2024 trade package #8: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

Let's get roaring into May while completely ignoring that the calendar as I'm writing this shows that tomorrow is the last day of July!

The first trade package I received that month came from the most prolific of all of my trade partners: Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store. This envelope was definitely different than the norm in terms of dimensions and weight for reasons I wouldn't be able to guess until I'd ripped it open.

The cardboard content was uncharacteristically sparse, though plenty familiar as it starred three players from my favorite MLB team. Miggy's from a Topps on-demand product from 2023 called Game Within the Game, one of 10 art cards done by Paul Jennis. At 1,612 copies printed it's on the higher end of rarity, which is cool by itself, plus the card looks great.

"Whiffin'" Willi Castro left Detroit after the 2022 season and naturally became a quality player for the Twins, putting up 2.7 bWAR last year while getting on pace to equal or exceed that number as a 2024 All-Star. You see him here on a Topps UK base from 2022.

I did use the word "familiar" above when referring to the team these three cards share, though that didn't necessarily refer to the players. Rucker didn't ring a bell but I did find him on the lower end of Fangraphs' top Tigers prospects. He's a 3B taken in 2023's 4th round out of high school and therefore a reasonable choice for Panini's Elite Extra Edition product, like the 2023 base you see above.

That was it for cards but not the package itself, not by a longshot. No, friends, I was treated to not one, not two, but four beautiful autographed 8x10s of some excellent Michigan Hockey alumni.

Michigan sports blog MGoBlog recently put together a two-part series on the top 20 careers of Wolverine NHLers (part 1, part 2, and you should totally check these out if you love Michigan Hockey) and two of the four guys here made the cut, fairly impressive given the large quantity of quality Michigan icers to play in the league. I'll borrow a bit from those posts for those three guys and give my own thoughts on the fourth:

Andrew Cogliano: Ok, so I have to admit that of the four photos, this one stumped me for a bit because the auto wasn't a gimmie and the player's name doesn't appear anywhere. Eventually I compared the signature to cards I have and came up with LW Andrew Cogliano, a guy I tend to associate with teams other than the Oilers. His UM career started the the school year after I graduated--2005--but I still got to see him play in-person a bit.

Per the aforementioned Top 20 posts, 

"The recently retired Cogliano was the inspiration for this piece, a player who had a hell of a run as a middle six winger for a bunch of teams. That's not what he's most remembered for in the NHL, though. That would be his remarkable iron man ways, as Cogliano at one time owned the longest consecutive games played streak in the NHL at over 800 games. He did not miss a single game his first 10 seasons in the NHL and remained remarkably well conditioned into his mid-30s."

"He started out in Edmonton but found a home in Anaheim, a fixture of the Ducks' really good teams in the mid-2010s in the middle six of the lineup. A well liked guy everyone would have a spot on their team for, that allowed older Cogliano to make deep runs in the playoffs with Dallas (2020) and Colorado (2022), the latter winning him a Stanley Cup."

Also of note, this is my second 8x10 signature of Cogs courtesy of Doug, who previously sent me one back in November of 2019, the 33rd time I'd shown off cards from him here!

John Madden: Not the meathead NFL coach/announcer but the guy who won a pair of cups with the Devils and another with the Hawks, Madden was a four-year C in the mid-90s for some very successful NCAA teams including the 1995-96 champs.

Per the Top-20 list,

"By his second season in the NHL, Madden had built a reputation as a top tier penalty killer and go-to matchup center for the always-stingy Devils, winning the 2000-01 Selke Trophy for the best defensive forward in the NHL. Madden was able to put himself in contention for such an award by not just being a great defensive player and a scrappy, fierce forechecker, but because he provided some valuable depth scoring too."

"Madden won two Cups in NJ and then departed for Chicago in 2009-10, then age 36, and won a third ring with the Blackhawks as a gritty veteran 4th line center. Madden's unusual, versatile career and distinction as one of the top defensive centers in the NHL lands him here."

EDIT: Jon Merrill: Thanks to Chris for pointing out that I got the wrong Jon/John from the Devils! Merrill's name has popped up quite a bit here especially thanks to Doug but briefly, the D from nearby Brighton was a three-year Wolverine at the stat of the 2010s and was a second round pick by New Jersey. This past NHL season was his 11th and he's suited up for a total of five teams including Detroit briefly in 2020-21. I don't see him surpassing anyone on this list but a double-digit year NHL career is nothing to sniff at!

