2026 TCDb trade roundup: May through August smaller trades

Happy September, all! School is back in session for many or will be soon. As far as my interests the Tigers...uh...well they don't matter, but Michigan Football kicks off their season tomorrow night, and that's a big reason to celebrate.

Tonight I thought I'd finally take a quick run through a chunk of my TCDb trades from this year. I've completed 36 official transactions through the site (including a PIF or two) and most of those ran from May, around when I re-enabled trading on my profile, and the end of last month.

In this post you'll see the smaller trades, as in the ones that required just one or two scans. I'll give a bit of context where it makes sense, but otherwise I'll try to let the cards do the talking. Enjoy!

AdamD

Since you don't see him here too often, Brian Simmons is a Michigan Baseball guy, and when this member offered me that '99 Pacific Crown Royale Opening Day parallel (numbered /72), I couldn't accept quickly enough. I own 26 of his 45 listed cards and most of what I need at this point is lower-numbered or Minor League stuff. That made this deal an exciting one for me!

b14rebel

Reed is another Michigan Baseball guy who played for the Tigers. That Robinson/Oliva/Kaline was a really nice addition too!

Billsfan560

These Rookie Sweaters are a bit goofy but just as good as any "worn for a second" relic, and that's my fourth such card of transfer QB Joe Milton III.

davidandrew21

A bit of help for multiple sets here: '95 Finest, '15 Topps Cal Ripken 2632, and '16 Topps Tribute to the Kid. After all the deals I'll eventually post here, I need the following total from each set, respectively: 6, 0, and 9. Yep, I'm all set with that Ripken set, which is pretty cool!

Dmbramer

drew_engquist

Hershey

Hubbard is the guy of interest for me on the three-player basketball card as it's a RC of the Michigan Basketball product. Speaking of multiplayer cards, the Topps sticker that includes PC guy Mickey Tettleton (along with Astro Dave Smith) has another interesting guy on the back:

Sweet Lou! That's an excellent combo if I do say so myself.

immmike

JBurrow9

The Jenkins here is a True Blue parallel from '24 Rookies & Stars and is numbered /149 on the back. The Perry was supposed to be a Chrome Silver parallel from '06 Topps Draft, but this member accidentally mis-IDed what's actually the unnumbered Black version. That was fine since I needed it as well.

JerPie69

Junk_Wax_Junkie

leftyscore

I love that Call to the Hall Gwynn, another example of a '90s insert ruling, as they do. It's bookended by a couple of multiplayer '06 Topps Co-Signers numbered parallels. Dunn's paired with teammate Griffey on a Bronze numbered /150, and Maddux was a natural comparison for Prior on a Silver Bronze (confused? I am!) limited to 125 copies.

Maximus

The Delgado might look a bit out of place here and in my collection, but it closes the book on my '94 Pinnacle Series 1 set chase. Meanwhile, the McGary tri-color jersey/auto was a nice reward for a couple Cowboys autos I was glad to get rid of. It's my second signed relic of his and 9th hit overall.

MichiganFan9

It sure is nice to make at least a little progress on the Michigan TK Legacy set, even if it's a single card. Lund indeed starred on the gridiron for the Wolverines, but he decided baseball was his sport in the end, and split his career with Brooklyn and Detroit (with a short stop between the two as a St. Louis Brown).

mvs0219

pcantara (trade 1)

One of my two trades with this member included an '88 Topps Sticker featuring ex-Wolverine Dave Brown of the Packers. In case you're interested, he's joined by Larry Kinnebrew of the Bengals on the front, and the back stars HOF RB Eric Dickerson.

pcantara (trade 2)

The other deal I made with him looks even nicer in comparison. Nico looks awesome on a Blue Prizm wearing his college uni. And though I'm sad that the NFL hasn't worked out for him after an injury, I loved getting my first hit of K Jake "Money" Moody, an autograph out of '23 Absolute. Here's hoping he can work out his kicking issues and earn another job nailing PATs and FGs!

RaymondC15

rneagle2

If you couldn't tell, the player on the bottom sticker is former Wolverine Jabrill Peppers. I didn't feel like adding another scan just to fit it in because I'm lazy.

RoyalCornhusker

The numbered Horton is quite cool, but I was also happy to add my second auto of Wolverine David Ojabo after this member was willing to work with me to find something he could use. Hockey alum Stiver and the five ladies from '25 UD World of Sports are all making their debuts in this post, and it's especially cool to have some representation of less common sports involving some of my fellow Wolverines!

smitha1

There's plenty to like here but the biggest addition for me was the '98 SPx Finite Spectrum parallel of PC guy Dean Palmer numbered /2250. And if you were as much of a fan of the slugging 3B as I was, then you'll especially love the next deal...

