8/6/21 card show report: more like card SLOW

After returning to card shows in a big way earlier this year I've had less luck the past few months coming home with lots of great new stuff, but that's fine. I've been going to them long enough to know that sometimes there just isn't much in the boxes to interest you, but you never know what the next one will bring.

I did still manage to drop $40 on some useful stuff a few weeks ago, which I believe was split up with 25 going to my usual favorite dealer and another $15 to the guy from Ohio who has great deals on vintage and who was back for the first time this year.

Here's a quick look at what I took home:

The lone trade bait card I scored that I didn't grab with anyone in mind in particular is this jersey/auto of Illinois/49ers/Chiefs WR bust A.J. Jenkins. It was one of a few $2 hits I snagged, and as usual it's up for grabs here and also available in my TCDB trade bait.

It's been long enough since I went that I can't remember how the prices for my vintage pickups broke down, but I think I got something between 10-15 cards for $10 and three more for $5 (two $2s and a $1). Better year, most of them were for me!

Up top we start with my second oldest Sparky (after his '59 Topps RC) out of 1972 Topps. I've still got a good number of his 1970s items to chase (plus a couple from 1960!) so it's fun to land something like this of a much younger George on the cheap. 1968 champ Jim Northrup is next on his '73 Topps base, putting me that much closer to a team set representing the '72 guys that were the last Detroit playoff team until '84. SS/OF (love that split!) Mickey Stanley, one of his teammates for both seasons, completes the row by appearing in the '70 Topps set.

Then we switch orientations and open with a card featuring former Tigers slugger (and '68 champ--see a theme here?) Norm Cash on a '72 Topps issue noting the previous year's home run leaders. Cash and future HOFer Reggie Jackson tied for second with 32 while "Beltin'" Bill Melton led the Junior Circuit with 33 long balls. To the right is pain-in-the-ass Billy Martin's '73 Topps manager card, the second of two sets in which he appears. I always thought it was kind of cool when they included the coaches up front as seen here.

The bottom row is quite impressive as well, starting with easily the oldest card in the bunch: a '54 Topps of Ray Boone, patriarch of one of the baseballest families you'll ever hear about. Ray was with Detroit for exactly five years: June 15, 1953 until the same date in 1958. '54 Topps is a classic of a set with the super cool old school logos so this was a beautiful find for me.

Next to him is a '72 Topps multiplayer RC that stars Darrell Porter (that's him on the left, not in the middle). I grabbed it for a buck in case any Brewers fans wanted it, but I may just keep it since he's one of those underappreciated guys from the era. His substance abuse problems are sad to think about but it's nice to remember him for 17 excellent years as a catcher.

And last up in this bunch is the most diminutive item today: Al Kaline's 1969 Globe Imports Playing Card. If the set it comes from looks a bit familiar to you that may be because I snagged Bill Freehan's version from Sportlots months ago. It's a super oddball vintage item of Mr. Tiger and was obviously coming home with me.

The last two cards today came from my go-to guy at the show, who unfortunately didn't have any room for his dime and quarter boxes this time, meaning most of the stuff he had available wasn't in my wheelhouse. I did gladly drop $2 on my first autograph of former Wolverine basketballer Ignas Brazdeikis and another $5 on a sweet looking UM jersey/auto of RB Karan Higdon, though. Iggy's card is from 2019-20 Hoops' Hot Signatures Rookies set and represents my third hit of his (two jerseys). Meanwhile, Higdon's 2019 National Treasures jersey/auto/RC is just my second hit (an autograph) of the hard-running back. Naturally I love that the relic is from a college jersey instead of a pro one.

Naturally I grabbed a small amount of trade bait too, but it was still on the low end of what I'm used to in terms of this monthly show. No problem, though, since I should be back at it next week, where I'm looking forward to digging through boxes until my back hurts while looking for buried treasure for my collection and others' as well!

2021 trade package #3: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

I'm back tonight with the last January trade package that I have in-hand (so far, at least!), another Canadian special from buddy of the blog Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store. For some reason he's generous enough to keep sending me packages even though I've owed him at least one for a while. Fortunately I just got one on its way to him, so things will start to even out a bit. I didn't hit him in time for Christmas (or anyone else, for that matter) but I think this one will get there before his birthday on 2/14 (send him some cards of guys born that day!).