Al Montoya: Montoya's the odd man out here as he understandably didn't make the list, though said list includes only one goalie (Marty Turco), and that's in line with the alumni the Wolverines have produced at the position. To be clear, that's 100% based on his not-terribly-exciting pro career of 168 games (136 starts) over nine seasons with six clubs. You wouldn't have guessed that back in the mid-2000s, though, when he was a highly rated hot-shot freshman. His first year coincided with my sophomore year and first with season tickets, and he'd go on to win 86 games over his three seasons, highlighted by a charge to the Frozen Four in his first year on campus. While he didn't live up to his billing as the 6th overall pick in 2004, he was a blast to watch guarding the goal for some excellent teams while I was a student.

Brendan Morrison: Morrison is my favorite of this quartet despite the fact that he played at Michigan the same years as Madden and therefore before I was ever on campus, and even though he never hoisted the Cup. That said, he was arguably the biggest superstar in this group during his college years having won that NCAA championship I mentioned in Madden's blurb plus winning the Hobey Baker Award, a.k.a. hockey's version of the Heisman. New Jersey had drafted him in 1993's second round and he'd spend parts of three seasons with them before eight solid years with the Canucks. A few other destinations followed and over the course of his 14-year career he'd pot exactly 200 goals and 401 assists.

His Top-20 write-up mentions,

"Morrison was never going to be able match the heights he achieved in college in the vastly more talented NHL, where his skill level was not overwhelming in any way, but Morrison still cobbled together a successful career."

I'd say 14 years in the league after that kind of college career is pretty solid.

Many thanks to Doug for this amazing group of signatures that adds to a growing collection of of Michigan Hockey autos not just on cardboard but on some eye-popping pictures too! Your generosity never ceases to amaze me and I appreciate you finding these for me. Rest assured I'm taking my responsibility of maintaining diplomatic relations seriously and working on a return for you.

Everyone else can look forward to another blogger trade package next time!

2023 trade package #12: the Collector

Tonight's trade envelope comes from a collector I've traded with many times who recently celebrated 600 transactions on TCDb (quite the feat!). That collector's name? THE Collector, Chris!

Not one to sit around and wait for deals to come to him, Chris put in a bunch of work to hit that 600 deal milestone (in preparation of celebrating his 600th post). I can see in his transaction history that he started 2023 with 545 done and he's completed 78 already this year as I'm writing this. Nice! Find him over there as hockeydude, by the way.

Chris reached out to me early last month and I became his 596th swap. He offered me a nice little mix of items from my wantlist in return for future considerations, though I happened to have some stuff on hand I was going to send him anyway, so that worked out really well.

Here's what the New Jerseyan sent westward to me in Michigan:

The transaction Chris proposed actually only included the bottom six cards so the trio of Tigers were nice throw-ins. The Cuyler and Fryman are from '93 UD while Jose Lima hails from the '96 product. Cuyler got a pretty good number of ABs with some of those terrible 90s Tigers squads while Fryman enjoyed a respectable career in Detroit before finishing out his run with the Indians. The late Lima looked like nothing special before a trade to Houston produced the highest moments of his career. He did return to Detroit in 2001 for parts of a couple seasons.

Another Tiger is the lone baseball representative from the deal as originally agreed upon. J.D. Martinez is a guy who pulled a reverse Lima, heading from Houston to Detroit and overhauling his swing to great results in the batter's box and his wallet. His 2017 Topps All-Star Game set card got me to look up his Midsummer Classic appearances, and he's made five--one with the Tigers and four with the Red Sox.

Basketball gets just one new card today but that's fine because it's my least favorite sport. Chris hit one of my Wolverine cager PCs with a 21-22 Donruss Optic base of Tim Hardaway Jr., a three-year Michigan guard who's spent the last five of his nine NBA seasons with the Mavs. Wait, he's been in the league for nine years?! Man, I'm getting old.

Switching over to one of my alma mater's more recently successful sports, Chris found a pair of ex-Wolverines that I was happy to see. First is five-time Pro Bowl OT Mike Kenn who played 17 seasons for the Falcons. He appeared in 251 NFL games, all of which he started, and that's an excellent pro career if you ask me. His '82 Topps card above notes his second of five eventual All Pro selections. Joining him from the other side of the ball is DE Kwity Paye on a '21 Panini Chronicles Flux base that shows him in college action. Paye, like Kenn, was a first round selection, in his case by the Colts, and he'll be going into his third NFL season this fall.

And we'll wrap things up with a hockey duo from hockeydude right in the thick of what's probably sports' best postseason setup. Mike Comrie (2001-02 Topps Reserve) never won a Cup but did contribute a pair of goals and four assists to the 06-07 runner-up Ottawa Senators, who fell to the Ducks 4-1. Meanwhile, Ann Arbor native Andrew Copp (21-22 OPC's Retro version) is still active in the league and has 54 playoff games under his belt including 20 last year with the Rangers, but saw his new team, the Red Wings, fall short this season. I'm hoping the team exits its long rebuild soon and that Andrew is part of that success.

