2024 trade package #26: Bob Walk the Plank

As Christmas approached, my longtime collecting buddy Matt, formerly of Bob Walk the Plank and now found mostly on Twitter let me know to expect a package in time for the holiday. Sure enough, one arrived with a note that said the package contained a couple big "booms" and a couple smaller ones as well. I knew I'd be in for a treat since Matt's one of the few current/former bloggers I deal with that doesn't mind going into the higher-end side of things. I'm happy to be able to do so with someone like him since we're so similar in what we collect (an MLB team and a college program too).

He most definitely delivered on the words in his note as you can see by the goods:

Ok, a Triple Threads Miggy /99, that's a very nice start. It's a Gold parallel from the 2018 set and a quality insert of the future HOFer. He's joined by former teammate Justin Verlander--whom some of you know I collect--on his 2005 Topps Update card that celebrated the also-future HOFer starting for the US in the Futures Game that happened to be hosted at his home park that year when he was just 22. Though it's not a RC as that could be found in that year's flagship product, it's still a very, very good pre-rookie year card of one of my top PC guys. Strong start maintained!

And now here's where it gets even better! Big boom #1 is a new autograph of Barry Larkin for my collection, and a card I'd be excited about for that fact alone. But better yet, he's pictured playing for Michigan! My ninth autograph of the HOF Reds SS who played his college ball in Ann Arbor hails from 2015 Panini National Treasures Collegiate and is numbered /99. It pairs up nicely with the Silver version (#d /25) that I nabbed almost nine years ago now, and becomes a top-ten piece in a PC that's grown to almost 1000 cards. Big boom indeed!

Not a Larkin fan or maybe you just don't care that much for college cards? Well then you may enjoy tonight's other massive shot off the bow, especially if you've been a Tigers fan for as long as I have. Sure, I already owned a relic card of Cecil Fielder thanks to Adam of My Cardboard Mistress, and I'd even been gifted an autograph by Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store. But until now I couldn't claim to be the owner of an autographed relic of Big Daddy. Matt said, "Problem solved!" What you see above is a signature/jersey card numbered /50 found in '24 Topps' Major League Material set. The white jersey swatch is accompanied by Fielder's extremely cool signature, and I now have a new favorite card of the Tigers fan favorite. BOOM!

As if all of that wasn't enough, he even balanced out the envelope a bit with a few football cards. QB Tom Brady appears courtesy of 2003 Fleer Authentix (and its ticket motif) and 2005 Prestige, which is one of the product's nicer designs. To cap things off he threw in another signal-caller, blog favorite Chad Henne, as seen on his 2008 Topps Rookie Progression RC while wearing Michigan's iconic uniform.

Matt, thanks again for the big and little "booms" here and for keeping up your end of our quality trading for so long. I count myself to be lucky to be part of such a partnership for as long as we both enjoy it, and I don't see that stopping in 2025. On that note, I wish your Pirates and Mountaineers success in the new year, and plenty of big hits for your collection!

Just one trade recap remains for a post-Christmas surprise envelope, and I'll have that up before the night is over.

2024 trade package #10: Bob Walk the Plank

It's always a treat when I get cards from Matt of Bob Walk the Plank since we send stuff back and forth maybe once or twice a year, but there's always a higher-end aspect to it. Back in May he treated me to quite the birthday present with these:

Current/future star Riley Greene is a nice looking Museum Collection parallel numbered to just 50. Both Griffeys are from that decade or so in the late 90s/early 2000s when everything was numbered. His Topps Stars goes to 9799 while the gorgeous team color parallel from Leaf Certified Materials is much rarer, /200!

Hill ('23 Chrome Update Orange) is even more limited at just 25 copies, plus that color could be considered a team parallel too. I've mentioned that Miller was quite useful to the Tigers as trade bait, and his 2007 UD Masterpieces card is quite the looker. I have a crazy 83 cards of Casey Mize right now, and one of the rarest of those is the '22 Select Cracked Ice you see above, which is limited to 25 copies just like the Hill (don't worry, Gavin, neither is a 12/25!).

Neither of those is the rarest card of the bunch, though, thanks to a '22 Topps Mini Red of my favorite recent Tigers catcher, Jake Rogers, that's numbered 2/5. Wow! Speaking of "wow," how about another 2007 UD Masterpieces RC of a former Tigers pitcher, this time future HOFer Max Scherzer? That's a beautiful card of the three time Cy Young winner and owner of two World Series rings. Last up is another Red parallel that's not quite as rare as the others in this scan--299 copies--of former RP Joel Zumaya, whose legacy is looking iffy due to being connected to some very troubling allegations about former player and TV guy Craig Monroe.

And here you'll see the contents of the package I was the most excited about. First up is no big deal, just a Miguel Cabrera autograph from 2005 Upper Deck Pros & Prospects. I don't think I can emphasize just how generous Matt is--though I encourage you to look through all my trade packages from him here, containing flat-out amazing cards of current and future HOFers like Kaline, Verlander, Larkin, and others--but maybe this will help: this is my fourth signature of Miggy, and aside from the one I pulled from a pack myself, the other three have come from my collecting doppelgänger in West Virginia. Seriously, my hat's off to him.

Continuing the goodness, next up is a bat relic of a guy I just mentioned above: Barry Larkin. I'm as sick as everyone else of seeing the boring 80s designs beaten to death by Topps, but I'll always be happy about a new hit of a favorite player, such as #25 of the Wolverines SS that became a Reds star!

And for something even more timely, not only is it amazing that Tarik Skubal is the front-runner for the AL Cy Young on another tire fire of a "rebuilding" team, but Matt managed to score a '22 Chrome Refractor auto (numbered /499) of his on Twitter for under $20 and have it delivered to me. What a great card to have of a guy who'll presumably be around for a bit more after the team thankfully didn't give him up for another underwhelming prospect package (see: Flaherty, Jack) at the deadline.

On the football side of things, a pair of Tom Brady cards serves as an appetizer to the main course: a brand new Chad Henne autograph, which is something I haven't been able to add for quite a while. The 2009 Gridrion Kings card you see above (#d /50) is my 144th hit of one of my favorite UM QBs, putting him six behind collection leader Rich Hill. That number is bonkers and I'm grateful for folks like Matt who've helped build that collection.

