2025 trade package #9: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

It's the final day of May and I'm ready to recap the other trade package I received in March. As it turned out, that was the second month in a row I received a crazy nice mailer from Doug across the border at Sports Cards From the Dollar Store. I know I say this a lot, especially when it comes to his mailings, but this one was a DOOZY!

Check out the goods:

Baseball scan one of two is highlighted by some needed '25 Topps Tigers--Hurter, Keith, and Malloy. Hurter's been part of a pleasant surprise of a bullpen that's powered some wins for the surging Tigers, Keith's bat has improved since a slow start, and Malloy's chipped in some ABs for a team missing a few OF in the IL. That oddball Ripken, an '84 Topps/Milton Bradley partnership, is especially cool too!

I don't need to tell anyone that Skubal's been on fire since last season, while young SS Trey Sweeney is a work-in-progress, albeit a promising one. Devon Travis is one of a number of talented IF the Tigers gave away in awful trades, though they're doing that much less these days (and that's a pretty cool Refractor to boot). And How cool is that Elite Extra auto of former Wolverine Jordan Nwogu? It's my second of the Cubs OF prospect, with the previous one joining my collection thanks to Doug as well, and now I have a new favorite thanks to the college uni shot. Nice!

The basketball portion was a bit smaller but a big boon to my collections. A Bowman's Best Howard insert throws it back to the more creative days of the hobby, and Poole and Robinson represent slightly more recent Michigan NBA alumni, with the latter getting an especially cool appearance.

Then we have three hits, which is where the real fun begins. That Leaf card is my first autograph of the young Bufkin, on a card with a design that honors the 1990 version of the Leaf brand that isn't sketchy in every single way (and a beautiful John Hancock). The well-traveled Burnett (Michigan/Bama/Texas Tech) makes his autograph overall PC debut thanks to Bowman University Chrome, which combines a great college shot and the player's excellent signature. And lastly, French Wolverine cager does the same with a Donruss Optic autograph that's a bit less legible, but at least the card looks great. I now have 39 different subjects in the basketball hits collection, and only three of them don't have an autograph to their name, largely thanks to the sender of this envelope.

Next, the football assortment was similar--just five cards, but some big adds to my collections. Sainristil, the WR-turned-DB who was a huge, huge part of the championship-winning team a couple years ago, gets his first card in my PC not produced by the school itself, in this case a Prestige RC. And then we have even more firsts thanks to a generous quartet of autographs. Each player you see here previously lacked a signature in my football hits collection, but that's no longer the case! Talented DB Dax Hill gets a Michigan uni card from Panini Legacy, LB Carlo Kemp (first overall card as well) arrives thanks to Leaf Draft, DB Josh Metellus (also a first card) stars on a college-themed Contenders Draft issue, and last up is autograph #1 of Dallas TE Luke Schoonmaker, a shiny numbered card found in Panini's Illusions. I now show 264 different subjects from the sport, so even more growth in addition to the basketball stuff above, which I really appreciate!

A couple (non-Michigan alum) Wings made the trip this time in the form of the late Shawn Burr (a Kitchener Ranger!) and Bob Rouse, who won a pair of Cups with Detroit late in his career.

Of course the real action on the ice here featured the ex-Michigan guys. Jason Bailey's yet another guy debuting tonight, and he's a rarity since the OHL card you see above is just one of eight he has catalogued on TCDb after a pair of seasons in Ann Arbor. Cammalleri is my top-rated hockey Mike in the collection with almost 100 cards, such as that Black Diamond you see in spot #2. Hyman is out for Edmonton's cup rematch vs. Florida but did a lot to help get his team there, and a UD Canvas card is a great reminder of the quality player he is. And the last of the non-hits is a sticker of a guy I always refer to as "Patch" given the way you say his name ("patch-or-EH-ty") but I guess "Pac Man" works as well.

And no, Doug's trademark generosity didn't end with the other three sports--he included his favorite as well. I like what Panini did with the design of Jack Johnson's Crown Royale jersey relic as it makes the swatch look huge. That's hit #15 for JMFJ. Wolverwing Dylan Larkin gets another quality relic added to his PC out of 2019-20 SPx, and the numbered jersey card is his 8th out of 11 total hits in a collection I'm proud to continue to grow. And last but most definitely not least, check out the newest 1/1 in my Michigan collection: a 2016-17 UD Compendium Black plate of Steve Kampfer! The four-year Wolverine D-man played sparingly in the NHL over parts of 11 seasons, but found himself in the Compendium Product after a career-high 47 games with the Panthers the previous year. What a great way to end this post!