Chris, many thanks for making me part of your quest for 600 trades and congratulations on blowing that goal out of the water! I'm looking forward to picking up more stuff for you at the next show and in the meantime I hope those deals keep rolling in on your end.

2022 trade package #23: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

It's October which means it's cooling off rapidly and we're heading full speed into hockey season (pro and college!). What better time to show off a package from Canadian buddy of the blog Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store?

Don't let his blog's name fool you, though--Doug's no cheapskate. Not only does he send great cards my way every time, but he also packages them with a level of care that goes above and beyond despite the extra cost. Seriously, for at least the second package in a row I think about 75% of the weight was made up by toploaders.

But I don't want to give the quality aspect short shrift either--time after time he sends some absolute gems my way. Here's what came in last month's salvo from across the border:

The baseball section starts things off on a great note. In terms of base and inserts the Larkin looks great (and is new to me!) and the rest are current and recent-ish Tigers.

And then things really get cooking with a trio of great autographs. The first two star the latest member of my Michigan Baseball hits collection (#33 overall), pitcher Steven Hajjar, the #61 overall pick last year (second round) by the Twins who was flipped to the Reds in a deal for Tyler Mahle at the deadline this season. As usual I love Panini's Elite Extra Edition set and its various versions like the ones you see here.

Meanwhile, Franklin Perez was pretty much considered the headliner of the deal that sent above players JV to Houston and Cameron to Detroit, but he's become the least accomplished of the trio (for various reasons). He hasn't turned 25 yet, though, so who knows what could happen? And in that case why shouldn't I enjoy an acetate auto like the 2018 Bowman High Tek card you see above?

Next, there was a whole mess of Red Wings, many of them recent players I don't know as well since I haven't followed the team as much since the days of Datsyuk and Zetterberg. But there's some great stuff in here with plenty of stars, and you know I got excited seeing a pair of Yzermans. That Octopus foil Mascot insert from 21-22 UD MVP is awesome, and the old school stars from Parkhurst are outstanding as well. And that is indeed an IP or TTM auto of former Wings C Mike Sillinger, a former first-rounded who spent parts of five seasons in Motown during his nearly two decades in the NHL. Sweet!

The basketball portion was relatively tiny at just two items which is fine since that's my least favorite of the four major sports anyway. Jordan Poole features on a sticker that probably won't be hanging around goon/former Spartan Draymond Green's locker anytime soon. And THJ has a slightly legible signature on a Prizm autograph, surprisingly my fourth signed card of his. Is he really about to go into his 10th NBA season?! Now I feel old.

Heading over to the gridiron, you can't go wrong starting off with the GOAT in Tom Brady. How often do you get to see kickers on cards like Feely? Big Mo Hurst has announced he'll be there in-person for this weekend's huge matchup against Penn State, and I hope the DL is as hungry for rushing the QB as he was! Speaking of hungry guys rushing off the edge, big thanks to Doug for my first two cards of #2 overall pick Aidan Hutchinson, who's unfortunately languishing a bit with the garbage Lions, but will likely break out before long. I love this pair of Panini Chronicles cards that come from the Phoenix and Recon subsets, especially because they offer college action photos.

And even more football! Paye is from last year's Phoenix. Rawls has been out of the league for a few years but surprised me by appearing in 35 NFL games over for seasons. It's so great to have Shoelace back on the sidelines blaring his megawatt smile while selling recruits on the sport's greatest historical program. Toomer gets to enjoy a typically shiny Pacific design. Woodson surely loves what he's seen this season, including the guys that play his former position. And that Funchess patch/auto is sick! Game- or player-worn doesn't make much difference to me when a card is autographed and sometimes it's just nice to get a great looking patch whether or not it came from a game jersey. That's hit #21 of him further bolstering my bunches of Funchess!

And now we hit the ice, possibly in time for tonight's season openers in New York and LA. The last few years of Upper Deck's base set featured heavily in this package and that's great because I needed many of them, plus you'll see repeat appearances of a few other products. Of these players, Cogliano is with Colorado (having won the Cup with them last season), Connor is still with the Jets, Copp will soon be making his Red Wings debut, former Wing Glendenning is still with the pictured Stars, and rising star Quinn Hughes will be in his fifth season in Vancouver.