Anyway, this was another multi-sport bonanza with a few things I knew would be included but mostly some outstanding surprises:

Let's begin with the Wings stuff, a nice red and white quartet. I'm glad the Applicator, a former Spartan, is no longer in Hockeytown, but his base card along with Nielsen's from 2020-21 Upper Deck looks fantastic. I'm glad UD is still around in some capacity because their designs are top notch! Turgeon's still a work in progress but his Upper Deck Ice RC, #d /999, fits in with the comments I just made about the brand's design chops, with Ice being a particularly cool motif. And then there's The Captain, a.k.a. The GM. The star of a Team Canada Juniors card made by--who else?--Upper Deck has his work cut out for him in terms of a rebuild, but what a great moment it would be to see the guy who captained the Wings to their first title after a long drought do the same from the front office!

Switching over to Michigan Basketball stuff, I enjoyed checking out this bevy of recent guys. NCAA tourney legend Jordan Poole leads the way with six cards, finally getting his collection to double digits, and that's thanks to a cool quartet of rookie-year issues, some of which are Panini Chronicles-related, and a nice Contenders college action card. A Nik "Sauce Castillo" Stauskas RC with a bit of a hardwood feel is another cool highlight. 

Then we get to a trio of cool hits. Poole features on a die-cut relic from a Crowne Royale set, a product known for that design feature. The Hoops sweater card where Jordan co-stars with Iggy Brazdeikis had me laughing and was perfect for ugly sweater season. And then there's one more Michigan uni card to enjoy: a Contenders auto (my first card of any kind, in fact) of Kentucky transfer Charles Matthews, who headed north to Ann Arbor for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons. Those were coach John Beilein's last two years coaching Michigan and included reaching the title game in '18, losing to Villanova. I'm not the biggest basketball fan but this is a really nice bunch!

The football side of things was less voluminous but no less effective. On the left is LB and #60 overall selection by the Pats last year, Josh Uche. Doug's responsible for sending me my first card of the four-year Wolverine who put up 14.5 sacks his last couple years in Ann Arbor. That would be his RC from last year's Rookies & Stars product. I've never been a fan of that product's design but will definitely overlook its faults since it used a college photo!

The other is my 12th relic (and 35th hit overall) of former UM WR Amara Darboh, and it also hails from Panini's R&S. While he didn't turn into much in the NFL he was lots of fun to watch in college and I continue to enjoy collecting him. Darboh's no longer with Seattle, the team that drafted him, but since pretty much all of his cards were made during his rookie year of 2017, that's who he's pictured with here, and it comes with a nice Seahawks blue swatch.

And now we get to the usual main event: Michigan Hockey. Compher, Hughes, Hyman, and Trouba are all from the previously mentioned '20-'21 Upper Deck product that I'm already in love with, though Trouba's card features one of the funniest miscuts I've ever seen! I only have three cards of former RW David Oliver, but then he doesn't have many to chase, so this 1995-96 O-Pee-Chee card is great. And Patch makes yet another SCFtDS trade appearance out of '19-'20 UD Overtime, with the Vegas winger responsible for three goals in just six games this season.

Hockey hits? Hockey hits! The Ebbett (auto #6, hit #8 overall) is an ITG stickergraph, but the designers did a nice job of hiding that fact by placing it on an image of a rink. Andrew has an outstanding signature and even includes his jersey number, which is always cool. He played four full years in Ann Arbor starting my sophomore year so I believe I got to see every one of his home games and I'm glad to collect cool stuff of his like this auto.

Werenski's a much more recent guy, and the young d-man is fun to watch even if he plays for Columbus. He hit the 20-goal mark last year in his fourth season, and that was in fewer games than the others! This UD Game Jersey includes a very nice royal blue swatch from a Blue Jackets sweater, and I can't think of a better color for the former Wolverine's first hit in my hockey collection!