And finally tonight, this surprise quintet is a fun way of wrapping things up. Representing the Pistons, Lions, Wolverines, and Red Wings are a great mix of Starting Lineup cards showing off several different designs. Hill and Osgood are examples of partnerships with Topps and Fleer, respectively, while Batch, Griese, and Woodson have designs I'm much more familiar with when it comes to those collectible figures and their cards. As for the title-winning Wolverines pair, Griese's from the 2000 product while Woodson's from the '98 Extended Series released during his rookie season.

That's another Bob Walk the Plank package in the books and man was it a great one! I'm fortunate to trade with some very generous folks and Matt is most definitely among the best when it comes to high-end dealing. I appreciate it as always and am working on a return worthy of this to send back to Morgantown as soon as I can. Thanks, Matt!

I believe I have two more May trade packages to get to followed by some show recaps and then it'll be on to June. Stay cool, enjoy the Olympics, and join me in looking forward to the college football season in just a few weeks!

2023 trade package #s 34-37: Bob Walk the Plank, The Collector, The Lost Collector, and A Penny Sleeve For Your Thoughts

So I can finish up covering the trades I received from bloggers last December before the calendar flips to March, here's a combined trade post featuring the last four envelopes that hit my mailbox before Christmas '23:

Former Bob Walk the Plank blogger Matt and I still manage to swap cards at least once or twice a year and I enjoy that we tend to keep things fairly high-end, or at least above average. This time he sent me a very nice Michigan-themed Christmas present after picking up some stuff from COMC:

Merry Richmas! Of the five you see there, four are new to me and the fifth was a great deal he didn't want to pass up despite knowing it was a dupe for me. The latter would be card #1 in the scan, a Bright Yellow Back from 2017 Heritage that isn't numbered but is limited to just 25 copies. That's most definitely a good idea of the generosity remaining in this envelope. The other Hills include his 2019 Topps Mini Pink parallel (/25), 2020 Topps Mother's Day "Hot Pink" (/50, and could have fooled me on the color!), 2020 Topps Mini Pink (/25), and 2020 Topps Update Black (/69, NICE). That's an outstanding selection of recent numbered Hills and it's not like I get to add this many of him at once very often!

Joining him on the baseball side is one more dupe Matt couldn't pass up, a 2008 Bowman Chrome Draft Gold Refractor (/50). He's obviously got great taste because pre-2010-and-later Refractors continue to look fantastic!

Finishing up on the football end of things we have a pair of very rare Wolverines. Former TE and solid broadcaster Jake Butt is up first with a 2017 Panini Certified Mirror Green auto. It's really tough to make out on the scan but along the upper-right edge it's numbered a ridiculous 5/5--hell yeah! That's my 9th hit and 7th auto of the talented pass-catcher. Flipping over to defense, there's my third signature of LB Mike McCray, and certainly my best as it's a 2018 Elite Orange Status die-cut auto numbered 07/10. The signature's nothing to write home about (pun intended) but the card design--die-cut plus numbered--and home college uni action photo make this a winner in my book.

Thanks again for our yearly trading and in particular this outstanding Christmas present, Matt!

Next I have a fun surprise PWE from Chris, the Collector, which ended up being the second that he sent me last December and third since November:

Former Michigan pitcher and current Guardians prospect Steve Hajjar leads off this one. This is just the 9th card in his collection so the Wolverines uni-highlighted '21 Prizm Draft Green Pulsar Prizm was a fun surprise. I was of course thrilled to see another Rich Hill need out of '23 Topps Chrome Update even if Topps dropped the ball on showing him with the Padres. And Chris tapped into his extensive hockey knowledge to send me a foily 2002-03 Pacific Vanguard base of goalie Steve Shields, a very successful netminder in Ann Arbor in the early 90s who played for six teams over 10 NHL seasons.

And as if those weren't enough, the big prize was this full SI For Kids sheet from the November/December '23 issue starring none other than NCAA Champion RB Blake Corum (plus a few other notable names). Corum and his teammates delivered the greatest possible present to Wolverines fans after the holiday with a Rose Bowl win over Alabama and title win over Washington. He ended his extremely productive Michigan career with school highs in single-season rushing and total TDs and points scored and career records in those exact same stats. I look forward to seeing what he can do in the NFL though I wouldn't ask a single thing from him after his career in the college game that I much prefer anyway. But I'll be glad to add on to the paltry five cards I have for now.

Thank you, Chris, for the extra Christmas present!

Next, after sending me a nice chunk of cards last September, AJ the Lost Collector hit my mailbox again before Christmas with this small but effective group of cards:

I think I'm sensing some kind of theme here.... First up is what's easily my best card of WR Ronnie Bell so far, a '23 Prizm Draft Gold Ice Prizm. It's just my third card of the Niners pass-catcher who outperformed his recruiting ranking in college by a mile, and it'll be hard to top for a while! Breakout WR Nico Collins of the Texans is next, hailing from last year's Score set, and I look forward to seeing him continue his upward trajectory next season. RB/PR Chris Evans hasn't been able to get things going for the Bengals but I'm happy to continue to add his RCs to his collection either way, such as the '21 Donruss Optic up above. And how could you possibly go wrong with two defensive stars Michigan lost, only to continue their dominance in 2023, in Mazi Smith and DJ Turner, out of last year's Prestige? The brand continued its practice of using college photos, which of course I love, and I was glad to cross these off of the needs lists of those two players, for whom I now own two cards and one card of--welcome to the collection, DJ!

Thank you, AJ, for gifting these to me last year just before my team put a bow on possibly their best season ever!

And finally tonight, definitely the most Christmassy bunch of cards that could have sat under my tree came from A Penny Sleeve For Your Thoughts' Jon. Whether you're a fan of Culture Club's "Karma Chameleon" or get excited at the site of Christmas colors red, gold, and green, you'll love these as much as I did:

Panini's solid 2013 Cooperstown product offered cracked ice-type parallels in a number of colors, and Jon represented three of those over three different players in the HOF-themed product. Wolverine/Tiger Charlie Gehringer is up first with Gold and Red cards, which is great as I apparently already had the Green of him. The Golds are /299 with the Reds a more common /399. Tigers HOF hitter and iconic broadcaster George Kell is next, and Jon sent me his cards in three colors, including the Green, whose set is the most common and not numbered. Another former Wolverine, Gorgeous George Sisler, rounds out the group with a Red card of his own. I'll have to track down his Gold but do have his Green as well. I also have Blues /499 of Sisler and Gehringer, and need to track down Matrix (/325) cards of everyone seen here.