This scan is a good reminder of the firepower Michigan has sent the NHL over the past few decades. Larkin the WolverWing is of course my favorite and I really like how UD occasionally brings back Fleer favorites like Metal sometimes. From this group Hyman, Larkin, and Norris will all appear for their pictured teams. Morrison, of course, has been out of the league for a decade but was a quality regular for a long time after a legendary college career. Meanwhile, Motte will join Norris with Doug's beloved Sens and elder statesman Patch will suit up for Carolina in his 15th NHL season!

After a couple more cards of Max this scan moves on to defenseman Greg Pateryn, who I'm slightly surprise has spent as long in the league as he has. I think he's still in Anaheim's system but don't know if he'll be with them (his sixth team) for a second consecutive season. Stewart is a fellow native of Doug's hometown of Kitchener. Turco remains one of my all-time favorites from the program's history. And former #8 overall pick (one of many first-rounders from the program's history) Werenski will be appearing in his seventh season in (hold on, I need to hold my nose while I say this) Columbus.

Doug included two very cool hits from this sport as well. One is a swatch of a banner from the 2019 NHL Heritage Classic, and outdoor match that saw the Jets defeat the Flames 2-1 in Saskatchewan. The guy pictured on the card, Kyle Connor, had an assist on the OT game-winner, a notable feat in a notable game. I like that you can tell which part of the banner the gigantic swatch came from. If you gave me a choice between an event-worn jersey and something like this I can't say I'd be mad either way, especially with how nice this card looks. It's just my third hit (all relics) of Connor.

And the other relic stars Werenski, whom we just saw a couple cards to the left. It's a swatch from a rookie photoshoot, and it joins one I already had from the 12-card set of...Kyle Connor! How cool is that? If my Connor PC is small then the pile of Werenskis I have is even more diminutive at just two relics, but as always I appreciate having someone like Doug helping me out with my lesser appreciated collections like this.

Doug, as always, thanks for a fantastic pile of cards. I hope you had a nice Canadian Thanksgiving and that you enjoy a happy hockey new year! May your Sens bring you more joy than pain in '22-'23. And may I continue have luck slowly piling up more cards to send you in our ongoing high quality back-and-forth that I've enjoyed for going on a decade!

I expect to be back with more TCDB trade recaps for the next few posts while I wait for other things to arrive and because I skipped this month's show. Maybe I won't go weeks between posts again, who knows? Until then, good luck to your favorite MLB playoff teams and NHL franchises (and NFL too, I guess) as I continue to focus on the 6-0 Wolverines.

2021 trade package #11: The Collector

I follow a pretty large number of blogs, and based on the blogrolls and mentions I see on those I'm aware that they only represent a fraction of what's out there. That's awesome because it's a great sign that both the hobby and this part of it are still doing great.

While I can't claim to pay attention to many of them to the degree I'd like, such as commenting on posts the writers clearly put lots of work into, I do try to make the effort to participate on some more than others. One such blog is The Collector, run by one of my favorite trading partners Chris. He and I are like-minded collectors in several ways so he's always fun to deal with. He also recently reached a very significant milestone: 500 posts! Among those are one of the best series I've seen on any blog: his all-time teams, which definitely required a lot of work but resulted in some great reading.

I mention all that because last week I received a PWE from him which included a note thanking me for reading and commenting to the extent that I do, which is really nice considering he's one of the folks I can pretty much count on to find a comment over here. Oh, and some cards for me too!:

Jeez, anybody still remember 2013 Topps? Two-time Derby winner Fielder didn't take home the crown that season, but he was the 1B for the 2012 squad pictured on card #2 up there, a team that beat Oakland in the ALDS and swept the hated Yanks to reach Detroit's most recent World Series berth, only to get swept by another great even-year Giants run. I still can't believe one of the teams from that era didn't win it all!

Chris apologized for what ended up being a hockey-heavy envelope, as if that's a bad thing somehow. On the Wings side, AA's been gone for a couple seasons while Bertuzzi still has a chance to but into a star. And then we get to three big pieces of Hockeytown's success over the past quarter century: Holmstrom, Yzerman and Zetterberg. At some point I'll get my Wings PCs loaded in TCDB so I have a better idea of what I have of some of those favorites.

Oh yeah, and for good measure Chris included a very Alluring autograph. Kuffner only got a cup of coffee with the Wings in 2018-19 and then was included in the deal with AA above for Sam Gagner, a pick last year, and a second rounder this year, so that could still turn into something. He's one of those Canadians you occasionally see spurn the OHL to play American college hockey, which I love. That and the colorful design makes this one a winner.

