2025 trade package #4: Chronicles of Fuji

It's the last day of March so of course I'm still covering trade envelopes I received back in January, but that's what happens when you slack on posting!

Last time you got to the contents of an envelope from a blogger who's also a teacher, and that's the case once again this evening. Tonight's cards arrived from all the way on the west coast courtesy of Mark of the Chronicles of Fuji. Fuji sent me a nice little surprise that was heavy on my favorite MLB team. They may have started the season 0-3 against the defending champs but I still think they'll be decent this year.

On to the cardboard (and more!):

Not only is the theme here "Detroit Tigers," but almost everything's an insert, and oddly enough, none of these guys are active Major Leaguers anymore, with Miggy being the most recent to have retired. Porcello last pitched in 2020 and Jackson hung 'em up after the 2018 campaign, the same sunset season for RP Jacob Turner, who ended his MLB tenure where he started it. Dmitri's bro Delmon Young is next with 2015 being his final MLB year, and Magglio's 15th and last was 2011. 2003 second round P Jay Sborz did make a single appearance with the big club in 2010, giving up five runs while recording a pair of outs, and that was the apparent end of his pro career.

This is a fun mix of inserts and players, with home run heroes Miggy and Magglio ranking above the rest, though AJax remains a favorite of mine.

Oh yeah, and then there's one more fun little bonus: that eBay gift card! Fuji was already generous enough to send me some cards, but then he went way above and beyond by gifting me $50 to spend at the source of some of my bigger pickups! To give you an idea of how seriously I'm taking that, I haven't spent it yet, and as a reminder, this envelope made it to me in January. I'm looking forward to picking up a heavy hitter or two to justify the great expense Fuji went to here, and whenever I do find the perfect fit(s), rest assured you'll see a post right here.

Fuji, once again, thanks so much for the great Tigers cards and the eBay credit, I really appreciate it! I don't have a lot set aside for you right now but I'll keep stocking up until I can hit you back.

 Meanwhile, stop me if you've heard this one before, but stay tuned for more trade recaps soon!

2024 trade package #16: Chronicles of Fuji

It's certainly been an interesting couple of weeks since I started drafting this post, including an embarrassing election that will make the lives of almost all Americans worse for at least the next four years. As it pertains to the hobby, I hope the upcoming economic fallout doesn't cause anyone in the hobby to be priced out.

In better news, fortunately there are still plenty of good people in the card collecting community, such as Fuji of the Chronicles of Fuji. Right now more than ever we need teachers like him who do the underappreciated job of teaching kids in a society that offers his vocation insults and insane conspiracy theories about the "woke mindset" instead of the resources and recognition they should get. I've heard a lot about how the recent generation of students is harder to reach due to their phone addictions, an attitude of not trying, and parents that aren't involved. What I'm trying to emphasize is that it obviously takes a person with a ton of patience, perseverance, and pride in their job to do what Mark does.

With all that in mind, I'm always grateful for (but never surprised by) the effort and care he puts into the trade packages he sends my way. That was the case when he sent me the following back in August:

Mr. Tiger's Topps Pristine base is a beautiful example of a cool vintage photo on a modern design. Joining him are a bunch of really vintage Tigers from the 1977 Dover Publications Classic Baseball Cards Reprints set. These came in an album--apparently compiled by Michigan grad and sportswriter (largely known for boxing) Bert Sugar--in detachable perforated form. A number of of totally classic early designs, including the three seen above, are represented, and while I do own an intact album, I didn't have any singles. Now I do, thanks to Fuji, and they give some great looks at classic Tigers stars!

Switching over to basketball, things seem to be looking up a bit for the Wolverines after Juwan Howard's tenure ended in failure, with new coach Dusty May bringing in some solid talent and a new culture. Howard's early coaching days plus his days as a player are still some good memories, though, and he's joined here by well known Fab Five teammates Rose and Webber. Rice brings to mind the program's national championship and another of their most notable alumni. And the late Robert "Tractor" Traylor was exciting in Ann Arbor in the late 90s.

Things have been less rosy for the football team in coach Sherrone Moore's first season due to a number of factors, though he's also due to bring in a pretty impressive first recruiting class if everyone signs. One of the team's past stars is Buckey-killing RB Tim Biakabutuka, and here Fuji provided me with some very cool base and inserts of the Congo-born back. Please bring back designs like these, Panini!

