4/3/26 card show report: $25, no foolin'

Well this should be a pretty quick one, even if it took me too long as usual to get to.

I headed over to my usual monthly show in early April only to find that my favorite seller hadn't had much time to sort stuff into his sale boxes, meaning there wasn't much new for me to flip through. I ended up spending a year-low $25 because I'm not the type to throw down cash just for the sake of it. And it worked out well because I certainly made up for it this month. More on that in a few posts.

Anyway, that $25 was easily split between 100 dime cards and a trio for which he wanted $15. Here's a look at the loot:

The juniors Griffey and Ripken came from the dime boxes and those cards hail from last year's Topps Archives. Griffey's is from the '64 Topps portion while Cal's is done up in the style of the then-20-year-old '05 Topps set; '96's design can also be found in this product.

And then we come to the day's biggest pickups that account for the three-for-$15 portion: a trio of beautiful 90s Pacific die-cut inserts of Ivan Rodriguez! I noticed these in the guy's showcase and happily accepted the price. In order, above you can see 1999 Pacific Crown Collection's In the Cage followed by 1999 and 2000 Paramount's Fielder's Choice.

Both of these insert sets are among my favorites from the decade--one whose chase cards obviously rule--and are part of the fantastic history of the Pacific brand. The In the Cage cards simulated batting cages, though other versions also replicated foul poles in more examples of the manufacturer's ingenuity. Better yet are the glove-themed Fielder's Choice die-cuts, which are not only cut to conform to the shape of a fielder's most important equipment, but even simulate the webbing! Pudge is a natural fit in these sets as won 13 gold gloves, good for first place among catchers and three better than second-place star Johnny Bench.

The Cage card is my first from that set while the '99 glove joins Greg Maddux and the 2000 card gets added to the Ripken and Gwynn I previously snagged. I can't wait to add more of these, especially if I can find them at these outstanding prices.

We'll finish up with some basketball and football dime cards. Bufkin, LeVert, Robinson, and Wagner are all examples of some colorful inserts of hoopers I was glad to snag for 10 cents each. LeVert's Pistons are actually battling his former team, the Cavs, as I write this, and that's because they managed to overcome a big deficit against Mo's Magic.

As for football stuff, I turned up last year's Score base of former Packer/new Cowboy Rashan Gary to go with a pair of '25 base of national champion QB JJ McCarthy out of Donruss and Panini's Mosaic.

This could have been a bit of a downer of a show but I was able to turn that around with some "90s inserts rule!" goodness, plus I didn't regret having a bigger budget available this month, so once again, it was a good show.

I'm anticipating that my next three posts will be blogger trade packages, followed by the May show recap, a May trade, and my first TCDb deals of the year. I certainly have plenty to recap, even if I'm slow and lazy about doing so. I'll try to get motivated to at least show off the trades soon to thank the senders for their generosity.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2/28/25 card show report: Marching into spring

I've been slacking again, or more accurately, focusing on other stuff that's grabbed my interest. That said, I haven't forgotten blogging, even if I'm terrible at keeping up with it!

Some of you may recall that I combined my first two 2025 shows into a single post because both dates were in January. Similarly, the "March" show's first date (since I usually go on Fridays) was the final day of February. Confused? Don't worry--the April and May shows took place during their corresponding months.

Once again it's been far too long for me to remember the details on this one, but I spent an almost-yearly high of $115 (January's was $120), largely thanks to one high-end card that I'm sure will get posted on another blog soon enough. There was also the usual nice stack of trade bait destined for some of my favorite folks, plus this unassigned stuff up for grabs:

The baseball stuff was mostly very cheap autos with a stray relic thrown in.

As for football, I went for a couple eye-popping patches and a patch/auto, plus a couple other cheapies I'm hoping someone will take off my hands. You know the drill: claim 'em if you want 'em!

And then there's my small pile of keepers:

Fleer's Lumber Company went through a number of different looks over its multiple iterations, and the '94 version isn't at the top for me, but it's still a very good one. I love me some numbered 90s inserts (they rule!) of my favorite stars from the era, so that Black Diamond Maddux (#d /1500 on the back) was a nice find for me. Cal's '83 Donruss second-year is a rare 80s base of him I didn't own, not to mention a reminder of the year I was born. Pacific's 2632 insert honoring his streak is one I don't recall seeing before so I was glad to snag it. And the Leaf Clean Up Crew insert offers a look at a very powerful infield trio for Baltimore that included two of the guys in the 500 HR/3000 hit club plus the SS with the most career bombs at his position.