He even managed to make an almost even split of Detroit stuff and Michigan cards, which is pretty cool (besides the already impressive fact that there were no dupes in this PWE!). I needed each of Burke and Sauce Castillo (a RC) from the shiny 2014-15 Panini Prizm. 

OLB John Anderson (who also punted in college!) played 12 seasons for the Pack but only made it onto 39 items catalogued by TCDB, with even fewer being mainstream products. Yet Chris was able to send me a third item for his collection, his 1984 Topps second year base--a card with six years of stats on it. RCs are weird but that design is still a classic.

And then there's a quartet of some recent(ish) Wolverines hockey stars. Cogliano has never been a star, but this year he gets to Be-a-Player for the 14th season, and that's awesome. Hagelin is nobody's idea of an MVP at this point but he chipped in 10 goals and 21 points over 48 playoff games with the Pens, winning a pair of rings. WolverWing Larkin has seen the quality of the team around him erode but is still young enough to become an MVP one day. And all Patch has done is score 300+ goals in parts of 13 seasons, never being named the most valuable, but winning the '11-'12 Masterton ("Qualities of Perseverance and Sportsmanship") so there.

(Wait, why was he worried about this being hockey-heavy again?)

Chris, thanks again for a fun PWE as you celebrate 500 posts! Congratulations on keeping up with the blog for that long (and hopefully years to come!) and thanks for being a terrific trade partner. Should things fall in line it's not inconceivable that I could have some card show-sourced items headed to your own mailbox in the next month or two.

And coming up next on this here blog...another trade package? Don't mind if I do!

2020 trade package #1: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

It's February 14 and that means one thing around here: celebrating the birthday of buddy of the blog Doug over at Sports Cards From the Dollar Store!  I think it's awesome that he collects cards of athletes, celebrities, and more, with whom he shares a birthday, and today's post is a good example of that fun, listing his top 10 2/14 cards from the last year.  I'm happy to announce that he has a few more things from me that he'll be able to show off whenever he feels like it.

Speaking of "whenever he feels like it," unforeseen circumstances delayed me from getting his latest package to me (delivered weeks ago!) scanned and ready so eventually I figured, why not show it off on his big day?  And "big" is appropriate when discussing this latest mailing, one that arrived in what I believe was a 600-ct box, meaning he shelled out good money to get it to me.  Such is the generosity of my Canadian neighbour.  And as I flipped through the cards, I felt that generosity even more!

That Miggy is from a 2014 set that was available (probably in packs?) at that year's National, and it's cool because I hadn't seen it before.  The other three hail from one of Doug's favorites: Panini's Chronicles.  I love the mix of brands/designs it offers, and those are on full display here with a pair of Christin Stewarts and my first auto of young IF Dawel Lugo.  Nice!

The baseball continues here with even more Panini goodness.  Griffey hails from 2012 Prizm, and that sweet shot of his sweet swing is new to me.  The not-so-outspoken-anymore Verlander also cameos with another example of a 2019 Chronicles design, this one from the super thick Spectra.  And then there's two of my favorites in the whole box:  2019 Elite Extras of former Michigan pitchers Tommy Henry and Karl Kauffmann, two guys that were key to the Wolverines' College World Series run last year.  I love that they're both college uni cards plus I was thrilled to get my first of Henry, hopefully card #1 of many.

When it comes to packages from Doug, hockey is always well represented, and this time I was treated not just to cards of my alma mater, but the local pro club as well.  The Wings may be terrible this year but they were fun to watch in the 90s and 2000s when they were like the Braves except they won more than one title.  You'll see O-Pee-Chee's 2019-20 base set quite a bit today, one I think looks quite nice, as is typical for the brand.

Wings content #2 of 3.  The star of the show here is PC guy Dylan Larkin, whom I scanned with both teams just because.  I was happy to need all three because I love growing his collection, and all the cards look nice, too, including the Artifacts red insert called Aurum, which is a bit short on gold, but that's fine for this Red Wings fan!

The last of the Wings stuff comes with a couple more 19-20 OPCs, but of course I'm more interested in cards starring The Captain--and now The GM--Steve Yzerman.  The mix of old and new photos, designs, and uniforms, makes those a fun trio!

On the Michigan side of things, the basketball team has had its highs and lows this year but have been pretty interesting under new coach Juwan Howard.  Representing that team, Doug hit me up with a new base of Rumeal Robinson, a jersey of weed entrepreneur (go figure!) Mitch McGary, and a ridiculously beautiful slide/auto of Robinson's '89 NCAA title teammate Glen Rice.  I believe the Rice is my second such auto from that set and, yes, it looks even better in person!