Doug, thanks so much as always for the time, effort, thought, and money you put into every envelope you send my way. I continue to be floored by your generosity and the quality of stuff you find for folks like me that are fortunate enough to be able to trade with you. I'm looking forward to your last post covering what I most recently sent you while I try to stock back up once again!

I'm thinking the next post should be my first foray into Facebook Marketplace purchases this year, and that should let me close out March.

2025 trade package #7: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

It's the last day of April so let's finally look at the mailer I received from Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store back in February!

Your first place Tigers were well represented in this package that arrived a couple months before the season opened. The past guys are pretty good company between Miggy, Fister, and Grandy, but Carp, Greene, and Jobe are all making big contributions to a club that's exceeded my expectations so far. Speaking of Riley, who needs team parallels when you have your own name parallel?

Keith's been slower to get things going this year but did homer today. Manning's stock may be down but McGonigle's has shot up quite a bit, making that numbered Donruss parallel extra nice. Parker's still working his way back from injury and so is Rogers, but Mize has been a nice story so far as he leads the Tigers with four wins. Morris's Predictor insert is a bit of a combo-breaker, but not entirely since end his 13-year career in Detroit, playing 40 games here in 2000.

Ex-Tiger DeMeritte's fantastic 2020 image, one of the best of that year, gets the Chrome and Refractor treatment, and I have a feeling we'll see this one popping up in highlights for years to come. Miggy leads off the hit parade with a 2024 Ginter jersey, my 16th such card of the future HOFer. A beauty of a jersey/auto of '24 Tigers bullpen ace Tyler Holton was one of the bigger surprises of this mailing. Limited to just 25 copies, it comes with a solid signature and cool jersey swatch. And we'll end the baseball content with a non-Tiger: my first auto of former Wolverine Jordan Nwogu. The Canadian Cubs prospect eluded my hits collection up until Doug rectified that, and he becomes baseball hits PC guy #41. Nice!

I took way too long to post this package but it's still not that close to Halloween yet, no matter what that LeVert Hoops card would have you think. Franz had a career best season, albeit one limited a bit by injury. Ex-coach Juwan looks great on a gorgeous '90s SPx design. And LeVert makes a second appearance in the form of the second relic I can claim of him: a jersey inserted into 2020-21 National Treasures.

I didn't time it this way on purpose but this scan ties in well with the recently completed NFL draft. The group includes five '24 rookies, all of whom were difference-makers for Michigan's recent title, plus a base of talented vet Rashan Gary. It looks like I'm shy four more vets (Aidan Hutchinson, Nico Collins, Charles Woodson, and Ty Law) and one RC (Jaylen Harrell) to complete the team set. As always I'm a fan of Score using college action photos for the first-year guys.

Former Pats Ty Law and Josh Uche plus Giant/Raider Ty Wheatley round out the base portion of the football content. Then former TE/WR Devin Funchess double dips with a very, very nice pair of hits. His 2019 Certified auto, numbered to just 30 copies, features a typically eye-pleasing holographic design, and that marks 15 cards I own that include his signature. It's joined by a large jersey swatch from that year's Crown Royale, a decent throwback to the excellent Pacific brand. Funch continues to outpace the other three Devins in my football collection with 35 hits.

Fortunately some of the other teams represented today have been or were at least moderately successful this year because both of the hockey squads underachieved and missed their playoffs. So it goes, but I still enjoy collecting them! First up we have the local pro team, and a mix of recent and older. The big highlights for me are the bookend images here: Pavel Datsyuk and Nick Lidstrom. The 2014-15 Metal card of the former may have been a tough scan but it looks great in-person. And the further we get from Lidstrom's playing days, the more I appreciate the things he did to make the Wings a perennial playoff threat.

Unlike the second Datsyuk above, Lidstrom's second card--also a Fleer brand throwback--scanned very well and the image represents just how nice it looks. Seider's SP Authentic card is a shiny look at the future/present of the Motown blue line. Shanahan's UD insert looks just as pleasing in my hands as it does in 2D on your screen. And Sheppard was a favorite of mine from the Sega EA Sports NHL game days.

