2026 trade package #10: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

At long last (my fault) it's time to take a look at the most recent package sent to me by Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store!

This one made its way to me back in April. Since then I've actually sent a response his way, only for him to have to return it because he was asked to pay something like $700 in taxes/duties. I'm still trying to figure out what category of goods to use on the customs form to avoid that ridiculousness.

Anyway, here's the mailer in all its glory. (Maybe I should try a quantity of "1" as well? I typically use a number like 50 or 100 to go along with ~$40ish in value, and only recently has it turned into a big issue.) And here's a look at all the fantastic stuff therein:

The baseball content leads off with some cards representing the much-improved Tigers, then a guy making his collection debut in style. Danny Zimmerman was primarily an OF from 2018-21 at Michigan before heading west to San Jose State (what's up, Fuji?) for 2022. He did pitch in a couple games during his freshman season and a few more during summer college ball. You see him here on a 2016 Leaf Perfect Game card, a Purple auto that's a 1/1, marking quite the first appearance in my collection!

The basketball stuff ended up containing some very nice items as well. French forward Moussa Diabate played one year in Ann Arbor before the Clippers snagged him in 2022's 2nd round. That THJ is one of the two big highlights, a 2018-19 Panini Impeccable parallel numbered to just 25! LeVert and Wagner are both trade package stalwarts that I'm glad to see here while women's star Syla Swords gets her second card in my PC and first that isn't team/NIL-issued. And lastly, Mitch McGary (who just celebrated his birthday Saturday, as noted by Jeff) gets an especially cool add to his pile: a 2013-14 Panini Signatures Draft X-Change card that features an embedded piece like a slide. Cool!

The football content was very, very high quality as you'll see over the next few scans, including a pile of serial numbered insanity that Robert would appreciate! (Apparently it's "other blogger call-out" day!) Tackling machine Devin Bush stars on another very low-numbered insert, and his Contenders chase offering is limited to just 25 copies. Former Michigan TE and current TV guy Jake Butt appears on a colorful Panini Father's Day issue numbered /499. One of my favorite recent WRs Jehu Chesson adds a 2017 Panini Phoenix Orange parallel (SN99) to his RC that I have. Similarly, I have LB Shawn Crable's 2008 Donruss Gridiron Gear RC but not the super-rare Platinum Holofoil O's version limited to just 25 copies (that's three that rare so far if you're counting!). Darboh was Chesson's teammate and another one of my favorites of that time, and up above you see the Blue Wave Prizm version of his 2017 Panini Prizm RC, numbered to 149. Lastly (from this scan, at least), you see the rarest of the bunch (not including 1/1s) in the form of RB Chris Evans' 2021 Panini Spectra Neon Orange Die Cut. The color match serves it very well and I'm a big fan of die-cuts, but the best part here is that this one is numbered to just 10 copies. Whoa!

Blog favorite RB Mike Hart is the first highlight of this group, and the Artist's Proof parallel of his 2008 Select RC is numbered to just 32, once again giving you an idea of the quantity of quality numbered cards Doug sent this time. Mo Hurst's 2018 Rookies & Stars Longevity parallel isn't that much more common at just 75 copies made. One of OSU's least favorite defenders, David Ojabo, is seen here on a 2022 Donruss Optic parallel of his RC called Wave, and that's SN300. And talented wideout DPJ's 2020 Absolute rookie parallel, a Spectrum Blue, goes to just 50 copies while LB Josh Uche feature's in the same product's Spectrum Red insert, doubly common at 100.

And then we have some especially big hits. Doug treated me to not one but TWO autographed 1/1s, which is kind of insane, but that's the kind of stuff I'm grateful we're able to send back and forth sometimes. In this case it's my first signed plate of WR Devin Funchess. The yellow plate was used to produce his 2018 Panini Luminance card, then was subsequently inserted into 2018 Plates & Patches with a sticker auto affixed. What a great card that's now the centerpiece of his collection!

Jack-of-all-trades guy Jabrill Peppers is next with his largest relic swatch in my collection yet. Relic #3 (to go with an autograph) hails from 2018 Panini XR's Maximal Materials, an insert that certainly lives up to its name. It's a huge piece of a Browns jersey from his time with that team and numbered to just 49 copies.