A very nicely balanced package continues with some excellent football content.  '99 Collector's Edge Masters makes four appearances throughout this scan with base cards (/5000) of PC guy Tim Biakabutuka and former QB Elvis Grbac, plus HoloSilver (with red stamps?) parallels (/3500) of '98 champs Griese and Woodson.  Touchdown Tim is also represented on a super cool '99 UD Retro base, also new to me.  I also loved the nostalgia for 90s inserts with '94 Score Gold Zone parallels of AC and OT John "Jumbo" Elliott.  And then we have my first card of another newbie to my collection, former LB/DL hybrid Craig "Death" Roh, a pretty good recruit who played in Ann Arbor during one of the team's worst eras, 2009-12.  While NFL success eluded him he's since done well for himself in the CFL, and made his way onto this Red parallel from UD's product for that league last year.

These two guys have been associated a bit more with winning, though, in college and/or the pros.  (Future former?) Patriot great Tom Brady features on a very cool horizontal Panini Gridiron base while blog favorite PC guy Chad Henne gets in on the fun with a card I surprisingly didn't have: his 2011 Plates & Patches base (/299).  I recently hit the 300 mark for the latter and can't wait to boost his collection even more this year as I make him my top football PC.

And now we get into the bulk of the package:  Michigan Hockey content!  19-20 OPC makes a solid seven more appearances over the next three scans, proving the Ann Arbor-to-NHL pipeline is as strong as ever.  There's also a couple example of the prior season's factory set blue version of UD's MVP which were also new to me, as was practically everything you'll see in these scans.

There's WolverWing Dylan Larkin again, and I promise my scan of the Aurum insert looks much better than the one used here, getting much closer to the actual red color.  Joining him is a fun AHL card of winger Brad Jones, PC guy Brendan Morrison, and a new 90-91 OPC offering of D-man Jeff Norton.

Before we get to the real fireworks of the box here's the last of the "regular" hockey stuff.  That includes another Norton, two more OPCs, and a card each of D-men Jacob Trouba and Zach Werenski that allowed me to provide scans to TCDB.  I'm noting that because very few cards in the box were missing images there, often thanks to Doug, which was very cool.

And now the part you've probably been expecting considering the source!  Up first is another autograph of the pride of Flower Mound, Texas, Chris Brown, and as usual I'll mention that Doug is almost 100% responsible for my collection of that player.  Next is a couple jersey relics of hockey Mike #1, Cammalleri, from 02-03 Be-a-Player, plus a 2012-13 UD Game Jersey set that was given away at the NHL Hall of Fame back in 2013.  I hadn't seen those before so learning about them was cool, plus I got the set added to the TCDB.

The other hockey Mike is Comrie, and his card happens to be more than just a normal BAP relic (from 03-04) as it got a 1/1 stamp at the 2004 All-Star game.  These aren't your standard 1/1s but I still like to label them that way, and anyway they sometimes make plain cards more interesting.  That'll become my first 1/1 of Comrie.

Another guy with twice the hits today is D-man Jon Merrill, a guy who's been with Vegas for the last three years but was drafted by the Devils, the team pictured above.  The designs of those relic cards are different but the Dominion and Titanium cards came out of Panini's Rookie Anthology, kind of an ancestor of Chronicles.  Doug's also been a major factor in my Merrill collection.

Last up in this scan is yet another defenseman, Jacob Trouba, who finally saw his tenure with the Jets end thanks to a trade to the Rangers, with whom he could possibly tie or best his career-high of 10 goals.  This relic with a fun design should represent hit #10, making him one of a select group of guys in the collection to hit that mark.

Two of the guys on these horizontal cards are also in the 10+ club.  One is Cogliano, whose Upper Deck Ice card is twice as nice thanks to dual swatches!  The other is possibly my favorite card in the whole package is a new Shawn Hunwick--something I haven't been able to say in a while--that includes an autograph plus an enormous Blue Jackets patch, plus, you know, his Wolverines helmet.  Hunwick remains my lone hockey supercollection and it was a nice surprise from Doug that I could finally add to it again.  And last but not least is a cool multi-swatch card of former Michigan star Tyler Motte, a guy that went off for 32 goals and 24 assists in his final year in Ann Arbor, then bounced around from Chicago to Columbus to his current team, Vancouver.  I like when manufacturers make relics more interesting with ideas like swatch windows that spell out something relevant.

Doug, once again, happy birthday and also thanks for all the effort (and money!) you put into this amazing package that was an excellent start to the year.  While I work on getting all of these scans added to my collection and my stats updated I hope you enjoy the little envelope I sent your way to celebrate 2/14, and I'll work on another one as soon as I can.