In this last Wings scan, Veleno and Yzerman are linked as the latter flipped the former in March in a deal to bring former Detroit goalie (and Doug's fellow 2/14 baby) Petr Mrazek back. Zetterberg was another of those stars the team doesn't seem to be developing much these days, but maybe we'll see more of them again in the future.

Speaking of player development, Doug included a pair of hits of former prospects. Ex-Spartan (barf!) Taro Hirose appears to be with a German team now but he was a decent prospect at one point and good enough to appear on beautiful UD cards like the numbered Black Diamond signature you see above. Meanwhile, Smith, seen on a very nice numbered jersey in the form of a large Red Wings red swatch, was one of the team's two 2016 second-round picks, and he's since bounced around a bit, finally landing in Philly's system.

Lastly, the Michigan Hockey content may not have been abundant, but the quality and a big side of shininess were most definitely there in spades. Just look how that top row trio of Beniers and Connor cards just pops! The numbered Hughes is especially nice right now as he chases a second straight Norris trophy, competing with a guy in the next scan. Hyman scored exactly half of his 54 goals from last season but still had a decent enough year for the Oilers. And Larkin continues to be a good captain for a Wings squad that continues to fail him.

You want more shiny and/or numbered? You've got it! A pair of pretty Pacioretty cards begins tonight's last scan, courtesy of UD's Allure and Ice brands. Trouba's finally away from the Rangers and that's probably the best I can say about his season. Werenski is Wolverine Norris Trophy finalist #2 this year thanks in part to his career highs of 23 goals, 59 assists, and 82 points. And yet another top-notch card of a high-end blueliner will close things out tonight: a numbered Black Diamond of Cam York. My York collection is small but pretty much nothing but bangers thanks to Doug, with pretty much everything being this high quality.

Many thanks to Doug, my favorite Canadian trade partner, who managed to send this and another mailer plus post the first part of the package I recently sent his way before I finally got off my butt to recap this February envelope! I look forward to seeing your follow-up posts as I try to reload for future considerations.

2021 trade package #24: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

Dollar Store dude and Canadian buddy of the blog Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store recently sent me a nice fat envelope for the fourth time this year and it was another doozy! As is often the case when he sends me stuff, all four major sports get hit so there's potentially something for everyone here. And most importantly, everything is for me! Let's look at the contents this time:

The baseball and basketball portions were limited but very strong. We get a look at two Cabreras: future HOFer Miggy plus potential future Tiger Daniel, an OF Detroit took in the second round out of LSU last year. Former Wolverine and sure-fire future star Jordan Nwogu, like the latter Cabrera above, came out of this year's Topps Pro Debut, which seems to be using a mix of designs, and that's always a plus. And the package's biggest hitter is also from that product: an autograph of one of the Tigers' cream of the crop prospects, Riley Greene. The fifth overall pick in 2019, Greene has as much upside as anyone else selected in that first round, and the outfielder tends to slot in just behind Spencer Torkelson atop the team's farm rankings. Doug pulled this bad boy, numbered /50 on the back, himself, and was nice enough to flip it to me for future considerations, which I'm still working on. Just another reminder of his legendary generosity.

Getting back to Wolverines, from a different sport, take a look at the recent-ish due of THJ and LeVert. It's crazy to me that the younger Hardaway will be going into his ninth season this year while Vert will be appearing in his sixth once he's healthy.

Heading over to the gridiron, Michigan's 6-0 start has surprised lots of fans including me. This here group mostly leans towards the rookies but has some vet representation as well. Alexander and Kenn appear on cards made after their first seasons while older Wolverines Brooks and Foote RCs bookend two of this year's newest NFLers in Collins and Evans out of Chronicles Draft, meaning best helmet in college football shows up front and center. And the two biggest items of the bunch come up next: twin (but not identical) autos of former RB Karan Higdon out of 2019 Contenders. The main differences between the variations are the photos and team logos used. The pair doubles my count of Higdon hits to four.

And of course the bulk of the package comprises hockey, with the Wings of Hockeytown dominating the count over the Wolverines. There was a great mix of old and new and I decided to lead off with the players I remember watching growing up along with some guys that starred for the franchise's dynasty in the late 90s/2000s (and a bit beyond). Almost all of these guys won Cups with the team aside from Racine, Sheppard (card #6), and Ysebaert (#7), and the latter are players I remember well from playing EA's super-fun NHL games in the mid-90s. It's fun to be a fan of a franchise with such a great history, and one with some decently recent success too!