Last up here is a card Doug teased me with, and for once the scan may actually do it justice. Found in an Upper Deck product called Chronology, it's a gorgeous Jacob Trouba patch auto done up in the style of UD's Masterpieces, with a beautiful red border tying it all together. That goes especially well with his patriotic jersey colors now that he's with the Rangers. Oh, and the gold pen auto isn't bad either. I've got some nice cards of the young star defensemen in my collection, but nothing approaches the sheer brilliance of this one, probably my favorite card in the whole package!

But we're not quite done. He had to send these latest traders in a larger than usual envelope to accommodate one more item he teased, plus another that I believe was a surprise:

Upper Deck's Be a Player product offered a set called Portraits in 2006-07, and the titular items could be found signed by one to four players. One of my favorite PC guys, Brendan Morrison, made the cut for the checklist, and the result is this beautiful 8x10 that features a nice action photo and a dedicated space for a nice, large signature. What a cool item, one that's begging to be put up on the wall in a place of prominence in my card room. Fellow favorite dude Marty Turco can also be found here so his has gone on my wantlist, and I was disappointed to discover that the Frozen Four-winning pair didn't get a dual card to themselves. Anyway, very cool of Doug to both acquire this for me and deal with the logistics of shipping it.

And if he was already doing that, well, in for a penny, in for a pound, right? I was totally surprised to see this awesome signed 8x10 of another guy who starred at Yost Ice Arena for a couple years I had tickets, 2005-06 and '06-'07: Jack Johnson. Jack was a blast to watch during his college days, a major force on the ice, even if he sometimes took stupid penalties. It was no surprise when the #3 overall pick from the '05 draft went pro after a pair of seasons, and he's enjoyed some ups and downs over a long NHL career.

This photo is signed in blue (naturally!) sharpie and is from game action against the Lake Superior State Lakers of the former CCHA, Michigan's longtime pre-Big Ten league.

This information from the back wasn't as helpful as I'd hoped so I'm not sure if it came from one of two '06-'-07 games (2/16/07 @ LSSU, 2/18/07 in Detroit) or a pair of away games in Sault Ste. Marie in November of 2007 the following season. Either way, it's a very cool piece and a nice addition to my collection of Michigan autographed memorabilia!

Doug, thanks again for an extremely cool package of stuff--you always manage to surprise me with some amazing cards, and sometimes other items too! I hope the envelope I just sent you gets there safely and quickly and that you're just as geeked about your latest haul from our ongoing deals!

With all my incoming trades covered for now I think next time you'll be seeing my first eBay pickup of 2021 before I get back to the rest of my 2020 COMC haul.

2020 trade package #13: My Sports Obsession

I think I've said this once or twice already, but despite my lack of spending this year--only around $250--for multiple reasons, I've had lots of great new cards come into my collection. You can chalk that up to the word that used to come before "cards" in this hobby: trading. TCDB has been a great new source for that, and I really do plan to show off more of my deals that came from the site.

But first, I always like to give top billing to my bread and butter, which is trades with other bloggers. Buddy of the blog Jeff of My Sports Obsession is one of those fine folks, and we keep a nice stream of the many collections we have in common going back and forth.

Jeff sent me a nice mailer that arrived at the end of May, and I was thrilled not just at the excellent content, but also that every single card was new to my collection--quite a feat when you'll see who was involved:

I mean, the baseball end of things involved my #1 and #3 overall PCs in Larkin and Ripken. Barry comes to us on a 2020 Donruss card whose design honors the '86 set. released a year before his RC. The back gives him credit for playing his entire career with the Reds and ranking with Pete Rose at the top in several team stats, though I think Barry deserves extra credit for not betting on baseball or being a shitbag in general. With Jeff's help his collection gets a bit closer to 800.

While I wasn't surprised that I needed a 2020 Larkin card I was shocked to find that two 1991 Donruss base offerings and a '92 Fleer issue were new to me. I'm not shocked that I didn't find it worth buying junk wax-era stuff like those but you would think I'd have had them long ago one way or another. Great job by Jeff to fill in those gaps and add another cool pair in a 2018 Donruss variation and '93 UD Then & Now hologram insert. UD's holograms always get a thumbs up from me. With five additions Cal's within spitting distance of being my first 1000-card PC!

