2020 COMC purchases: Dean-o and more new cards you haven't seen-o

Before I get to today's cards I just wanted to highlight a minor miracle that occurred since I last posted: last week my first COMC shipment containing the items I purchased for Christmas card packages finally rematerialized and appeared in Detroit, then Ann Arbor. I've since managed to put together all but one of those envelopes and send them out, so you may see some belated Christmas card posts soon!

Besides getting those done I've been hard at work ordering buttloads of cards from Sportlots (almost done!) and my first try with baseballcardstore.ca (ordered!), so I'll be showing those off in due time.

Ok, onward to tonight's content, which is 100% baseball:

Former slugging 3B Dean Palmer was one of two big winners today, and the guy who got the most new items added to his collection (now 160 cards strong). I'll get to the two most prominent items in a minute, but first, it's "90s inserts rule" time! The '94 Pinnacle Museum Collection design isn't nearly as good as '95's in my opinion, but it's still a great looking parallel. A year after the Preferred brand debuted as a Leaf name, it switched over to Donruss and was responsible for some very nice looking inserts, such as that Cut to the Chase die-cut parallel.

A Silver base card from '97 Finest gives me both of Dean's entries in the regular set, with the only two Rangers earning spots in the rare Gold versions the exact two you'd expect--Pudge Rodriguez and Juan Gonzalez. And '99 Black Diamond has some very fine parallels that are nicely differentiated both in coloring and numbering. Above you see the Double (/3000) and Triple (/1500) versions, meaning I still need the Quadruple (/150) to complete the mini rainbow.

As if 90s insert greatness wasn't enough, I managed to score my second relic (also a bat) and first autograph for my Palmer PC. The signature hails from the well known auto-per-pack 1996 Leaf Signature product and is the most common Bronze version, limited to 3500 copies. The writing is a bit squished but fairly legible otherwise. And speaking of hit-per-pack products, the bat was found in 2001 Private Stock packs I remember quite well, busting many back when relics were more novel. Both of these make for a nice boost to that growing collection.

This next group is a bit of a mix, comprising two former Tigers and another favorite PC. It may not have been too many© but I did find two new Granderson jerseys from 2008--SP Legendary Cuts and Topps Heritage--getting me to the 10 hit mark, for just $1.50 and $1.25, respectively. I also came up with a 2016 Donruss Stat Line insert for under $0.50 which was exciting since I've loved the parallel since it first appeared in 2001. This one's numbered to 263 for his career HR total through 2015, and he's put up 81 more in his final four seasons for a solid total of 344. And after all that we're not quite done yet with Curtis....

First let's have a look at the other cards here. Gwynn was one of the two subjects (Griffey's the other) I wanted to track down from Leaf's 1997 insert called Knothole Gang. Leaf took the motif seriously and came up with a super cool design. These are numbered /5000, which you should remember was pretty tough back then! 90s inserts rule and this was an easy purchase for me. Would you believe it was a "Freedom Isn't Free" special at just a buck-oh-five?

Former versatile Tiger (and player for five other teams) Tony Phillips, like Palmer, is another PC I've been starting to build up in the last year, and this '97 Refractor was the cherry on top of this order, the last card I snagged with my dwindling credit before seeing about shipping my two groups of purchases (trade bait and personal). 1997's design happens to be one of my favorites of the brand so I didn't mind paying $0.75 for this shiny 90s gem.

I said I'd get back to Grandy, didn't I? After naming this here blog after him more than 10 years ago I was finally able to add a plate to his collection. As you can see, this one's from 2017 Donruss and is of the yellow variety, and it was right in my $5-10 wheelhouse at around $8. I'm super excited to add another 1/1 of a favorite player, and I may have to put together a display for whatever "-fecta" I end up with. Right now I could do a RC, relic, auto, 1/1, and manurelic, which is a pretty nice group!

Switching over to the Michigan guys, here's today's last group. Leading off is the Mechanical Man and a 2012 Panini Cooperstown Crystal Collection parallel. This is the regular version, numbered /299, and it completes the trio for me as I already had the Red and Blue versions--a trifecta rainbow!

Next, I was ecstatic to score my first UM uniform autos of 2019 draft picks Tommy Henry (D-Backs, 2nd round) and Karl Kauffmann (Rockies, 2nd round). Elite Extra is perfect for collectors like me because of just such cards. In each case it's also my second auto but obviously my favorite for both given the college photos.