Last up for football is one more TE (to go with Butt and Funchess, who played the position a bit in college, at least) and a guy who's moving his way up the coaching ladder in the NFL (currently coaching that position for the Falcons). Kevin Koger appeared on a solid number of autographed inserts back in 2012, and this Blue version is my second from that year's Press Pass product. I've long owned the unnumbered Silver card but this Blue one is numbered /50 up front, making it the only numbered signature card of his I own.

Next up is the hockey content, and we'll start with the Red Wings. The highlights of the base cards are franchise legends Fedorov and Yzerman (the embattled GM--more on that later), plus star D Moritz Seider. And then there's a surprise Be a Player signature of F Mike Krushelnyski. Krusher finished his career with Detroit over the '94-'95 season after signing as a FA in '94, but he's probably best known for another transaction. He joined Marty McSorley in the deal that sent their teammate Wayne Gretzky to the Kings in 1988, forever altering the futures of both franchises.

There's plenty more hockey to enjoy thanks to a pile of cards of Wolverines icers. Like the Wings, none of these guys made it to the Cup finals this year, but fortunately that's pretty rare. I love seeing the Wolverwings pop up in these packages and Copp is a good example. The Jackets continue to be a common NHL stop for drafted Michigan guys (including two different Johnsons). And that Herr was a nice inclusion here since it's just my second card of his, and this one is a '98-'99 SP Authentic Power Shift parallel numbered /500.

My favorite Wolverwing Larkin is the star of this scan, though how much longer he'll be with the team is unknown after he recently requested a trade. That divorce may be ugly due to a reported poor relationship between him and GM Steve Yzerman. The latter's tenure has unfortunately been a disaster, and I don't blame a talented guy like Larkin from moving on after 10 years of nothing. I'll continue to collect him either way, but his potential departure will be bittersweet. Meanwhile, though Larkin is in my top 10 of hockey PCs, longtime player Brendan Morrison is second (to Marty Turco), and I'm happy to see even more new stuff of the former national champ here.

Norton and Sloan join the previously seen Herr as players you don't see here too often. Meanwhile, Werenski, this year's Norris winner, is yet another Jackets guy. I really like the OPC playing card-style inserts like Zach's above. Johnson's horizontal insert with interior die-cuts is quite nice as well.

Speaking of Wolverwings and Kent Johnson, the hockey hits portion was most certainly as nice as the others. The SPx Super Scripts auto of Compher is his 4th signed card in my collection, but man does it look nice in-hand. The shiny foil background really makes it pop, plus I'm excited to have my first auto of his as a member of the Red Wings.

Meanwhile, the previously-seen Johnson joins the hit collection with a very cool auto/relic pair. The signed card hails from 2023-24 Upper Deck Credentials' Main Stage Signatures insert, and the design provides for a well integrated window for the sticker. Meanwhile, the relic sports the eponymous blue of his team's nickname in the form of a jersey swatch out of 2024-25 SP Game Used. These make for a quality ending to some top-notch hockey items.

And last but not least, these two UM other sports figures are making repeat performances, both after joining my collection thanks to this package's sender.

Rhodes (born Brandi Reed) hitched along for the trip in a January package I posted early in November, and that was on a Leaf signature card. This time she's back in relic form out of the 2021 Upper Deck Spectrum AEW product. The card doesn't specify what the swatch came from, but in any case it's a cool item to add to a collection (other and non-sports) I plan to put more effort into.

Canadian-born soccer player Shelina Zadorsky also debuted in my collection thanks to a SCFtDS trade package. In her case it was a two-fer that I posted last November: a Goudey base card plus a Goodwin Champions auto. Now I own the latter's memorabilia version, making for a perfect pair! I'm guessing she's more on Doug's radar as she played for his hometown's youth women's club (plus, you know, I don't really follow soccer).

Doug, thanks once again for another mailer stuffed with flat-out quality. As always I appreciate your generosity and how much effort you must be putting into finding this stuff. I'm looking forward to getting a package to you--one that doesn't involve almost $1000 in taxes--as soon as I can, especially once that current envelope gets returned.

As for what's next, I'm not sure if I'll take a quick break from trade packages to show off other stuff, but I have a few of those from May and June, two shows, one eBay purchase, and lots of TCDb stuff, so there's no shortage of content--just effort getting it written up and posted. Until then, I'll probably be outside enjoying some of my favorite weather!