On the basketball side of things I once again came home with a Caris LeVert insert out of what I'm sure was a dime or quarter box, plus a nice Bulls red jersey swatch of Fab Five guy Jalen Rose, my fifth relic and seventh total hit of the 13-year NBAer.

I now have a couple more shows to recap but first will be returning to trade packages with two from the month of March, then a few other incoming items.

2025 trade package #7: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

It's the last day of April so let's finally look at the mailer I received from Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store back in February!

Your first place Tigers were well represented in this package that arrived a couple months before the season opened. The past guys are pretty good company between Miggy, Fister, and Grandy, but Carp, Greene, and Jobe are all making big contributions to a club that's exceeded my expectations so far. Speaking of Riley, who needs team parallels when you have your own name parallel?

Keith's been slower to get things going this year but did homer today. Manning's stock may be down but McGonigle's has shot up quite a bit, making that numbered Donruss parallel extra nice. Parker's still working his way back from injury and so is Rogers, but Mize has been a nice story so far as he leads the Tigers with four wins. Morris's Predictor insert is a bit of a combo-breaker, but not entirely since end his 13-year career in Detroit, playing 40 games here in 2000.

Ex-Tiger DeMeritte's fantastic 2020 image, one of the best of that year, gets the Chrome and Refractor treatment, and I have a feeling we'll see this one popping up in highlights for years to come. Miggy leads off the hit parade with a 2024 Ginter jersey, my 16th such card of the future HOFer. A beauty of a jersey/auto of '24 Tigers bullpen ace Tyler Holton was one of the bigger surprises of this mailing. Limited to just 25 copies, it comes with a solid signature and cool jersey swatch. And we'll end the baseball content with a non-Tiger: my first auto of former Wolverine Jordan Nwogu. The Canadian Cubs prospect eluded my hits collection up until Doug rectified that, and he becomes baseball hits PC guy #41. Nice!

I took way too long to post this package but it's still not that close to Halloween yet, no matter what that LeVert Hoops card would have you think. Franz had a career best season, albeit one limited a bit by injury. Ex-coach Juwan looks great on a gorgeous '90s SPx design. And LeVert makes a second appearance in the form of the second relic I can claim of him: a jersey inserted into 2020-21 National Treasures.

I didn't time it this way on purpose but this scan ties in well with the recently completed NFL draft. The group includes five '24 rookies, all of whom were difference-makers for Michigan's recent title, plus a base of talented vet Rashan Gary. It looks like I'm shy four more vets (Aidan Hutchinson, Nico Collins, Charles Woodson, and Ty Law) and one RC (Jaylen Harrell) to complete the team set. As always I'm a fan of Score using college action photos for the first-year guys.

Former Pats Ty Law and Josh Uche plus Giant/Raider Ty Wheatley round out the base portion of the football content. Then former TE/WR Devin Funchess double dips with a very, very nice pair of hits. His 2019 Certified auto, numbered to just 30 copies, features a typically eye-pleasing holographic design, and that marks 15 cards I own that include his signature. It's joined by a large jersey swatch from that year's Crown Royale, a decent throwback to the excellent Pacific brand. Funch continues to outpace the other three Devins in my football collection with 35 hits.

Fortunately some of the other teams represented today have been or were at least moderately successful this year because both of the hockey squads underachieved and missed their playoffs. So it goes, but I still enjoy collecting them! First up we have the local pro team, and a mix of recent and older. The big highlights for me are the bookend images here: Pavel Datsyuk and Nick Lidstrom. The 2014-15 Metal card of the former may have been a tough scan but it looks great in-person. And the further we get from Lidstrom's playing days, the more I appreciate the things he did to make the Wings a perennial playoff threat.

Unlike the second Datsyuk above, Lidstrom's second card--also a Fleer brand throwback--scanned very well and the image represents just how nice it looks. Seider's SP Authentic card is a shiny look at the future/present of the Motown blue line. Shanahan's UD insert looks just as pleasing in my hands as it does in 2D on your screen. And Sheppard was a favorite of mine from the Sega EA Sports NHL game days.

In this last Wings scan, Veleno and Yzerman are linked as the latter flipped the former in March in a deal to bring former Detroit goalie (and Doug's fellow 2/14 baby) Petr Mrazek back. Zetterberg was another of those stars the team doesn't seem to be developing much these days, but maybe we'll see more of them again in the future.

