2019 trade package #6: Parts of My Past

I've been wanting to post a nice summary of the results of The Packening but got bogged down with other stuff this week, including a bit of flooding in my basement that pretty much ate up my whole afternoon today (though nothing really got damaged, which is great).  Also, I'm way behind on covering a few other things, including the show a couple weeks ago, plus some outstanding trade packages.

Which is why today I'll be showing off my latest PWE from Matt of Parts of My Past (formerly Sport Card Collectors).  This is actually the second PWE he's sent me this month, and the most recent trade package I posted here was from Matt, my fellow enthusiast of Griffey and all things 90s, including inserts.

Here's the latest goods, all Tigers edition:

Platonic ideal of baseball's three true outcomes and former Tigers catcher Alex Avila leads things off with his 2012 Topps Gold Rush parallel.  I remember these fairly well but couldn't recall how they were inserted, then found that they were an HTA set.  The only other instance of this set that appears in my collection is Chris Getz's issue as he's a PC guy, and the name appears a lot more frequently thanks to it original incarnation as a Score parallel.

Formerly effective (but still fun to collect) slugger Miguel Cabera is next on three different recent Topps issues.  The bookends--2017 flagship's Walmart Holiday Snowflake and 2019 Gypsy Queen Chrome--look nice enough, but the real winner here is a Red parallel of his 2018 Gold Label Class 2 card (#41/50).  Though not as fun as its earlier iterations, Gold Label remains a winner, and the red looks quite striking here.  I'm thankful that folks like Matt keep sending me quality stuff like this!

Sticking with the letter "C", there's future former Tiger Nick Castellanos on a 2018 Topps Fire Green parallel (#184/199).  That's never been one of my favorite Topps products, but I do like numbered parallels, and Castellanos is a guy whose cards I plan on keeping even when he leaves Motown.  I'll be sorry to see him go because he's been fun to watch as a hitter, but also hope he's the last bat-only player Detroit signs for quite a while.

Finally, Matt followed up his previous PWE with a card that combines two of that package's features:  Ty Cobb and 2019 Topps' 150 Years of Pro Baseball insert.  In this case the Georgia Peach's card is actually the 150th Anniversary version and therefore one of the product's many cards numbered to 150 (#136/150 here).  Numbered Cobbs are few and far between in my collection so this was a nice throw-in for me.

Thanks again for the second envelope in just a few weeks, Matt!  I hope you enjoyed your flat-rate box of stuff and I'm looking forward to seeing your posts on it!

Stay tuned for a couple more trade posts soon among anything else I managed to get posted soon.

2014 trade package #18: these Tigers are Off Hiatus

I was fortunate to receive still another fantastic trade package as a result of my giveaway, and this one arrived from a trader that was new to me:  Tony L. of Off Hiatus Baseball Cards.  Tony grabbed my extra 1999 Topps baseball Series II set and Prince Fielder player lot, and for his effort he landed the 2008 UD baseball fat pack blaster.  He posted a few highlights last Wednesday.

The Brewers fan in Georgia was nice enough to send me stuff of MY favorite baseball team in return, and boy did he hit the high notes:

Up first is a trio of Alex Avila parallels, including Emerald and Gold from last year's Topps.  I'm still a fan of the low average/plus power catcher so I really like these.  Next is a group of six (out of nine!) cards of your back-to-back MVP, including another Topps Gold, which is still a favorite of mine.  Everything has him in a Tigers uni, which is a plus (but isn't required for me).

In this scan we have the last three Miggys, including a pair of Minis (1987- and 1972-style).  Slugger Hank Greenberg was no turkey, but that's a spiffy Turkey Red.  He's joined by a couple colorful recent Topps parallels of current Tigers Torii Hunter (who's hitting again!) and Jose Iglesias (who's hopefully on the mend).  New-old leadoff hitter A-Jax is honored for his running ability next to another Emerald, this time All-Star V-Mart, and finally his fellow Venezuelan Magglio.

This scan could be titled "60% of the Tigers' 2014 rotation (and Pudge)."  Career year-having Porcello leads off next to former catcher Rodriguez, and newer acquisition Sanchez bookends Pudge.  2014 All-Star Max Scherzer shows up in a couple issues before (former) ace JV is seen on four of SIX MANY VERLANDERS.

Here's the other two JVs, plus a cool insert of Rob Brantly (sent to Florida in the Sanchez/Infante deal last year), and a 2014 Purple Bowman of prospect Melvin Mercedes (who's currently at AAA Toledo so I may see him in-person soon).  Lastly is a quartet of 1987 Fleer Minis of four of the most important '84 champ Tigers!

Thanks for an excellent first trade, Tony, and I look forward to doing it again!  Readers, don't ever think about taking a break from reading his blog--head over to Off Hiatus Baseball Cards as soon as you read this.