Staying relatively recent, I continued my slow progress towards P Clayton Richard's collection with a 2019 Topps Walgreens Yellow parallel. While the hues aren't quite right, combined with the blue of his team's uniform, it makes for a very appropriate card for a Wolverine!

I'm pretty sure buddy of the blog John, who's definitely already enthused by this group, will like this next card the most. My fellow Freehan collector would be all over this 2005 SP Legendary Cuts Glory Days jersey, one that was surprisingly new to me as I got down to my last few bucks of credit. I already owned the Gold (/75) version of this but not the unnumbered regular one you see above. $3 was a small price to pay for my 25th hit of one of the franchise's best all-time catchers.

And last but not least is the end of my baseball gets, namely a Getz. Hailing from 2008 Just Minors' Just Autographs set, this is a Gold autograph that's numbered on the back (digitally, on a foil stamp), which set me back $1.33. I ended up snagging it instead of the paradoxically more costly (on COMC, anyway) base version. This one getz (sorry, not sorry) his hit total up to 16, with all but two of those (a couple of plates) featuring his signature.

This is quite a nice haul to look at and I haven't even gotten to my football stuff yet! I haven't even scanned that yet, much less figured out if I'm going to break it up into multiple posts, but between the card stuff I mentioned above that's been keeping me busy and putting together this post, I've neglected a couple really nice trade packages I need to show off, so look for those to be my next two posts before I possibly get back to the rest of my COMC loot.

Until then, please enjoy looking at these pickups while we all wait for pitchers and catchers to report!

2020 eBay purchase: As Many As I Can Getz

Coming hot on the heels off of my latest PWE from Paul, today's post covers another envelope that arrived the same day as his: another eBay purchase from my favorite eBay seller markaguirre22. He had a bunch of great Michigan Baseball items for sale including higher-end stuff like those sweet Topps Clear parallels limited to 10 copies, and other cards that were even more exclusive.

While I lost most of those at the last minute I still came away with a pair of wins at just a buck apiece, plus the dude threw in extras he knew I'd like, as he often does:

The two I won are on the ends of the top of the scan. Chris Getz's 2010 Topps 206 Mini Cycle was the last of his cards I needed from that "rainbow", and Getz's run from the set in its entirety. The Cycle minis were the toughest to find, numbered to 99 copies, and while they aren't particularly rare, I'd never seen one of Chris's cards at a reasonable price until now. More on that set in just a bit.

The other new addition was Getz's 2014 Topps Mini Pink parallel. This is of course the year where his photo has former Tiger Andy Dirks coming in hot and appearing to threaten the 2B's future hopes of having children. Compared to the flagship version which is number /50, the Mini set's card is twice as rare with just 25 copies made, and the one I got is #09/25. I now lack just the Black version /5, which I believe was one of the auctions I lost here. Oh well, I'll get one eventually!

The extras included a Getz Piedmont mini from the 206 set, which I already have--so Jeff will be the beneficiary if the seller's generosity, unless he doesn't want it for some reason--and Rich Hill's 2020 Topps Update base, which I did need. A super cheap common may not seem like much but it's certainly a nice way to keep me buying from you (as if the quick free shipping wasn't enough by itself).

Here's a quick look at the backs, which I've made an effort to show more often when I have a low number of cards to scan. Plus they're a bit more relevant today thanks to the minis.

And since I only had to scan four cards I went ahead and grabbed the rest of the Topps 206 Getz items I had to show off the rainbow (*not included is Mini Framed American Caramel auto, which is not a parallel version):

Pictured: top: base, Bronze parallel

bottom: American Caramel mini, Cycle mini, Old Mill mini, Piedmont mini, Polar Bear mini

I'm not generally one for mini cards, or parallels where the only difference is on the back, but these are kind of a fun way to look at the history of trading cards.

Now that I've posted these it may finally be time for me to show off the other massive trade I received from TCDB. I'll have some fun COMC items to show off at some point but haven't shipped the ones I purchased for myself yet (hmmm, interesting statement...) and haven't decided if I'll pay to get them rushed to arrive before the end of the year or wait until March. And who knows, other stuff may appear unexpectedly before then!

