5-2-26 card show report: now THAT's more like it!

I've got July's monthly show coming up tomorrow so it's about time I covered the one from May!

I haven't had much interest in blogging lately, partly thanks to coming back from June show #2--a fantastic meetup with friends, more to come on that--with a ton of cards but also a cold. Also, I got a Switch 2 and Donkey Kong Bananza is amazing. Oh, and I picked up a pair of fun Facebook lots last weekend that have kept me busy.

But I need to cover these at some point, and with the calendar flipping to July, I think now's the time.

So I headed back to Taylor on Saturday, May 2 (instead of my usual Friday), coming off an April where I dropped just $25. However, this time I really made up for it! I spent a whopping $140 at my favorite seller's tables, scoring a lot of nicer mid- and high-end stuff for myself and friends, in addition to paying $30 for an item that will be going out in a trade package. That adds up to my biggest show spending this year, and it was at that point the only time I eclipsed $100 (until Kalamazoo a couple weekends ago).

You'll have to stay tuned to some other blogs to see some of the items I grabbed for others, but here are my keepers for this show:

Baseball. The single non-hit was a '95 Ultra All-Star Gold Medallion of Ripken. I like that Fleer paralleled some of their inserts back then (with a single parallel, Fanatics and Panini!), and this was an easy add. The Pudge relics were fun additions to my collection of the HOF catcher, hailing from an Upper Deck Legends product I bought a decent amount of, plus Donruss's 2005 Leather & Lumber product. I'm pretty sure that the relic combo you see above is a bat plus batting glove. That's a reasonable guess based on the feel of the material, but for whatever reason, Donruss didn't differentiate the serial numbering for the batting glove and fielding glove plus bat combos--they're both SN25. Either way, cool card! While I was at it I grabbed a Tork Heritage bat relic for what I think came out to $4 (one of five cards I got for $20). It's probably a bit of an overpay for a guy who may not be long for the team, but why not?

I found some fun, cheap basketball color in the cheaper boxes, not that I can recall the prices here (likelier 5/$1 than dimes). There's just so many parallels of cards these days that it's pretty likely I need these when I find them, and at worst I can put them up for trade.

Football also got to join in the rainbow fun a few weeks before pride month. Some of these look especially nice, including Nico's and Gary's color match-ish parallels, plus Schoonmaker with a college photo.

A couple more cheapies open the last football scan. Former Cowboy Mazi's blue looks great there, and I was happy to snag another RC of national champ WR1 Roman Wilson.

When it came to the hits, I was quite pleased too. Corum's Contenders relic is somewhat plain, but it's a nice blue Rams swatch, and I think I paid $2 or less for it to make it Blake relic #3. I was especially excited to find a new Henne hit since it's been a while. Donruss' 2008 Gridiron Gear product produced endless variations of relics and autos for the players featured, and I lucked out with what I think I've correctly IDed as a Next Generation Jerseys Combos Prime card, numbered /50. Chad still holds a dominant football collection lead with his new total of 147, 59 of which are relics like this one.

And then there's my most unorthodox card of the day: Ty Wheatley's appearance in 2001 Fleer Hot Prospects' TD Fever insert. The tiny relic included is a piece of goal post cover. It's a bit weird, but it counts! Ty was no stranger to the end zone, going for 40 rush scores and six more through the air in college, plus a nearly identical 40 and 7 with the Giants and Raiders. This was a fun pickup to mark his seventh overall hit, four of which are now relics.

I now have two more shows to cover from last month in addition to July's that I'll be attending tomorrow, but first I'm planning on recapping two trade packages I received in June, one of which was delivered to me at that second show. Stay tuned!

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.

2025 trade package #21: Sport Card Collectors

Tonight I'm covering my lone October trade envelope which I think arrived about a week before a super busy month for my mailbox. This one's a fun collaboration as Dion (Dion's IP Autos Only) sent it to me on behalf of buddy of the blog Matt of Sport Card Collectors. Matt sends me PWEs throughout the year pretty regularly and this was a fun way to get one as he traded Dion for some Michigan cards I could use. (He also sent me an early Christmas package but you'll have to wait a few days until I catch up to November!)

Please enjoy this 100% Michigan-themed trade recap!

Larkin represents baseball tonight, and he's a pretty good option given he's probably the most notable Michigan alum in MLB of the past 50ish years, though that's nothing against guys like Jake Cronenworth, Rich Hill, JJ Putz, and many others. The HOF SS looks great in his School Colors.