2024 trade package #15: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store part 2: hockey

It's been a nice sports weekend for me as Michigan Football beat a lesser rival plus the Yankees are down two games in the World Series. So with that positivity in mind, let's continue on with the mountain of cards sent to me by Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store back in August. (Reminder: part 1 is here.)

We're in one of the busiest sports months of the year as all four major sports are in action plus some of the college versions. Relevant tonight is that both the Red Wings and Michigan Hockey have dropped the pucks on their seasons. As a matter of fact, I got to enjoy the latter in person last weekend!

Doug sent me a big stack of cards of both teams in this box,

and those are what we'll look at tonight!

Let's start with the local pro team, one which features four players from my alma mater, all of whom appear in this post! But we'll get to the WolverWings later. Datsyuk and Fedorov are both team legends and I'm glad to bump up their collections a bit. Meahwhile, Edvinsson is a former #6 overall pick going into his third season in Motown as a good defenseman prospect.

Next, LaPointe and Lidstrom are the most familiar names here. Marty won a pair of Cups with the Wings after they took him 10th overall in 1991, and he went on to play for the Bruins, Hawks, and Sens before hanging 'em up. Plus his son currently plays for Michigan Hockey! Lidstrom, meanwhile, is a HOF defenseman who won four Stanleys with Detroit, playing his entire career in Hockeytown. He's definitely a top-five team player of mine in franchise history.

Ozzie is the biggest name here for me, another '91 draft pick who went on to success with the team. He backed up vet Mike Vernon in the playoffs in '96-'97 before getting his turn with the repeat champs the following year, then came back in 2007-08 and '08-'09, helping the team win another Cup and then coming up just short the year after. Primeau's also pretty well known as a former #3 overall pick who put up some good numbers for the team but was part of the trade that brought Brendan Shanahan to Detroit, which worked out quite well! Raymond's a much more recent guy, chosen #4 overall in 2020, and he's coming off a 31-goal campaign, so he looks to be a big part of the future. Rutherford's a goalie from way before my time--drafted by Detroit in 1969, he found his way to Pittsburgh before a trade back to Detroit (twice!) and appeared in goal in parts of 10 seasons as a Wing.

German D-man Mo Seider leads off this scan and he comes into his fourth season as a key player on the blue line. I already mentioned how Shanny joined the team, and he was a star on a team filled with them that won three Cups. Soderblom is a Swedish winger chosen in the sixth round back in 2019 who hasn't been up with the parent team since 2022-23 but remains a prospect. Veleno was a late first-rounder way back in 2018 that hasn't yet parlayed amateur success into NHL production just yet.

The last of the Wings are represented with these horizontals and one odd-sized issue. Draper's probably the best player $1 ever bought as he brought plenty of grit along with key goals to four Cup-winners. The previously seen Seider looks good on a shiny UD insert. The Captain's NHL career coincided with some great 90s stuff like Collector's Choice's Stick-Ums. And Shanny gets one more appearance courtesy of a Pacific mini.

Now we switch over to the guys in maize & blue. Boston center Johnny Beecher makes his collection debut here thanks to Doug, and the 2019 first-rounder is in his second year with that team. Beniers and Bordeleau are both relative newcomers to the NHL and it's nice to see their collections get a small bump. Cogliano (who's also seen in the next scan) won a cup with the 21-22 Avalanche and then retired after last season, his 17th in the NHL!

Three-year Wolverine Compher was a teammate of Cogliano's with Colorado and also part of that Cup team, and now I'm happy to say that he's one of four Wolverines on the Red Wings! Jets sniper Kyle Connor has been lighting the lamp since 2016 and looks primed to hit the 30-goal mark for for the seventh time in eight seasons. As for Copp...