Jon, thank you for a very festive PWE of HOFer PCs (too many acronyms!) to close out the year in collecting, and I look forward to trading with you again this year!

Thank you once again to everyone who sent me cards in 2023, which resulted in an average of 1.5 envelopes/packages per month! No matter how long I keep blogging, I'll continue to work with all of you that enjoy swapping cards as it's one of my absolute favorite parts of being here. I already have some 2024 trades to show off once I finish up the rest of my '23 acquisitions, and I promise I'll get back to sending packages out myself soon. As a matter of fact, two are due to arrive to current trading buddies in the next day or so.

Next time: either TCDb deals (likely split into two parts), a show recap, eBay pickups, or my late-year COMC haul, though the latter will likely be my '23 finale.

2023 trade package #7: Bob Walk the Plank

Well, so much for "rapid-firing" through these trade packages (with more having arrived!), but at least I'm back today with another one!

I sent Matt of Bob Walk the Plank some stuff around Christmas and he returned the favor last month with a very nice baseball/football mailer I was quite pleased with:

Four active players, three currently with the Tigers. Baddoo just got called back up with Austin Meadows out for an indeterminate stretch due to anxiety. Baez needs to start hitting! I hope Miggy (appearing on two very nice Stadium Club parallels) has a wonderful sunset season, even playing on a dead-end team like the '23 Tigers. The Castellanos cards are all quite nice with the first three being numbered Panini offerings. You all know I love those Stat Line parallels, and numbered cards in general, so hell yeah to those!

Will Mize be another super high draft pick pitcher who flames out in Motown? I love the Leaf card of Pudge that borrows from the old Sportcasters design, which I've always thought looked cool and unique. Also, it's numbered to just 50 copies! Short came to the Tigers in a 2020 deal for Cameron Maybin and I don't get the impression he's the answer to the team's need for middle infield hitters.

And then, how fantastic is the trio of (too many!) Verlanders? Matt and I don't tend to go as high-end as we used to in our deals but these are approaching that territory. Check out a fresh-faced JV on cards from 2005 Fleer Classic Clippings and Topps Update (x2). The Fleer card has a bronze look going on including the foil and is very consistent with a number of their brands back then like Greats of the Game, and more importantly it's a RC of the sure-fire HOFer. Meanwhile, his Topps Update base isn't a RC since that was found in the flagship set earlier that year, but it's still a very desirable card. You know I love the Gold parallel numbered to the set's year, 2005, even more. Thanks for helping me stick with my blog's brand, Matt!

The rest of the baseball portion includes three horizontal cards. I was happy to see Jim Abbott's '22 Stadium Club base as I didn't already have it (or just about anything else in this envelope, actually!). Joining Verlander with adding a Topps Gold to his collection is Miggy on a 2015 card that pairs him with fellow AL RBI leaders Trout and cheater Nelson Cruz (boo!). Lastly, a very appreciated new Cronenworth hails from 2021 Topps Gallery, and this is apparently the Green parallel even though the rookies in the set have much, much less of the color on their cards than the vets. It's numbered /125 which helped me ID it, and it's a great looking item to boot.

It would be impossible, though, to compete with the next two cards of HOFers in terms of star power and quality. Hit #1 is an Al Kaline bat relic from Panini's 2013 Golden Age. Team logo or not, it's a very nice looking card of a team icon known for his bat. You don't just throw around Kaline cards without a thought in trades so I really appreciate Matt's generosity here. That looks to be my 11th Kaline hit, split between four relics and seven signatures.

Speaking of generosity, how about the second item, which had my jaw dropping? For a relatively underappreciated HOFer, Barry Larkin's autographs can sell for some pretty solid money. That's why that term applies to Matt picking up the above 2022 Ginter X autograph of the Michigan/Cincy legend, signed in a sharp silver pen and numbered to a tiny 25 copies. Wow! This is the kind of item I love to add to my collection but don't tend to focus on because of the cost, opting for quantity over quality. Do yourself a favor and find a trade partner like Matt that'll get something like this for you, then load them up with good stuff and they might just return the favor like this! I count 23 different Larkin hits in my collection, and this is my eighth auto. Again, wow!

We'll end today's post with some football items, and while nothing was quite as explosive as those last two cards we looked at, there was zero drop in quality. That starts with a base trio of GOAT QB Tom Brady from 2004, and of course it makes me wistful to see three totally different manufacturers represented there. The two cards of fellow UM QB Brian Griese are even better as they're numbered to 150 (2004 Topps Black) and 32(!) copies (2008 Score Artist's Proof). Numbered inserts all day, please! A '22 Score insert of beastly DE Aidan Hutchinson, seen in college action (with, I believe, LB Nikhai Hill-Green making a cameo) represents a newer generation of football alumni. And we bookend this scan with a pair of cards of another GOAT, DB Charles Woodson. I appreciate the '22 Score base plenty but I really liked being gifted his second appearance in Fleer's '98 Ultra set. The earlier card has a beautiful college action shot and serves as his RC but this first one of him with the Raiders is also a big plus.

What can I say? It was another Bob Walk the Plank mailer filled with greatness as he never misses. Thanks so much for being one of my most trusted trade partners, Matt!

Back with more trade action soon!

2022 trade package #3: Bob Walk the Plank

This evening's trade package comes from a guy who blogs maybe slightly less than I do--I mean, come on, it's March already! Matt, who used to blog at Bob Walk the Plank, and now can be found more commonly on Twitter, hit me back in our longstanding back-and-forth dealing by directly shipping a package of goodies from COMC. They even arrived in the same year he requested his shipment! (Seriously, they do seem to be getting better on that front.)

Matt surprised me with some quality stuff (as usual) including a couple deep cuts that show how much he pays attention to the players I collect.