TpocketT

This may be the most fun bunch of cards in this post. I acquired around half of what you see here in one trade for five cards (all pretty much just junk autos), and then sent him $25 for some of the nicer ones, including the Larkins and everything numbered. Speaking of the latter, Barry's '03 Topps Chrome Refractor is SN699; The Matheny '06 Chrome Red is good for just 90 copies; Dean-o has one from the same set as the Larkin plus a Gold version limited to 449. This is just a beautiful bunch of cards that hits some of my favorite baseball PCs. Refractors rule!

wireguy66

I'll cover the remaining trades in one or more future posts, though first I'm planning on getting back to more important stuff including trades, shows, an eBay purchase, and a few more Facebook Marketplace finds. Yep, I've had even more luck with the latter lately. Stay tuned for those, and until then, GO BLUE!

4/3/26 card show report: $25, no foolin'

Well this should be a pretty quick one, even if it took me too long as usual to get to.

I headed over to my usual monthly show in early April only to find that my favorite seller hadn't had much time to sort stuff into his sale boxes, meaning there wasn't much new for me to flip through. I ended up spending a year-low $25 because I'm not the type to throw down cash just for the sake of it. And it worked out well because I certainly made up for it this month. More on that in a few posts.

Anyway, that $25 was easily split between 100 dime cards and a trio for which he wanted $15. Here's a look at the loot:

The juniors Griffey and Ripken came from the dime boxes and those cards hail from last year's Topps Archives. Griffey's is from the '64 Topps portion while Cal's is done up in the style of the then-20-year-old '05 Topps set; '96's design can also be found in this product.

And then we come to the day's biggest pickups that account for the three-for-$15 portion: a trio of beautiful 90s Pacific die-cut inserts of Ivan Rodriguez! I noticed these in the guy's showcase and happily accepted the price. In order, above you can see 1999 Pacific Crown Collection's In the Cage followed by 1999 and 2000 Paramount's Fielder's Choice.

Both of these insert sets are among my favorites from the decade--one whose chase cards obviously rule--and are part of the fantastic history of the Pacific brand. The In the Cage cards simulated batting cages, though other versions also replicated foul poles in more examples of the manufacturer's ingenuity. Better yet are the glove-themed Fielder's Choice die-cuts, which are not only cut to conform to the shape of a fielder's most important equipment, but even simulate the webbing! Pudge is a natural fit in these sets as won 13 gold gloves, good for first place among catchers and three better than second-place star Johnny Bench.

The Cage card is my first from that set while the '99 glove joins Greg Maddux and the 2000 card gets added to the Ripken and Gwynn I previously snagged. I can't wait to add more of these, especially if I can find them at these outstanding prices.

We'll finish up with some basketball and football dime cards. Bufkin, LeVert, Robinson, and Wagner are all examples of some colorful inserts of hoopers I was glad to snag for 10 cents each. LeVert's Pistons are actually battling his former team, the Cavs, as I write this, and that's because they managed to overcome a big deficit against Mo's Magic.

As for football stuff, I turned up last year's Score base of former Packer/new Cowboy Rashan Gary to go with a pair of '25 base of national champion QB JJ McCarthy out of Donruss and Panini's Mosaic.

This could have been a bit of a downer of a show but I was able to turn that around with some "90s inserts rule!" goodness, plus I didn't regret having a bigger budget available this month, so once again, it was a good show.

I'm anticipating that my next three posts will be blogger trade packages, followed by the May show recap, a May trade, and my first TCDb deals of the year. I certainly have plenty to recap, even if I'm slow and lazy about doing so. I'll try to get motivated to at least show off the trades soon to thank the senders for their generosity.

2026 trade package #4: My Sports Obsession

There's not much left of this short month so I better get gettin' and start covering cards I received/bought in February!

Trade package #1 for this month was a nice little box courtesy of longtime buddy of the blog Jeff of My Sports Obsession. Jeff absolutely packed a 200-count box with some outstanding cardboard goodies:

Appropriately enough we'll start with baseball now that spring training is in full swing, and not a moment too soon. Happily, a few Tigers old and new lead things off. Baez looks great on designs from Stadium Club and Gold Label, and it's always great to see future HOFer Miggy. Big Daddy's card is another fine example of Stadium Club's top-notch designs paired up with some older photos. And Riley is indeed one of Detroit's Finest.