...he's another WolverinWing, as seen in the first two cards here. It's fun when the former Ann Arbor guys head to Detroit but even better when it's captured on cardboard. Another Team Canada card of Hobey-winner Adam Fantilli gives me two of him with that team to go with a pair with Columbus. Hagelin, who won a pair of Cups with the Pens, nears the 40-card mark as well as the top-10 of my Michigan Hockey PCs. Sitting 10 cards behind him is

Canucks D-man and last year's Norris Trophy winner Quinn Hughes, whose six cards here include a very cool playing card-style item from OPC. Defenseman Matt Hunwick is next, and this trio shows him with two of his six career franchises. Then we have former Leafs winger Zach Hyman who

joined the Oilers after six seasons in Toronto and steadily put up career highs until reaching 54 goals last year plus another 16 in the playoffs for runner-up Edmonton (though he's yet to score this year). While there are no Wolverines named Jones in this package, Doug had me keeping up with the Johnsons. One is Jack, another '21-'22 Avalanche Cup-winner who's now back in his second go-round with Columbus in his 19th(!) NHL season. The other is his new teammate Kent, the 2021 fifth overall pick who's in his fourth season in the league, and has five cards to his name in my collection as opposed to almost 60 for his elder fellow Wolverine.

Wings captain Dylan Larkin was one of the most common names in this package and I loved to see that. I'm grateful that the team has his leadership as he's become somewhat similar to the guy currently in charge, Steve Yzerman, so you'll imagine how much I grinned when I noticed that my collection totals for both players are very close! He's posted 31, 32, and 33 goals the past three seasons so we'll see if his incremental improvement continues, though more importantly I'm hoping for a return to the playoffs--something he hasn't experienced since his debut in 2015-16. Madden, meanwhile, won trophies both in college and the NHL, and missed the playoffs just twice in his career, with one occasion being a cup of coffee in his league debut. Oklahoma City native Jon Merrill also played for the Devils like Madden, though their careers didn't overlap. He was a Red Wing for 36 games in 2020-21 and is now in his fourth season with Minnesota.

I don't think I need to say much about Morrison as he's long been a blog favorite and I've talked about him plenty, so I'll just mention that he's #2 in my UM hockey PCs and the only other player besides Marty Turco to hit the century mark. Next, it's fun to have a shared PC with Doug like Nystrom, who's both a Michigan alum and 2/14 baby! A guy that's not too far behind Morrison is Max Pacioretty, a well-traveled winger who's with his fourth different team in as many seasons. 

My collection of Max is what it is because of folks like Doug who send me so many of his cards, like the ones in the previous scan, the few you see here (two of which are numbered!) and even more below. Palushaj barely had an NHL career to speak of but I still happily collect him. '21 #1 overall pick Owen Power is still fairly new to my collection but, again, thanks to Doug my small collection is growing. Tambellini was a favorite of mine while I had student season tickets. And as you'll see between this scan and the next,

My collection of Trouba got a nice bump as well. The sometimes overly aggressive D-man rests comfortably in the top 10 with just shy of 50 cards, in large part thanks to the guy who sent me these. One of the two Turcos helping to keep him #1 by a large margin can be seen here while there's one more below. Next, we have three of six Werenski cards representing yet another ex-Michigan guy that headed down to Columbus as a pro.

The other three sit atop this scan, including a typically excellent UD base plus the usually very cool (no pun intended) UD Ice. Two of the best looking cards in the entire box aren't even hits, but instead super thick cards of young Flyer Cam York. Both are '21-'22 SPx issues, with the first being a Finite inserted #d /399 and the other being a gorgeous Shadow Box card that has to be seen in-person to be appreciated.

We'll close out this scan (but not the post, oddly enough) with some beautiful hits. First is a beautiful RC auto of J.T. Compher, who's had his named called today already and will have the honor one more time. That's out of 2017-18 Ultimate Collection and the signature /399 is my third autograph to go with one relic. Tyler Motte, meanwhile, represents WolverWing #4 in this post, and that SPx Blackhawks jersey (/235) is relic #5 out of nine total hits. The former Chicago center joined Detroit as his 8th NHL team. Well represented PC guy Max Pacioretty is next with an SPx jersey representing one of his four seasons with Vegas. He's up to 12 hits including nine relics like that above average jersey swatch. And last up is a Panini Rookie Anthology card of Travis Turnbull that I swore I already had until I realized Doug had sent me the Patch version that comes with two excellent pieces of a Sabres jersey to go with Turnbull's signature. Besides the swatch upgrade, the card is #d /99, and that becomes my third hit of a Buffalo player who scored a single goal in three NHL games.