Closing out the scan is a basketball pair--my second and third cards of one-and-done Wolverine Ignas Brazdeikis, who was a lot of fun to watch while he was here. Both are rookies, which is great by itself, but the Prizm card also features a college uniform, so it's my pick of the duo. Jeff's focused on collecting UM basketball alumni from roughly the past decade and I'm grateful that he thought of me during his search.

Now here's some maize & blue fireworks! I'm not sure the last time I could post a 100% Michigan uni scan like this in a trade recap, but regardless, this is flat-out awesome. Jeff provided my first taste of 2020 Michigan RCs out of 2020 Prizm Draft by including QB Patterson and WR DPJ. Shea's senior year ended up being disappointing for his draft stock and it wasn't a shock that he didn't get chosen, but I guess Panini included him here (and likely will in other products) figuring the fan base will be hot after his cards regardless.

Anyway, those look great, and I'm looking forward to adding first-years of whichever other draftees make the cut in subsequent sets. Meanwhile, those two are joined in the set by a pair of Tom Brady base cards, each of which sticks with the college theme, much to my approval.

Next is a pair of non-Panini 2017 cards: a Leaf Gold parallel of RB De'Veon Smith and SAGE HIT base of DE Chris Wormley. I don't think Smith lasted very long in the league after going undrafted, but Wormley got flipped from the Ravens to the Steelers a few months ago, so hopefully he'll make a difference there. Side note for anybody who's curious: I do count pre-draft all-star game photos that include UM helmets as "Michigan uniform" cards.

Finally, we've come to the big hit of the envelope, one that happens to star a big hitter. Rashan Gary may have worn #3 during his time in Ann Arbor but everyone will always remember the way he came in as the #1 overall recruit. That makes getting this college-themed Prizm Draft auto that much sweeter! As I mentioned when discussing my two other autos of the DE, I wish he put a bit more effort into his signature, or at least used more of the sticker, but it is what it is. And what it is is another Rashan Gary auto, and I'm excited!

Jeff, thanks again for sending me some great new additions to my collections, especially those of the UM variety. On that subject, I have a LOT to send back your way soon, so get ready for some work updating your collections on TCDB!

2020 trade package #7: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

I'm finally back, and it's about damn time.  It's just been hard to get motivated to write since I'm working from home and don't really feel like being around my computer, as opposed to normal circumstances where coming home and doing card stuff like blogging is a nice treat.

But I couldn't keep putting off posting because I have another amazing envelope stuffed with cards from Canada to show off.  As usual that means a generous blowout of a package from Sports Cards From the Dollar Store's Doug.  Last month he sent me a mailer with a little bit of everything and I was once again blown away:

I combined the baseball, non-UM hockey, and basketball into one scan.  My newest Barry Larkin is another high-end base, this time from 2019 Triple Threads.  Cal adds to his lead with a 2019 Panini Black Friday card, which got me thinking: how many fewer people would know about these if it weren't for the Internet?  And the group of Wings looks great, even if their most recent season wasn't.  Lidstrom's Elite base is giving me the 90s feels, and these remind me that I need to get my cards of the team entered on TCDB at some point.

Moving onto the court, Doug's been one of the most generous when it comes to my Michigan Basketball collection.  That's on full display here, starting with my first hit (and actually first card) of one-and-done Lithuanian (by way of Canada!) Iggy Brazdeikis, who was a lot of fun to watch over the course of the '18-'19 season.  That's a really nice blue Knicks swatch on his '19-'20 Prizm jersey card.  Next is a guy appreciated by all Michigan fans, Trey Burke, on a 2015-16 Totally Certified relic that brings the shiny (and is numbered /49), with Trey pictured on his original team (sort of, as he was a draft & trade by the T-Wolves).  Last up here is NCAA tourney hero who didn't write the fantastic Get Out, Jordan Poole, on just his fourth card and first hit, that being an Orange Ice jersey from the same Prizm product as Iggy's above.  What a nice trio!

