2020 COMC purchases: hockey new year!

I hope everyone had an excellent holiday season, I know I did. After taking a few days off, though, I decided I was ready to get started posting in 2021, and fortunately I happened to have some worthy content handy.

Although I'm still waiting on my original COMC order (which is pretty much all trade bait destined for Christmas packages), a package that's been in limbo since 12/14, the second one I had shipped days later made it to my mailbox before the year was up. All but one of the cards in this one were for me, so at least I've got that going for me!

I ended up doing quite well with the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales so I have a nice fat stack of cards to show off. Because of that I'm going to break them down into (at least) three posts by sport. As you might have guessed by this post's title, hockey is first up:

While this is in now way a huge haul, I'll remind everyone that I don't tend to search out hockey very much, and I largely went after these due to their ridiculously low prices. Here's a bit more about each:

Chris Brown 2013-14 Upper Deck Overtime Autographs auto: once again, ladies and gentlemen, it's the pride of Flower Mound, Texas! $0.90 was all it took to grab this Coyote colored (:chuckles Phoenixly:) signature of Brown, my ninth including an auto of 12 total hits (and 15 cards overall). It's a rare addition to his collection by me since much of what I own is courtesy of The Buckstore Kid, naturally. Fellow Wolverine Jacob Trouba can also be found here so this may not be the last of the set you'll see!

Greg Pateryn 2013-14 Crown Royale auto RC (#450/499): Pateryn is something of an unheralded D-man but he's managed to hang in the league on and off for approaching a decade, which is nice to see. He was originally drafted by the Leafs but made his debut and played his first few seasons with the pictured Canadiens here. Crown Royale's die-cuts just about always look nice, and the fact that this is also a numbered RC is a plus. At just $1.25 I was glad to make it his third hit (two autos and a plate) out of just five total cards.

Jeff Tambellini 2005-06 Parkhurst Signatures auto: the last auto of the group belongs to the son of former Oilers GM Steve. Jeff was a dynamite college player during my school days in Ann Arbor, though his NHL career was nothing special. But, man, could he take over a game and carry the team on his back when they needed it! I had no second thoughts about paying a buck for his signature on such a nice design, not that I was surprised that the classic Parkhurst name offered up a good look like this. Five of my eight Tambellini hits feature his John Hancock (out of just 14 cards overall).

Mike Cammalleri 2008-09 Black Diamond Jerseys Quad quad jersey: only one hockey Mike today so I'm not gonna use the tag, but I am quite happy with the new addition. Everyone knows relics have kind of lost their luster over the years, but it's not because of cool ones like this. The four swatches on my copy resulted in three different colors, which is definitely a win, as was nabbing the card for $1.25. TCDB tells me Cammalleri is #3 in my hockey collection (76 cards) and it's no wonder when I can add cool hits like this, my 18th of the former sniper.

Dylan Larkin 2019-20 SP Game Used Showcase Standouts Jerseys jersey: no, it's not a Wings card, but when you only have to pay $1.05 ("Freedom isn't free!") for a relic of a star like Larkin you go for it. And it looks like instead of being the now infamous "event-worn" crap that involves throwing on a jersey for five seconds to meet the definition, it was at least used in action at that event. Larkin's prices make many of his hits cost-prohibitive so this was a fun, cheap way to grab relic #5 (of seven hits) and card #40 overall. I'm glad the Wolverwing will be back in Motown for at least two more seasons after this one.

Since this was just five cards, plus I needed some back scans for TCDB, here's the backs of everything.

I would expect my next post to cover all my baseball purchases next, but we'll just have to see!

2020 trade package #33: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

Hey, we're a third of the way through November and I'm getting up my first post of the month!

Today I'm showing off another Canadian cornucopia from Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store. If you've read a recap of any of the slew of envelopes he's sent my way then you know his generosity is the stuff of legend around here. So here's a look at the latest mailer from him:

"Small packet" my ass! This was one of the larger bubble mailers you can get and it was stuffed with cards in toploaders, because that's how he rolls. Also, please notice the ridiculously cheap shipping cost, a very patriotic (Canadian) price of $17.76, about $13.60 American. If I was to send this exact package the other direction I guarantee you I'd be paying two to three times that. Then again, Canada often seems to do things more intelligently than its neighbo(u)rs to the south.

Anyway, on with the cards!

The baseball portion was definitely strong for its size. Gerber's no longer in the system but he's seen here on a 2017 Bowman Holiday card, numbered /99, which is very cool. Guillen's one of many past Tigers I still enjoy collecting. Both of those Griffeys were new to me, including a die-cut Leather & Lumber card and a Classics base from 2020 that has a design more reminiscent of Donruss but looks pretty cool.

Finally, the two 2020 Topps Chrome rookie autos are quite nice! Alexander is a former second-rounder who looked decent this year and may well benefit from the Tigers finally going after a good pitching coach in UM's Chris Fetter. Castro also looked promising this past season after coming over from Cleveland in the deal that sent Leonys Martin to the Indians. Considering the increased potential for the team under new manager (*sigh*) A.J. Hinch, it's nice to have autos of these guys already, so I appreciate Doug including them this time.

Hockey part one stars another team also rebuilding, the Wings. I didn't want to scan everything but didn't want to leave anything out either, so here's a family photo. You'll notice the similar one you'll see later looks better because I arranged the cards vertically instead. Live and learn. Anyway, there's some very nice stuff in here, such as a Prizm base of Doug's guy Daniel Alfredsson, and lots of other recent dudes as well.