Here's two pages of some outstanding additions to my collections!:

Scan #1 opens with six cards from Brett Adcock's 2016 Bowman/Chrome Draft rainbow. Adcock, a P drafted by Houston in 2016, never made it beyond AA and was seen pitching in indy ball last year. He has just 31 cards to collect according to TCDB (making him today's deepest cut), with five of those being minor league issues and 10 more that are 1/1s, so my collection of 11 is pretty solid (#1 on TCDB, baby!). Up here you can see the Blue Border /150; Chrome Gold /50, Green /99, and Purple /250; and Gold Border /50 and Green Border /99. The remaining five I need for the rainbow are #d /150, /25 (x2), and /5 (x2). Well done, Matt!

Next up is a lone Hal Morris, but given that I'm at 302 of his 469 (#1 on TCDB, baby!), anything new is a good find. Better yet, this is a numbered '90s insert: 1997 Circa's Rave parallel, which is limited /150 copies, quite rare for the time!

Right after him is another pitcher, though one that's not quite as obscure as Adcock. Murray pitched for the Padres, Tigers, and Indians, and trades like this one keep me inching toward his 39 cards. Thanks to these I have 29 (#1 on TCDB, baby!), including his '97 Bowman Blue Ink auto and '98 Bowman Chrome International Refractor. The latter's especially nice as, besides being a Refractor, it's a somewhat tougher find given the era. I need to track down two more of his '97 Bowman signatures and another '98 Refractor /5 to sew up his non-minors (and others, including a buyback) collection, which is pretty cool.

Scan #2 beings with a bit more baseball before veering off into other sports. First up is card #218 in my collection of former Mariners/D-Backs closer J.J. Putz (#1 on TCDB, baby!) a surprisingly rare 2014 Topps 1st Edition. Hit the link to see how those were inserted and you'll see that just 10 copies were made of each card! They're not serial-numbered but at least have the obvious logo up front. This is a very rare card I was unlikely to get myself so it was perfect for this envelope.

Speaking of rare and former Michigan pitchers, next is a numbered pair of Clayton Richard, who's near a milestone at 147 cards (#1 on TCDB, baby!) out of his 437. On the left is a beautiful 2008 Bowman Draft Chrome Gold Refractor /50, and its diminutive partner is the Pink parallel /25 from 2019 Topps Mini. Very cool cards of the former QB-turned-pitcher.

Speaking of QBs, heading over to the gridiron I was very happy to see a new Chad Henne for one of my larger football PCs. I currently count 313 cards of the former UM gunslinger in my collection (#2 on TCDB...CRAP!) and few are as rare as the 2014 Rookies & Stars Longevity Black (#d /10) parallel you see above. Then again, I do have a cyan plate to go with that. Well, I did say "few", didn't I? This is certainly a nice addition to one of my favorite PCs.

And next we have a pair of talented college wideouts in David Terrell and Amani Toomer. The Terrell is card #157 in his collection (also #2 on TCDB...for now), a 2002 Pacific Adrenaline base with a "Pacific Nights Special Edition" stamp and digital serial numbering /10, making it one of the rarest cards in his bunch. I don't know much about that promotion that looks to have appeared across a number of Pacific's products, but I love the rarity and am happy to have the card.

Meanwhile, Toomer's card, #318 (good for a distant 3rd on TCDB, maybe I should stick to baseball) is somewhat similar, from a set called 2002 Playoff Honors Player of the Week Panelists. The backs are numbered, also to just 10 copies, and the write-up about each player's qualifications is pretty nice, if Amani's card is any indication:

Hail, hail, indeed!

And we'll finish up on the ice as Michigan Hockey heads into conference tournament play before hopefully securing a #1 seed and eventual Frozen Four appearance. One guy who was no stranger to those was former WolverWing and head coach Red Berenson. My 39 cards (tied for second on TCDB by just one card!) of the Wolverines legend include this amazing pair. On the left is a 2004-05 In the Game Franchises US East card depicting him with the Rangers, one of his four NHL teams, albeit the one he spent the least time with. It's #d /10 with a Chicago National Convention stamp that seems to be more accepted than some of the random ones you'll see pop up at times. That's joined by a card from one of the cooler hockey products in recent memory: 2012-13 In the Game Motown Madness. The Gold parallel you see of the five-year Red Wing isn't numbered but is said to be limited to just 10 copies. Sweet!

Last up this evening is a technical Michigan uni card of a goalie who almost took the team all the way to the top in 2011. Shawn Hunwick was out of his mind that year and eventually made an emergency appearance for Columbus in the pros, leading to a few cardboard appearances. I own 37 of them (hey, #1 on TCDB, baby!), and the one you're seeing today is a Sapphire parallel #d /85 of his 2012-13 Upper Deck Artifacts RC. It's been tough sledding finding his cards at reasonable prices so I really, really appreciate Matt including this one as much as anything else in this envelope.

Matt, thank you once again for a very thoughtful mailer that clearly shows how much effort you put into finding some great cards for my Michigan PCs, even chipping in towards the ones where I'm clearly #1 on TCDB (baby!). I always love our deals because we both value sending some top notch stuff to each other, and I promise that'll continue from my end after I build up enough to send a package your way.

Up ahead: lots more trade packages and eventually cards from TCDB deals!

2021 trade package #20: Bob Walk the Plank

I'm taking a break from sorting through that Facebook lot (currently working on a 5000-count box full of '96 Score!) to thank another cool person for a trade package so I can put away some cards.

The envelope from today's post arrived a few weeks ago courtesy of buddy of the blog Matt (@walktheplank82), the estranged writer of Bob Walk the Plank, though he does occasionally still post over there. As always, I was very pleased to see what he sent:

Tigers, part 1. A lot of what Matt sent this time was from 2021 Bowman, Select, Stadium Club, and Topps flagship, meaning practically everything was new to me.

Today's a good day to be mentioning Cameron--who, along with Jake Rogers, is starting to make the Verlander trade look less lopsided--as he came up with a huge two-out RBI double to overtake the Jays in extras. After some of the bums the team has trotted out the past few years it's great to see what guys like Daz and Derek Hill can do for you.