You want more former Michigan stars? Fuji's got your back! Bunch spent four years in the NFL after that many years as a solid FB in Ann Arbor. Collins has been the key to finally making an OSU QB look good in the pros. Crable was a pretty good LB in college. Griese and Harbaugh both enjoyed success in college and the pros, and of course Jim's back in the NFL chasing his Super Bowl dreams, even if he did leave his alma mater in a terrible spot in terms of recruiting, bringing in transfers, and hiring coaches when he left. Hart has been my favorite Michigan RB since his very successful four years here though the very similar Blake Corum may take over soon enough.

The numbered LeSueur at position #3 here is quite cool as is the foil card of HOFer and Super Bowl-winner (times three!) Ty Law, but otherwise the story of this scan is star WRs. Howard of course won the Heisman and then had a very memorable moment winning a Super Bowl. Super Mario is a big reason Eli Manning won one if his rings and Manningham remains a blog favorite (obviously) to this day. And Terrell is one of the best receivers to come out of Ann Arbor, even if his NFL career doesn't bear that out. The former #1 jersey-wearer is one of several guys to appear on numbered cards in this post, with his Ultra RC at spot #8 being a highlight.

I supposed you could have one without the other, but I always like getting A-Train cards when Terrell's included because they're forever linked for me. Thomas joins Terrell from the serial numbered Ultra set and adds a Pros & Prospects #d card to boot. Toomer is another Ann Arbor star that lined up wide for the Wolverines and then won a Super Bowl with Eli Manning. Walker didn't pan out in the NFL but was excellent in college. And Wheatley is one of a number of Michigan RBs to have a solid NFL career. Better yet, he played back when card designs looked their best, especially inserts!

The rest of the football content, including some horizontal items, features familiar names from above along with GOAT DB Charles Woodson. The Score Wheatley is an especially cool card while the die-cut Playoff helmet design is, to borrow from the 90s, radical! I also really miss brands like Fleer's Showcase and Leaf's Certified Materials (referring to the real Leaf, not the garbage knockoff that's sullying the name these days).

There was more than just cards in this envelope this time as Fuji included a couple issues of a collecting magazine I was previously completely ignorant of: the Trader Speaks. More on the magazine itself in a minute, but first, here's a great look at Mr. Tiger as the cover star from November 1974, literally 50 years ago! Mr. Tiger had recently finished up his 22nd and final season in the MLB, all with Detroit, and he went out as an All-Star (for the 18th time) while finishing just one homer shy of the 400-mark. He'd be enshrined in Cooperstown six years later.

Meanwhile, this issue from the following May stars eight Tigers from a post-WWII set that's not Topps or Bowman. Instead, they were distributed (regionally) by Tip Top Bread. The black & white, 2 1/4 x 3" set is 163 cards strong, and while not every star of the time is included, many are. 15 Tigers made the cut, and more than half of them can be see here, including former Wolverine Dick Wakefield and HOFer George Kell. I also wasn't familiar with this set at all so this was an educational double whammy for me!

As for the magazines themselves, they're black and white (except for the red borders on the fronts) and measure about 7 x 8.5". They include various card news stories, addresses for TTM autographs, and letters, with the bulk of the pages devoted to auctions and classified ads for buying/selling/trading. The well known Keith Olbermann, who's certainly not secretive about his collecting habit, answers mailed-in questions in the May edition. These are an extremely cool look at the hobby from that time, about a decade before I was born, and it's fun to see the ridiculously low asking prices for items that are now super expensive, if not practically priceless.

Fuji, thanks again for all you do and for another exciting package of stuff that's a nice boost to my collection and my education! I plan on getting you back by the end of the year as I work on Christmas cards for 2024. But first, I need to continue catching up on everything I haven't covered yet, so more to come soon!

2024 trade package #12: Chronicles of Fuji

He might not be a Matt, but the sender of my final trade package of May was a Mark: Fuji of the Chronicles of Fuji. And just like the others he sent me some very cool stuff back when the (K-12) school year wasn't quite done yet, which is funny since I've since received another package from him, getting here just before the bell rings on another year of hard work for a very dedicated teacher.

Here's what Fuji sent my way this time:

Gladden and Gullickson hail from Leaf's excellent looking Black Gold parallel which, for the millionth time, should have been the base set look that year. Gladden's best know as a two-time World Series winner with the Twins after starting his career with the Giants, but he spent his final two years in Motown. Gullickson played out the last years (four) of his 14-season career in Detroit and somehow won 20 games in '91.