Everyone please head over to SCFtDS to check out Doug's work and send him some cards of 2/14 babies yourselves.  Then stay tuned for all the other posts I've been promising while I've been slacking this year!

2019 trade package #33: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

Michigan may have laid another egg against Ohio State this afternoon, but fortunately, as usual, I have some cards to cheer me up.  These came from buddy of the blog and all-around good dude Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store, this time in the form of a large, flat, rigid mailer.  I believe most if not all the items found inside came from the most recent Expo, a show I really should try to get to at some point.  What did I find among the protection of decoys and yards of tape?  Read on to find out!

The baseball portion surprisingly outnumbered the hockey stuff today, if you can believe it.  My Miggy collection got a step closer to 300 cards (295) with a premium looking 2019 Triple Threads base.  I wonder how well one of the facts on the back will age: "Tweets in English and Spanish to more than one million followers."  Light hitting SS Chris Gomez is seen turning two on his '95 Collector's Choice SE base.  I needed to look up that shiny Christin Stewart since I don't know Panini baseball brands too well, and it turns out it's from 2019 Chronicles, specifically the Obsidian set.  I'm betting he'll get a long leash next year as the team continues to rebuild.  Last up is an '89 Fleer base of PC guy Chris Sabo and still-getting-paid guy Bobby Bonilla.

Here's where the baseball group got even more fun:  2019 Topps Heritage Minors cards of some of Detroit's top prospects.  Baseball America's Top 10 list isn't up yet so we'll go by MLB.com's.  Mize and Manning, a couple starters, are the class of the farm system at 1 and 2.  OF Daz Cameron (son of Mike!) is #8 while P Alex Faedo is right behind him at 9.  Another P, Beau Burrows, is 14th (after opening the year higher), perhaps going through some development issues after being picked out of high school in 2015.  And you can leave a guy with a name like "Brock Deatherage", the Blast Hardcheese of the minors, out of a set at your own peril.

Next, what the gridiron content lacked in quantity, it made up in quality, in spades.  I was shocked to see what becomes my first plate of PC guy Steve Breaston, the magenta version from 2012 Bowman.  That design is still jarring to see as it was what I consider a huge departure from their norm--in a good way.  Magenta is an appropriate color for Stevie as he was appearing on his second franchise that featured red in its team colors.  I love getting new 1/1s and this is even better since it's a PC guy I enjoy collecting.  It's also my 128th such card!

Joining Breaston is fellow WR Devin Funchess on a card that was unfamiliar to me, but one that I instantly loved.  Panini's 2015 National Treasures Collegiate multi-sport product included similarly designed die-cut signatures from each, and naturally this one takes on a football shape.  The autograph and numbering (#96/99) are certainly a plus, but y'all know my favorite feature here is the college uni.  Great pickups on both of these, Doug!

Hockey's last up as usual and once again there's plenty to like.  That starts with base cards of J.T. Compher and Zach Hyman from this year's UD Series I, where Upper Deck proves that nobody does the sport better.  I was very excited to see my first card of wunderkind Quinn Hughes (2019-20 OPC), a super talented D-man I got to see in his couple years in Ann Arbor (2017-19) where he'd absolute fly up the ice.  And lastly, there's Max Pacioretty, who seems like he's been around forever, from 2019-20 Artifacts.  He's close to hitting double-digit goals for the 10th straight year in his second season in Vegas.

That wasn't quite everything, though, as the toploadered cards, decoys, and tape protected something else valuable within:

A signed 8x10 of former Wolverine C Andrew Cogliano!  Doug's sent me all kinds of stuff over the years but I think this is just the second time this kind of autographed memorabilia has come my way and I love it.  It joins that relatively small collection as just the third hockey piece, and I might just have to see about framing it and putting it up somewhere.

Doug, thanks again for some fun surprises and some really nice additions to my collections!  Hopefully I'll be putting the finishing touches on your Christmas cards package (and many others) in the next week or two between COMC, eBay, and the last show of the year.

2019 trade package #30: Card Boarded

Once again I'm celebrating a Michigan Football win on a lovely (if chilly) Saturday, even if the team didn't play as well as expected.  And I'm doing so with another package from Paul who lives in Sterling Heights, Michigan.  

But wait!  It's not buddy of the blog Paul who runs Scribbled Ink, but instead Paul who runs Card Boarded!  This Paul contacted me letting me know he had some Michigan Hockey dupes to send my way, and I said sign me right up, because I love trading with new folks, especially fellow Michiganders, and especially especially anyone that has Michigan stuff I can use.