Here we have mostly recent players with the exception of one-year Wing Crowder and Gallant, whose Wings career ended a bit before I was really following them. He's since carved out a solid coaching career. Hirose's cards are from UD's pretty cool Allure product, and better yet the back of the die-cut parallel tells you exactly what it's called: White Rainbow. More of this, please!

And we end tonight's post on this scan with a mix of Wings and Wolverines, but no Wolverwings this time. The erstwhile Nyquist and Tatar parallels are 2016-17 OPC Ice Blue Traxx cards, and I know that because once again Upper Deck told me exactly that on their backs. They're cool looking parallels in my book!

As for the alumni of the #1 team in the NCAA right now, we'll start with Connor's card which is a Puzzle Back from last year's UD MVP (part of an image that forms Brent Burns of the Sharks). Sharks draftee and current Sen (Doug's team!) Josh Norris makes his debut in my collection with a 2021 UD Synergy inserted called Rookie Journey Draft, which is numbered /999. Patch is much more represented in my collection due to his stardom resulting in a lot of cards made, like the insert above from 2020-21 UD called Ripple the Twine--a cool hockey term I'd somehow never heard before. And last up is a nicely designed jersey relic starring Jacob Trouba, a defenseman drafted by the Jets who now plays for the Rangers. I like how the swatch forms the blade in the hockey stick design they've got going on. I also like that it represents hit #15 of the former first-rounder in my collection.

And speaking of interesting numbers, which I don't feel like I've done much lately, it's time to celebrate yet another collecting milestone for my Michigan alumni hits collection: 2400 cards! 2401 to be exact, thanks to the three here from Doug. One of these days maybe I'll go through some older posts to try to calculate just how integral he's been in that collection, especially the 300+ from hockey alone, but even without looking I can tell you he's contributed a LOT.

So for the 42nd time on this here blog alone (not including those posted on Too Many Manninghams), I have to extend a huge thanks to Doug for the effort and generosity he put into a fantastic trade package. I look forward to seeing your reaction to the package you just received from me recently (finally!) and trying to up my game to pay you back for these latest goodies, especially that Greene autograph.

This was obviously a typically big trade package but I'll be back soon with a much smaller one courtesy of TCDB.

2021 trade package #14: Scribbled Ink

My second package that arrived last week came from buddy of the blog Paul of Scribbled Ink (more commonly on Twitter these days). He'd let me know that he found something interesting at an antique/thrift shop plus I knew of a couple cards he'd set aside for me. I can't say I was exactly expecting this, though!:

I'll have to admit, my first thought when I saw this was

Well, there were indeed some cards to be found:

Here's a five spot of 2021 Topps Tigers. My collection of those was next to nothing because it wasn't like I was gonna go out and buy any packs, plus I didn't get into the dime boxes at the last show. Miggy is continuing his decline as most expected, but he'll still be fun to watch as he chases dual milestones of 500 HR and 3000 hits. One or both of this marks will probably need him to play until next season, but with Detroit in the midst of an endless rebuild there's not much reason not to play him! He's paired up with fellow "masher" Jonathan Schoop, who hasn't lived up to that moniker as much as say, catcher Wilson Ramos, in 2021.

Jeimer's been fairly reliable, though, and may be a rare example of a good outcome of an Al Avila trade. Is that possible? I hope to see that trend continue because the Tigers need all the bats they can get right now. Flipping over to the mound quickly, I was never really the biggest fan of Buck Farmer, so I wasn't terribly disappointed when he was let go recently. Paul's guy JaCoby is a player I do hope sticks around a bit longer, though, since he's a pretty good OF (if not a future top three guy) with a streaky bat but very good defense. I included the '95 EMotion Pudge here as he's in my collection of former Tigers and didn't fit in elsewhere. That was definitely one of Fleer's cooler 90s products.

Scan #2 includes the PC guys. Griffey leads off this group, and Longball Lore is a good set to include him in since he's one of just nine players to reach the 600 HR mark. This A&G insert from 2020 mentions him tying the MLB record for consecutive games with a homer at eight in 1993 (with Dale Long and Don Mattingly the only other players to do so). Fittingly, the '20 Update Chrome card that comes next also has something to do with dingers, namely Junior's 1994 HR Derby performance, the first of three he won.