The next cards I'll group together look like 2019 Topps base issues of Miggy, Castellanos, and JV, but they're actually from a set produced to promote the Clear Travel service, billed as a shortcut through airport security. As Mark noted in his post about them, the fronts are the same but the backs of the 100 cards featuring numbering in the format of "CP-#." Score another win for Fuji's beloved flea market purchases!

And the last group in this scan comprises hits. First up is a two-color patch of former Detroit pitcher Jeremy Bonderman, a guy who saw action on some of the best and worst teams in franchise history in the 2000s. It's got some Tigers orange on it and the offering from 2008 SPx is numbered to 50, marking my 6th hit (all relics) of the Washington native. Next up is a 2019 Topps Chrome auto of one-time prospect Dawel Lugo, an infielder who came over in the universally panned trade of J.D. Martinez to the Diamondbacks in 2017. His signature may be mostly his initials but I like the big loopy autograph all the same, plus the card is a reminder I saw him play for Lansing, Toronto's A-ball team at the time, in 2015. And last up is the only Michigan alum in this post in the form of former Yankees prospect Michael O'Neill (the whiny Paul's nephew). The three-year Wolverine appears to have been out of affiliated ball since 2019 but made a nice number of card appearances while he could, like this 2013 Panini Prizm Perennial Draft Picks Prospect Signatures Prizms auto (man, that's a mouthful!). I remain the #1 collector of this particular O'Neill on TCDb.

And getting his own scan, to end today's post we have an oversized card of damn-well-better-be-elected HOFer Lou Whitaker. "Sweet" Lou comes to us from Donruss's 1986 All-Stars set where each card measures in at 3x5. 1985 marked his third of five straight All-Star nods and he went 0-2 in that game as the AL's starting 2B in a 6-1 loss to the elder league.

Fuji, thanks so much for sending these all the way back in May, and for the subsequent package I'll show off as soon as I can! I hope the new school year treats you well, and before long I'll be treating you to a fun response to what you sent here.

And everyone who follows can look forward to a May show recap post coming up next.

2023 trade package #6: Chronicles of Fuji

It may be April 1st but no foolin', I'm actually posting something! I have an absolute ton of stuff to catch up on so I'm going to try to rapid fire through some of it as best as I can.

Last month I was one of the lucky recipients of a package from Fuji (Chronicles of Fuji), who's sent me lots of great stuff in the past. This time I got a small flat rate box of all kinds of cool items that hit multiple spots in my collections:

It certainly makes sense to start off alphabetically with Jim Abbott. Those oddball Baseball Card Magazine cards are very cool and you'll see more of them a bit later. Retiring future HOFer Miggy featured heavily in this bunch with an excellent nine items (more below), all from Panini.

The remaining Miggy cards here look great too. The Dominators insert is numbered /999 and I love the callbacks to Preferred and the Gallery of Stars insert, plus the die-cut is a plus. Can't go wrong with a pair of DK-related Cobbs. Fielder's UD hologram card is a beaut. And The first of a run of Larkins is also a Topps throwback done by the previously-mentioned magazine.

More Larkins! I'll get to 1000 of his soon at this rate. The pair of numbered V-Marts get a big thumbs up from me as well, especially the Season Stat Line parallel numbered to his 2013 batting average. That "blank" spot is actually a blank front printing glitch issue of HOF P Jack Morris which I'll be happily keeping. Nokes was indeed exciting as a slugging C for a few years with the Tigers. And Palmer and Phillips are two recent favorite PCs.

Scherzer, Tanana, and Verlander combined for 361 wins (out of 686 for all teams) as Tigers, and I'm interested in seeing how the Mets teammates fare this year (as soon as JV is healthy again). And lastly we have should-be HOFer Lou Whitaker.

After one more Sweet Lou there's some fun oddball team logo items and then cool inserts of ex-Tigers I don't tend to collect, but I'll likely keep at least some of them because the cards are great!

Here's most of the rest of the baseball stuff--horizontals and oddball sizes--though there's still a bit more to go. I don't think I'd ever seen that Phillips/Jefferies insert before and it was a definite need for Tony's PC, so kudos to Fuji for finding that one for me! The JaCoby will likely find a better home with one of his bigger collectors soon. And how about all the insanely cool oddball stuff? Champ Summers and Steve Kemp are the stars of the Fleer Stamps on the right.