Michigan Basketball is certainly having a season to remember (along with the hockey team, though they're not represented here tonight), firing on all cylinders with an 8-0 start that includes four games in which they scored 100 or more. These two guys have long since left Ann Arbor but Bufkin and the younger Wagner bro, as seen on Wild Card Alumination cards, both put up good enough numbers over two seasons each to get drafted in the first round. Wagner's turned into a star for Orlando and that's been fun to see, especially as my collection of his cards continues to grow.

Football ended up comprising 75% of this envelope and that's 100% fine with me! First we have former Bills (and three other teams) QB Todd Collins appears on items from 1995 Classic and Superior Pix. They get me a couple cards closer to the century mark with a current total of 92, and of course I'm digging the college action photos.

I'll talk more about the other football guy in this scan since

he appears four more times in this one! Before Blake Corum's Michigan career Mike Hart was my all-time favorite Wolverines RB, and I think that may still be the case, but they're very close. That's why I was super excited to see the last card of the first scan, a 2008 Topps Rookie Progression Gold parallel that's numbered /199 on the back. I have 140 cards of Hart but it feels like it's rare for me to get anything this nice of him anymore. That makes this insert my favorite in the package.

But that's no slight against the rest. 2008 UD Draft Edition's set included a number of multiplayer cards, some of teammates and others of guys who shared positions. The one of Hart with #1 overall pick LT Jake Long, who blocked on many of Mike's TDs, is especially cool, and the other pairs him with fellow back Darren McFadden, the first-rounder out of Arkansas who played 10 seasons with Oakland and Dallas.

The other two Hart cards also describe him very well. 2009 Topps Magic is a fantastic set, and it was magic how often Hart ran without losing yards or fumbling, and how often he'd pick up key blocks while stoning players much bigger than him. And if he was "Mini" sized, well, he made up for it in strength, toughness, and determination. That makes him a great choice to be the most prominent player in this envelope.

Last up is another very tough Michigan RB from the 2000s. Chris Perry was a Heisman finalist in 2003 as he had a crazy 338 rushing attempts for almost 1700 yards, plus 18 runs for scores (in addition to a pair of TD catches). He embodied persistence with a school record of 51 carries for over 200 yards against rival Michigan State that year, leading the Wolverines to a tough 27-20 win in East Lansing.

I love that the maize & blue really pop on the two 2004 Press Pass cards Matt got from Dion for me: a base card and Showbound insert.

Thank you again to Matt for getting these for me and Dion for making the effort to send them my way. I may just have Christmas items in store for both of you! As I mentioned I'll show off the next package from Matt soon, but first I need to do a quick recap of October's show. That package will then lead off at least six November trades from current/former bloggers, and I'm looking forward to thanking each person for what they sent me.

8/1/25 card show report: August additions

Well, 2025's edition of The Game didn't go Michigan's way, but that streak was bound to end at some point. Now I'll root for Indiana next weekend and then await the Wolverines' bowl fate.

With my Saturdays much more open for the next few weeks maybe I'll even try to get more caught up on posts! In an effort to get that going, here's what I think should be the final one for August: a quick recap of that month's show.

I don't remember exactly how I ended up spending an odd number like this, but my total cost was $89, and that included the usual stuff plus some '90s gems from an unpriced box my favorite seller let me look through. I was very pleased with what he was asking for the '90s inserts considering what some of them can go for these days, so that felt nice along with landing some other fun PC adds.

Here are my keepers from this one:

A pair of Cronenworth Refractors is definitely a nice way to start! Griffey's cards represent our first of three instances of "90s inserts rule" here. #1 is the super shiny '97 Ultra Power Plus (from Series II, since you can find him in both), featuring an outstanding batting photo plus super reflective foil to go with the power/electricity motif. Speaking of shiny, that card's joined by a 2000 (close enough to the 90s for the tag!) Topps Gold Label The Treasury insert that also brings along a rainbow finish and gold accents.

An AJax 2011 Topps Heritage Chrome (numbered /1962 on the back to honor that year's set design) is a quick intermission before we head back to my favorite cardboard decade. And that card would be the other Jr., Ripken, from 1999 Ultra's Thunderclap. Similar to Griffey's card, this has a lightning theme going for it, and several aspects of the card are raised and/or done in glittery foil for a fun design that does its decade justice.

