shoot them your way sometime soon.  In the meantime, enjoy your revels in the afterglow of another Chicago Cup!

2014 trade package #32: 2x3 Heroes in: 'PWE Are the Champions'

A surprise PWE showed up in my mailbox last week, but now that you know it was a PWE you probably won't be surprised by the sender--Jeff of 2x3 Heroes.  I had notified him of my interest in one of his recent pulls so I guess I should have known better that he'd shoot it my way!  Jeff's Blechhawks Blackhawks have won two Cups since the Red Wings last won a championship in 2008, though Detroit does hold an 11-to-5 edge in overall titles.  We probably both at least agree that the Original Six teams are the best, so there's that.  Anyway, here's what was in this PWE:

Here's a Hockeytown quartet, starting with a pair of Wings from 2008-09 OPC:  star forward Pavel Datsyuk and fearless net presence Tomas Holmstrom (who retired after the 2011-12 season).  Those are followed up by Pavel's fellow star Henrik Zetterberg plus a Brett Hull Immortals subset card (#d to 999) out of 2012-13 Certified.  The superlative Hull won a Cup with the 2001-02 Wings.

And now for the card I originally asked for:

Niklas Kronwall 2008-09 Upper Deck Champ's Mini Signatures auto

Mini auto!  Kronwall, a standout defenseman, was Detroit's first-rounder back in 2000, and has been good enough to merit a seven-year contract inked a couple years ago.  Needless to say this is my first hit of him in my tiny Wings collection, so I humbly thank Jeff for it (and for possibly not spitting on it when he pulled it).

Oh yeah, there was one other card in the envelope:

This is a Chris Getz 2010 Topps Peak Performance auto that I've had for a while, and apparently he wasn't able to offload this copy to anyone else who collects White Sox (though why anybody would want to do that is beyond me).  I'm fine keeping a second copy with Getz's PC if nobody else can use it since there's no such thing as too many Wolverines!

Thanks as always for the fun surprise, Jeff.  With some COMC specials to be taken advantage of later this month I promise I'll come up with an interesting return package in just a few weeks.  Readers, please make sure you're following the professor of PWEs at 2x3 Heroes.

2014 trade package #6: a 2x3 surprise PWE!

What's more fun than checking your mailbox in anticipation of cards you traded for or bought?  A surprise package, of course!  And that's exactly what I received from unsolicited-but-appreciated envelopes of the plain white variety, Jeff of 2x3 Heroes, earlier this week.  It doesn't matter that he's already sent me a few of these--it's still a blast every time.  Here's what I got this week:

A couple Tigers.  My brother and I referred to the player on the left as "Walt Terrible" for a long time, but he was actually decently ok over his seven seasons in Detroit, especially 1987.  Wilson, meanwhile, was known more for his six seasons with the Mets, but did play for the Tigers in 2005-06, the final years of his career, mostly as a backup.

And here's the best part of the package:  a quartet of the (hopefully) playoff-bound Red Wings.  Neither of today's teams are among Jeff's favorites, for obvious reasons, so I do appreciate him sending them over.  The Blue Prizm of Franzen is the clear highlight of the package, because blue parallels are always the best!

Thanks for doing what you do best and surprising me with a fun PWE, Jeff!  Readers, head on over to 2x3 Heroes if you aren't already following that fantastic blog, and maybe give the guy some help with his various projects, such as his newer one, a chase of Nellie Fox.

2014 trade package #4: 2xTigers heroes

My last current in-hand trade package comes from White Sox fan Jeff of 2x3 Heroes.  Jeff was another blogger who took me up on my offer to buy stuff on COMC in return for something good in trade.  As it turns out, he's working on a Gordon Beckham 2013 Topps rainbow, and I was able to grab the Camo and Mini Gold parallels he needs.  His offer for me was to head to his LCS and pick out a couple vintage Tigers cards, which I'm guessing he accomplished with a HAZMAT suit and tongs, so that was nice of him.  True to his word as always, here's what "JediJeff" sent:

Don Kolloway 1952 Topps

I think this is about as vintage as my Tigers collection gets!  Kolloway actually played for the White Sox for the first eight seasons of his career, but he also manned the infield for Detroit from 1949-52.  It doesn't look like he was much of a hitter, but it looks like he got into a good number of games as a utility guy.  As the card notes he was also a veteran, so he earns everyone's thanks for his service.