Paul Gibson is another ex-Tiger I don't collect but I'm not getting rid of what represents my first '91 Topps Desert Shield card! The auto is of Ann Arbor-born Tigers draftee Shannon Withem, a P whose entire MLB career consisted of 3 IP in a 1998 game for the Jays. Then you see the first of the largest items in the package, Donruss All-Star Standups of Jack Morris and Sweet Lou!

Joining those were the even larger regular All-Star cards. Here you see the team set sans Tram. What a great callback to the '84 team!

The basketball and football portions weren't as bountiful but were no less appreciated. Joining ex-Piston Grant Hill and current (for now, anyway!) UM coach Juwan Howard from his own playing days is my first autograph of fellow Fab Fiver Jimmy King. It's a Signature Rookies card so you get some nice college action in the photo, making it a Michigan uni card, besides the bonus of it being my first of King, the 31st different member of my basketball collection.

Over on the football side we have cool numbered cards of Brian Griese and Mike Hart, the latter of which is a "base" RC despite having the Refractor finish on it. Meanwhile, three of the four(!) autographs here are of the Michigan uni variety, a fun reminder of Michigan's spring game having been played earlier today. Breaston's from the fantastic 2009 Topps Magic set, and since I already had it but Jeff didn't, I brought that to him when I visited him at a recent show (more on that in a future post!). Former QB Todd Collins gets a new auto card from '95 Superior Pix, a very similar card to the King above, and that includes a college uni shot that also meets my approval. My favorite ex-Michigan RB Hart adds an autograph to his RC above, this one from a Topps set that shows him during his brief NFL career with the Colts. Fortunately he's doing great as UM's current RBs coach! And fellow legend Marquise Walker closes us out with a very, very nice Topps Finest auto/RC that includes a nicely done signature with bonus jersey number.

Fuji, thank you as always for the generosity and effort that went into you sending this package my way. I'm always thrilled to keep trading with you and this recap shows all the reasons why that's the case. I have a few cards I grabbed for you at a recent show and will try to hit you back once I have enough for an appropriate response. Until then, may the rest of your school year be uneventful!

2022 trade package #2: Chronicles of Fuji

It looks like it's been exactly two weeks since I last posted and they've definitely been busy ones! We all got to enjoy a pretty exciting Super Bowl with yet another former Wolverine (DB David Long) winning a ring. And my activity on TCDB has only increased with lots more trade bait posted and many deals completed or in-progress. In fact, looking over on my card desk right now I have 12 TCDB trades to cover at some point, plus six other blog deals to recap after this one!

And speaking of "this one", it's one of the bigger stacks I get to enjoy! And enjoy it I will, even if I'm extremely jealous of the weather the sender gets to enjoy. While it got briefly warm enough here to melt the many inches of snow we've dealt with, we're once again in the middle of a storm that'll bring another 6-9". Meanwhile it's sunny and high 60s in San Jose, home to blogging/trading legend Fuji of the Chronicles of Fuji.

In January Mark sent me another typically generous package out of the blue, which is a color I'm happy to picture as I see nothing but white outside! I had no idea he was sending what he did and was surprised about the variety found within among three of the major sports. Continue reading to see what I mean:

2017 Honus Bonus, a collectible card/fantasy game product, was a bit of an odd duck for sure. But it's a fun one to collect as well for a number of reasons. One of them is the abundance of 1/1s, with multiples made to represent different significant stats. In the two examples here for Ian Kinsler and Justin Upton, that would be their career HR up to that point. Through 2016, his third of four seasons with Detroit after eight in Texas, Kinsler had clubbed 212 of his 257 career bombs. Upton, snagged as a FA before the 2016 season, finished that campaign at 221 after 10 years, then was flipped to the Angels, still his current squad, and he's added 128 taters over his past five.

I like the game-dated aspect of these cards and they're a fun addition to my collection even if the true "rarity" isn't there. Very cool of Fuji to send them my way!

Basketball was very well represented this time, enough that I decided to make it easy on myself and just take a group photo. After all, there was lots worth showing off here, with the 90s and inserts offering lots of creativity and shine.