The second-to-last baseball item features--you guessed it--more holofoil! Pudge stars on a 1999 Upper Deck insert called Forté from back when UD was teaching me new words like "echelon." The blue foil looks great as does the action shot of one of the game's greatest ever catchers.

And last up for baseball is my newest Brandon Inge hit: a jersey/auto out of 2001 SPx. That's my fifth hit of the versatile former Tiger, who's opening up a baseball performance center in nearby Brighton, and it's my third that includes his signature.

In terms of basketball I scored a couple cheapies in a THJ Prizm and Topps Chrome base of Fab Fiver Jalen Rose, then added a very affordable jersey relic of Kobe Bufkin from '23-'24 Contenders to mark his third appearance in the hits collection.

And as for football, all four of these guys beat the Buckeyes at least once in their time in Ann Arbor. One of the best to do it, RB Blake Corum (who never lost to OSU in three tries), goes first with RCs from '24 Finest (bleh, airbrushing) and Panini Phoenix as well as a '24 Donruss Optic relic with a design that looks like it was ripped straight from a 2000s pop can. That's ok, it was cheap, the swatch is nice, and it's just my second hit of "The Great."

Edwards, Blake's fellow RB with a fun nickname "The Don," who went 4-0 against the mouth-breathers down south, is next thanks to 2024 Bowman University Chrome. The scan makes it look a bit bluer than it actually is since it's a Purple Mini Diamond Refractor (/375), but the great maize & blue photo is all I need. Speaking of "maize," Mazi (pronounced "MAH-zi," sadly) is next with a maize-ish Gold Ice Prizm from '23 Prizm Draft, which also offers a cool college action photo of the former Cowboy. He was 2-1 against OSU if you care, though he barely played for the '19 team that was the last one to lose to the Buckeyes.

Last up is '97 Heisman Trophy and national title winner Charles Woodson, who enjoyed big rivalry wins in all three of his college seasons, with none bigger than 1997. He's seen here on a 2005 Donruss Classics Stadium Stars Goal Line Bronze insert that's numbered /750 on the back. It's one of nearly 400 cards I have of the GOAT DB, and it takes me back to one of my favorite eras for football inserts.

Once I get these put away I'll get to work on September's posts, which shouldn't take took long as I think they should comprise one trade and a show. In the meantime, with Michigan Football out of action for a while, good luck to the dominating hockey and basketball teams--GO BLUE!

2025 trade package #11: the Collector

The All-Star break has come and gone since I last posted so it's about time I got another one up. Today you're getting a quick recap of a couple PWEs sent to me by Chris, The Collector, back in May.

This was the second time he'd sent some cards my way this year and he's since done it once more. It sure is great to have him back and I continue to try to send supportive and healing thoughts to his family.

Here's what he sent this time, wrapped up in and protected by a printed out copy of this Defector article ("Never put poison in your mouth."):

These worked out nicely as they could be split into three sports each with eight cards. The baseball section was naturally all about the Tigers, who ended a season-long six-game losing streak last night and look to regain the momentum of their excellent start. The three guys right down the middle, all on '25 Topps parallels, oddly enough, are part of that outstanding squad, with Mize the best of the trio. The inserts you see are, from top to bottom, Rainbow Foil, Spring Training, and Diamante Foil.

There's also a nice pair of (a.k.a. too many!) Verlanders, one of which calls into question my scanning abilities. It looks like I'm just a couple away from 700. I wonder how long it'll take to get to 1K?

When it comes to basketball, Chris sent me quite the poker hand: four pairs. Bufkin, Poole, Robinson, and the younger Wagner bro Franz all had me seeing double. Poole is nearing the 50-card mark while Franz recently crossed it, building up a collection that continues to surprise me. I don't hate seeing the Hoops Winter cards right now while we're in my favorite season but I would probably be glaring at them if it was January.

Lastly, on the gridiron I was treated to another two pairs, but first we'll check out the other players represented. The Don races into the first spot with a cool Bowman Chrome U college action card. Defensive beast Rashan Gary and former UM coach Jim Harbaugh get paired up thanks to last year's Prizm. And like Edwards, upcoming second-year Bengal Kris Jenkins appears in the Maize & Blue on his '24 Score RC.

 As for the pairs, it's all about the defense. First is the versatile Jabrill Peppers, who had a trying year in '24 on an awful Pats team while also dealing with some pretty nasty charges, though he's since been acquitted of those. Hopefully he can stay out of trouble. In fact, he should try to be more like Charles Woodson and keep his nose clean off the field while being amazing on it. He should also put in more effort than Panini did, using identical photos cropped slightly differently on cards from 2021 and '24.

