2024 Facebook Marketplace purchase: Shoeboxin'

Tonight I get to wrap up the month of April 2024 in terms of my collecting with what was my third purchase via Facebook Marketplace.

A guy in Brighton, which is about a half hour-ish north of me, posted a shoebox of baseball stuff for sale, asking $100:

He estimated that there were around 500 cards in there, all fairly recent, including inserts, SPs, and some other stuff. Also, everything was sleeved.

This other image from the listing gives you a pretty good idea of the content, with a lot of it being what today's collectors tend to refer to as "color," especially parallels like Refractors.

We managed to settle on a $75 price and everything proceeded smoothly. As usual I had a blast flipping through everything and setting aside a few things for myself while mainly enjoying coming up with even more stuff to send my favorite trade partners (with most of the getting listed on TCDb).

A number of you have long since received your loot from this box but I think I may still have some to send out.

Anyway, here's what I held onto for myself:

I guess today's a rare day where I don't need or want to make fun of Baez since his three-run homer led Detroit to a win over Cleveland. Even if I eventually dump his base stuff in my trade boxes when he's inevitably jettisoned from the roster, I'm happy to keep fun parallels like Refractors. Cochrane is a favorite old-old school guy of mine whether he's shown with Philly or Detroit, and bordered parallels are elite. Kinsler makes two colorful appearances here (one below), both in Rangers uniforms, but that's fine because he was another short-term Detroit favorite of mine. Scherzer, seen here on a couple cool inserts from his brief tenure with the Mets, was also in the news today having eclipsed his former teammate Justin Verlander in career strikeouts to rank 10th all-time. Garcia, Rondon, and Travis never really did anything for Detroit, though I remain angry about the team dumping Travis to the Blue Jays even though injuries shortened his career, because the Tigers sure do love getting nothing for their talented young infielders.

Reyes, like a more recent Tiger in Akil Baddoo, is an example of a minor rule 5 success as he parlayed his December, 2017 selection from Arizona into parts of five seasons with Detroit. The gold foil is quite nice on the top card and the bottom is your standard quality Refractor. And then the oldest items in the box were a few 1990 Topps Stickers with PC guys Gwynn and Ripken starring on three fronts and one back. The flip side of Mr. Padre's sticker is fellow HOF OF Andre Dawson. Cal serves as the Superstar back for Devon White and Jeffrey Leonard while his foil and regular stickers include Mitch Williams and Gary Gaetti on the backs.

Overall I'm quite happy with how this purchase went: I got it for less than the purchase price, added a few fun cards, and picked up a bunch of fun recent-ish trade bait. It was basically the equivalent of a solid day of dime- and quarter-boxing at a show, and at $0.15 per card, that's essentially what it was, though with a bit of driving in place of the time spent digging.

Now that I'm caught up through April I should be back soon to start recapping five May trades (and more from the month) that brought me some very timely exciting items. Until then, I hope all of you are like me, basking in the time of year when baseball doesn't have to share the spotlight with the other major sports (though the Olympics may be good watching).

2021 trade package #32: Bump and Run Football Card Blog

Today's trade package is one of the last (if not the last) I received in 2021, and it's one that came about thanks to the stuff I put up for grabs from my Facebook collection purchase. Utah resident Trevor, who writes as Bump and Run Football Card Blog (wow, a football card blog?! Nice!) was interested in one of my '96 Score complete sets as well as a partial set of  '94 Finest (both baseball, to be clear), and I was able to cram those into a padded flat rate envelope.

In return Trevor allowed me to choose some stuff from his tradelist on TCDB. Not only that, but he also threw in even more that I hadn't selected myself. It was a nice win/win deal where I cleared out some unwanted stuff for cards I like, and Trevor got an opportunity to chase a couple sets that probably wouldn't have been a priority for him otherwise.

Here's a look at what the BYU/Packers fan sent over at the end of December:

Miggy was the star of this package with five cards (and also he's, you know, a big star), all from fairly recent sets: 2016 Donruss, 2019 Topps NBCD, 2020 Topps Big League and NBCD, and 2021 Topps' foil-y tribute to to the Topps Big product of my childhood. With the team looking to get out of rebuild mode I'm looking forward to him getting the the 13 hits he needs for 3K and then playing less so the lineup can be more effective.

Speaking of Tigers legends, it's cool to see a B&W shot of Ty Cobb signing autographs for kids in the earlier part of the 20th century. Austin Jackson's a more recent favorite of mine but the set his card here is from, Honus Bonus, was named after his contemporary, so that's cool. Kinsler's another past Tiger I'm always happy to see in any trade due to his effective bat at second. And potential future star pitcher Mize is the only other current Tiger in this package. He indeed made his debut on 8/19/2020 against the White Sox, giving up three ER in 4.1 IP in the loss, though that ended up being the 'pen's fault ultimately. He did pile up 7 strikeouts in that brief appearance, plus he was pretty useful last season, perhaps a sign of things to come for a breakout in 2022?

No big deal at the start of this scan, just one of the best catchers of the 80s and then a HOFer for the next two decades. The back of the Big Wheel's card, from '84 Fleer, mentions he turned down a football scholarship from UCLA to sign with Detroit, which seems to have paid off nicely, even if he played the baseball position that gets a football level of abuse. Pudge's cards hail from '94 Sportflics (w00t!), '97 Pinnacle X-Press x2, and 2002 Topps Pristine.

The well-loved Matchick card was a bittersweet addition here as the former Tigers IF passed away just a few days after this envelope arrived at the age of 78. He played just six seasons in the bigs, three for Detroit, but that included the glory of '68. That season's stats appear on the '69 Topps card you see above.