Player #1 in the pile is Tariq Abdul-Wahad, a relative newbie to my collection in terms of cards that aren't part of complete sets. Previously named Olivier Saint-Jean, he was born in France to two basketball-playing parents, and played at Michigan in 93-94 before transferring to Fuji's San Jose State. Sacramento chose him 11th overall in 1997, the same year he converted to Islam and took on a new name. He's very welcome to the basketball collection! Nice catch, Fuji.

Other players that are part of this bunch include Jamal Crawford, coach Juwan Howard, Ray Jackson, Jimmy King, Jalen Rose, Mo Taylor, Robert Traylor, Loy Vaught, and Chris Webber. As you can see, there's a nice bunch of Michigan uni cards, which makes sense giving how popular the program was for a bit in the early 90s. Taylor and Webber got the most new additions with eight and nine, respectively. And I'm absolutely digging a bunch of the inserts, like Howard's hologram (upper-right corner), the die-cuts, and the plethora of shininess.

One such card I decided to highlight was this 1998-99 Ultra Unstoppable insert of Taylor. The booklet-like card folds open so I put together this three-part (somewhat cut-off) look at it:

I don't recall seeing these before so I thought it was cool!

The football side more than lives up to its courtside companion with lots of great names and designs. Touchdown Timmy is a blast to collect since his cards largely fall in the super creative era of the 90s, and that's on full display here. I especially love the Leaf slide card and SP HoloView insert, which bring to mind my favorite tag, "90s inserts rule"! His last card is actually a '96 Bowman reprint, not the original, by the way.

National champ QB Brian Griese was the most common player found in the bunch, as you'll see between this scan and the next one. The Collector's Edge card is numbered /3500, the Fleer Showcase Air to the Throne insert is a reminder that he didn't quite follow in Elway's footsteps (though he did have a respectable career), and the 2000 Leaf Certified base is one of the higher-end ones you'll see here that wouldn't be out of place in an insert set.

See? More Griese (but not greasy) goodness! I wonder if anyone else remembers Upper Deck's short-lived UD Graded product, which I mainly know about due to having to track down some annoying RCs. The inserts from UD, Ultra, and even Topps (it was long enough ago, when they were still trying) are great. Absolute Memorabilia's hobby base cards were way better than the bland retail versions that never should have been made. And the Griese/Terrell pairing never happened in college or the NFL, unfortunately, but would have been a dynamic duo!

Speaking of QBs, newly-extended coach Jim Harbaugh makes an appearance here out of a baseball insert: Topps' 2016 First Pitch set, naturally showing him at Comerica Park. And Fuji even somehow found a Chad Henne I didn't have: a 2008 Prestige Prestigious Picks insert numbered /500, with the young Henne seen in his maize & blue uni. Those two are joined by another UM great, Desmond Howard, on a 1992 All World issue.

Incredibly, there's still more 90s/early 2000s greatness left to cover. It's awesome to see Terrell and Thomas together as nature intended: the WR on a numbered UD Finite base and the A-Train on one of Donruss's greatest inserts: Elite's Passing the Torch. For those of you who are curious, he was paired with former Bears back Gale Sayers. Hey, they can't all be winners, but damn is that set a beauty!

Former WRs Amani Toomer and Marquise Walker are next. Super Bowl champ Toomer can be seen on high-end offerings from 2000 Topps Gold Label (Class 3) and the previously seen Absolute Memorabilia. Walker's card is another throwback to quality Topps inserts: 2002 Topps Debut's Collegiate Classics. This foil chase card with a great college photo honors his 7 catches for 134 yards and a TD (one of his 11 that year) in a 24-10 win over Purdue in 2001, my freshman year.

Last up here us new Broncos RBs coach Tyrone Wheatley, someone who knows just a bit about the position. The Michigan great is seen on 1995's Metal Silver Flashers, Skybox Prime Time Rookie, and  Upper Deck Predictor inserts, plus a 2001 Topps Combos that pairs him up with the already seen Thomas. Those two are the #4 and 5 career rushers at the school, combining for 8276 yards, 96 rushing TDs, and 103 overall scores!

We're not quite done with inserts yet since Fuji also included this large item in the package: a graded 2003 Topps Chrome Refractor of transfer RB Justin Fargas, numbered /100. The beautiful shiny Refractory-ness is enhanced by a bold black border that I'm sure Gavin would admire. This is a gorgeous addition to my collection of Huggy Bear's kid, and I'll think about whether or not I feel like cracking it out of the slab to admire it more.