In the meantime, if you're perusing eBay, please consider Gary (markaguirre22), a trustworthy seller who offers free shipping on top of great prices! (#notsponsored)

1/5/19 show report: lots of hits for two bits

If last Saturday's show is any indication, I'm gonna have another great year of pickups from my usual guy at Taylor Town Trade Center!  It was a nice day all around with the sun shining as I headed east and then spent a couple hours digging through quarter boxes.  Also, props to Tigers legend Willie Horton who was there signing autographs when apparently a gas leak caused an evacuation (after I left, I guess?).  Horton ended up continuing to sign for folks in the parking lot.  What a guy!  (HT to Paul for letting me know about this)

Anyway, my efforts once again paid off handsomely as I headed home with 175 total cards for $47.  170 of those were $0.25 per and the other five were a buck apiece.  Not much of a discount this time, but it all evens out.

I'd say the personal keepers vs. trade bait percentage was around 40%/60%, but regardless I ended up with a ton of new stuff to enjoy.  That includes a pair over on TMM this evening, plus this bevy of stars:

My take-home largely comprised the big guys, starting here with Junior Griffey.  This first bunch includes his '94 Finest base, a quartet of '97 inserts, and a shiny offering from 2000 UD.  I still remember pulling some of those Pitcher Perfect cards from packs of '97 Score!

Griffey part 2/3 here.  I guessed a bit when sorting these and got the years wrong because like Donruss/Leaf, UD didn't always use the actual year as the copyright date.  So you get to see, out of order, Ovation Curtain Calls inserts from 1999 and 2001, then a 2000 PowerDeck Magical Moments CD (no, I'm not gonna try to play it), and a cool Superior Sluggers insert from the 2003 flagship set.  Now that I'm looking at all of these and the next scan, I realize I grabbed a lot of UD stuff, but that makes sense since they made a ton of great inserts during their run while Topps mostly opted for boring stuff.

And the horizontals.  The SI Covers insert is my favorite here because I've always loved those, but four UD inserts spanning 1994-2000 and a 2000 Fleer Gamers subset aren't bad either.  Black Diamond was a favorite of mine one year, and we get another appearance by PowerDeck.

This little haul of Gwynns has me pretty close to a total of 600, which (spoiler) I'll be achieving soon thanks to Sportlots cards.  You'll also see a few more starring Gwynn in a later scan in this post.

A Diamond King and Sportflix insert from '95 have me pining for the good old days of the 90s, while there's plenty more cool chase cards like 2000 Fleer Gamers' Change the Game and '99 Pacific's Team Checklists.  Pacific sure knew how to make checklists anything but boring.

By the way, that '96 Circa Access insert was new to me, and I had fun scanning all facets of the booklet-like card:

He's right, too--I bet Tony would have hit .400 given the chance in '94.

I went three-for-four on the Larkins I pulled out of these boxes so a certain Jeff will be getting the dupe of the group in a future trade package.  As for me, I scored a pretty interesting mix, including a 1994 Score Dream Team Sample (samples are fun!), a Century Stars insert from 2004 Throwback Threads (#d /1500...for a quarter!), and an example of one of my favorite chase cards, Select's 1996 Team Nucleus.  These acetate cards look badass and the trios are pretty interesting.  Here the '95 NL MVP is matched up with Reggie Sanders and Bret Boone.  The former would play eight seasons in Cincy, putting up an All-Star '95 in which he recorded a career-high bWAR of 6.6, while the latter spent most of his solid career with the Reds and Mariners.

It was another good day for my Maddux collection thanks to this lucky seven (plus one!).  Most of what you see here is from my favorite cardboard era--the mid-90s through the mid-aughts.  Respect was a cool insert from '96 Ultra, and next to that is a successfully exchanged UD Predictor from '95 (again, guessing on the years when scanning).  Those are followed up by a '99 Skybox Molten Metal "Don't Call Me Leaf Preferred Steel" Xplosion card and a much more recent Topps Gallery Insert from 2017.

The horizontals feature my second copy (one that hasn't been peeled) of Donruss's '95 Dominators insert, another from Leaf All-Star Game MVP Contenders Gold, a 2000 Pacific team insert, and one of a couple Donruss Estrellas Spanish cards you'll see today.

Ripken's group ended up being a pretty interesting one as it paired him up with a couple other PC guys.  The solo offerings include a Score Dugout parallel and Ultra Checklist from the mid-90s, another Ultra insert, a second Estrellas card from the early 2000s, and the "Auxiliary" (read:  non-CD) version of a 1999 PowerDeck insert.  He then gets matched up with a couple other good shortstops on a '94 Triple Play Medalists insert, one being Tony Fernandez and the other, Hall of Famer Alan Trammell.  The final three cards are from a Ripken/Gwynn insert from 2007 Upper Deck that celebrates both entering the Hall that year (I attended that induction ceremony!).  There's apparently 50 of these and I may eventually try to chase them down.