Speaking of player development, Doug included a pair of hits of former prospects. Ex-Spartan (barf!) Taro Hirose appears to be with a German team now but he was a decent prospect at one point and good enough to appear on beautiful UD cards like the numbered Black Diamond signature you see above. Meanwhile, Smith, seen on a very nice numbered jersey in the form of a large Red Wings red swatch, was one of the team's two 2016 second-round picks, and he's since bounced around a bit, finally landing in Philly's system.

Lastly, the Michigan Hockey content may not have been abundant, but the quality and a big side of shininess were most definitely there in spades. Just look how that top row trio of Beniers and Connor cards just pops! The numbered Hughes is especially nice right now as he chases a second straight Norris trophy, competing with a guy in the next scan. Hyman scored exactly half of his 54 goals from last season but still had a decent enough year for the Oilers. And Larkin continues to be a good captain for a Wings squad that continues to fail him.

You want more shiny and/or numbered? You've got it! A pair of pretty Pacioretty cards begins tonight's last scan, courtesy of UD's Allure and Ice brands. Trouba's finally away from the Rangers and that's probably the best I can say about his season. Werenski is Wolverine Norris Trophy finalist #2 this year thanks in part to his career highs of 23 goals, 59 assists, and 82 points. And yet another top-notch card of a high-end blueliner will close things out tonight: a numbered Black Diamond of Cam York. My York collection is small but pretty much nothing but bangers thanks to Doug, with pretty much everything being this high quality.

Many thanks to Doug, my favorite Canadian trade partner, who managed to send this and another mailer plus post the first part of the package I recently sent his way before I finally got off my butt to recap this February envelope! I look forward to seeing your follow-up posts as I try to reload for future considerations.

2024 trade package #13: Topps Cards That Never Were

Happy September, y'all! We're quickly approaching fall, which means college football is back, and the defending national champion Wolverines opened up their 2024 season with a win this past weekend. And somehow the Tigers haven't even been eliminated yet. So it's a great month for sports around here.

Both of those teams and more popped up in the latest trade package I received from fellow Tigers fan Jeremy of Topps Cards That Never Were back in June. In fact, "more" is a good description for this absolutely stuffed package full of players I collect:

Hey, how about Rich "Dick Mountain" Hill joining the Red Sox to pitch in his 20th MLB season at the age of 44? Jeremy sent me three Topps parallels picturing Hill with three different teams, though none of them are the Sox, a team he's pitched for in four stints (in parts of six seasons). His fellow ex-Wolverine Barry Larkin is another of the school's most well known alumni, and he did indeed dominate at times over his HOF career. Dean Palmer is probably not as common of a PC outside of fans of Detroit, Texas, and maybe KC, so I appreciate folks like Jeremy including him when sending me cards. Meanwhile, Cal's my biggest player collection by far with nearly 1300 cards, like the Topps offerings you see above--my favorite being the die-cut--and a couple more below.

This doesn't happen too often but I prefer the Topps insert to the Panini/Donruss one in this case, both because of the design and photo choice. Tork's had a nice few weeks back with the big team and actually homered off of Rich Hill today! And I can never have too many Verlanders, like my first 2024 issue of him from Bowman.

Jeremy also included lots of basketball stuff. That begins with a three-pack of Hoops-related cards, including the Winter version. Former coach Juwan Howard is next with a pair of college issues, but these are just two of a larger bunch from the package.

If those Howard cards don't scream "1990s" I don't know what does! Meanwhile, LeVert is a top-10 guy in my basketball collection and one of just seven with 50+ cards. Like THJ he got in on the Hoops action too.

Though they don't all look it, all of LeVert's cards are different because they're either regular or Winter versions, or parallels with small color foil differences. Caris gives way to Glen Rice, my top basketball guy with over 200, currently the only member of that club. A single Duncan Robinson has him tied for third in my collection of players with that last name (according to TCDb) behind David and Rumeal, and tied with Glenn. Jalen Rose is another Fab Fiver to get some love here thanks to eight total cards, three of which you see here.

That many different cards means we get to see Rose on a number of teams and designs, which is always great. And that's also true of his Fab Five teammate Chris Webber, #2 in my collection and nearing 200 (Howard and Rose are 3 and 4, the only others above 100). He was the most popular player in this mailer with 27 cards by my count!