Ok, now we're closing in on the end with just a couple cards left to cover. The first is a great looking jersey card of former QB/WR Devin Gardner out of Panini's 2015 collegiate product focusing on the school, one of a number they made. DG was an athletic competitor and leader and those skills seem to be translating well to his potential next career in analysis/broadcasting. I'm looking forward to seeing him advance in that career!

And last up today is this throwback to fun Pacific products and their leading efforts when memorabilia cards were still novelties. Griese was paired up with HOF RB teammate Terrell Davis on this Titanium dual jersey, a double-sided card that in retrospect definitely got it right with the star up front. For me, though, it's a nice new jersey card to add to my Griese collection, now at 25 hits strong, making him the 18th player to reach that mark.

Thanks again for this whopper of a trade package, Fuji! Sending 1/1s, 90s inserts, and lots of Wolverines is a great way to keep yourself in my top tier of favorite trading partners, that's for sure. I hope your school year is going well, and I look forward to hitting you back as always whenever I can pile up some more trade bait. Until then, you know I'll keep following your blog, easily one of the best out there!

2021 trade package #2: Chronicles of Fuji

I'm back with trade #2 (out of three so far!) from January 2021. This one was slightly larger than the last so it took me a bit of time to put it together and then a bit more to, you know, feel like writing up a post.

Fuji (Chronicles of Fuji) managed to surprise me with a fairly packed bubble mailer, then impressed me even more with what was inside:

Up top are 2020 Ginter cards of a couple slugging 1Bs who starred for Detroit and hit many a longball. My math tells me that Miggy and "Big Daddy" have combined for 594 homers as Tigers (349 and 245, respectively), and Cabrera may very well hit the hallowed 500 mark this season, needing just 13 to get it done (plus 134 hits for the big 3K).

Down the middle are Willie Horton, a newer PC guy for me, out of 1990 Pacific Legends (more on that in a bit) and an '85 Fleer Team Stickers card that includes stickers of a pennant and a jersey starring the Olde English "D". The latter is a cool item as I really don't have many stickers from Fleer or elsewhere from the mid-80s on back. Nice find, Fuji!

And lastly we have probably the coolest and most surprising item in the package. Topps' Pro Debut product in 2018 got just about as creative as the Minor Leagues themselves with these "Fragments of the Farm Relics". Stewart's card here includes a piece of a sign from the outfield fence of UPMC park, home of the Tigers' AA Erie (PA) Seawolves. Other sources of relics include protective netting, bases, pennants, tarps, and more! Stewart could use more time in the Minors but this card definitely gets the call to my collection.

Next is a group of six 1993 Upper Deck All-Time Heroes oversized cards. I think I've had occasion to show off only one of these here before, but Fuji broke a box of the product that features 2.5x5.25" panels like you see above, done in the style of the 1912 T-202 set (also referred to as "Hassan Triple Folders"). Former Tigers Kell and Lolich each got their own cards (with a left or middle panel image showing them with a different team) while Cobb appears on a bunch of shared cards including the ones you see here with Ruth, Rogers Hornsby, Tris Speaker, and Ted Williams. I'll happily deal with figuring out how to store these to be lucky enough to own this many!

Here's a look at the back of Kell's card to give you an idea of how those look.

And then we come to what was responsible for the bulk of the package. Many of you probably remember how I busted a box of 1988 Pacific Legends last year--I certainly did enough posts teasing the break and covering it--and Fuji opted to buy the other box I'd picked up. He also put in some work collecting the '89 and '90 iterations of these, and apparently had enough extras to send me 94 of the 110 cards in the 1990 set! He even went that extra Fuji mile by including a list of the missing cards, none of which are huge stars, so it's not like he held anything back (if you couldn't tell by old Hammerin' Hank up top). I'm going to grab the rest on Sportlots soon and then I'll just need to track down the '89 set one way or another to complete my run.

Here's a quick look at the other Tigers-related guys in the set, plus a front and two backs of other representative guys, though I should also say it has a Fan Favorites vibe (just like the '88 version) by including guys like Rusty Staub, Don Mossi, and Jesse Barfield.

As much as anything else in this package, this was a very generous gift from Fuji and I really appreciate it!