Possibly my favorite card in the entire bunch is another Sportflics offering, this one from the '87 Team Preview set. The lenticular technology allowed the manufacturer to include 12 different players--three each in the four frames. Aside from a couple guys I couldn't care less about, this one includes Sweet Lou, Dan Petry, Tram, Darrell Evans, Chet Lemon, Jack Morris, Gibby, and Willie Hernandez. A who's who of '84 champs, if you will! It's fun to have one card that fits into this many PCs.

Last up in this bunch is a pair of Fleer stickers, both from 1982. I love seeing a couple fun logo versions, including the Olde English "D" and my favorite version of the team's namesake mascot.

The final scan this evening starts with the last of the Tigers: an insert celebrating team mascot "Paws" and the Tiger merry-go-round, one of Comerica Park's attractions. For my part I tend to think of the Ferris wheel made out of baseballs more than that, but they're both cool features for kids to enjoy themselves at a game.

It feels great knocking a couple '21 Topps Update issues of PC guys off my lists, and that's exactly what I was able to do here thanks to Trevor. Cronenworth has two cards in the set and his combo appearance with Tatis Jr. is the first one I was able to land. I'm probably one of the few people more excited to get the card because of Cronenworth! As for Hill, this is his only Rays issue with the brand (I don't include Topps now since those don't mean anything to me), which is stupid because he signed with Tampa in February and had long since been traded to the Mets when this one came out. With him moving on to (back to?) Boston will he get any Mets cardboard? Then again, who cares? They suck!

Greg Maddux is the last of the baseball stuff and this jersey card from 2004 Leaf Second Edition was most definitely a welcome sight as a surprise addition to the envelope. Leaf produced both Home and Away jersey cards and this is the latter starring one of my favorite all-time pitchers. I now count 15 relics plus an autograph in his collection!

We'll end the post on a couple former Wolverines from other sports. Former NCAA champ Glen Rice remains the king of my basketball PC and that UD3 card from Upper Deck is a great example of how much fun collecting the in the 90s was. Rice also got to experience a pro title, something familiar to the other guy up there, one Tom Brady. The unquestionable GOAT of the NFL may or not be retiring without another ring but he did end up with seven (and five MVPs) in 10 chances, which I hear is pretty good. That's a 2020 Panini Rookies & Stars base you see up there of the Canton-bound signal caller.

That was a lot of words to write about cards but it was worth it to show appreciation to Trevor for an excellent trade package! I hope we can trade again this year, especially if I can land some trade bait you'd be interested in, but for now I have no problem celebrating the end of 2021 with new PC additions!

More trade recaps to come soon!

12/4/2021 card show report: "Sweet" Christmas!

To say that Saturday, December 4 was an exciting day for me earlier this month would be an understatement. A week prior Michigan overcame years of futility to punch Ohio State in the mouth and beat them handily, earning them their first trip to the conference title game. The Wolverines ended my Saturday on a high note by demolishing Iowa 42-3 in a game filled with highlight reel plays and left the fans delirious with joy over their upcoming playoff appearance. Yep, it was a pretty good day.

And the start of it was just as awesome for me too. I headed east to Taylor as I do monthly for my usual card show, though I went that day instead of my usual Friday excursion for a special reason. The show had hosted the occasional interesting autograph guest in the past, but nobody in my experience elicited as much excitement as that day's signer: Lou Whitaker.

I couldn't tell you the last time he signed around here, and I'm not even sure the last time I paid for an in-person autograph--maybe Red Berenson at the old Gibraltar Trade Center years ago? So this was a Big Deal, and for once I had no problem ponying up $50 for the experience, which ended up being very positive!

For as many people as there were in front of me the line never felt interminable, and after maybe 30-45 minutes I was in front of Sweet Lou himself with a large framed poster I'd grabbed probably more than 20 years ago at the Ann Arbor Art Fair. I'd always planned on having him sign it someday if I could get to a signing so that's exactly what I brought with me. He asked me where I'd like him to sign and I told him it was up to him. He ended up placing a huge, super legible signature right around his butt, and I'm very happy with the result:

Here it is hanging in my office/card room on a wall along with another Tigers signature (albeit one I bought second-hand), that of Bill Freehan.

Long story short, getting to meet Whitaker and get his signature was a big moment for me and one that I'll remember forever, so it was easily worth the $50 and my time. It'll be even more enjoyable once the committee voters get their heads out of their asses and elect him to the Hall.

So while I was there I paid my usual visit to my favorite seller, though a somewhat shorter one thanks to standing in line for the autograph. He actually noted that I was one of the very few people he noticed that came for the signing and stuck around to look at cards as well, which is kind of sad since I want to see this show continue for obvious reasons.

Anyway, I made pretty good use of my time by snagging 15 quarter cards that were 5/$1, 15 dollar cards, 18 that were $2 each, and even six that were $5 apiece. He called the total $80 and then I was heading home with lots of stuff that ended up in Christmas Card packages (some of which remain to be seen!) and a few things for myself too:

The available trade bait portion is just two cards because I was able to target almost everything to the packages I was going to send out. The pair includes an '08 Sweet Spot auto /150 of former Rangers P Scott Feldman plus an "S" letter manupatch/auto of Oklahoma WR Jalen Saunders out of '14 Upper Deck. (By the way, I'm rooting heavily against the Sooners in favor of Kerry's Ducks tonight, so go Oregon!) These are the kinds of cards I like to grab from the $2 boxes from time to time to beef up my FS/FT stuff on TCDB, but as always they're available here as well, so please shout if you're interested in either.

And the "for me" pile is relatively small too but still really, really good. First, I doubled my collection of former UM SS/Rockies draftee (2020 5th round) Jack Blomgren in scoring an autograph of his out of 2020 Elite Extra Edition for just $2. He's the 30th different player in my Michigan Baseball PC and I'd love to see him replicate some of the success that another sort-of recent Michigan guy, Jake Cronenworth, has had in the game.