How about starting the year off 100% on-brand with too many Verlanders?  I didn't mind paying a quarter apiece for 18 new cards of his from 2007 Topps Moments and Milestones, which also let me earn a few points but uploading their scans to TCDB.

Here's the other nine, giving me one from his "wins" version and 17 of the "strikeouts" cards.  Taking a quick look in his folder it would appear that I now have two of the former and 22 of the latter "base" versions (plus two Black parallels of just the strikeouts).

I also came away with these two Topps Chrome Generation Now cards from the same year, then found that I actually completed his run of that version because the only offering #s 1, 10, 15, and 16 in Chrome for some reason.  I'd previously knocked out all of the base versions from Flagship, so that's pretty cool!

Last up is mostly a mix of buybacks plus another PC checklist card.  Elliott Maddox ('74 and '79) and a badly miscut Lary Sorensen ('79) are 2015 Topps Originals Buybacks.  Sabo's is the Gold version of his 2017 Bowman Buyback of his '90 Bowman base.  Finally, I found a pair featuring Geoff Zahn from Topps' 2014 75th Anniversary Buybacks:  his '75 Topps RC(!) and his base from the following year's set.  Not bad!

To those I can add retired 2B Chris Getz's Yellow parallel from his final flagship appearance, 2014 Topps.  That leaves me needing six more versions from the flagship/Mini rainbow.

It was indeed another great show for me, and I may just be looking to replicate that success in the western part of my state as weather (and getting my ass up in time) permitting I might be meeting up with John for a show in his neck of the woods, the Kalamazoo area.  Here's to another blogger meet-up!

2018 Sportlots purchases: A-toZ PCs

Before I cover the last two single-player posts I'm going to use this one to show off the rest of the PC guys for whom I mostly just picked up a handful of cards (or even just one!).  They didn't fit the Tigers/Reds theme from a couple posts ago but they do share one thing in common:  all are former Wolverines, which isn't a surprise since the vast majority of my PCs are Michigan guys.

So here's a bunch of different players, some of whom I hope you recognize:

Jim Abbott is surely one of the most well known guys in this post and it didn't take much luck to turn up eight new cards of the one-handed wonder.  There's a nice mix of oddball--'90 Topps Magazine and '96 Angels Mother's--base, including a cool pairing with Nolan Ryan from '92 Pinnacle, and parallels, especially '96 Pinnacle Starburst.  I now count 259 cards in his collection.

Previously I didn't have enough cards of former Yankees OF prospect Casey Close to warrant an album, but thanks to these four I went ahead and made one, adding to a couple Michigan-specific items I already had.  Close is now known as a superagent who represented Derek Jeter, among many others, but in the 80s he was toiling in the minors for New York and Seattle after a terrific college career.  These four minors products, two each from '88 and '90, capture him with the Columbus Clippers (Yankees, AAA) and Calgary Cannons (Mariners, AAA).

If you've read at least a few posts on this here blog you know my favorite supercollection is that of current Dodgers lefty Rich Hill.  While putting together this massive Sportlots card I was fortunate to find a couple new cards for my assault on his checklist, this pair of Topps All-Star Game Silver cards from the special stamped sets the manufacturer made for the occasion.  In knocking off a couple more cards for those rainbows I also got closer to the 300 mark and am just five short!

I'm still lacking one freaking card ('94 Stadium Club Team First Day Issue) for my collection of late pitcher Steve Howe, but I did find this interesting pair to bolster it.  He's the third of four players I grabbed from the 1990 Dodgers Target set, and the second of another quartet, this time from Line Drive's 1991 AAA product.  You already saw Ross Powell's card a couple posts ago and you'll see the other two shortly.

One of those guys is former Brewers pitcher Mike Ignasiak.  I completed his 15-card collection a while ago but I'm always on the lookout for new stuff like this Minor League trio with cards from 1990-92.  The brands represented are Grand Slam, Line Drive, and Skybox, and the teams are the El Paso Diablos (AA) and Denver Zephyrs (AAA).

The other is pitcher Scott Kamieniecki, a pitcher mostly know for his stints with the Yankees and Orioles.  To his nearly-completed run I also added a trio of Minor League issues with the '91 Line Drive card book-ended by '90 Best and 1991-92 ProCards Tomorrow's Heroes (and its little foil diamonds).  Albany was the Yanks' AA squad while Columbus was their top affiliate until 2007.