Dingler is a rare OSU alum I'm rooting for as he's been more than worth a second-round choice in last year's draft based on the numbers he's been putting up in the Minors. Best of all, the numbered Refractor Matt sent me is blue!

And Mize has definitely taken some steps this season on the way to fulfilling some of that promise that made him go #1 overall in 2018. He currently leads the pitching staff (and in fact the team overall) in bWAR, is tops in innings pitched, second in wins (with 6) and has a complete game to his name. The Bowman and mini Topps insert are cool but I really like seeing the Stadium Club base next to his design variation, which should be the '92 version. I'm not sure how short-printed those are, but the latter is especially cool!

IF prospect Paredes hasn't done a lot this year due to injuries but he's young enough to still get a good look the next couple seasons. Reyes is only 19 so we may not know if he'll be a factor at SS for a while yet. Skubal is definitely more of a known quantity at this point. He's roughly the same age as Mize and doesn't have the same prospect pedigree, but his performance in the Minors has earned him a role in the rotation and he's run with it to the tune of eight wins to lead the team. The HR ball has been his enemy but he appears to be a fixture for years to come. That Stadium Club base provides a great look at the end of his delivery.

And then we have the guy currently considered the team's top prospect after being selected 1-1 in 2020 as many expected. The corner IF with the big bat got promoted to both AA and recently AAA this year, and I may have to get down to Toledo to see the stacked roster of prospects they've got right now, which includes another one in Riley Greene. Matt sent both his Bowman and Chrome base cards as well as a shiny Chrome insert to bolster my small collection of the future (hopeful) superstar.

And if those Tigers prospects weren't excited enough for me, he treated me to a trip to the #cronezone with this quartet of recent Michigan star Jake Cronenworth. San Diego shrewdly traded for him late in 2019 and he's rewarded them by placing a fairly close second (tie) in last year's Rookie of the Year balloting, then putting up 5.0 bWAR plus almost 20 HR thus far in 2021. He has positional versatility and has done quite well hitting near the top and middle of the order. Thanks to these cards from Bowman/Chrome, Select, and Topps, I now own five cards of Jake with the Padres and 17 overall--I was collecting his 2015 Bowman Draft/Chrome cards before he was cool! Now that everyone knows him and he's appearing in way more products I'll likely have to wait a while for some of his better stuff to be affordable, but in the meantime it pays to have friends like Matt.

These 2021 Topps HR Challenge cards make for a nice brief intermission. I believe when I asked him, Matt told me he probably threw them in by accident, but it worked out nicely since they hadn't been scratched, and I immediately thought of another buddy of the blog, Paul, who's addicted to the game, and has done quite well for himself on it when he's not jinxing players into 0-for-30 slumps and significant injuries.

Now we head over to the gridiron, with Michigan due to kick off the 2021 season in under two weeks! And there's lots of college action photos here to help me get ready. Brady's cards are split right down the middle with 2.5 each of him in college and pro action, and I love the Panini-branded items from this year--Contenders, Prizm, and Score. This year's QB play doesn't need to approach that of #10 to lead to good things for the team, but if that's Cade McNamara's (or eventually J.J. McCarthy's) future then that works for me!

And then we have a couple much more recent alumni. Collins was a huge WR recruit who came to Michigan over the likes of Bama, and he was about as productive as he could be considering the playcalling didn't send the ball his way nearly as much as it should have since it would have pretty much been Henne-to-Braylon all over again. Better yet, he had the dubious honor of being selected by one of the worst organizations in the league, the Texans. But he still has a ton of potential so we'll see what happens for him this year. I'm loving all three cards Matt sent from Contenders, Prizm (an Orange Ice parallel, I believe), and Score, representing his debut in my collection.

Meanwhile, Chris Evans (the RB, not Captain America) found himself selected by the Bengals in the sixth round. He had a pretty decent career in Ann Arbor with the lowlight of a lost 2019 as he was suspended for academic impropriety. Outside of that he was a great story, and a dynamic player out of the backfield to boot. I don't know if he'll last in the League very long but I hope he does, whether it's in Cincy or elsewhere. That Prizm Draft card you see above is my first of him as well.

We started the football section with NFL's GOAT QB and we'll end it (and this post) with a guy I consider one of the greatest DBs in college and NFL history: Charles Woodson. This is a fun quartet with three cards from his '98 rookie season: a Playoff Contenders Leather insert (cool die-cut!) plus RCs from Score and UD's Black Diamond Rookie Edition. And lastly, I love seeing that Woodson is still appearing in new products like 2021 Score thanks to their Game Face insert. It's obvious how serious Charles was when he played and that's why he was one of the best.

Matt, thanks again for this fun surprise full of great stuff! I have some stuff set aside for you and continue to add to it, especially thanks to the plethora of stuff I got on Facebook (Jason Kendall might make an appearance or two), so I hope to have something you can show off on Twitter soon.

I'll continue to try to carve out a bit more time to cover stuff I have in-hand before recapping the Facebook stuff, and that includes a show, two eBay purchases, and a TCDB trade, all of which I believe I've mentioned a few times here. Until then, if you don't hear from me, assume I'm sorting even. More. Cards.

2021 trade package #9: Bob Walk the Plank

I know I'm always repeating myself about this but it's really nice dealing with a bunch of folks with different trading styles. I have some that opt for PWEs, others that will send bubble mailers; with a few I tend towards rapid-fire deals while some go the once-in-a-blue-moon route.

One dude that falls into the latter part of the second category is Matt, formerly of Bob Walk the Plank, who's still plenty active on Twitter. Apart from maybe one or two others, he's been my high-end trading guy, meaning that we generally don't have a lot of envelopes go back and forth on a yearly basis, given that neither of us is rich enough to afford that kind of thing. That, and as he noted in a recent Twitter discussion with me, it's difficult to acquire new trade bait right now.

The last time I posted cards I received from him was last June, when he sent me a $1000 package of stuff. Given the absolute lunacy around the hobby right now that's probably not much of an exaggeration! Two of the items are Jake Cronenworth cards, and his prices have exploded beyond reason. Then you add a super nice relic of Al Kaline and auto of Ivan Rodriguez, plus a Brady RC and rookie-year parallel, and you've got a pricey package indeed!