Next I added to my collection of former blog namesake Curtis Granderson's hits with a 2016 A&G jersey. He may be shown there with the Mets but will forever be a Tigers favorite in my book. I now count 14 hits of him: nine relics, a manurelic, two autos, and auto/relic, and a plate. You can never have too many, I say!

Getting back to the Michigan stuff the most expensive card I picked up for myself was in the $5 box: a 2020 Bowman Chrome Blue Refractor auto (# /150) of another Rockies draftee (2019, #77 overall), pitcher Karl Kauffmann. It's only my fifth card of his so I knew it would be a need and didn't mind ponying up $5 instead of waiting to find it slightly cheaper elsewhere. The color kind of sold me on it too. I actually have more hits (three autos and a plate) than base cards (one) of the potential future Rockie.

We happen to be alternating between hit types and teams though not by design--as usual I'm going alphabetically. Ian Kinsler closes out the baseball group with a 2010 UD Game Jersey. I know these are among the lowest end of hits these days but I think I only paid $1 and as I always say when I mention him, I enjoyed his time in Detroit, not the least because he produced well and was part of the deal to get rid of Prince Fielder's dead weight. This is my third relic of his and all show him with his original team, the Rangers, but maybe I'll land a Tigers card at some point.

And then for the 2021 Big Ten Champion Wolverines we begin appropriately with a Michigan uni card, a 2021 SAGE Premier Draft of WR Nico Collins, a guy who had the shitty luck of being drafted by the Texans. At least he finally caught his first NFL TD the other day in a rare win against the Chargers. Speaking of California teams, transfer RB Justin Fargas played his entire career for Oakland, and I was glad to find a 2008 Select Young Stars insert (# /999) of his in the quarter box. And our final player today, like Collins, is active in the league, though out for the year with an Achilles tear. Brandon Graham has recorded 59.0 sacks and 19 forced fumbles over parts of 12 seasons with the Eagles and I'm always happy to show this defensive standout some hobby love when I can, like his 2021 Donruss Red Press Proof parallel above.

So to recap, that day I

• Met Lou Whitaker and got his autograph
• Picked up some great cards while at the show
• Enjoyed Michigan trouncing Iowa and winning the Big Ten conference title game

I think Luke Cage would have to agree that was a great Saturday a few weeks before a sweet Christmas!

With this stuff covered I believe my next few posts will be recapping trades but you never know. Either way they're going to drag into 2022 but I'd rather take my time instead of stressing myself writing up posts. I'm always glad to give people who send me stuff the effort they deserve as thanks, so I promise I'll start getting to those soon!

10/1/21 card show report: I want Blue to show me the way

With a big Michigan game looming at noon on Saturday (which went quite well for the Maize & Blue, if you hadn't heard), I once again took a Friday off to head to the monthly show in Taylor a couple days ago. Although I was disappointed to see that my favorite seller still had no dime boxes with him, and that most of what was in the $0.50/$1/$2 boxes was as uninteresting as the last couple shows, I did have some fun going through his quarter boxes, pulling out 60 items, mostly for trade bait, for $15. Given how busy his tables were when I got there, though, I started at the table of a guy I don't remember seeing before. He had a shoebox of 2/$3 autos and relics, of which I grabbed eight, plus some quarter cards that were serial numbered. I snagged eight of those as well, dropping another $14.

Again, it was nothing huge to write home (or blog) about, but I still accomplished my goal of adding some trade bait plus new items to my collection--two scans' worth--so I left reasonably satisfied. Here are my scores from this trip:

My baseball pickups all came out of the big quarter boxes. Griffey's is a base from Topps' 2006 Co-Signers product, and while some might call the design "busy" I find it shiny and fun, plus it's a new Junior! I still appreciate Kinsler's time with the Tigers enough that I sometimes collect cards of him with the team for whom he's more well known, the Rangers, such as Bowman Chrome Refractors from 2011 and '13. Maddux was my other baseball twofer thanks to a 2016 Topps Wrigley insert and '96 Collector's Choice Silver Signature parallel. '96 was definitely a good year for UDCC's design. Last up is a 2002 Leaf Rookies & Stars subset issue of Cal Ripken Jr., meaning I have 3/4 of his run in the bunch (missing #251 celebrating his '82 AL ROY). Not a bad little group with three of my big four non-Michigan PCs hit!

Meanwhile the Michigan side of things was a full nine cards strong with the three other sports represented. Coach Juwan Howard stars on one of the two numbered cards I grabbed for myself, a '98-'99 UD AeroDynamics Tier 1 die-cut that was limited to 2000 copies. It's even more enjoyable collecting him since his successful return to Ann Arbor has made some "experts" look foolish for predicting that he'd be a bust.

Of course football was the main attraction and I scored seven cards of six subjects. TE Devin Asiasi transferred out to UCLA but remains in my collection thanks to non-Bruins cards like his 2020 Absolute Retail base, which I'm not sure counts as a RC. I'll decide at time point. Former UM footballer and US president Gerald Ford gets in on the action with a 2015 Topps baseball insert. Quality OL/unquality person Taylor Lewan pops up twice on Score Gold parallels from 2017 and 2020, with the design on the latter much better since it goes all the way around the border. Bengals TE Tony McGee is the subject of a '96 Pro Line parallel that was a staple of the era: a Printer's Proof. Cleveland WR DPJ's partially airbrushed uni/helmet comes courtesy of 2020 Leaf Draft. And top 10 college football player of all time Charles Woodson continues to appear in the base sets of newer Panini products, such as 2020 Mosaic, in this case with his first/final team, the Raiders.