Former Brewers/Giants/Cardinals catcher (and manager for the latter) Mike Matheny is one of the more well-known guys among my PCs, and I managed to track down new checklist needs from three of his four clubs (the Blue Jays aren't represented since no cards of him with the team appear to exist).  Those are, in order, a '98 Pacific Online Red parallel and base cards from 2005 Donruss Team Heroes and 2016 Topps Heritage.  I'm getting reasonably close to 100 unique cards for his collection not to mention 50% of what I've checklisted so it's nice to have productive days like this.

Former QB/current pitcher Clayton Richard is a few years into his return to San Diego, and while he hasn't been terribly effective he's at least been able to eat some innings for them.  As you can see here I finally nabbed his 2017 Topps Update base and got the Rainbow Foil parallel to go with it as my first examples of his issues from that product.  I still have lots of his stuff to track down, especially cards released over the last couple years, but I'm at just about 60%, and hopefully future posts will see more bunches of his cards.

The last of the multi-card players for today is former pitcher (and Michigan Baseball manager) Geoff Zahn.  As with Ignasiak I completed his run a while ago but was glad to find other stuff to add, like this oddball pairing.  On the left is the third and final Kellogg's issue I added through this series, in this case from 1979.  It's not exactly mint--the scan doesn't show how much the card's cracked--but it's not like I especially care as I'm just happy to have another fun lenticular food issue.  And as promised I can show off the last of the '90 Target Dodgers.  Zahn was with L.A. for the first two-plus seasons of his career so he too was part of that very cool perforated set.

And now we'll take a quick look at the guys for whom I picked up just one new item:

• Brett Adcock, a 2016 4th round selection of the Astros out of Michigan, is my latest brand new player collection.  The lefty isn't high on the team's list of prospects for now but you never know!  The first card for his debut is his 2016 Bowman Draft base and I currently have 16 of his cards to track down.
• Like Howe above I need just one card to complete Jake Fox's PC, though the quad auto I'm hunting will be much, much harder to find.  In the meantime I added my first non-checklist card thanks to this shiny 2006 TriStar Prospects Plus base from his time as a slugging Cubs catching prospect.
• Former White Sox IF and current front office guy for the same franchise Chris Getz has a larger checklist for me to chase, but I likewise added a Minor League issue, this one from the 2008 Just Autographs product from which I already own an autograph.
• That's right, it's a run on Minor League cards!  Injured pitcher Zach Putnam completes the trio with another TRISTAR-branded offering, 2009's Projections.  Zach was a member of the Indians organization at the time and this card includes a shot of him with his pro debut club, the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, a low-A affiliate in the NY-Penn league.  The Niles, Ohio-based team is still affiliated with Cleveland today.
• Vintage legend George Sisler is the lone HOF PC guy in this post (though Nolan Ryan does make that cameo!) and while I usually can find more new items of his at a time I was happy to add this SSPC HOF card from the product's 1980-87 run.  There's no date on the back so I'm not exactly sure when it was made, but I do like that it shows him as a member of the 10-person 1939 Hall of Fame class that was the fourth ever inducted and also included Lou Gehrig (thanks to a special election due to his health).  It represents my 83rd card of the one-time single-season hit king.
• Last up is a final SSPC offering, once again from 1975, of former Cardinals (among other teams) IF Ted Sizemore.  I'm adding it to his completed collection along with another non-checklist card as a fun vintage oddball item. 

Two more large single-player posts await, so stay tuned!

2017 trade package #12: Cards on Cards

Kerry from Cards on Cards is a guy I don't trade with often, but since we're fairly similar collectors--we both chase MLB and college teams--our deals are always great.  The last time I posted cards from him on this here blog, not quite a year ago, I was the happy recipient of a buttload of useful Tigers and a plethora of new Ripkens.

The man who calls himself Madding took things to another level this time by doing major damage to my player collections, hitting a ridiculous 13 of them.  "Hope you can use some of these!" said the guy who, in addition to another buttload of Tigers (seen below), flipped me 19 PC cards, an outstanding 16 of which were new to me.  And I'm not talking a dime card here and a common there, either.  Can I use some of these?  Has Topps disappointed me for 10 years running?  Hell yeah!