As for some non-Tigers, Griffey's '24 Archives card looks nice, Mr. Padre is a throwback to 1985, and it's really nice to see a newer Tommy Henry card. The pride of Portage Northern High School is still with the Diamondbacks and that Blue (what else?) Sparkle Chrome Refractor from '24 Heritage makes a nice addition to his PC.

Speaking of former UM pitchers in Refractor form, how about ex-Pirate (among 14 clubs) Rich Hill, who seems ready to call it a career? We had Mr. Padre, and now it's Mr. Tiger on an '85 Topps throwback, plus the always shiny Topps Chrome Platinum. His fellow HOFer Maddux shows up on two different Donruss Optic cards, and then it's back to Topps Chrome Platinum for another HOFer in Jack Morris. And then we have a pair of '21 Topps parallels of Paredes, the prospect Detroit foolishly traded away for about 40 worthless games from Austin Meadows.

And then what do we have here? Could it be...TOO MANY VERLANDERS! This package was very, very low on dupes, and that goes for this whole scan. Impressively, he managed to capture all four of JV's franchises here, including his stints with the Mets and Giants. It sure is awesome to have him back in Detroit!

That '98 Crown Royale of Maddux is also new to me and makes me long for the fun of the '90s when Pacific was riding high.

Jeff also threw in these Tigers cards that are Christian-themed on the back. Because that's not really my thing and Matt Boyd pops up twice, I'm choosing to thank Jeff for his generosity and then pass them on to John, who I'm sure will love them.

When it comes to college basketball, Michigan's men's team is no longer #1 but it still looks like a threat to make a deep run in March. LeVert and Wagner are examples of past stars, appropriately surrounded by blue on their cards. Meanwhile, Jeff sent me some dupes from the ONIT cards he's been getting, giving me my first cards of junior F Harrison Hochberg, plus star sophomore G Syla Swords and sophomore G/F Te'Yala Delfosse. The latter pair is a good reminder that the women's team has been cooking at times this year too, with an excellent 22-5 record, as they look to make a deeper March run themselves.

Football season may be over but that doesn't mean college collectors like Jeff and me stop thinking about it! This scan starts strong at the RB position with a couple playoff guys in Charbonnet and Corum, with the former winning a ring, though having to miss the Super Bowl. Buckeye-killer Hassan Haskins also makes an appearance. Then we have my first non-NIL-issued cards of DB Jyaire "Sugar" Hill and EDGE Derrick Moore. Hill won it all with the '23 title team in his freshman season and will be back to hopefully lead the defense. Moore was a sophomore in '23 and his TFL and sack numbers increased nicely into his senior season last year, which could lead to a decent draft ranking. Going back to the '25 Score RC of the talented Will Johnson, you all know I love that brand and its college first-years. This scan concludes with one more RB in Thomas Rawls, out of 2016 Prizm.

The basketball items weren't the only ONIT cards in this package by far, and I'm very happy that Jeff included an even larger pile of the gridiron guys than he did last time. There were a few repeats but almost everything was new, with a bunch of these guys due to be back in '26.

Thanks to Jeff I now own 19 of the 79 cards, which feels great since I haven't paid for a single one. I do hope to find more and see if I can help him with his own set chase, though.

Oh, and there's one last card for me to enjoy, the biggest one of the package. It's a callback to the now-shuttered sister blog here as I continue my quest for TOO MANY MANNINGHAMS! I don't know if Super Mario keeps signing stickers for Panini or if they're sitting on a stockpile of them, but either way I'm happy if it means more autographs like this one from 2024 Panini Prizm Deca.

The Super Bowl-winning WR is seen here on the 34th card I own with his signature, out of 102 hits overall (a distant second behind Chad Henne's 146). If you're wondering if the card actually looks that black, well, it doesn't--that's just how the reflective silver Prizm cards tend to scan. As always, this one looks better in person. And it'll look even better in my collection with the 100+ other hits of the pass-catcher who was as smooth as his middle name: Cashmere.

Jeff, thanks so much for this box of greatness (as always), and I look forward to getting you back whenever I have enough to send something you way. I also hope we get a chance to meet up at at least one show this year, but rest assured I'll be treating you to some new stuff either way.

Back "soon" with another trade recap!