Heading over to the gridiron, it was largely the Braylon Edwards show, but he had a few friends join him for the trip, making for a nice variety.  As a matter of fact, the first two cards of his in this scan are RCs--2005 Score and Topps Draft (college uni!)--and a first-year of former (Bills!) QB Todd Collins completes the trio, joining Bray-Bray on a posed design.  Edwards' quartet here (with more to come) is finished off by a pair of numbered cards:  2006 Bowman Blue (/500), the best color of course, and 2008 Triple Threads (/779).  Speaking of parallels, one of a pair of Rashan Gary issues Doug he me with is a Red version of his 2019 Score RC (Michigan uni again!).  Plus he went all the way back to the 90s and Fleer's heyday with a Stealth parallel (/300) of Brian Griese.  And last up in this scan is former UM and 49ers S Dwight Hicks on his '83 Topps base, a card pulled from one of Doug's beloved repacks.

The football fun continues on the other axis with this trio.  Braylon insert #1 is a 2006 Gridiron Gear insert called Player Timeline Gold (/500) with a cool college-to-the-pros theme, while #2 is Leaf Certified Materials' often used Certified Potential name (/800).  Rashan Gary then gets his second card of the envelope, a 2019 Contenders Round Numbers insert (another one used plenty in the past) that notes he and new teammate (and fellow Big Ten-er) S Darnell Savage Jr. were top picks last year after Green Bay traded back into the first round.

And then just like that Doug goes back into crazy generous mode with not just a Rashan Gary rookie year auto, but a variation at that!  The base version features the Green Bay logo inside the circle with the team's name, plus the photo shows Rashan in a green jersey running to the card's left.  I was already happy to add this as my second auto of the talented New Jersey native, but I also appreciate that the signature is an upgrade over the Panini Legacy one I bought myself which used about 15% of the sticker.  It's a very nice addition to my football collection and I'll have to work on finding something nice to thank Doug.

As usual in a Buckstorecards package, the icers get the place of honor.  Hockey Mike #1 is Cammalleri on a fun three-team trio.  Connor, who enjoyed a third straight 30+ goal/25+ assist season, gets a beautiful UD pair that really makes me miss the brand's baseball offerings.  The scan closes out with a triple "H" combo that's better than the WWE version:  Hagelin, Hughes, and Hyman.  My Hughes collection is minuscule thanks to his star power so I especially appreciate that slick insert of the D-man who was electrifying in the few games I got to see him play while he was in Ann Arbor.

The Hockey Mikes tour continues with Knuble and Komisarek, both of whom join Hagelin in the previous scan on a nice Score design.  Knuble isn't pictured with Detroit here but his fellow WolverWings Dylan Larkin and Aaron Ward are.  Larkin's collection finally crossed the 30-card mark, and that Aaron Ward is a throwback to the old Classic brand.  Talented blue-liners Jacob Trouba and Zach Werenski close out the scan UD style.

And now I get to end this post with a two-part bang.  #1:  a brand new plate!  Hit #3 of defenseman Greg Pateryn is somehow my second 1/1 of the former Canadien, a magenta plate from a brand I'm not terribly familiar with since I don't really buy any hockey stuff.  In typical Upper Deck fashion, 2016-17 Compendium looks quite nice, and I'm very happy with how the scan came out.  I love collecting these and it was very cool of Doug to send it my way given how 1/1s can be valued by sellers these days.

And this card makes it "bang-bang!"  Even though I knew it was coming it was still exciting to see it in person.  What you're looking at is an Upper Deck Trilogy manupuck auto of the previously-mentioned Jacob Trouba.  This is the Team Logo version with the signature done in beautiful gold ink on a manurelic that brings to mind UD's old brand Sweet Spot, and you can see that it's hand-numbered to just 19 copies.  I now have 11 Trouba hits, many of which Doug sent to me, and this one just elbowed its way to the top of the heap as a flat-out beautiful piece.

Doug, thanks again for another incredible mailer.  I bow down to your card-acquiring skills, and I hope I can return the favor in the near future when it's easier to buy stuff again!

Now that I'm just about done with trade packages I may take a quick detour and do one of those top-10 lists folks are posting because they've offered some pretty cool insights to how those people collect.  Stay tuned and stay safe!