And finally we have one more quarter numbered card, one that I was excited to dig up: a Mike Knuble 2001-02 Pacific Hobby LTD parallel that's numbered 76/99 on the back. I'm a fan for a few reasons: I love Pacific's base designs from the time, their numbered parallels are fun, and Knuble's one of my favorite Michigan Hockey alumni as he also played for the Wings, winning the '97-'98 cup that brought glory back to Hockeytown. There are few ways to spend a quarter better than this!

It's hard to believe that just two more months and their respective shows remain in 2021. Given how bad things were last year (and in some cases continue to be thanks to selfish idiots) I'm grateful to have been able to get back to them this year even if the results aren't always what I hope.

But speaking of results I did hope for, Saturday's destruction of Wisconsin has me in good spirits as I look to have another good week of collecting no matter what it brings. That should include a post showing off another PWE that showed up the other day, one that brings some shine to ward off the recent cloudy weather here in Ann Arbor. Stay tuned and Go Blue!

4/30/21 show report: I'd buy that for a dollar!

It's definitely been a long road--more than a year, in fact--but thanks to getting vaccinated recently I finally felt ready to head back to my usual monthly card show in Taylor this past Friday. Besides the fact that I almost always enjoy the experience of poring over boxes of cards for couple hours to bring home new stuff, I was really itching to go to grab some new trade bait. The online sources that used to treat me so well are less and less useful these days, and nothing can replace seeing cards in person, deciding you want them, and taking them home immediately--no astronomical shipping costs or USPS chaos, just instant gratification. I think you all know I love sending cards out as much as having them come into my collection, and shows are probably responsible for the majority of that trade fodder.

So I headed to Taylor early Friday afternoon and was relieved to see my favorite seller there. I ended up solely looking at the guy's $1 boxes because there were so many

(everything you see here, plus a few more to the right) and because I only have so long before I decide I've had enough. I love me some dime and quarter boxes, but this guy usually has $1s and $2s, and this time it was all dollars, so there were bound to be some good finds in there.

Roughly two hours later I came away with 70 cards from these boxes: a few keepers for me, a few for general/TCDB trade bait, and a healthy bunch for some of my favorite trade partners! Boy does it feel nice to be able to say that.

Here's a quick recap of the stuff that's not earmarked for anyone specific (available for trade!) and what I kept for myself:

This is the kind of stuff I love finding for a buck because either someone jumps at it and wants to trade for it, or I don't mind it sitting in my trade box as some pretty nice ammo for a future deal.

Wolters is an autographed letter patch (the "U" of "USA") from 2009 UD Signature Stars and is #d /100. Chandler is the "N" from his name and is also a signed manupatch, #d /250. I wasn't sure if I had the Hall 2010 Score Signatures auto but I did so I figured a fellow Michigan collector or Bengals fan might like it. Dixon is a football/auto from 2016 Panini Phoenix and is #d /199. And Hicks is a manuhelmet auto from 2003 UD Sweet Spot.

If you'd like to claim any of these, please throw a comment down below or shoot me an email and I'll be happy to work something out with you!

And now, onto my haul:

Let's start with Mr. Padre. Gwynn's a '98 Pinnacle Mint Silver parallel of the non-die-cut base card (which was bronze), and a great example of "90s inserts rule!". I probably could have found it cheaper elsewhere, but $1 seemed reasonable to me and now I don't have to wait to get it.

Kinsler put up four nice seasons in Detroit and was fun to watch, plus he helped wash the stink off of the Prince Fielder contract debacle. I happily paid a buck for my second jersey of the star 2B, though as with the one I already had he's pictured here with the team for whom he's most well know, the Rangers. Maybe I'll track down a Tigers hit at some point.

I would have sworn I had that 2005-06 SP Game Used jersey of former UM cager Bernard Robinson, but as it happens the other five cards I have of him are signed so it's actually my first relic of his. I have Maurice Taylor's jersey from the same set, and a quick look at the checklist makes me think they're the only Wolverines I needed to track down.

On the football front I found a couple cool Panini-branded rookie parallels I liked. Arrington is from the fairly confusing 2008 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longevity set (not the Longevity parallel of the regular R&S product) and is an Emerald parallel numbered /49. His collection is inching closer to the century mark so I always appreciate finds like that. Former UM QB John Navarre is next with an Aspirations parallel of his 2004 Donruss Elite RC, numbered /84. The red die-cut inserts look excellent, plus the Senior Bowl photo makes it a quasi UM uni card since he's wearing the greatest helmet in college football. I've previously tracked down fellow QB Drew Henson from the same set.

And we'll finish up this post with a fun trio of relics of former TE/WR Devin Funchess. The top-most on the right is from 2015 Panini Rookies & Stars, and the set is called "Longevity Rookie Jerseys" but the good news is there was no separate Longevity product that year, so no confusion there! Below that is a Topps Rookie Jumbo Relics jersey from the same year. And on the bottom right you'll find my favorite of the three out of 2016 Panini Unparalleled. Yes, I'm a sucker for shininess (and serial numbering--in this case /199) but in my view it easily has the best design, doing lots with Carolina's team colors. The R&S card is second for using at least some of the franchise's colors, and Topps is last for using various shades of gray that wouldn't be out of place in a February sky. These additions give me 10 Funchess relics and 18 hits overall.

Like I said, it was fantastic to get back to a card show after a layoff of more than a year, and I'm gunning to go back next month to see what that'll bring. I may have to continue skipping buying some needed supplies--mainly toploaders for my thicker cards--until they become more reasonable, but I'll be ready to hit those boxes once again to dig up some hidden gems and trade bait. And speaking of the latter, some of it may be heading to your mailbox as you read this!