Mark, once again, thanks for the nice New Year's surprise! I was happy to enjoy the fruits of a couple of your oddball box breaks and I'll have to try to see if I can find something similar you can use. In the meantime I hope you liked the few Christmas cards I sent your way and that you're hanging in there while trying to teach kids during the pandemic. Domo arigato, Mr. Fuji!

2020 trade package #18: Chronicles of Fuji

I'm back with another same-day trade package post! It helps that it's a PWE but my new scanning process in which I no longer save individual scans for player collections also speeds things up.

When I last got cards from Fuji it was February and the world was very, very different. He sent me an absolutely ridiculous mailer stuffed with hits, many of which I needed and some of which I was able to include in subsequent trades. Flash forward to today's PWE, one that caught me totally by surprise because it didn't even come up on my Informed Delivery. Under the radar!

Fuji did an amazing job of pushing the limits of a PWE by stuffing in a nice number of cards along with some solid backing that gave everything plenty of support, meaning it made it to my mailbox in the same condition in which he sent it.

Here's what the west coast blogging legend sent me this time:

To kick things off, Mark was nice enough to point out that card #1, a Jim Abbott '92 Upper Deck issue, is the dreaded Gold Hologram version. I say "dreaded" in terms of trying to chase them down, otherwise I'm happy to have one!

The one player in today's post still with Detroit is Miggy, who's seen on 2008 UD Timeline and 2015 Topps Highlight of the Year cards. Boy that 2012 triple crown season was crazy!

The Georgia Peach looks terrific on another great vintage UD design, 2001's Hall of Famers. Miggy and Verlander (2008 Upper Deck X) will join him and Pudge (2005 Absolute Memorabilia Retail) in the Hall someday.

Fuji hit both my current and former blog namesakes as the recently retired Granderson pops up on a 2008 UD First Edition Starquest insert. And his former teammate (briefly in 2009) Rick Porcello closes out the scan on a 2009 Topps Ticket to Stardom Perforated parallel. I'm glad that those cards that seem like they should be condition sensitive don't seem to get damaged very easily!

We'll start the other group off with a five spot of 2006-09 Bowman Gold parallels of some former prospects. I don't recall Blue, who seems to have made it as high as AAA in 2007. Dominican pitcher Figaro (awesome name!) appeared in 52 games over two seasons each with Detroit and Milwaukee. Green had even less of a career than Blue (ha!) after being a 2008 third-round pick. Maples also made it to AAA Toledo but never cracked the big league roster. Finally, OF Wilkin Ramirez got cups of coffee with the Tigers, Braves, and Twins in the odd-numbered years between 2009-2013.

And for the dessert portion of this post, Fuji included three 1970s Hostess cards of former Tigers. Hooray for food issue oddballs! LeFlore (1977) is well known among Tigers fans thanks to his six solid seasons in Detroit. Ruhle (1976) did alright for himself as a 17th-round pick for his home-state team, spending four years in Motown before putting in seven more with the team I'd say he's more known for, the Astros. And Thompson (1978) split a surprising number of his stats fairly equally between the Tigers and Pirates. This trio has the textbook hand cut-out Hostess look and I'm happy to be adding them to my small vintage oddball team collection.

Fuji, thanks again for the fun surprise PWE and great new cards! I'm not exactly sure when I'll be returning fire but I do have a good little stack put together for you, and as a teacher I bet you'll appreciate that there's a lot of A's!

2020 trade package #3: Chronicles of Fuji

I count myself among the people lucky enough to trade with Fuji and I'm always glad to hear when he's sending something my way since I know it'll be great.  That was mostly definitely the case when Mark played Santa last month and sent out a fleet of envelopes all over the country.  Even with my expectations high Fuji's generosity always manages to surprise me.  Check out this latest mailer:

Make no mistake, this package was a hit parade, and this isn't even half of it!  We'll start with Michigan pitching great Jim Abbott on a signature from UD's Goodwin champions.  As usual with the brand the artwork is suspect but the auto is top notch!  Then there's a whole mess of Tigers.  The first of two Miggy relics from 2019 Topps is a jersey from the set done up in the '84 design, which reminds me of the Tigers '84 set I grabbed at Comerica Park last year.  Next is a 2017 Topps Holiday jersey of Michael Fulmer which is somehow my first hit of the former ROY whom I continue to hope returns to full health.