2014 trade package #16: Bengals Walk the Plank

I'd say it's about time we heard from Matt over at Bob Walk the Plank again, and fortunately he obliged with yet another trade package a week or so ago.  Matt included a note mentioning he was "on a Tigers hot streak" which is kind of like saying Clayton Kershaw isn't allowing very many runs these days.  He's become one of my top trade sources for Tigers hits, and that continued into this package, as you'll see here:

Card #1 is this 2010 Bowman autograph of former prospect Zach Simons.  A 2005 second-round pitcher originally with the Rockies, Simons was in Detroit's system from 2008-2011, making it as high as AAA Toledo before heading to a couple Marlins affiliates, then ultimately back with Colorado.  I haven't decided if I'll hold onto this just yet, so it may be available in a trade, but I do have to say that the guy has a cool signature!

Second is this very thick, high-end base card of starter Rick Porcello from 2009 Topps Sterling.  The border's a bit too exaggerated, but the shiny image is very cool, as is the serial-numbering, and this one has the bonus of being #50/50.  The back notes that Porcello was the first AL pitcher to win at least 14 games in a season before turning 21 since HOFer Bert Blyleven did it way back in '71.  Rick went 14-9 in both his rookie season of 2009 as well as 2011, and 14 wins has remained his career high, although he already sits at 11-4 this year before the All-Star break!  It's fun to see a young guy really start to put it together like this, especially one as talented as Porcello, and I'll happily continue to collect his stuff while I can reasonably afford it.

Alex Avila 2014 Panini Prizm Prizm Signatures auto

My favorite card of today's trio is this Avila autograph from 2014 Panini Prizm.  Sometimes Panini is successful at producing a great looking card that's unaffected by the lack of logos, and this is a great example as you get a beautiful shot of Alex wearing the tools of ignorance excellence.  I don't think the photo needed to be limited to half of the card, but I do like the image used, and Alex's signature looks great.  This is actually my first autograph of the backstop to go along with three jersey relics and now has a place of honor in my Tigers PC.

Thanks as always for a fun blind trade, Matt, and I look forward to more now that you're back on the mend.  Readers, if you're not already doing so, get in contact with Matt if you like working with generous traders, and check out Bob Walk the Plank while you're at it!

A pennant chase trade package from Spankee

Adam from My Cardboard Mistress shot me an email recently letting me know I had a small package on the way.  Good things DO come in small packages.  Exhibit A:

 Many minis:  a pair of Scherzers, a pair of AJaxes, and an awesome Ripken

 The somewhat educational "What's in a Name" insert, this one of Miguel Cabrera.  So why not include a scan of the back?:

Dunno about you guys, but I still prefer the name he goes with because "Miggy" just sounds better

Alex Avila 2012 Allen & Ginter jersey

Here's the real prize--a card I claimed as soon as I saw he'd pulled it.  On one hand, I do feel bad for Adam because this is a pretty crappy hit for any box:  a $2 relic, albeit of a former all-star.  But it's the kind of card that just turns me off of buying boxes.  Still, buying it for cheap or getting it in a trade is an excellent alternative, and I'm happy to have another nice Avila to pair with my Gypsy Queen jersey I also nabbed this year.  Avila's got enough offensive potential that I think he'll be around in Detroit for a while longer, so I'll take whatever I can get of him!

Thanks again, Adam--this was a superlative A&G trade package!

You can call me Al: another Dimwitted trade

That's right, it's been a good while since I did a trade post, but I finally made another deal worth posting.  Everybody's favorite Dimwit, Sam, has some of the best luck on his breaks that I've ever seen.  During this break of 2012 Gypsy Queen, he pulled an absolutely ridiculous Cal Ripken Jr. auto/relic.  It's already easy enough to be happy for a guy everybody seems to get along with, but I think we all know the proceeds of that card are going straight back into collecting, which benefits the economy AND us!

Anyway, another card in the break caught my eye and I knew I needed to get it from Sam, so I sent some stuff his way, including a decent Biggio jersey I picked up at the most recent show I hit up.  Sam--I would have posted this sooner, but the US FAIL decided to wait until today to deliver this baby:

Alex Avila 2012 Gypsy Queen jersey

This is my first hit of the Tigers' awesome all-star catcher and it features a pretty solid swatch of a gray Detroit jersey.  Cards like this are exactly the reason I no longer bust boxes myself--if I wasn't a Tigers fan, I'd be pissed to get a hit like this, but as a Tigers fan I'm thrilled to have it, especially without having to take the plunge and pony up for a box myself.  Sam made this a very easy deal and now I can be happy to add a nice relic of one of my favorite Tigers to the PC.  What can I say, I haven't been this excited about an up-and-coming Tigers catcher since Matt Nokes!

Thanks again, Sam, for another excellent deal.  I hope you keep pulling some big stuff in your boxes, just make sure to save the smaller stuff for people like me.