Moving on, Mr. Padre is part of Topps' 70th anniversary celebrations in its 2021 flagship product. This 70 Years of Topps insert of Gwynn is done up in the 1974 design and the back explains that the set was released in one series for the first time that year, which I didn't know. Next to him is a Verlander Paul asked if I needed, and I said yes because I wasn't aware it existed. 2014 Bowman's Hometown is a parallel that brings to mind the International and Interstate versions you could have found in the late 90s.

Switching over to the horizontal axis we start with another '95 EMotion example of another former Ranger/Tiger, Dean Palmer. I was curious about the use of "alert" up front, and the back states, "Despite 22 errors in 1994, Palmer showed good range at third." A Gold Glover he wasn't, but he could hit! Sticking with that side of the infield we see a 2020 Topps Chrome Update Pink Wave Refractor of the Iron Man. I think there's too many types of Refractors (and Prizms too!) out there, but I'm cool with both the pink and the "wave" pattern here. By the way, like his fellow Junior above, this one highlights a HR Derby, in this case Cal's 1991 performance.

And last up we have the Michigan cards, three of which even feature Michigan unis--a relative rarity when it comes to baseball compared to basketball and football! My first Criswell card came from Jeff (and Sportlots) but was a Team USA card, so I'm a bigger fan of these 2020 Prizm Draft offerings: base and Green Pulsar (I believe). Very cool to see college action on a baseball issue like this.

Next, I was in on Cronenworth well before he surprisingly turned into a quality player after being dealt to the Padres, but his star turn has resulted in many more items than he'd previously had on his checklist, not to mention increased prices. That means I really appreciate Paul thinking of me with his 2021 Donruss base, one that stars the iconic "Rated Rookie" logo.

I should probably temporarily rename this blog "Too Many 2020 Topps/Chrome Updates" until I get 'em all because they've been doing a lot of work feeding my PCs. Dick Mountain doesn't have that many cards of his yearlong stint with the Twins, but this is one of them. He sure looked good making the Yankees bats look ridiculous the other night!

Finally, spark plug OF Jordan Nwogu makes his collection debut, joining former teammate Criswell out of 2020 Prizm Draft. The former walk-on was a blast to watch out of the leadoff spot, leading the team in batting average last year and enjoying the excitement of a College World Series final appearance plus getting chosen by the Cubs in the third round. He's a guy to keep an eye on to make lots of noise in the bigs and I'm excited to track down more of his cards.

Well that was a pretty exciting bunch of cards I think, so thanks Pau--

What?

A box that large, $11 in shipping, and there were only cards inside, you say? Yeah, I guess you're right, I should see if there's anything else...

Oh yeah, here's something else:

Remember Ken Griffey Jr., Bart? He's back! In Bobblehead form! This hand painted bobblehead (it's NOT A DOLL, MOM!) is a super cool piece to add to my collection, and I really appreciate Paul finding it, thinking of me, and anteing up to send it to me.

Let's open it up and take a look:

I would guess that Griffey was the main reason I became aware of San Bernadino, located in southern California. Young George Ken was the #1 overall pick in 1987, of course, and he'd play most of his second pro season with the Spirit, Seattle's A+ team from '87-'94 (and again from 2001-06). They've changed classes, names, and affiliations a few times since, but that's where he found himself for a chunk of 1988, and that year Best would make him #1 (a full year before Upper Deck) in their Minor League set for the team:

Of course, the following year he'd begin his illustrious career just two years after being drafted, and he wouldn't look back. But Spirit fans got to see glimpses of his greatness before that, so why not celebrate one of your franchise's greatest alumni with a bobblehead? The Spirit did exactly that, and as far as I can tell this bobblehead was given out in 2001. Overall I consider it to be a very nice looking piece that's in great shape, plus it's even somewhat limited--this one is stamped "4078/5000" on the bottom. That it's complete with the packaging is icing on the cake, but I'll likely display it with my other bobbleheads freely because I like doing that. This is a very cool surprise indeed!

Paul, thanks for the cardboard and, uh, hand painted surprises that were perfectly targeted at my collections! I tip my cap to you for putting in the effort to find stuff for me, not to mention going out of your way to ship it to me. Hopefully with another couple shows on the calendar soon I'll be able to return the favor!

Speaking of trade packages another one arrived today, so I'll probably show that off soon in between a recently arrived eBay purchase and another that should ship soon. A steady stream of incoming cards is certainly keeping me busy!