Jake Cronenworth 2015 Bowman Chrome Draft Blue Refractor (#030/150)

Tampa's seventh-rounder out of Michigan two years ago, Jake's off to a pretty good start in high-A ball.  This lovely Refractor is my ninth card of his out of his run to-date, all of which comprises a 19-card 2015 Bowman/Chrome Draft rainbow.  For a Wolverine alum you can't do better than blue!

Chris Getz 2014 Topps Camo (#32/99)

This parallel of Getz is one I could have sworn I had, so I was glad I needed it after Kerry went to the trouble of sending it my way.  It features one of the best photos on a Getz issue and is my 10th card from Chris' 17-card sunset season rainbow (and #81/106 overall).

Ken Griffey Jr. 1993 Hostess

Ken Griffey Jr. 2003 Fleer Showcase

I think you all know I don't supercollect Griffey--I'm not made of money--but I'll happily take anything I can get of one of my favorite 90s/2000s stars, like this interest pair that spans a decade.  Oddballs like the Hostess food issue are always interesting to me since I usually know so little about them that I'm generally unable to peg the year or brand at a glance.  And Showcase is one of Fleer's better mid-end issues, with Griffey's card a textbook example of a classy and pleasing design.

Rich Hill 2016 Topps Rainbow Foil

I can't say I've ever received what I'd call a bad trade package, but whenever Rich Hill appears in one I'm more than happy to call that envelope a winner as he remains my favorite guy to PC.  This Rainbow parallel is my eighth of his 18 2016 flagship...uh...rainbow cards, featuring one of the dumber choices in photograph.  What can I say?  Topps gonna Topps.  Anyway, this marks my 259th of Hill's 374 cards I have checklisted, and #276 overall.  Good luck to Rich on a return to health and effectiveness for the Dodgers!

Ryan LaMarre 2016 Topps Allen and Ginter Mini

Ryan LaMarre 2016 Topps Rainbow Foil

LaMarre made what I thought was a surprising appearance in last year's flagship and A&G sets, the former with his second team, the Red Sox and the latter with the Reds, the team that drafted him.  Since then he's signed with the Angels and then been flipped to Oakland, with whom he's appeared in three 2017 games.  I actually landed the Cyan plate of the A&G mini before I landed the card above, my first of his six from the product (besides two from A&G X).  The Rainbow parallel makes its second appearance today as my sixth of Ryan's run from last year's flagship.  Kudos to Kerry for helping me cross the 50% mark as I own 28/54 of his issues so far.

Heath Murray 1998 Bowman Golden Anniversary (#13/50)

This was a package full of surprises, and few of the items were as surprising as this limited parallel of Murray, a guy who's not exactly obscure but appeared on just 30 cards, 24 of which I already owned.  Two of the five I now need also hail from this product, the Chrome International Refractor and Chrome Refractor version of this card, limited to just five(!) copies.  I tip my cap again to Kerry for digging up a need like this.

Michael O'Neill 2014 Bowman Chrome Prospects Series 2 Blue Wave Refractor

The best part about getting this card, besides the fact that it's a Refractor and another one to knock off the checklist, is that it got me to look up O'Neill and realize that he's now with the Rangers after signing a minor league deal with them a few months ago.  Hooray for not having to collect more Yankees if he gets to appear on more cards!  And hooray for a new Refractor, my 10th of his 42-card 2014 Bowman Chrome/Mini rainbow and 30th of 85 overall.

Jim Paciorek 1993 BBM

If the Murray was surprising, the inclusion of this foreign Paciorek issue was straight up jaw-dropping!  A much more obscure former Wolverine, Jim's career consisted of 48 games in 1987 along with two cards from that year:  Fleer and its Glossy version.  After nabbing those I hadn't even looked into other Paciorek card possibilities.  As it turns out, Jim played six seasons in Japan:  four with the Yokohama Taiyo Whales and two with the pictured Hanshin Tigers, as depicted on this card out of the pretty well-known BBM brand.  What a fun card to dig out of a trade package!

J.J. Putz 2008 Topps Triple Threads Emerald (#103/240)

J.J. Putz 2008 Topps Triple Threads Gold (#70/99)

Kerry's no putz as he managed to send me two new '08 Triple Threads parallels of Michigan native J.J.  Besides an All-Star patch card and five multi-player relics, Putz appears on a base card and five parallels, and of those six I now own four (the base and Sepia are the others).  With the retired pitcher unlikely to make any future cardboard appearances hopefully I can continue making some headway towards his 327 cards; I currently own 193 (and 205 including 1/1s and others I don't count toward his mainstream checklist).