So whenever he lets me know he's sent something my way, I know that means he's put both effort and money into one or more cards I know I'll treasure.

That was most definitely the case once again this week after he alerted me that I'd have two envelopes coming to me directly from eBay sellers, which is awesome if you can get them to do that and eliminate yourself as the middleman (not to mention more shipping cost). I'm showing them here in the order in which I received them: 

While I have to wait until tomorrow to learn Michigan Basketball's fate against Florida State in an exciting Sweet 16 matchup, here's a guy whose team made it all the way to the title game eight years ago. In his second and final season in Ann Arbor, Burke led a team of future NBAers to the finals, going off for 24 points in the six-point loss to Louisville, earning himself a ton of accolades along the way. Though he's now with his fifth NBA team (Dallas, with a quick stop in Philly in between tenures with the Mavs) he's had a solid career after making the 2013-14 All-Rookie team.

That was with the Jazz, who traded for him from Minnesota at the draft, and that's whom he's pictured with here on a 2015-16 Immaculate magenta plate inserted into 2016-17 National Treasures, as Panini likes to do sometimes. I don't have the original Dual Memorabilia card--my Burke collection is still relatively small at just six hits--but this is already my second plate, so that's extremely cool!

No matter where he ends up in the pros I'll continue to collect Trey in memory of his contributions to the team's postseason success in the past decade.

After I thanked Matt for the first card to let him know it had made it safely, he promised the next one would be even more PC-centric for me. And if the Burke had me seeing red (in a good way--magenta means printing plates!) then this one that came the following day definitely had me looking at the world through rose-tinted glasses. You all know old Rich Hill is my favorite PC guy and I get geeked for any items of his I can add to the collection, but better yet, I love it when I can add items like this to further my argument as the top collector of the former Wolverine hurler. Why would anyone care enough to oppose me? I don't know!

Anyway, what we have here, as you can probably tell by the reverse image--Mr. Not-So-Resting Pitch Face is a lefty--is a plate from a Chrome card, and as it happens, it's Hill's 2020 Topps Chrome Update Magenta Plate. That makes it the most recently produced 1/1 in my Hill collection, which numbers roughly 30 (out of around the 150 I own in my entire collection). Yep, you could say I'm a bit of a supercollector. Apparently not that great of one, though, since Matt apparently snatched this up in a BIN/OBO deal before I even knew it was available. With friends like this who needs eBay?

My collection of Rich playing for the Twins remains small since I haven't had the opportunity to pick up too many of his 2020 issues, but that's fine since I'll get 'em eventually, and anyway now I can look forward to landing my first cards of him with the Rays whenever those are ready. Given his health issues I think Tampa was an ideal landing spot for him with their recent pitching innovations (like openers) that I'm betting help get him on the mound for more games, if not total innings. The opportunity to see the over-the-hill Hill back on the hill soon is one of many reasons I'm excited for baseball to return in 2021.

Matt, thanks again for this super nice high-end pair of eBay wins that you so expertly pinpointed for my collections! Whenever I can break out of my own trade bait slump you can count on me hitting you back with one or more nice Pirates/Mountaineers items that you'll love as much as I appreciate these.

2020 trade package #14: Bob Walk the Plank

I appreciate every person who's generous enough to put in the effort to send me new cards, whether it's one or hundreds, commons or stars. And it's great to have such a diverse group of friends, including a few with whom I can send higher-end stuff back and forth. It really is a blast when I get to add new stuff to my collection that I wouldn't have thought of, or cards that didn't fit my price range.

One of those folks is Matt of Bob Walk the Plank (and, since his retirement, mostly @walktheplank82). My Mountaineer buddy had last sent me some ridiculously awesome stuff that I posted last December, and then a new envelope showed up about a week ago. "Seems like forever since I sent something your way," said the note he included, though it didn't feel that way to me. I'm also the type that prefers to send the occasional larger package instead of a bunch of smaller ones. Either way, if you looked at what he got me late last year, I think you'd agree that he was allowed as much time as he needed to reload.

I can confirm that Matt spent that time well, as the contents will prove:

There were three cards in this package I knew were coming eventually, and two of those are the 2015 Bowman Draft Blue (/150) and Gold (/50) parallels of Padres two-way player Jake Cronenworth seen above. Matt was nice enough to find those for me on COMC a while ago and I appreciated him including them here as I continue to work on his collection. I'd love to see the former Wolverine get some time in the majors with his unique skillset!

The rest you see here were definitely surprises, starting with Bondo's 2003 E-X RC. This was in the short-printed range of that year's product, which once again went the acetate route, an excellent decision. We sure could use more cards that look like this these days!

Next is an Al Kaline jersey from UD's 2005 Sweet Spot Classic. That's absolutely the kind of thing I can look forward to in an envelope from Matt and I love it. Look at the beautiful classic photo and the vintage jersey swatch of Mr. Tiger, who may be gone but definitely won't be forgotten. I don't have many similar pieces at this point but seeing this one makes me want to drop a few bucks on more if I can find them.

Moving on to a still-active player, I can't say I was expecting to see such a nice autograph of ace reliever Andrew Miller! Numbered just 03/10, this is from 2007 UD Black's Game Day Ticket Autographs Gold Spectrum parallel, another set that uses the ticket motif to great effect. Miller of course wasn't a Tiger for long as they traded him and fellow first-rounder Cameron Maybin in the deal that brought Miguel Cabrera to Motown, but that paid off handsomely for Detroit, and I'm happy for Miller that he was able to emerge as a very effective RP when starting didn't go his way. Miller's not the type of guy I'd tend to keep in my Detroit PC, but there's no way I'm getting rid of a card that's this nice!

And now we switch back to another Hall of Fame Tiger. Pudge will always be remembered more for his time in Arlington, but there's no denying the positive effect he had on Detroit in his four-plus seasons, helping the team back to respectability (and then more). So of course I'm thrilled that my first autograph of the catching legend is this one where he's shown as a member of my team. It also helps that it's on a very cool design from Fleer's 2004 Genuine Insider product, where the section that holds the signature slides in and out of the card's left side. Oh, and Pudge has a great autograph. And it's numbered /150. So, yeah, there's a lot to like about this one!