So on a day dominated by football but also marked by Michigan's second contest of the season on the ice, here's a look at all the great hockey stuff Paul sent my way:

It was a very Hockey Mikes kind of package, and I would have used that tag if it would have fit, but Paul sent me a nice variety of players so there wasn't room.  Cammalleri (1 new card, 71 total) and Comrie (14, 41) are two such players, and the latter definitely got a nice boost.  You'll see more of him in a minute, but this first bunch of five gives you a good idea of the range of years and sets spread throughout the mailer, especially Pacific and Upper Deck MVP.  Cogliano isn't a "Mike" but did get three new additions to his collection (46).

I mentioned Paul added 14 cards to my Comrie collection, and here's most of the rest.  Pacific makes a couple more quality appearances with designs I like--no surprise at this point in its run.  This scan includes the first of a number of Victory cameos you'll see in the next few, plus a shiny (a.k.a. difficult to scan but good looking) Parkhurst.  Jack Johnson (52) gets a newbie from UD, a brand also included in Comrie's count.

Here's our other Hockey Mike:  former Wolverwing Knuble (2, 24), pictured with his fourth (and sixth) team, the Flyers.  As you can see, 2007-08 MVP's base cards came with the silver signatures instead of making them an insert, which seemed pretty cool to me.  Then we get into another nice run for a single player:  John Madden (10, 29).  The three-time Cup winner (two with the pictured Devils, once with the Hawks) got a nice boost with this selection, including more Pacific goodness, Victory and MVP, and one of a couple appearances of a very cool UD Victory design, right down the middle.

After a couple more Maddens, from previously seen Victory and Ultra sets, we move on to a singular Al Montoya (17), the goalie for the first team I watched with student season tickets.  Then we go to one of my biggest hockey PCs in Brendan Morrison (11, 94), big enough that he has his own Google album in my collection.  Ranked #2 after a guy you'll see in a couple scans, he was also the beneficiary of many of the same sets we've seen already, which is a great thing since I like how they look.  2001-02 Topps makes its third and final appearance, plus there's the beautiful 2000-01 UD Vintage, once again, to its left.

Four more Morrisons lead to a singular cameo for Max Pacioretty (51) on a 2013-14 Score Gold parallel I'm surprised I didn't have (though I do have the base version).  It reminds me of the look Topps used to use on its own Gold inserts until recently.  Then it's back to the crease for yet another big player run:  Steve Shields (14, 31).  These were a huge boon to one of my smaller collections that I'm happy to be growing, and, as is often the case with goalies, there's some terrific shots.

Nothing against the rest of the cards you're seeing today, but this scan and the next are my two favorites, and I think you'll see why as you look them over.  The 2000-01 Pacific base that ends the last scan includes an outstanding photo, but that same year's Stadium Club design, leading off this one, can't be beat.  Then we're back for the Vintage design I keep mooning over, and the shiny Parkhurst look from 2003-04.

We'll get back to Shields in a minute, but first we have a couple other players to cover here.  The first is top PC guy Marty Turco (7, 126), who also gets some good crease shots.  He stars on one of the coolest cards in the whole envelope, a solid (acetate?) base card from a 2005-06 Upper Deck Trilogy subset numbered 092/599.  I don't think I'd see these before, but the Frozen in Time cards are quite thick, and the see-through aspect is always a plus.

Zach Werenski (9) then pops up on the newest card in his small collection.  We'll see if the Columbus D can score 11+ goals for the fourth straight season.

This penultimate scan is my other favorite because it includes some excellent looking stuff, plus everything's horizontal.  Comrie, Madden, and Morrison all return for their final appearances before we come to the conclusion of the Steve Shields show.  And what a show it is with some cool designs, including a sweet 2001-02 Atomic Premiere Date parallel of the already die-cut base set (#03/90) and my first Shields relic in nine hits:  a 2000-01 Black Diamond Game Gear goalie pad.  That's much cooler than the traditional jersey swatch and I think it's awesome.

Last up today is the remainder of the Turcos, and why shouldn't the #1 PC guy get to send us home?  His three horizontals are from 2002-03 MVP, 2003-04 Pacific's In the Crease, and the same year's SPx.  The Pacific insert somewhat reminds me of other inserts the brand did on the baseball end while the SPx design brings to memory the product's earlier emphasis on holograms.  Those are joined by a mini from 2001-02 Private Stock's PS-2002 insert.

Paul, thanks for reaching out and sending me some great looking, useful stuff for a bunch of my hockey collections!  I'll try to start piling up more Wings/Preds/goalies/etc. so we can do this again soon.