TCDB trade: jmswyo

As it turns out warming up to both Twitter and the TCDB have paid off in my collecting life.  One recent example:  I noticed someone on the former posting a mail day arranged on the latter from Paul.  Since my trading experience with TCDB is in its early stages it was nice to have feedback from someone I trust that this person was good to deal with.  It also helped that the post told me exactly what he collected.

That trader was my fellow Michigander Matthew, of Grand Rapids, who can be found on both sites I mentioned with the handle jmswyo (Twitter, TCDB).  Not only is he a team collector, but he chases a franchise whose cards I've piled up for a while for lack of a trade partner: the Royals.  I had a pretty good sized stack that was mostly base with a few inserts, plus a couple relics I'd picked up at past shows.  So I was more than happy to send them his way, for his #RoyalsCardQuest, since he'd appreciate them, plus I could get a few things back as well.

That included a few trade bait items that'll be going out in future packages, plus this stuff that's staying right here with me:

We'll start with five 2020 Topps Tigers, all of whom could be on the roster if there's a season this year.  I've got more than 300 cards of Miggy but my collections of the other guys are small to minimal, though I do have a growing pile of Stewarts.  For what it's worth, at the moment Demeritte appears to have a brighter future in the Tigers outfield than Stewart, but maybe that'll change.

Next is a trio of former Tigers, not all of whom are pictured in Detroit unis.  I've gotten back in to chasing cards of some of the stars and favorites I watched growing up, and TCDB is a great source for picking those up without paying a thing (besides shipping).  One of those is the well known Cecil Fielder, seen on a pair of '92s:  the oddball MooTown Snackers, plus O-Pee-Chee's last set that paralleled Topps' flagship.  Speaking of that brand, the late Tony Phillips represents the '93 version, and he's another guy I've started appreciating more as I've gotten older, though the poor man's Rickey Henderson is a guy I certainly rooted for in my younger days.

And it's no surprise that Matthew had a dupe of '85 Series champ Pat Sheridan ('86 Fleer), an Ann Arbor native who went to nearby Eastern Michigan and eventually played in Detroit from '86-'89, making him another name I remember from my youth.

This next scan includes a couple more Tigers in smaller, stickier form.  Miggy's joined by another recent favorite, 2B Ian Kinsler, on 2018 Topps Stickers.

I also managed to grab a new Hal Morris item from '95 US Playing Cards, getting him closer to 300 cards.  Keeping up with the oddball theme is PC leader Cal (960 cards) on a 1992 Score/Proctor and Gamble collaboration.

   

And we'll end the post with the oddest--and coolest--item of all.  This product, made in 1989 by Topps, was called Doubleheader All-Stars, and it's basically a plastic stand (in my case slightly broken but easily fixed) that encases a thin, double-sided magazine paper-like piece that shows the player on his '89 Topps card and Topps RC on the reverse.

   

Here's a look at the paper outside of the case at what's pretty much actual size.  It's definitely a cool piece, not to mention something I hadn't seen before, and I may eventually have to display it since it's designed for just that.

Many thanks to Matthew for another great TCDB experience!  I'll go ahead and spoil that it led to a pending deal with another collector in the state, a trade that's huge in terms of the number of cards going back and forth.  So consider this post my thumbs up to using Twitter and TCDB for trading purposes.

More trade and other pickups to come soon!

2019 trade package #38: Nachos Grande

Way back near the end of November Chris, who runs Nachos Grande, announced his Season of Giving giveaway in which people could sign up for some free cards of their favorite teams, with Chris trying to oblige as best as he could.  He's always been a good dude to trade with and I appreciated the dual goals of finding good homes for unwanted cards and sending things out for the holiday season, so I put my name in, and he was nice enough to send a stack of Tigers (and a few other things) my way.  If that's not the epitome of holiday giving I don't know what is!

Here's what Chris sent this time:

We'll lead off with possibly my favorite card of the whole package, a '98 Paramount Team Checklist card featuring Tony Clark, kind of the Tigers' Nicholas Castellanos of his day.  Detroit developed him as a high draft pick and he put up some good numbers on some awful teams before being cut loose in his seventh year.  At least he made the playoffs a couple times after that!  This card is another pefect example of how fun Pacific was back in the 90s.

Encarnacion was Clark's teammate for a few seasons and went on to win rings with the Marlins in '03 and Cardinals in '06 (against the Tigers!).  Fulmer's Bunt insert from 2017 was new to me, and I'll continue being a broken record in hoping he returns to health and effectiveness next year.  Hunter gave the team a couple quality seasons before retiring after a one-year return in Minnesota.  Kaline looks great on a 2002 Fleer Fall Classic base.  Kinsler (also '17 Bunt) was one of my favorites in his three-plus seasons in Motown and 2B hasn't been the same since he left.  Playoff hero Magglio appears on a 2008 UD Heroes Charcoal parallel #d 352/399.  Palmer's big bat was a rare highlight on some bad 90s teams, and '99 UD retro was a highlight of that year's releases.  And I somehow didn't have the base version of Phillips' '94 Collector's Choice base where the underappreciated multi-position player can be seen going airborne turning two.

And now some horizontal cards and more!  I didn't arrange things like this on purpose but the cards down the left side are all new to me while the other two are dupes.  While Granderson's redundant thanks to my '08 Topps complete set, I needed two of the '14 Topps base:  Miggy's 2013 AL RBI leaders base and an issue of V-Mart sliding into home in better times for him and the franchise.  '84 champ Larry Herndon's '88 Topps Big card was also new, and I'm sure I'm lacking a bunch of Tigers from the three-year(?) run of the product.  And then there's my co-favorite item today, an '85 Topps Rub Downs piece that includes Lou Whitaker along with Carney Lansford, Mario Soto, and John Denny, plus a glove and a couple of balls.  Chris had it in a penny sleeve with the instructions card, which was cool from a collecting perspective, and also wise of him since the other piece is so thin.  It's a very cool oddball item to add to Sweet Lou's collection, now sitting at 290 different items.