Heading over to the football side it's totes the GOATs, and two really, really nice cards bookend a fun base trio. The latter include 2002 Topps (not sure how I didn't have that!), 2003 Classics, and 2004 Playoff Hogg Heaven. Card #1, though, was a total surprise: a Torquers (blue foil) parallel of Tom's 2000 Press Pass card. The base version of this alone isn't cheap, so this rarer parallel of a sweet college uni card is awesome! I definitely appreciate it more because it's a Michigan uni card, not because of its value, but that doesn't mean the latter is lost on me!

And as if that weren't generous enough, we'll end on the card that I would say started this particular package. If you caught Matt's surprising new post on Saturday then you might remember that he included some shots of cards he came across while reorganizing and consolidating his collection. One of those happened to be Brady's 2000 Skybox Dominion RC, one he shares with fellow QB Giovanni Carmazzi of the Niners. The Hofstra product was the second QB selected in 2000 (third round), and one of six that went before the Patriots changed their franchise forever at #199 in the sixth.

I don't even want to guess what either of these big Brady items is going for right now since I'd rather celebrate having them. You may recall that I'm slowly chasing every non-auto/relic of each Wolverine in the NFL so the Dominion card is a big get as just my third of Brady's RCs (Fleer Tradition and UD Victory). There's still a long way to go so when someone sends one of these my way like Matt did it really means a lot.

Matt, thanks for once again bringing the thunder in our high-end back-and-forth! I don't have anything nearly as nice to send to you at the moment thanks to not being able to get to a show, but I do have a few things handy and might return the favor soon anyway.

And as a reminder for everyone who's missing Matt's great content, please make sure to follow him on Twitter @walktheplank82 where he now posts his pickups.

2019 trade package #40: Bob Walk the Plank

Though he may no longer be an active blogger, Matt from Bob Walk the Plank is very much still out and about in the collecting world, which is easy to tell if you follow him on Twitter.  He posts his pickups and trades over there so he's definitely worth a follow.

Speaking of trades, my West Virginian collecting counterpart sent some cards my way--in an unorthodox fashion--in time for Christmas.  I love the spectrum of people I swap cards with since they increase the diversity of my collection, and if I had to label the stuff I get from Matt at this point, I'd go with higher-end Tigers and Wolverines with a nice emphasis on my PCs.  Whereas I have a show (or two) that acts as a good source for fun inserts and low-end hits, which I supplement via eBay and COMC, Matt hits me back in a big way with quality over quantity, and the results have been amazing.

That's why I should have known who was behind a pair of cards that arrived separately last month that research ultimately proved came from eBay sellers.  I knew I wasn't waiting on anything so I took to Twitter and Matt reminded me that I had a few things on the way.  Boy did I ever!

In total, Matt appears to have had three cards shipped directly to me, which made for a fun surprise before I even saw what the cards were, at which point my jaw hit the floor.  Please enjoy this high-end Christmas package from him that would lead you to believe that I live in a certain city in Ohio (barf) if not for their Michigan connection:

Spuds-erman, Spuds-erman, does whatever a Spudser-man can!  I believe this super cool Chris Sabo autograph from 2003 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites was the first of the three to arrive, and I was definitely excited when I opened it (before realizing that I hadn't bought it and didn't know who it came from).  That's because while Sabo is a pretty well-known player, he currently only has 25 autographs to his name, and of those only five of the products are MLB licensed (e.g. Topps). 

As it turns out this is actually Sabo's first autograph, and it's from one of Topps' products with the somewhat rebooted (it was used a bit in the 90s) Archives/Fan Favorites branding in the early 2000s before they milked it for all it was worth.  It's a nice portrait of Spuds on the 1991 Topps design, and I like that the back notes his excellent stats in the Reds' surprise 1990 World Series win.  As for the front, he has a very interesting signature to look at, and now I'm excited to add hit #1 of the '88 NL ROY, a card that gets me to about 75% of his 200-plus cards I'm chasing (and 181 overall).

I believe this card arrived that same day, and again, it was in another envelope from a different address, increasing my confusion.  I love including 1/1s in some of my trade packages--and had especially good luck buying them on COMC during the Black Friday sales, benefiting Matt, among others--but getting one back was a really nice treat.  Better yet, it stars one of my favorite Michigan Football PCs, RB Chris Perry.  As you can see, this one comes from Topps Draft (2005), one of my favorite Topps products back when they made them.  The designs could be pretty fun, especially the 2003 and '04 versions, and of course I loved seeing the players in their college unis.

In this case Perry was going into his second year so he's grouped with the vets, joining Tom Brady and Drew Henson.  I'll also point out that this is one of a number of products in the hobby that inserted plates for the fronts and backs of the cards, which is a fun thing to see every now and then.  That's actually the case for 2005 Topps Total, which is responsible for the other Perry plate in my collection--the front version, if you were curious!  This is a great addition to my Perry collection, 115 cards strong with 52 of them being of the "hits" variety, good for 9th in the collection.  It's also plate/1-of-1 #129 in my collection.

Now here I'll pause a minute for effect and to mention two things.  The first is that today's theme is high-end Cincinnati cards, not players named "Chris," so expect something a little different next.  The other is that any reasonable person who got those two cards above would be thinking to themselves that their (unofficial) secret Santa had already been especially generous and thankful for what they got.  I am that kind of reasonable person and at that point I felt that Matt had already done enough to ensure a merry Christmas for me and my collection.  Apparently he felt otherwise because he let me know that one more card would be arriving soon.  And boy did it ever:

Yowza!  Now there's a Topps card I can get behind!  Transcendent's prices aren't affordable for most collectors, but sometimes when you let breakers pay the gambling tax and then list them on eBay you can benefit.  Even so, I really have to credit Matt for his generosity in sending me this 2017 autograph of Reds/Wolverines HOF legend Barry Larkin!  I think this is what today's kids call "being extra," but in the best of ways.  Larkin's autographs aren't the cheapest even on the lower end so an on-card version limited to 25 copies in this ultra high-end product probably set Matt back a few bucks.  Between that and all the red going on between this and the Sabo, I think he really got into the spirit of the season!