I thought it would be fun to pick a page full of favorites. The Donruss card (position #2) is former Russian Five-r Slava Kozlov, and he's part of a group of shiny fun and star power. UD's Ice is definitely a super cool brand, especially the acetate versions. The recently re-signed Mantha makes a couple appearances here, and even more in the photo above.

And we're still not done with the guys from Hockeytown thanks to these two stunners. The first is a beauty from UD's aptly-named Allure (2019-20), a Red Rainbow autograph numbered /349, and the subject is forward Taro Hirose, an undrafted Canadian NCAA alum who played his college hockey at...checks notes...

--record scratch--

MICHIGAN STATE? Welp. That's still a very nice card with a signature that includes his jersey number, so it may just remain in my collection, we'll see.

The other is a huge jersey swatch from 2017-18 SP Game Used, celebrating the 2017 NHL Centennial Classic. One of those fun outdoor games the NHL does sometimes, it was celebrating 100 years of the host Maple Leafs (who won 5-4 in OT), not to mention the league itself. The player here is Tomas Tatar, a talented forward who put up some good numbers with Detroit before being flipped to Vegas. He was later traded that same year (2018) for former Wolverine Max Pacioretty. I love the enormous swatch design here and this one should be a keeper for me!

I put the basketball and hockey stuff together this time because it was just easier to scan them like that. There's some nice players and designs here, with my favorite being the Fleer Retro of Rice, though the Taylor SP Authentic is a close second. Also, Rudy T.!

A couple C-Webbs finish up the hoopers, then it's on to the gridiron. Doug sent me a nice boost to my Brady collection that was mostly 2020 Panini Legacy inserts on a nice mix of designs. I was certainly happy to see sideline-to-sideline LB Devin Bush, too, on a 2019 Chronicles Classics card, even if it reminds me that he's unfortunately done for the year. I see him having lots of success over his NFL career with the kind of talent he has!

Football finishes up with this sextet. Griese and the A-Train represent one of the best Stadium Club designs (2002), and Peppers gets a cameo after starring in the Giants' win (wait, they won a game?!) this past weekend. It's always great to see one of my all-time favorite Michigan QBs, Denard, in a college shot. And there's even a new Woodson for me: a 2016 Score No Fly Zone insert. I think a dude that piled up 65 interceptions and around 200 passes defended earned his entry into that set.

Part two of the hockey bounty starred this bunch of Wolverines, headlined by some of my favorites like the various hockey Mikes, multiples of stars like Larkin, Pacioretty, Trouba, and Werenski, and other favorites like Morrison and Turco.

I'm not generally the type to focus on card backs, but the difference between Carl Hagelin's 2019-20 OPC and the subsequent's version is stark. The earlier one immediately made me say, "What is this, a card for ANTS?!" while this year's is so much easier to read with larger text and a white background.

As I did with the Wings I chose nine favorites here, largely opting for the same stars & shine duo. Goalie Al Montoya is the fourth card and #9 is Wolverwing Aaron Ward. UD Ice makes three more appearances, including one for Larkin, and I was thrilled to add five new items to his collection, but there's really a lot to enjoy here, like Hunwick's Rainbow parallel and a brand new insert of young D-man Hughes.

And in case you thought we were done for some reason, we still have the hits, and six big ones at that! Doug definitely knows what I like.

#1 is 2019-20 UD Artifacts dual jersey (/125) of recent favorite Wolverwing Dylan Larkin. Featuring two beautiful red swatches, it's just my sixth hit of him, a beauty that makes me laugh because the swatch placement makes it look like his knees are extremely swollen.

Second is a bold orange swatch of former Oilers C Cooper Marody, who I saw play a few times over his three-year career in Ann Arbor. Out of 2018-19 Ultimate collection (/399) it's my first card of Marody, who was drafted by the Flyers, got a cup of coffee in Edmonton, and seems to be playing in Austria now. Definitely a nice way to welcome him as the 58th member of the hockey collection.

Player #3 here is Jeff Tambellini, whose three seasons with Michigan's hockey team coincided with my sophomore through senior years at the school. He was one of those rare guys who could take over a game, and he probably should have won the Hobey Baker award in 2004-05. Doug sent me three great new hits for his collection (now up to seven cards). The first is a 2005-06 Fleer Hot Prospects patch auto RC (/349) that comes with a really nice tri-color patch. Next is a dual jersey from the same year's UD Rookie Update product (/999) which pairs him with former Tampa sniper Martin St. Louis. And finally, we have a nicely done jersey auto RC (/1999) out of SPx, featuring another of that product's designs that I really like. This is a really nice trio for his collection, and even if he didn't really have much success in the pros, these serve as great reminders of his fun career in Ann Arbor).

Last up today is one-year D star Jacob Trouba on an autographed rookie of his own out of 2013-14 Ultimate Collection (/299). I know enough to realize that this is a pretty high-end card of a guy who's still pretty well respected in the league, and maybe will be more recognizable to Americans since he came over to the Rangers a couple years ago. My third Trouba that includes an autograph (out of 12 hits overall), all of which I bet are thanks to Doug, this is a great way to end tonight's post with a bang.

Actually, before I finish up, I should mention one more celebratory item: these hockey additions push that collection over the 300 mark to 303, meaning it joins football and baseball as Michigan sports collections to have hit that milestone. One of these days I'll try to count up how many of those were sent to me by my favorite Canadian.

Mr. Corti, thanks once again for the surprise bonanza of toploadered goodness! I've recently landed something I'm looking forward to sending you for Christmas, especially when I can fill out an envelope with a bit more (hopefully from a show or COMC?) to make your holiday season even brighter.