Lots of Webber means lots more 90s stuff, and these definitely take me back to my teenage years. Out of all of these, the Upper Deck base feels a lot more timeless to me than the other designs that are more a product of their time (though still fun).

As we approach the end of the 90s and get into the aughts we get into some designs that appeal more to me. UD3 was a very cool product in multiple sports, Ultra was a perennial favorite, UD continued a streak of quality, Bowman's Best was superior to its recent baseball efforts, and even Topps Tipoff looked solid. Fleer's Premium was pretty nice as well, but the weird Topps Chrome design here feels like a rare miss.

Here's the last of the Webbers including a cool UD trio from later in his Sacramento tenure, then a couple horizontal issues from Ultra nd Stadium Club. The Award Winner card refers of course to his '93-'94 Rookie of the Year nod in a close vote against Penny Hardaway, another guy who went on to a very nice career.

And we'll finish up with football. Jeremy hit a whole bunch of names here too, which I loved. Brooks and Cooper are kind of deeper cuts for folks that aren't fans of the program like I am, but Brady, Calloway, Carter, Edwards, Henne, and Hutch are all pretty well known, I'd say, especially the GOAT and the biggest reason the Lions have returned to respectability. (By the way, this isn't the last time you'll see Aidan in this post!)

If you thought that first scan had a lot of talent then feast your eyes on this one. Kenn was a five-time Pro Bowler at LT for the Falcons. Long was a fantastic LT in his own right, and a former #1 overall pick. Owens spent nine years in the league at linebacker as a Rams first-rounder. Wheatley's storied Michigan career led to 10 NFL seasons--not bad for a running back! Fearsome LB/DE LaMarr Woodley won a ring with the Steelers. And Woodson is simply an all-time great in both the college and pro games. The Select insert that includes Hutch and Nico is especially cool as it features talent from all aspects of the game: offense, defense, and special teams.

The last I have of the football stuff is these horizontal cards. All guys were mentioned above except new Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh. The Brady/Woodson insert is fun given their notable playoff history that will forever link the '97 champion teammates.

Jeremy, thanks again for this huge amount of great cards that'll benefit many of my collections! I have some interesting stuff set aside for you and may be shipping them out within the next week or two depending on how things go.

As for posting over here, I think next up will be another show recap, or I may get to eBay or Facebook Marketplace purchases, whatever I feel like. Until then, eat 'em up, Tigers, and GO BLUE!

11/3/23 show report: showvember

While I don't feel like putting the effort into a trade post this evening I did feel motivated enough to cover my pickups from this month's show.

I can't remember the exact breakdown but I spent $40 at my favorite seller's tablet, split up into dimes, $0.50ers, $1s, and $2s, then another $20 at the table of the vintage guy that's there about 80% of the time. Most of the higher value stuff is headed for trade packages which is generally my goal, so this was another successful show for me.

But as usual I also have some trade bait and personal keepers.

First up, the cards that are/were available for trades:

I made more of an effort to get some baseball bait since I know lots of folks that follow me aren't as interested in other sports like football. The top three cards are all samples which seemed like the kind of thing that can be hard-to-find. Then there's a nice bunch of numbered stuff: Finley is /999 (hey, Pacific!); the Johnsons are /1199 and 500; Morales is /2013; the Wandy cards are /399 and 500.

I included the backs of the three promos as the two Portraits cards are slightly different.

Butler's a '92 Diamond King that I couldn't pass up along with some other amazing cards from my favorite decade that absolutely scream "90s inserts rule!" Bernie's from the amazing Pacific Paramount Fielder's Choice insert, this from '99. The acetate/die-cut Walker is SN5000 and from one of my favorite Donruss Studio inserts. Belle and Williams hail from a '96 Select chase set called Claim to Fame, and they aren't individually numbered but do claim to be "1 of 2100 produced" on the back. And the other Williams is from Pinnacle's Summit Hitters Inc. insert, and that's also numbered, to 4000 copies.

As of this post everything above is still available!

The football bait is once again largely numbered stuff mixed in with a few cool looking items and one hit this time. Numbering for those who care: Battle /350; Cunningham /299; Jammer /400; Johnson /500; Jue /1499; Keller /250; Meachem already traded; Piscitelli /200; Smith already traded.