Like I said above, we weren't quite done yet because we still have some horizontals and other oddities that I decided to scan after the hits. Compher, Jack Johnson, and Patch all get some cool X-axis cards, and once again I love UD's flagship look. David Oliver isn't as common of a name around here--that's just my fourth card of his--so I appreciate the deep cut. The trio of goalie cards starring two of Michigan's best--Shields and Turco--has me wishing Pacific and its die-cut Crown Royale were still around. I love that he sent a base and two different parallels to give a nice look at the range of colors that set offered. Compher makes one last appearance thanks to a Panini sticker. And then we have one last player: David Shand. Like Oliver, he's not a very common name and actually only has 12 cards catalogued on TCDb. I now own three of those thanks to this 1979 sticker also made by Panini which may be the oldest such issue in my collection.

Once again I hope the fact that I had to give in and split up this package into two posts goes a long way towards indicating just how generous Doug can be when it comes to trading. Not only did he bomb me with quantity, but there was an absolute ton of quality across these two posts, and rest assured that I don't take such effort for granted. Thanks for being one of my favorite trading partners, Doug, and I hope to close out the year with a Christmas package that shows my appreciation!

Stay tuned for another August trade package coming up soon!

2019 trade package #28: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

I'm back today with the third of the three trade packages that I'd mentioned arrived to me this month, meaning this is the "big" one, and in my experience, nobody does big like my #1 trade partner, Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store!  This latest bubble mailer was absolutely packed to the gills and I'm impressed that he appears to have maximized the amount of weight he could send without the price skyrocketing.

This is another one of his signature envelopes stuffed with variety plus some heavy hitters, hitting many of my PCs all over the place, and I'm proud to be showing it off this evening:

We'll start with the Tigers content.  Pleasant surprise Niko Goodrum leads off this group with his base card from this year's GQ, and then we go on a five-card run of 2019 Heritage High Numbers' classic design, with only Paul's favorite, JaCoby Jones, still with the team.  This scan concludes with a trio of 2019 Bowman Draft Picks of three of the teams' better recent prospects.  RHP Faedo seems to be the consensus best of the three, with Roger's kid getting some consideration, and 2018 5th-rounder Wolf not as highly thought of for now.  I hope Clemens pans out as the big league club could use all the hitters it can develop!

One of these things is not like the others!  Three of this four are recent Panini issues, with an Optic variation of Cabrera and pair of 2019 cards of happy Cub Castellanos, with the Leather & Lumber die-cut a particular highlight for me.  The scan makes it difficult to tell but not only are these cut--they're much thicker than the base cards.  I'm definitely a fan!  I'm always happy to see Mr. Tiger in a trade package, even another reprint from Topps.  I really need to get me a copy of the original!

And we conclude the Tigers stuff with this beautiful Leather & Lumber auto of OF Christin Stewart, signed on a manu-lumber piece.  Doug broke a box of the product back in July and was generous enough to set this one aside from me.  It takes me back to the fun days of Fleer, Panini, and UD having players sign various pieces inserted into cards that simulated bats, balls, gloves, and more.  Stewart has an interesting signature and he's plenty young enough to remain an interesting prospect with potential to star in Detroit's outfield for years to come.  If that doesn't work out it's still a very cool card.

The baseball portion concludes with this pair of Michigan Baseball alumni, which is definitely a tale of two PCs.  Ignasiak's career was a short one and I have all 15 of his regular issues, plus this fun minor league offering.  Meanwhile, Larkin's Hall of Fame career led to plenty of cardboard appearances, and I own more than 750 of them!

We now go back to Motown for a minute, specifically Hockeytown.  The Alfredsson that leads off this scan calls to mind that recent Twitter post that was going around, asking people what clue they'd use to indicate they were being held against their will.  Doug giving away an Alfredsson?  Blink twice if you're being held hostage, buddy!

This first of two Wings scans is chock full of franchise royalty, especially Datsyuk, Holmstrom, Lidstrom, Yzerman, and Zetterberg.  Pavel's second appearance is a very cool throwback to fun looks Score produced way back in the early 90s.  And the Yzerman has me excited to see what the Captain can do to rebuild a team that's fallen on hard times lately.