Lots more Tigers to get to!  Casanova had a great name but not a bat to match, and he was one of many players the Tigers acquired from the Padres or Astros in the 90s.  Higginson's act wore thin for me toward the end of his tenure, but that '98 Flair Showcase card is a thing of beauty.  The Bowman Chrome card (2012) is of RP Matt Hoffman, a 26th round pick that found his way into the set for some reason.  I'll always appreciate Robinson for being just good enough to entice the Orioles to send Mickey Tettleton to Detroit.  And while the humorous Sparks didn't put up great numbers, I do appreciate the fun design of 2003 Studio and its cool background photo of one of the entrances to Comerica Park.

Ok, now we're done with the Tigers.  Knudson's not worth mentioning but the 2011 Topps Attax cards of the park and mascot Paws are fun.  The former is actual a foil version but it was hard to get that to come across in a scan.

And last up today is a trio of non-Tigers cards, in this case Barry Larkin, a guy Chris also collects for some reason.  He sent a nice mix in the form of 2005 Throwback Threads, 2015 Contenders, and 2016 Topps Archives.  Those of you who know me at all shouldn't be surprised that I'd rank them 2, 1, and 3, in that order--Michigan uni cards almost always win--but all three look great no matter what.

Chris, thanks again for including me in your Season of Giving, and I'm glad you liked your own Christmas cards from me!  Let's do more trading in 2020, especially if I can hunt down more set-fillers for you so you can continue the completion momentum you've got going in your latest series of posts!

10/4/19 card show report: trade bait, not clickbait

What a difference a couple weeks can make!  Just two Fridays ago I took the day off from work again to head to Taylor for my monthly show, and though it had started cooling off, we managed to hit 60 that day, which we'll be lucky to get at this point going forward.  Chilly weather aside, I'm happy to be back today posting the spoils of that show.

This time I think I ended up staying a bit longer, leading to my spending a yearly high of $60.  That may also have something to do with my favorite seller making everything half off its usual price.  That meant that the stuff that was usually $2 or $1 was an even better value, and cards I'd otherwise ignored came home with me this time.  I believe the breakdown was 39 cards for a buck apiece, 38 that were $0.50, and 40 from the 20/$1 box.  Whatever the precise numbers were, I was elated to get out of there with a few things for myself and a lot of good value in terms of trade bait.

Speaking of stuff not for myself, let's kick things off as usual with cards that are available for trade that weren't ticketed for trade packages:

The abundance of college cards in this post mostly came from the $0.50 box, and I figured if nobody who reads this wants them, they can head to TCDB, but regardless, the price was right!  That trio up top--a pair of nice Rox relics and a manu-letter auto--seem the most likely to be claimed, in my opinion.

Again, most everything here was in the $1 box, so I didn't mind that most of the names weren't big, besides that Matt Ryan jersey.  I went for stuff that I figured could have broad interest--autographs on different surfaces, auto/relics, and just cool stuff in general.

As always, if you see something you're interested in, please let me know in the comments and we'll work out a trade!  Eventually I'll get what doesn't get traded up on TCDB since I've got a pretty nice pile of interesting trade bait that I hope turns into Michigan and baseball PC stuff.

And now we'll head to my pickups from those various collections:

It was another small but productive day for a few of my collections.  First up is a 2007 Chrome White Refractor of former blog namesake Curtis Granderson, #d 468/660.  I think the White Refractors were underappreciated so I happily grabbed this one that includes what I think of as a fun photo, a rarity for a Topps card.  Although I thought I'd picked up more toward this rainbow I actually only have the flagship base to go with it, so hopefully I'll track down more in the future.

Next is Hank Greenberg from the very familiar 1987 Hygrade set.  You'll get to see much more of him and other Tiger greats in future posts when I get around to my latest Sportlots effort.

One of my biggest surprises of the day was that Maddux you see above--his 1998 Donruss Diamond King (#03063/10000).  That was on my singles wantlist, and the key word there is "was" because I happily crossed it off when I got home, leaving me short just Ripken's card in terms of my PC guys in the set.  Man, do I love these!

Speaking of Cal, I found his Superstar Spotlight subset issue from the base set of Upper Deck's 2000 Ovation product.  I'm pretty sure I remember these textured cards being overpriced when they came out, but when you can get 'em cheap these days they're fun to pick up.

Last up on this side of the collection is a surprising first for me:  hit #1 of former Tigers 2B Ian Kinsler.  I'm sure I've said multiple times that I was already thrilled when Detroit shed the bloating contract (and carcass) of Prince Fielder, but to get Kinsler and his production was nothing short of a coup.  He's one of my favorite recent Tigers, and I was happy to see him get a ring last year, even if it was with the Red Sox.  So welcome to the Tigers hits collection, Ian!

On the Michigan side of the field the story of the day was inserts and hits.  Chesson (card #14) is a Purple parallel from 2017 Elite Draft Picks (#06/99), transfer QB Mallett (12) is from 2011 Topps Prime Rookie Gold (#33/50), and former #1 recruit Rashan Gary (3) makes his way back to Ann Arbor by way of a 2019 Prestige Blue Chip Recruits chase card.  I also hit two PC players:  card #297(!) of Henne, a 2010 Classics Timeless Tributes Silver (#015/100), and a 2012 Topps Magic Mini of C-Wood, his 309th.

