2023 trade package #13: the Angels in Order

I know it's been a few weeks since I last posted but I've been busy with stuff like turning 40 and visiting a friend down south. Still, trade recaps await so I'm back to it!

It's been great for the blogosphere to have Tom from the Angels in Order back and writing very regularly (something I obviously can't manage!), and an even cooler development is the way he's taken to trading on TCDb. His exploits there (TCDb ID "calangels") where he's well on his way to the 100-transaction mark in just a few months led to our first trade in about three years. I was happy to tack on some extra stuff to his original proposal and off we went!

Here's my end of the deal:

We start with a trio of '87 Leaf Tigers. I took a look at the team checklist for the set and these sew up the players I actually collect from it, meaning I'm ignoring Bruce Fields' and Walt Terrell's entries. Next, I can't say no to more cards of Maggs and Pudge, a couple of key '06 Tigers, whether or not they're depicted with Detroit. That would explain why my collections of them are as large as 236 and 351 cards, respectively!

The last Tigers card was a '96 Collector's Choice Silver Signature parallel of the team checklist starring who else back then but Big Daddy himself, Cecil Fielder. The '96 set featured one of the product's better designs in my opinion.

And then we move on to cards of three guys that make up my big four PC group of non-Tigers/Wolverines. Ripken gets left out this time but he leads the pack by a mile so that's ok. I was happy to add four new Griffeys, three of them Reds cards, to keep marching him towards the next milestone of 1100. Mr. Padre Tony Gwynn adds to the Collector's Choice parade with one of the 836 items I own of him. And ex-Padre and Dodger (not his most well-known squads) Greg Maddux is a bit behind Gwynn with 817 including the '07 UD First Edition above.

Since this bunch was going to work out to be three images regardless, I bunched the three Wolverines together. It's great trading with an Angels collector like Tom because he happened to have a couple Jim Abbott dupes for me in the form of a couple oddball-ish items. The first is a 1991 team issue Smokey the Bear card while the other is from a 1992 Classic multi-sport product called World Class Athletes, a set that largely focuses on recent Olympians (Jim was one in the 80s, of course) but which also includes a smattering of other stars.

The '75 Topps of HOFer Ted Simmons was a late addition as a replacement for an '82 Fleer Stamp of Jack Morris that Tom couldn't find. Uh, yeah, that's a reasonable swap, dude! It apparently gives me 99 cards of the ex-UM C and a milestone celebration will surely follow soon. A fellow Wolverine from the gridiron closes us out tonight in the form of a '91 Classic base of Jarrod Bunch, a late 80s FB (remember that position?) who spent four years in the NFL with the Giants and Raiders.

Tom, thanks again for reaching out and working this deal via TCDb! It was great trading with you again and I look forward to the next time we can swap some cards. In fact, I may already have a decent pile going for you after this month's show.

Stay tuned for a couple more trades, a June show recap, and lots more!

2019 trade package #20: Bump and Run Football Card Blog

A fun blast from the (relative) past hit my mailbox a week or two ago when I received a surprise PWE from Trevor of the excellently named Bump and Run Football Card Blog.  The first (and only other) time I showed off cards from him was way back in February of 2017, so this was a fun surprise indeed, plus what he sent was terrific:

The baseball portion was appropriately 100% Tigers, starting with a George Kell Archives base from 2016.  That leads to two horizontal inserts.  Ernie Harwell's 2013 Panini Cooperstown Voices of Summer appearance is the first card that caught my eye as I was opening the envelope and one I'm excited to have, especially since my collection of the legendary announcer is scant.  The Hall of Famer's voice was synonymous with Tigers baseball for generations of fans so I love this insert with a photo of him from much earlier in his career.

And the classic Tigers celebration didn't end there thanks to a 2017 Topps Update Postseason Celebration Red insert (#228/250) that honors the '68 Tigers, a team that gets lots of love from Detroit collectors. Winning pitcher and Series MVP Mickey Lolich (#29) can be seen hugging catcher Bill Freehan way in the back as the rest of the team converges to celebrate in St. Louis.  What a cool photo!

And now we get to the main purpose of this envelope as Trevor noted he'd "been saving up some Wolverines" to send my way.  The great news is that all were new to me except the Charlton RC, which I'm sure will have a happy home after one more trip via USPS to Jeff.

Other than that it's a RB/TE/WR bunch with some excellent college uni action.  #1 is power back Jarrod Bunch on his '93 Fleer base.  The reverse notes that he acted as a FB in '92, blocking for some 1,000-yard rusher named Rodney Hampton, which would be cool if I knew anybody that collected him.

Then there's a pair of Xtra Points Red parallels from Panini's 2017 Prestige:  TE Jake Butt and WR Amara Darboh.  I couldn't even tell you the last time I disliked a Prestige design, and as always the product kills it with beautiful college photos, with the nice bonus of the foil finish here.  Darboh makes a second appearance on another 2017 Panini-branded parallel:  Classics' Timeless Tributes Gold.  That's another outstanding design upgraded by a color variation, plus it's numbered 99/99 (last one!).

And now we return to the power backs.  Leroy Hoard was coming off his second NFL season with Cleveland when the '92 Ultra card you see above was made.  While his rushing TD total only went up by three to five in '91, he went off for nine more scores as a receiver, good for more than half his career output in that category.  I'll bet he wasn't brought down by the arm tackle, or even the airborne player in the very upper-left corner (check that out!).

Finally, campus legend Tyrone Wheatley gets in on the foil-y college uni insert trend with a Superior Pix Instant Impact card from his draft year of 1995.  I'm not sure if the obvious horizontal line going through the RB is a printing defect or just part of the process--I believe less obvious lines were common among Refractors--but it's the only flaw on an interesting card from the brand.  Considering how many similar cards suffer from airbrushing I'm glad to get the full uniform effect plus the iconic helmet--with stickers!

Thanks for thinking of me with this great group of Wolverines and Tigers, Trevor!  I'm getting close to sending you a return mailer that reflects your own eclectic PCs so I'm looking forward to returning the favor.