Cal Ripken Jr. 2002 Upper Deck AL Centennial Memorabilia jersey

This sweet Ripken jersey relic from 15 years ago (seriously?) was another huge and much appreciated surprise.  I've sent Kerry a few decent Cardinals and Ducks hits over the years but nothing that I'd assume would warrant something like this of a HOFer I love to collect!  It serves as a nice history lesson as well as the younger of the two leagues began in 1901 with eight teams, including my Tigers.  As for Cal, this serves as my 10th relic (two of which are manufactured) and 12th hit overall.  Nice!

Alan Trammell 1991 Topps (#389)

Speaking of All-Star shortstops that are should-be HOFers, this '91 Topps subset of Alan Trammell is one of just three PC cards that wasn't new to me.  Not that I'm complaining about getting any dupes of half of Detroit's famed double-play combo!

Justin Verlander 2013 Topps Chasing History (#CH88)

Justin Verlander 2017 Donruss (#95)

Justin Verlander 2017 Donruss Dominators Blue (#135/249)

And speaking of Tigers dupes, I thought the Chasing History insert was a new one for my Verlander collection but was mistaken.  Again, no complaints since I'm happy with any JV card new or old!  The others from this year's Donruss product (hell yeah!) were most definitely new additions, though.  As usual I like the look of the base design while its lack of MLB logos barely registers on my radar.  The numbered Dominator insert is great too, with a design that doesn't remind me of previous iterations.  Nice job by Kerry to pay his respects to this here blog's namesake!

Lou Whitaker 1988 Score

Lou Whitaker 2005 Topps Retired Signature

Last up for my PC guys is a sweet pair of Lous; you can't have Tram without Whitaker and vice-versa!  The card on the left from Score's debut is another fun dupe for me, but the Retired Signature card is a huge get for a couple reasons.  First, as I'm under 50 cards to go in my pursuit of his collection, it's getting harder to find stuff that's new to me.  And just as importantly, some base cards like that one tend to attract unreasonably high asking prices for some reason.  That makes it a big deal for me, besides the fact that I like seeing the combination of older photos with some of the newer designs.  

You got to see three guys in Tigers (well, Detroit Tigers) uniforms up there, but they weren't alone as they were bundled up with a hoard of other Tigers, pretty much all of which I can use, Kerry, believe you me:

This first group could be called "The Killer C's" as future HOFer Miguel Cabrera (Heritage Chrome Refractor!) and maybe-not-as-awful-a-human-being-as-people-thought Ty Cobb book end Nick Nicholas Castellanos, who seems to continue to improve.

Another nice group is headlined by 2016 AL ROY and Tigers ace(?) Michael Fulmer, an insert focusing on Jose Iglesias' glove, and Mr. Tiger Al Kaline.  Those are joined by a pair of RCs of CF Jacoby Jones, who should be getting more looks in the Detroit OF this season.

Donruss Elite!  If anybody on Detroit should be give that title it's All-Star 2B Ian Kinsler, seen here on a card numbered 934/999.  Recuperating-turned-resurgent slugger J.D. Martinez makes a couple appearances courtesy of Opening Day and Topps Stickers.  And I loved the inclusion of the '86 Topps leaders card featuring Lance Parrish, a catcher who might just feel at home in today's game.

Sanchez has been a tire fire this season, Scherzer is unfortunately gone, and Zimmermann's results have been mixed at best, but Upton has been a nice story this season, putting up some pretty good numbers early for a change.  My hope is that he does well enough to opt out of his contract so Detroit can put that money to better use.

Here's one last bunch of Tigers that don't really fall into the group I collect by player but deserve to be shown off anyway.

And last up is one more hit, a Signature Rookies autograph of former #1 pick (11th overall, 1995) Mike Drumright, a pitcher who cracked Baseball America's top 100 prospects the two years after this card was made.  Although he never panned out--no surprise, pretty much nobody did for Detroit in the 90s--he's got a very nice signature, though I'm probably lucky not to have received one from closer to the end of the 5000(!)-card print run.  Nice find!

Kerry, once again big thanks to you for an amazing trade package that did lots of damage to my PCs and will beef up my Tigers box.  I actually have a few things set aside for you and on the way so I'll be happy to be able to respond a bit, though maybe not in a way that's worthy of this envelope just yet!