2016 trade package #23: these cards are anything but Pedestrian

Now that I'm back from celebrating Christmas with my family (I hope everyone else also had a great holiday!), I can get back to trade packages.  This one comes from another new-to-me trader:  Chris of the (Pedestrian) Collector.  Chris was actually the very first person to claim items from my giveaway, and I was happy to see that lead to another new trade partner, as was one of my goals with the project.

He sent me this nice little bundle of Tigers:

Binge!  Former SS-turned-C and 3B Brandon Inge was a fun guy to watch with the Tigers despite his often maddening inconsistency.  Here's the 2009 All-Star on his 2000 Topps Chrome Traded RC (which would have come from a box set).  Following him is former teammate and fellow left-of-the-infield (SS) guy Jhonny Peralta on a 2013 Topps Gold insert, #d 1879/2013.  He made it to the World Series with Detroit in 2012, bookended by All-Star campaigns.  And finally, from 2015 Topps Heritage we have a multiplayer rookie card of a couple 2016 Tigers:  starting C James McCann and RP Kyle Ryan, who's pitched in parts of three seasons in Motown.

Hey, cool, a new entry for my Alan Trammell PC!  Chris went back to 1988, when I would have been five, for this oddballish Topps Big card from the first of the product's three-year run.  The front features two photos of Tram, one being a portrait of a still-young Tiger and the other of the should-be HOFer in action at home at familiar Tiger Stadium with a pretty intense look while making a play.  I'm not that far over the 100-card mark in his collection so I love getting "new" stuff like this!

And then there's my favorite of the bunch:  this 1960 Topps of pitcher Frank Lary, who's mostly known for his 11 years with the Tigers.  The year this card came out, Frank embarked on his first of two straight All-Star appearances, including a career season of 1961 in which he went 23-9 with 22 complete games, won a Gold Glove, and finished third in the AL Cy Young voting.

This card is just my fourth Tiger issue from that 56-year-old set to go along with Al Kaline, Paul Foytack, and a team card; I also have one non-Tiger from the set:  a low-grade Carl Yastrzemski RC.  This is a great looking design with multiple photos and one of my all-time favorite versions of the tiger logo on a card.  I'm happy to add it to my criminally-neglected (by me) vintage collection.

Chris, thanks again for participating in the giveaway and for becoming a new trade partner!  I look forward to more trades like this one in the future, especially as I pile up more Red Sox stuff for you.

Holiday trade package #4: Collector's Crack

Today's trade package hails from Gold Rush country, a.k.a Alaska, thanks to the generosity of Mark, a.k.a. CynicalBuddha, of Collector's Crack.  Apparently a fan of the state of Wisconsin's teams, Mark picked up the Packers and Brewers from my fall cleaning lots.  Here's what he sent back my way, which was clearly 1000 times better than what I sent him:

Right off the bat is one of the highlights of the package:  a Verlander 2012 Topps SP.  I think I've pulled one or two of Topps' short prints since they ramped those up in recent years, but I didn't have any stashed in my PC, and certainly didn't have one of one of my favorite players ever, so, yeah, WOW.  The stickers you see of 80s core Tigers Lou Whitaker, Alan Trammell, and Jack Morris come from 1984 Fleer and are a nice, unique addition to my Tigers PC.  So is the next card, a Bowman insert featuring Justin Verlander and fellow #2 overall pick and pitcher Danny Hultzen of the Mariners.  Rounding out the group is a 2012 Bowman Draft Rookie-Or-Not-Who-Even-Knows-Anymore? of Tigers pitching prospect Jacob Thompson, Detroit's second-rounder this year.

And if you can believe it, it gets better:

To say Mark put a dent in a few of my sets wouldn't do justice in that he essentially left a dent's worth of cards I still need to pick up.  Included were 39 of the 2009 Topps baseball I needed; three from 2008 Topps football; and 23 from 2010 Score football, ALL of which were rookie short prints.  To give you an idea of how much these helped, here's my 2009 Topps baseball list before

and after:

And 2010 Score football is down to just FOUR!  Wow was that a lot of help.  While I'm celebrating here, seeing former Hokie Kevin Jones reminds me I should be congratulating Spankee's Virginia Tech team for their exciting overtime bowl win the other day!

So after all that, things even managed to get better from there:

While I already had one, I was excited to pull a Granderson hit out of this package.  I guess I really DO have Too Many Grandersons now (wakka wakka wakka).  Anyway, that's headed over to the trade bait album and I'm sure I'll be able to use it to acquire something else I'll really like.

And finally, a Tigers hit I most certainly DID need, a 2012 A&G Jhonny Peralta jersey!  This is my first hit of Detroit's most recent shortstop, and a player I've come to appreciate (apparently more than some other Tigers fans, for whatever reason) thanks to his valuable bat at one of the keystone positions.  While I hope Detroit can ultimately develop a player to take over, I've been happy to see Jhonny and his fairly potent bat out there the last few seasons.

So once again, a big thanks to Mark for an extremely generous trade package.  I'll give you the same promise as everyone else so far--I'll get you back with something just as good very soon!

As with some of the others I've covered lately, Mark's blog is pretty well-known and successful, but if you aren't already following it, check out Collector's Crack as soon as you can--he works hard to churn out posts in between fishing and repairing his igloo.