We'll end with a couple more results from the dollar box.  I think I recall seeing both of these cards in what was originally the $2 box at the last show or two, but they didn't make sense at that price; cut it in half and I'm all over them, though.  First is a 2017 Donruss Rookie Threads Red jersey of WR Amara Darboh.  As far as I can tell, the non-numbered parallels of these relics are determined by the color of the foil used for the player's name, set title, and logo.  I'm just happy to take whatever I can get of one of the more interesting receivers from recent teams, plus this gives me 30 hits out of 40 cards, one of the craziest ratios in my collection!

He's joined by the more well known Jake Long, the former #1 overall pick whose position is clear on his 2008 Leaf Certified Materials Rookie Fabric of the Game Position dual jersey (#074/100) seen here.  I'd call a buck the sweet spot for a card like this that comes with an "event worn" jersey swatch from the Rookie Premiere, so in his collection it goes as hit #83 out of 128 cards, which is getting into Darboh territory.  Thanks to recent-ish (COMC) acquisitions Jake is fourth in the hits collection, a couple behind Braylon, but with a distant lead over #5 guy Mike Hart's 68.  Who knows what those standings might look like by the end of the year!

I hope you all enjoyed this show recap, and you may be able to look forward to a few trade packages around the blogosphere featuring even more stuff not seen here.  Speaking of envelopes, I'll have a new one to show off in my next post.  Until then I'll be watching the Astros and rooting for JV's team to do the world a favor and eliminate the Yankees!

2019 trade package #10: Base Card Hero

I'm happy to announce that my recent return to picking up cheap but interesting hits at my monthly show resulted in a deal with a new trade partner:  Ryan of Base Card Hero.  The fan of Minnesota teams expressed interest in a Glen Perkins manuletter auto I nabbed back in February, and eventually we swapped addresses and some cards.  I hadn't had anybody busting down my door for Twins so the deal was more than welcome, plus I love trading with new folks, and I found Ryan easy to work with.

And I should probably also describe him as generous.  Witness the plethora of Tigers that arrived in my mailbox in late April:

Here's some Tigers A-G, all of which I like to collect.  Of this group, Cobb is the only one I've cataloged on TCDB but I hope to get the others added soon.  The Diamond Kings cards are the easy highlights for me here, especially given the players (plus that framed Hank is sweet!) but I was happy to see a couple more Fulmers as I wish him a speedy return to health.

I'd be happy enough with base Kinslers, but shiny Kinslers are even better!  Traders like Ryan have sent me some very nice stuff of his over the years and he's another guy whose collection will likely look quite nice for me on TCDB.  McCann is a guy Detroit is clearly missing behind and at the plate now that he's away from Lloyd McClendon's nefarious influence.  Seriously--send Lloyd west to the Angels and see if Mike Trout turns into Steve Trout at the dish.  I might have more cards of Magglio than any other non-player collection Tiger.  And it's still nice to think about the days when Scherzer turn his turns in Detroit's rotation.

Here's some interesting stuff of guys who aren't currently sorted by name in my Detroit box.  Ordinarily lackluster RP Joba is notable here as an SP from 2014 Topps update.  Maybe I'll eventually have enough cards of Sam "Wahoo" Crawford to give him his own spot in the box!  Stewart brings back the Diamond Kings love and a reminder of a couple big games he had earlier this season.  The two Bowman guys don't rank highly in the system, but you never know.

And to those I can add some inserts, mostly of the parallel variety.  Niko's a current Tiger while Smyly and Price are both long gone.  The back of the Wal-Mart Blue team parallel notes that in 2012 the Tigers swept the Yankees in the ALCS with OF Delmon Young picking up the game-winning RBI in each contest, an MLB first (which I hadn't remembered!).

There were three players in this envelope with enough cards to split them into separate scans, and first up is Miggy.  The 1B/DH is in the midst of a power outage and his best days are likely behind him, but there's lots of cardboard to like here, especially if you enjoy parallels.  Also:  Diamond Kings once again!  TCDB tells me I have 288 Cabrera cards, so we'll eventually see how Magglio stacks up to that number.

Mr. Tiger is next up, and again I'm thrilled with the DK base card, though another reprint of his Topps RC, which is as close to the real thing as I'll get for a while, is a nice touch too.  And I'm always glad seeing vintage photos of guys like Kaline such as the Topps 150 insert.  Looks like I have 88 cards of the HOFer, and I'm hoping to add more vintage to that count this year.

Ryan may be new to trading with me but he already was well aware of how to get on my good side:  send Verlanders.  Many, many Verlanders.  He sent me nine, or exactly one page worth, and I needed seven of them, which is a great ratio for me considering I have over 350 cards of my favorite Tigers pitcher.  Everything but the first two cards you see in the image is brand new, and I continue having no problem accumulating cards of JV as an Astro.  Topps made the easy decision to pair him with Nolan Ryan in this year's Greatness Returns insert, and the Heritage New Age Players looks pretty nice as well.

Ryan, once again I'll say thanks for a fantastic first trade!  I'll be following your blog as I work on picking up more Minnesota trade bait to send your way.

Everyone else can look forward to more trade package goodness soon.

2018 trade package #25: Sport Card Collectors

It's been raining PWEs in my area lately, a fun development that I hope doesn't cease in 2019.  One of those is featured in this evening's TMM post while the other is my third such envelope from Matt of Sport Card Collectors in as many months.  The expert PWE-partier has flipped some fun stuff my way this year and I was happy to see his note in this envelope that promised to continue the trend next year.

Here's what he sent my way this time:

It's a Tigers insert party!  Cobb is a Vintage Legend from 2010 Topps.  Recent former 2B Ian Kinsler looks great in a Detroit throwback uni on a themed insert from 2015.  Ace closer K-Rod looks a bit smaller than usual on a 2016 A&G Mini.  J-Up is looking good on a Black parallel of the Tigers version of his base card from 2016 Heritage.  And the newly-retired V-Mart gets in on the act with a 2014 Chrome Purple Refractor.