1/2/26 card show report: jumping back in in January

Tonight I'm back with my first show recap of the year, which was incidentally my first card spending of 2026. The first day of January's event was Friday, the 2nd, and I took that day off of work because, why wouldn't I?

I spent a pretty solid total of $90, with most of that going to my favorite seller, and a few bucks at a different table I've been to a few times. More on that later.

First up is some trade bait. I've got tons of relics and autos available on my TCDb sale/trade list, but these were cheap enough--generally $2 or $1 or less--that I decided to add them.

Baseball:

Football:

You know the drill: claim 'em if you want 'em!

As for my keepers, they had a bit of a 90s bias to them:

The Rainbow parallel of Criswell is obviously newer, but otherwise, the gang's all here! Yes, it's the quartet of Griffey, Gwynn, Maddux, and Ripken, though Maddux's cards are a tad newer. With the "90s inserts rule" tag in full effect once again, we'll begin with Griffey's inserts. The first is from 1997 Pinnacle XPress and is called "Far and Away." The other is one of my all-time favorites from back when Topps actually tried, and it's called "Clout Nine." That's a hell of a squad right there.

The lone Gwynn is actually a promo for one of Fleer's typically excellent Ultra inserts: an acetate 1996 chase card called "Season Crowns." Yes, this one looks even better in-person.

Mad Dog gets a new pair of parallels from last year's Donruss product, the first of which is one of a ton of Optic versions.

Lastly, there's three new Ripkens. The first is actually one of two cards you'll see that came from a purchase from the other seller I mentioned. I previously noted buying from them when I went for a second trip to the November show with Angus and found some cool stuff in their $1 or 6/$5 bin stuffed with miscellany. One of the things I found this time was a small package of 1991 Stadium Club Members Only cards, which I broke up to keep the pair I wanted then trade the rest.

The two beautiful inserts you see here are from a single-card 1996 Pinnacle offering called "Cal Ripken Jr. Tribute," a shiny and relatively tough 1:150 pack pull, plus 1998 Ultra's "Notables." I love anything that highlights Ripken's streak and that Pinnacle issue is flat out beautiful.

The final Ripken is an Elite Series insert from the previously mentioned '25 Donruss product. You can tell it's not from the heyday of inserts because it's got a plain white border along with the lack of logos. No, it doesn't hold a candle to the insert that originally claimed the name, but nothing is these days, and it's still a new Cal I needed, so I'll take it.

The Fielder/Canseco was my other keeper from the '91 Stadium Club Members Only cards, and it serves to note that those two led the AL in homers that season, tied with 44. That came a year after Big Daddy put up 51 bombs to get Motown rocking.

The final baseball single here is a 2005 Topps Total RC of once-again relevant guy Justin Verlander. HEY, THAT'S THE GUY WHAT I COLLECT! Of course, I grabbed this first-year of the future HOFer before the Tigers boosted their rotation by having him come home. Sanchez, the pitcher he shares the card with, was one of three players flipped to the Yanks for Gary Sheffield in November of 2006, by the way.

The final single period is a lone football card: a Donruss Optic parallel of Jake "Money" Moody that's the right color for a former Wolverine. His NFL performance has unfortunately been anything but "money," which is the way it can go for specialists, unfortunately. I hope he lands on his feet (unintentional kicker pun?) next season.

Finally, I have two more items from the oddball stuff found at that second table:

Back at that November show I grabbed the first box (#s 1-12) of these 1990 Collect-a-Books, and I was excited to find the next dozen in the exact same place! Gwynn is my lone PC guy from this one but the player selection is excellent, even if the QA isn't (former Giants slugger Kevin Mitchell is missing an "L" in his last name). Will I find the last box to round out the trio? Stay tuned (spoiler alert: no luck in February so the search continues).

The last item tonight is the oddest of all: a 1982 McDonald's placemat starring four Tigers from that era: John Wockenfuss, Rick Leach, Chet Lemon, and Alan Trammell. This thing is relatively large--about 17"x11"--when it comes to the type of items I tend to store, but for less than a buck I couldn't pass it up. Who knows, maybe I'll even eventually find the other three!

Obviously February continues to fly by so this month's show has already come and gone. I'll recap that somewhat soon (maybe) but first need to thank a couple very cool bloggers for trade cards they sent me this month. I also have a couple TCDb PIFs in hand and my first eBay pickup of the year on the way.

Until then, I hope everyone's had as nice of a start to collecting in 2026 as I have!