'52 Topps is simply a landmark set and I'm thrilled to own a Tiger from it no matter how beat up it is.  And that Tiger logo is bad ass!

Frank House 1955 Topps

1955 is also a great looking set, featuring rookies of such luminaries as Koufax, Clemente, and Killebrew.  It's colorful, and the combination of a portrait and action "shot" look nice, along with a similarly colorful and interesting back.  This copy is in pretty nice shape all things considered, and I'd say my priority for vintage skews more towards not having any writing on the card more than other condition flaws, making this an excellent example of something I wouldn't hesitate to pick up.

House, a catcher in all 653 of his career games over 10 seasons, appeared in seven of those seasons ('50-51, '54-57, and '61) with the Tigers, with a hiatus in '52 for military service, for which I'm also thankful.  In '57 he was part of a 13-player(!) deal with KC that brought future manager Billy Martin to Detroit for his lone season as a player for the Tigers.  Like Kolloway, he wasn't the world's greatest hitter, but was at least known as a pretty good defensive catcher, as the back notes.

As always, vintage pickups, especially of guys I don't really know, make for a fantastic history lesson, not to mention a nice trade post.  Thanks again, Jeff, for our second trade, and good luck with your rainbow!  Readers, head on over to 2x3 Heroes if you can stomach a blog devoted to Chicago's biggest villains!  Chances are, one of the blogosphere's most generous traders will have a PWE headed in your direction before you can blink. 

COMC 2: Buyforyou Boogaloo, plus blog notes

Well, sort of.  I do have some other things to get to eventually, but I have a few blog update bits first:

1.  As I did back in October, I will again take COMC order requests this month.

It's already looking like I'm gonna have a relatively light spending month for January, plus I've already got a new COMC order started.  Therefore, I'm once again offering to pick up cards from COMC at traders' requests.  Maybe there's a small handful of cards you want on the site and can't justify the shipping.  Possibly you're not in a position to spend much right now, but the site has something you want, and you're long in trade bait.  Whatever the case, this worked out so brilliantly last time, I'm bringing it back for January!

The same rules still apply:

• This offer is only open to people I've traded with before, plus other well-established traders (i.e. you have a blog or lots of easily-accessible references).  My judgment on this is final
• I reserve the right to decide whether or not I'm willing to try to purchase one or more cards for you
• I will attempt to make offers for cards, but at what point I'm willing to make an offer or give up is up to me
• Please have an idea of what you'll have for me in trade up-front, whether it's something in-hand or an offer to buy ME something from eBay, your LCS, or whatever
• The best way to let me know what you want is to send me direct links to those items from COMC because it makes it so much easier to find them

This month I've already scored some stuff for GCRL, and if you'd like to join that club, please comment below or email me, whichever you're more comfortable with.  Land that one card you need for a set you're building or grab something you can't find for a reasonable price on eBay--whatever your reason, let's get some trading done in 2014!

Look what a GIS of "Plain White Envelope" turned up!  Very useful.

2.  PWE-requisite.

I've sent cards to three different bloggers so far this month and thought I should highlight the fact that I reached a fun personal milestone:  two of those were PWEs, and those completed my first sheet of PWE Forever stamps!  Thanks to tips from Jeff of 2x3 Heroes last year, I got in on the practice and have had lots of fun doing that, so watch out for more this year!  While I'm giving the guy credit, if you haven't already, join his PWE database.

Oh yeah, I should also mention that I immediately went and grabbed another sheet, so I'm good to go for future PWE bombing runs!