Mostly numbered again but there's two that aren't because they looked cool enough on their own. The third card in this scan is a '97 Pacific team checklist for the Falcons with a couple see-through windows. Number four is a Score Future Franchise that pairs up Dez White and Cade McNown (I know, I know--it was 2000, nobody knew better!). Numbered cards: Tuiasosopo /1250; Wells /500; Williams /899; Foster /2002; Gates /999; Greene /500; Minnis /999. And yes, it's nice to see so much Pacific in here while I continue reading Mike Cramer's book!

Finishing off the football, I threw in the back of the White/McNown since it fit. The numbered cards are Mitchell /4000; Robinson /350; Robinson /4000; Young /750. And lastly, the Brown/Clayton/White triple jersey was something like $2 (and is numbered /100) so it seemed like a good trade bait pickup.

As for my keepers, mostly from the dime box:

I think everything here was a dime except for the Gibby/Harwell and Ripken. Granderson's Heritage issue is an SP but I don't have to care since I only had to pay a dime. It was nice finding a few other PCs at that price as well. Meanwhile, the Gibson/Harwell 2004 Fleer Greats Announcing Greats insert was a buck or two and isn't even numbered, but it was too cool to leave behind! And Cal's '96 Finest Refractor was one of the $3 or 8/$20 cards I snagged from the guy that mostly deals in vintage, and the $2.50 cost was totally fine with me as it's a beaut.

I don't know why I had so much luck finding new cards of '23 Series champ Max Scherzer in the dime boxes but I had no reason to put them back. This little stack features some solid designs like Phoenix and Optic, Stadium Club and Chrome. It doesn't matter to me that all of them have him pictured with the team he helped win his first ring, the Nats, because he's one of those ex-Tigers I continue to collect, if not put much money into.

The basketball and football fit into one scan and I believe all of these were dimes except for one. My last post featured a nice number of LeVert cards and I found two of my own here of the shiny variety out of Panini products. While the Refractor-like Prizm card is quite nice, the Orange Donruss parallel with its rays of light is the winner in my book.

Flipping over to the gridiron and a team I'm rooting for to finish out Jim Harbaugh's suspension with two wins and no distractions, we actually start with a current player. Corum and the other RBs haven't shown the explosive play-making ability they brought last year but he continues to live in the end zone, already equaling last year's 18 TDs on the ground despite almost 100 fewer carries. I happily chipped in a buck for the Bowman U card you see above, plus I snagged one for Jeff while I was at it because he'd do the same for me.

The other three are dime inserts I was more than happy to dig out of the boxes. Ex-WR Darboh can be seen on a Prizm parallel of his Optic rookie, and there's that "Rated Rookie" logo I love so much. QB Elvis Grbac was the back half of another Score Future Franchise insert like the one you saw above, and RB Sylvester Morris was the "future" guy up front. He'd play 15 games for KC in 2000 as a first-rounder and then completely disappear from the league. One guy who's still around and causing havoc for NFL offenses is Kwity Paye, seen here on an Orange parallel of his '21 Panini Playbook RC (with just the area you see up top changed to orange). He's got 4.5 sacks for Indy this year putting him on pace to beat his career high of 6.0 from last season. He's also equaled his career best two fumble recoveries from his rookie season with lots of time left to pad that number.

I'll get back to trade posts shortly but hope you all enjoyed yet another look at my monthly trip to Taylor which was a good time as always for me.

2023 trade package #23: Cards on Cards

Let's get back to my pile of trades to cover with a fun package sent by my MLB/NCAA collecting counterpart in the west, Kerry of Cards on Cards!

This one included a nice amount of baseball, a bit of football, and to my surprise, a whole lotta basketball stuff. While the latter sport is my least favorite to watch, it's always great receiving those cards in trades because I put very little money and effort into those PCs. That means just about anything sent my way has a high likelihood of being new to me, plus it bulks up some collections that I'm often neglecting otherwise.

So here's a look at what my future Big Ten-watching pal sent this time:

Baseball 1 of 2: There was some chatter that Baddoo might not be in the team's plans next season but other than the recent acquisition of Mark Canha I haven't seen anything to support that so I'll keep on collecting him and his many crazy parallels. Kudos to Kerry for including the Russ Brock since he's a bit of a deep cut out of my Michigan Baseball PC! I don't know if the reality of Miggy retiring will really hit me until he's not in the lineup next season. And thank you to folks like Kerry for bulking up my Cronenworth collection in packages like this one to the point that I've eclipsed the century mark. There's so few active UM alumni these days that I especially appreciate people finding his cards to send me. And Cal's Optic card features a different view of his unorthodox stance.