And even more Wings.  Gallant had some nice years as a player and went on to become head coach of Columbus, Florida, and currently Vegas.  McCourt was the #1 overall pick in '77 and put up four-plus very good seasons with the team, averaging around 30 goals.  The three cards of Mantha, especially the two higher-end ones (Ice rules!) are very nice gets of the 2013 first-rounder who looks like he'll be a solid contributor again this year.  Russo also stars on an Ice card, and a numbered one at that, and we'll see if the former Notre Dame D gets another chance after limited action in the NHL.

The basketball content was limited but very effective, which is great since it's my least favorite of the four major sports.  The Grant was new to me and I especially liked the pair of Chronicles cards of recent Michigan guys LeVert and Wagner.  LeVert just got paid, a three-year, $52.5 million extension with Brooklyn, and I'm happy to see him succeeding.

After a short break from hits in this post, here comes a fantastic one-two punch from the hardwood.  Old man Jamal Crawford, going into his 20th(!) season, appears here from his rookie year on a 2000-01 SP Authentic Sign of the Times auto, giving me hit #7 of the former Bull but also my first signature!  He's joined by a beautiful 2010-11 Absolute Memorabilia Spectrum Signatures Gold auto (#76/99) of the doubly-nicknamed Campy "Mr. Moves" Russell (who, again, wasn't related to Cazzie).  Michael Campanella Russell signs his first initial and nickname here which is very cool, and I loved getting this as my first hit of the former Cav/Knick!

The Michigan portion this time was excellent as always.  Doug hit me with my second RC of tackling machine junior (David Harris will be #1 in my heart for a long time) Devin Bush II, from 2019 Panini Legacy, plus the only checklisted rookie of former UM DB Jarrod Wilson that I could find out of Panini's Unparalleled.  I owe him a special thanks for the latter since it doesn't appear on Beckett's OPG as a RC for whatever reason.

Joining those are a fun trio of inserts.  He added to my limited collections of these two players with an Orange parallel from Legacy of Rashan Gary (#129/199), who picked up his first NFL sack today, plus a Scorecard parallel of RB Karan Higdon from this year's Score, a couple more college uni cards, which are the tops!  A very shiny horizontal 2019 Score insert called Signal Callers of QB Tom Brady caps things off here.

And at last we've made it to Doug's specialty:  Michigan Hockey content!  Almost everything in this scan was new for me, including three of the four Dylan Larkins, which I happily added to his PC, getting him up to 26 items.  I wasn't aware until receiving this envelope that last year's MVP product had a blue factory set version, so now I'm glad to know about them so I don't toss out others thinking they're dupes.

The rest of the "regular" hockey stuff includes a player you'll see again in a minute, a pair of Max cards, a brand new Turco, and a cool horizontal Ebbett that goes towards his very small collection.  Like the MVP Larkin above, I thought this Turco was a dupe until I noticed the gold foil at the bottom, making this the base version of 2002-03 Titanium, and the one I already owned the retail version.  I've since updated my collection to reflect those and am glad for the second cardboard lesson of this post!

And here's the rest of the hockey with the big finish.  O-Pee-Chee's Platinum is another one of those products that looks outstanding when it gets chrome-ified, and Compher's auto (my second) above from 2017-18 looks even better in person, naturally.  I don't think anybody has sent me as many Aaron Palushaj hits (or any, for that matter) as Doug, and he upped the count with this 2011-12 SP Authentic auto/RC #d 693/999, making it the 11th hit (10 including signatures) in AP's collection.  

And the star of the show is the previously-mentioned Merrill, another guy I'm constantly fed by my Canadian counterpart.  Hit #9 is this flat out stunning 2013-14 Panini National Treasures Icy Inscriptions auto.  I enjoy cards featuring acetate as much as the next person, if not more, and am not bothered when players sign a piece of something instead of the card itself (like the Stewart above), so this is another design that reminds me why I love collecting, and getting envelopes from Doug.  The number of times he's sent me cards like this is off the charts as he continues to be a boon to my hockey PC.

Doug, not that you could tell at all by reading this post, I thoroughly enjoyed yet another mailer from you and have to thank you for continuing to send me great stuff.  I plan on hitting you back at least once more, maybe after going on a Black Friday/Cyber Monday COMC shopping spree to bulk up on some quality content for a return.  Until then, good luck to your Sens!