So let's get into the details of the card.  The front has an image from the previously mentioned 1990 World Series, done up very artistically.  There's a section that's plenty large for a signature and I love that Barry managed to loop his initials a bit above it to where the numbering is, plus I just flat out love his signature.  The back has a good writeup that mentions some key things about his career, like going 30/30 and winning the '95 NL MVP, plus I like that blurb about training with a guy that's somewhat his current counterpart in Lindor.  I think mentioning the '90 series would have been cool, but short of that, thumbs up from me.

But the biggest aspect of this card besides the signature is its thickness.  A 2D scan can't portray this very well, but not only does the card have a lot of depth to it, it's also very heavy because it has a gold frame around it.  Topps has done framed cards recently to what I would consider good effect--hell, it's much better than another of the endless color or Hallmark holiday parallels--and that adds to the quality of this piece, making it something I'd definitely like to display if I was on the fence about it for some reason.

While I'm proud of the size of my Larkin collection (772 cards as of this post, including 21 hits), this is just my sixth auto of the former superstar, which I know is more than some other collectors, but a  number I'd like to grow.  That's not intended to be a humblebrag but instead another reason why I'm so impressed with Matt's generosity here.  Impressed but not surprised, considering the dude has sent me amazing stuff like autos of Griffey, Kaline, and a previous Larkin, among others.

Matt, thanks again for this amazing trio which most certainly let me enjoy a merry cardmas!  I look forward to swapping more cards this year and already have a few things in-hand that I think you'll like.

Everyone else can stay tuned for even more trade package fun, including another in-person deal and a box from our neighbor to the north slightly east.

2019 trade package #8: Bob Walk the Plank

I'm back for a second day in a row thanks to the small size (but huge impact) of today's envelope.  Semi-retired blogger and ever-awesome trader Matt of Bob Walk the Plank (@walktheplank82 if you're not following him for some reason) let me know to expect a couple low-numbered non-autos in my mailbox before long.

I'll let you all decide if he delivered:

WHOA.

What he said.  That is a nice pair of high-end National Treasures Tigers relics right there representing guys responsible for over 120 bWAR, two MVPs (Cabrera with the Tigers), and three Cy Youngs (one with Detroit).

Miggy's card is from the 2018 product's Greatness Memorabilia Prime set, and let me tell you, does it ever live up to its name.  Numbered to just 10 copies, it comes with an interesting two-color swatch that increases in height as you go from right to left, to the point that the jersey seems to be busting out of the window when you get to the biggest piece.  It's definitely up there with the one I showed off yesterday.

Meanwhile, Scherzer's card is slightly higher numbered--to 15--but is still top notch thanks to a larger swatch that includes a nice chunk of three-colored patch.  Hailing from 2017, this one could be found in the Colossal Stat Relics Prime set, and again I think Panini used a relic that earns the "colossal" and "prime" titles.  Of course this one is highlighting his obscene 21-3 record from 2013, earning a career high in wins en route to the first of his three Cys, not to mention All-Star appearance number one of six (and counting).  I'm still glad to be getting cards of Max as he was great during his time in Motown, so I'm gratified that Panini made a card of him with the Tigers as recently as 2017.

Matt, thanks again for these two amazing new pieces!  I'm happy to continue our annual back-and-forth even if it's decreased a bit in frequency.  There's no way that'll stop me from picking up new Pirates and Mountaineers for you--even NSFW stuff of Pittsburgh heartthrob Bob Walk.

2018 trade package #9: Bob Walk the Plank

And now for something completely different, here's what Matt from Bob Walk the Plank calls "Some PC needs and some boom!" in his latest trade package:

"BOOM" has become the code word for the high quality stuff we send back and forth, and Matt more than kept up his end of the bargain as usual with three Topps Mini Blank Back 1/1s of a couple of my PC guys, J.J. Putz (2013 and '14) and Clayton Richard (2014).  While you can definitely count these among the cards I wouldn't buy myself I'll happily take them if somebody else is footing the bill!  And leave it to Bob Walk's #1 fan to be the one to do that given some of the craziness he's sent my way in the past, such as a pair of signed Topps contracts.  Wow!

And these have me in a celebratory mood, starting with a minor milestone of 10 1/1s for Putz (and seven for Richard), putting him second only to Rich Hill (18) in my entire collection in that department.  But more importantly these finally got me over the century mark for a new grand total of 102 1/1s!

I like that these Topps-sold slabs hail from those two Mini sets since I found those cards to be fun to collect, maybe a bit closer to the set-building and value characteristics I valued from Topps before they began to cater exclusively to breakers.  Once the prices on boxes and cases crashed people really seemed to enjoy going crazy and pulling fun stuff left and right.  So I definitely have good feels when it comes to these products, besides the fact that I'm thrilled to add even more high-end stuff to those PCs.

And speaking of them being high-end, don't even act like I didn't buy that donut, because I've got the documentation right here:

Oddly enough, the last time I saw these was the aforementioned Topps contracts sent to me by Matt himself!

As incredible as those are, I think Wes has been rubbing off on him a bit because there were two more cards in this envelope (which was barely enough to contain all the awesome), including this gem:

I mean jeez, Matt, it took you long enough to send me another top-notch Al Kaline autograph.  I guess it's the fifth one you've sent me (out of the six I own), but you made me wait more than two years!  All kidding aside, you can't get much more "BOOM" than those three 1/1s and a sick sig of Mr. Tiger numbered 10/25 from 2017 Topps Five Star.  Al's always had an impeccable John Hancock and it looks fantastic here in silver ink.  I really should figure out a way to display some of my best stuff like Matt's Kalines and the many other heavy hitters he's sent--perhaps you've somehow forgotten about the Griffey autograph from last time?  BOOM indeed.

I mentioned there was one other really nice card in this envelope but I'm going to leave you hanging and direct you over to TMM this evening to check it out as it fits squarely in one of my many football PCs.

Thanks again, Matt, for this outstanding volley!  Looking back at past trade posts from you makes me realize how quickly we went from casual trading to lobbing bombs back and forth, making your favorite hashtag all the more appropriate.  I look forward to seeing your reaction to the stuff that made it to you this past weekend while I work on reloading once again!