3.  Picasa Web Albums shenanigans

I just thought I'd warn everybody that images from a number of my posts may disappear for a little while.  Long story short, I upgraded Box, it changed the folder housing my images, Picasa went "huh?" and now I have duplicate Picasa Web Albums.  To make things easier on me, I'm probably going to delete the "old" versions, which will break a lot of images on posts for both blogs, but once I do I'll probably slowly get those restored.

2013 trade package #16: 2x3 = original 6

Well, after all the confusion earlier this week with ALL THE JEFFS, I received my end of a trade with Jeff of 2x3 Heroes, whose cards are likely en route from South Dakota even as we speak!

Here's what various Chicago teams fan Jeff W. sent me:

These are the best of the 11 2012 Topps Archives set wants Jeff sent my way, and there's some very good players here.  I included Ruiz because his nickname is "Chooch," and that's just awesome.  Hunter is a new Tiger and deserves some TMV love.  Brett, Smith, and Ruth were obviously pretty good players in their day.  And Darvish is a pretty significant RC, especially after the way he was flat-out DEALING earlier this week.

Here's the damage to my wantlist, before,

and after

The 11 new ones get me down to a paltry 16 needed, with more on the way in another pending deal.

Like yet ANOTHER Jeff, this one is a White Sox fan, so he probably held his nose and averted his eyes as he packaged up these cards of the team that's a million times better than his:

The Verlander is fantastic because it's new and a Verlander, but I'm most excited about the Scherzer because I loves me some Heritage Chrome (#d 760/999).  That gives me an idea for a future post, so we'll see if I ever follow up on that.  Cabrera had a huge day at the plate against the Yankees this afternoon, by the way, reaching base all five times, like the #1 hitter in the AL that he is.

I don't know what Jeff's feelings are towards the Tigers, but he made his hatred of my local hockey team (which, again, is better than his, no matter what this year's standings say) totally clear in our email exchange, plus this note he threw in with the package:

Here's what was included:

Cheveldae and Chiasson take me back to my days of playing NHL '93-'95 on my Sega.  As big as the Mule is, Franzen's size can't match up to the oversized PowerPlay cards!

Datsyuk-Franzen-Kronwall-Zetterberg-Lidstrom-Howard 2011-12 Pinnacle Starting Six Threads 6x jersey 

This is the card I saw in Jeff's trade bait that spurred the deal--he couldn't wait to get rid of it when I informed him of my interest!  Those are six outstanding Wings (three of which come with the trademark red sweater), five of which are still with the team since Lidstrom retired.  Getting this card finally inspired me to get up a Picasa album for my Wings hits, and I'll work on adding more soon.  By the way, here's the back, which has the same exactly look as the front except it spells out each player's position.

Henrik Zetterberg-Johan Franzen 2012-13 Artifacts Tundra Tandems dual jersey

This one was s surprise throw-in since I don't believe Jeff mentioned it during negotiations.  I'm very happy to have it, though, as these two guys, along with Pavel Datsyuk, are the offensive stars of my favorite NHL team.  Again, I get one really nice red swatch from a set with an alliterative name I can laugh at now that winter is all but gone here in Ann Arbor.

Riley Sheahan 2012-13 SP Game-Used auto RC

Finally, Jeff added this auto he pulled from a pack he busted last month (which also included the above Franzen base card).  He was none-too-pleased to pull a Wing, but I'm happy enough to have it, even if I bear some dislike towards the Notre Dame alum whose college team was a former CCHA rival of my alma mater.  A 2010 first-rounder, he's still an intriguing prospect, though, even if he got pulled over for drunk driving while wearing a Teletubby costume.  It's not like he's ever gonna live that down--I mean he just got called up to the big club today and this is the Fox News article about it.

Well, Jeff, I must say you did an outstanding job putting together a very enjoyable Detroit trade package, and I give you bonus points for sending them to the correct address on the first try, which definitely puts you ahead of me as far as that goes.  I'm thrilled to add another new trade partner, especially one who'll help keep the Wings-Hawks rivalry alive.  I hope you enjoy the stuff I sent you (whenever you get it!).

Everyone should head over to Jeff's blog and get to readin' and tradin' so he has something to do when the guys above beat his favorite guys.