Going a bit older school we have what I considered a pleasant surprise:  a 2000 Topps Traded autograph of former catcher/infielder Brandon Inge.  He could be streaky but put together a few nice seasons in the mid-aughts with his best year coinciding with Detroit's return to the Fall Classic.  That's my first auto of BInge and only my second hit overall along with a jersey, so this was a great inclusion!

Last up in this scan is a trio of nice jersey relics of Trashtro pitcher Justin Verlander.  I may cover this more in a future post but for now to answer what may become a FAQ:  yes I still collect JV, though I've soured on him as a player given his lackluster reaction to his team cheating its way to a title.  Anyway, these relics are quite nice and hail from 2017 Ginter and Heritage and '19 Donruss.

And the bevy of Tigers doesn't end there!  Up top is a very cool acetate auto out of 2002 Topps Pristine of '01 first-round bust P Kenny Baugh.  In a round one short on quality regulars (Joe Mauer, Mark Prior for a minute, Gavin Floyd, Mark Teixeira) Baugh was still a bad miss as he never made it out of the minors, plus he was selected ahead of, among others, David Wright!  That see through auto card is super cool, though, and I'm planning on keeping it for now despite the fact that I rarely hold onto cards of such players.

The other two here are somewhat similarly designed jersey relics of former teammates Miggy and V-Mart.  Cabrera's is from 2019 while Victor's was made the previous year.  I may have looked this up and mentioned it before, but as teammates from 2011-18 they combined for 454 HR while seeing their production fall off a cliff after 2016.  By the way, this is just my second hit of Victor and first of him as a Tiger, so again, nice job by Mark!

And now we're on to the "other sports" portion of the package.  I thought the Jimmy King/Ty Wheatley duo card made for a nice segue between the two games seen her, and naturally I enjoyed the college photos out of the terrific looking '95 Classic Five Sport set.  Biakabutuka's card is also very interesting:  a $20 phone card inserted into packs of '96 Press Pass.  They apparently also could be found in values of $5, $10, and $1996.  Remember phone cards?  That's so 90s.

And I'll give the best card of this bunch its own paragraph.  Glen Rice is probably the best player from the '89 champs and I'm always happy to get new stuff of his, especially when I don't have to buy it myself!  This 2016-17 Panini Excalibur Calligraphy card is a textbook example of how nice his signature can look, and he clearly lives up to the set's name here.  This is my fifth auto of Rice and of course I want to keep adding more.

Last up is the football hits portion, or what I'm going to refer to as the "Long haul" for obvious reasons.  I wonder if any of you can picture my face after I pulled card after card out of this package and thought, "How much great stuff did Fuji just send me?!"  I mean, take a look at the previous three scans and keep them in mind when you look at this bonanza.  Yowza!

Let's start with Touchdown Tim in the upper-left corner.  You wouldn't know it from the looks of it but that card was made by Fleer during his rookie year of '96, and despite the plain look it's nice to have since he doesn't have a ton of signed cards.  Then we have what's just my second auto of DL Ryan Glasgow of the Michigan walk-on Glasgows.  The reason it's difficult to see his name in that scan is the color of the foil--blue, appropriately enough--since it's a parallel version of his regular auto in the set.  As usual with Contenders/Draft I think it looks awesome and love the college action photo they went with.

Before we get to the guy who had the biggest day I can cover two of his teammates and fellow '08 draftees.  #1 PC guy Chad Henne is first with a jersey relic out of that year's UD product and then we jump forward two years for a sweet dual jersey out of Sweet Spot of another top guy in Mario Manningham, a.k.a. the namesake of my defunct sister blog.  The latter looks especially cool with, yep, a great college photo.

And now to the man of the hour, Jake Long, who represents a quarter of today's hits, with all of them being autographed!  Two of them--'08 Stadium Club and '09 Topps Mayo--include "just" signatures while the other three--'08 Leaf Certified Materials, Bowman Sterling, and UD Premier--come with relic bonuses.  Again, pulling these out one at a time was a crazy experience, and I'm humbled once again by Fuji's trademark generosity, not to mention the effort I like to credit when people go above and beyond to hit my preferred college collections.

Mark, thanks once again for this stunner of an envelope!  I'm not sure when or how I'll hit you back, but regardless of what you say I intend to do so one way or another.  And in the meantime I'm enjoying seeing the similarly amazing packages popping up on other blogs.  It's good to be a friend of Mr. Fuji!