Baseball 2 of 2: a classic shot of Gorgeous George leads off, followed by a two-pack of Tigers rising star slugging 1B Spencer Torkelson. We might just see him in the neighborhood of 30 bombs next year, and I hope the front office gives him some lineup help.

The baseball group then ends, appropriately enough, with blog namesake guy JV. The Mosaic Aces insert looks quite cool, then we have a pair of Mets cards to document his short stay with the dysfunctional New York franchise ("LOL which one?!"). Finally, how about a relic card with a design as eyeball-popping as anything made by the guy I wrote about in my last post, Mike Cramer? The oversized relic card is numbered to just 99 and looks to be my 30th hit out of what now amounts to more than 600 cards, another fun milestone!

And now we have the first of five(!) basketball scans. This one features just two players: Trey Burke and Jamal Crawford. Burke was a blast to watch in college and Crawford seemed to be in the league forever (20 seasons, counting one game in 2019-20) while suiting up for nine teams. There's some nice looking base designs for both of these players and each gets a solid collection bump: Burke's right at 30 and Crawford sits at 39.

Not only does this 100% THJ scan feature a nice bit of color, but it also includes a pair of season-appropriate Hoops Winter cards. You'll see a few more of those in the rest of the scans. My favorites have to be the Prizms, though, with the Red/White/Blue having the best color combo, but I think I like the design of the first Green card up top a bit more. This bounty bounces his collection up to 54, good for 6th place in my collection.

Other than a single Mitch McGary card here (#12 in his collection), the star of this scan is former four-year Wolverine LeVert. Once again there are some mighty fine designs here, especially the Revolution and Optic cards, but nothing tops that Prizm, which I believe is called "Red White Orange Shimmer." You'll see a couple more of his items below which means Kerry sent me 10, and those vaulted Caris into the top 10 of my basketball collections with 42 cards, one more than I own of Michael Jordan via the sets I've built!

Just a bit more variety here with four players represented. I'm glad Poole got dealt away from the Warriors and complete toolbag Draymond Greene, though I wonder if his best days may be behind him after a legendary NCAA tourney performance and a title with Golden State in '22. The first two cards of his trio look especially nice, and when I add them to what I had before I now own 21 Pooles.

I'll handle GRIII and Sauce Castillo together as they were teammates from 2012-14 in Ann Arbor. Both were drafted in 2014 after a pair of good seasons though neither is in the NBA at this point. It looks like I have nine Robinson cards, fewer than the 16 I own of his dad. Stauskas is a bit more prevalent among the hoopers I collect with 21 cards.

And then including the next scan I can show off six cards of the younger of the two Wagner bros to play for Michigan: Franz. Just like Hardaway above I was treated to a pair of Hoops Winter cards and a reminder that the season is coming with its frigid temperatures whether or not I like it. What I do like is shiny cards like the last one in this scan, and collecting brothers who played for the same college program and are now teammates in the league (along with fellow Wolverines Caleb Houstan and Jett Howard!). Including the three you'll see next, I now claim ownership of 24 of Franz's cards, and that has me :clap: pumped up.

Last up in basketball we have a four-pack of the older Wagner bro, Mo. I'll still take Donruss's Rated Rookie logo over Topps' rookie cup any day, but that's me. The two Panini Status cards--a rookie and Rookie Prominence insert--are shiny and cool and right up my alley. The group grows his collection to 14, a distant 10 away from little bro. Speaking of which, Franz joins the previous seen LeVert in sticker form bringing to mind the original iteration of Panini and the stickers they sold.

One last scan will take us home tonight, and that includes the two football cards in the package. Before he headed to the NFL and some legal trouble, Haskins etched his name in program lore with five TDs against a soft Buckeyes squad to put Michigan back in the win column of the rivalry in 2021. Appropriately enough you see him here in the winged helmet, probably racing past another defender with no chance at stopping him.

Ordinarily a college uni card would be my favorite but I'll give the edge to a new item for one of my top PCs, Chad Henne. One of six players to hit the 300-card mark among the gridiron guys I collect, Henne is seen on a 2013 Prizm Pulsar parallel that could only be one color for a Michigan alum: Blue. Great find, Kerry!

Many thanks to Kerry for this outstanding pile of cards, most of which, if not all, were new to me! I'm grateful to have a few friends who also collect college teams because it's so much fun seeing what we can find for each other.

With this one covered, I hope to recap a few more trade packages soon!