And then completely out of the blue, there's this guy.  Joining my IP/TTM auto collection is this signed copy of pitcher Doug Bair's '85 Topps base!  Originally a Pirates draft pick, Bair came to Detroit in a trade with the Cardinals in 1983 (after winning a ring with them the previous year) and hung around until late in the '85 season, meaning he was an '84 champ.  He pitched sparingly during the playoffs, with a lone appearance in the Series, but was a decent option out of the 'pen that year. 
It was definitely a nice surprise to pull out a new autograph for my collection, especially an '84 Tiger, and that's the kind of fun stuff Matt comes up with.

Thanks again for yet another fun trade package, Matt, and I'm looking forward to hitting you back with a very nice Christmas envelope of your own as soon as I have everything in hand.  After that I'm looking forward to more great trades in 2019!

2018 trade package #24: Sport Card Collectors

After another of my usual unscheduled "I don't feel like blogging" breaks I'm back and thankful to be showing off cards from two trade packages!  Please head on over to TMM this evening for a Canadian-American Thanksgiving celebration.

Meanwhile, Matt of Sport Card Collectors was nice enough to let me know another of his signature PWEs was on the way, and it indeed arrived a few days ago, packed with cards of a team I'm thankful to have rooted for all my life:

As he often did at games I enjoyed in recent years, 2B Ian Kinsler will lead things off.  Kinsler benefited from his trade to the Angels after the 2017 season because they ended up flipping him to the Red Sox, allowing him to finally get a ring.  This 2016 Stadium Club ISOmetrics insert highlights his 6.0 WAR (fWAR, I'm guessing) in 2015, a typical season for the talented second-bagger.

Joining him is a duo of inserts of now-former Tiger Victor Martinez, who finally retired after the 2018 season.  I'm one of many who wish the Tigers hadn't extended him a few years ago, but I do appreciate what he did over his seven years in the Motor City, not to mention a pretty solid MLB career overall.  In this scan he appears on a 2015 Elite Gold Stars insert plus a 2016 Gypsy Queen Green Mini (#58/99).

The last player in this group is Max Scherzer, a pitcher who hasn't finished lower than fifth in Cy Young voting since 2013, his fourth season with Detroit, when he won his first of three such awards.  His two-year streak in the NL was broken by Jacob deGrom's insane performance this year, but second-best isn't bad at all.  Neither is that 2014 Topps Heritage Red Border parallel.

Matt surprised me by sending this pair of 2012 Elite autographs along for the ride.  On the left is former pitcher Will Clinard (#177/790), a low pick in 2012 that was out of the game in 2015 but landed on his feet with an insurance job.

The pitcher on his right, Drew VerHagen (#111/699) has enjoyed a bit more success after being selected in the fourth round that same year.  He's appeared in 105 games over five seasons, all with Detroit, mostly contributing out of the pen with the occasional spot start.  As far as I can tell he's likely to remain with the team as they continue to rebuild.

Thanks for another fun PWE, Matt, and I'm looking forward to hitting you back for your multiple trade packages with a nice early Christmas present!

2018 trade package #14: Sports Card Collectors

Two of my three direct Sportlots envelopes have arrived and a couple more are on their way to join others already in my Box.  Plus my "oops I forgot a few and added others" COMC package arrived the other day.  Pretty soon I'm gonna be up to my ears in cards to post!

Actually I'm kind of already in that boat but have been kind of lazy about putting up my two most recent COMC writeups.  Matt from Sport Card Collectors to the rescue!  My fellow 90s insert fanatic gave me a perfectly reasonable excuse for putting that off in sending cards to me for the sixth time already this year.  Once again it was a PWE with plenty of pop:

PC guy Jim Abbott claimed 1/3 of the envelope with this fun pair.  On the left is an IP/TTM-type signature on his '90 Donruss base card.  Comparing that to other Abbott signatures I own, including one other such card that's also from the 90s--Topps--it looks about right so I have no reason to doubt its authenticity, making it the clear highlight of the envelope!  (By the way, I've finally posted an album just with my IPs/TTMs.  I still have more to scan so most of what's there is up because I've scanned them for my Tigers/other PC albums, but stay tuned for more.  Anyway, catch those by finding them under my collections on the right side of this page.)

The other one Matt sent is no slouch either:  a 2013 USA Baseball Champions Legends Certified Die-Cuts Mirror Green (#006/199).  Yes indeed that's a mouthful, but basically it's another parallel of a card I already own, the plain-old die-cut:

There's a few other colors I'd like to add to this rainbow and I'm glad Matt got me started off with the Mirror Green, which looks pretty sharp!

The other four cards were all Tigers, and not just some boring base stuff either.  Matt Boyd, the guy who started the game I attended a few weeks ago, appears on an Indigo parallel from this year's Gypsy Queen (#116/250).  The Georgia Peach gets a stunning insert called Portraits from Panini's excellent 2018 Diamond Kings product.  Promising righty Michael Fulmer brings me back to one of my favorite Topps Products, Stadium Club Chrome, with an insert of that same name from last year.  If any product deserves the Chrome treatment, this is it!  And finally, a 2018 Topps Gold parallel (#1205/2018) brings back good memories of 2B Ian Kinsler, who always seemed to lead off games I attended with a solo HR.  He'll forever remain in my good graces for being an excellent Tiger whose production was the icing on the cake for dumping the bloated contract (and carcass) of Prince Fielder on the Rangers.

Thanks for the surprise envelope, Matt!  I'm happy to say that I have a few things in-hand and a bit more on the way so I can send you a fun return.  A guy whose name rhymes with "Hodney Rampton" might even be involved....