That concludes a recap of the only blogger trade cards I received in May, but don't worry, I've still got lots to show y'all.

Many thanks to Chris as always for thinking of me and putting together a couple very nice envelopes! Chris, I hope you continue to find some time and energy to collect and blog because you should be aware that many of us appreciate you.

I'll be back soon once I figure out what to show off next. Until then, go Tigers, and welcome back to MLB, Rich Hill! 

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 #8: Cards on Cards

We've now made it to the March portion of my year of collecting, and trade-wise that month's first package came from Kerry of Cards on Cards. My college/pro collector buddy on the other side of the country sent me a very nice envelope stuffed with cards representing the three most popular American sports:

The baseball stuff all fit into one scan. Madden is potentially the future of the Tigers' rotation, just like JV was in the past. Maddux and Ripken form half of my big four thanks to Panini brands, while Griffey and Gwynn join them courtesy of a much older Panini sticker set (1991). Star left side infielders Sabo and Tram also came along for the ride in diminutive and sticky form. And speaking of past Tigers, there's a cool BInge from 2000 Bowman's Retro/Future parallel that threw it back to '55 Bowman.

Basketball ended up being the top dog sport this time, which as always was fine since pretty much everything was new to my relatively small collection! Bufkin was one of a few players who got a nice little bump to their PCs, and his bunch includes a few sets that pop up several times here, including a Donruss Winter parallel, Hoops, and Hoops' separate Winter release (which I'm writing about as we happily get closer to summer). THJ, Howard, and LeVert all appeared on just one card this time, but that's cool since they're all pretty well represented in my basketball collection as it is.

Poole stars on a fun trio--a number apropos of a guy who hit a big trey in the NCAA tourney years ago--including a very patriotic Prizm parallel that goes well with the upcoming holiday. Duncan Robinson, another three-point ace, gets a quartet added to his collection highlighted by the start of a Hoops/Winter rainbow. And then we get a look at Orlando's Wagner Bros., Franz and

Mo! This post made me check my count for both of them and currently Franz leads Moritz 53-22, which is a good indicator of which one is more highly regarded in the league.

Last up is one scan of football, all of which comprises guys from the past 10 years of the program. Colson, Corum, and McCarthy are all RCs from the latest edition of Panini's Absolute brand, specifically the non-SN retail set (I do chase those along with the hobby versions). Those guys are joined by fellow national champions Donovan Edwards (UDFA this year), Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh, and a RC of WR Roman Wilson. A couple recent high-end defenders close out the group in Aidan Hutchinson (on another Michigan uni card!) and Kwity Paye, as seen on a Prestige Xtra Points parallel.

Kerry, thanks as always for taking the time to identify and send me cards of the pro and college players I collect! I continue to appreciate the effort you put into your trade packages and the quality of what you send, so I'm grateful for another envelope of goodness.

I'll be back soonish with the other package I received in March before showing off cards from other sources.

2024 trade package #24: Cards on Cards

Continuing with my marathon posting of trade packages this evening, here's #1 from earlier this month: a basketball-heavy mailer thanks to Kerry from Cards on Cards. Maybe this is something he can read as he nervously awaits his Oregon team's Wednesday Rose Bowl matchup with the hated Buckeyes. My suggestion: the Ducks wear crazy-ass jerseys all the time anyway so why not make an Oregon version of the iconic winged helmet and wait for Ryan Day to poop his pants like he usually does? Oh, and I happen to know that he has another envelope from me that may include one or more Ducks whenever he gets a chance to open it.

Anyway, here's what Kerry sent me earlier this month:

Most of the baseball fit in this one scan. Like his cards above, Baddoo may be feeling Blue after being DFAed so new pitcher Alex Cobb could join the roster. Greene, whose roster spot is secure, looks groovy on the Big League card, and he also offers my first look at this year's Stadium Club Chrome insert (not to be confused with the separate base issue). I wonder if Jung will get a chance to stick with the club now that Gleyber Torres has been signed and other moves may be in the works. Donruss' recent products are geared toward folks like me who love collecting classics like Sisler. Skubal, who's going to be very, very rich within a couple years, was an All-Star this year, as the above Topps insert reminded me. Verlander comprises the rest of the baseball content, and the shiny version of his Attax card makes the all-too-common regular versions seem even uglier than they are, if that's even possible.

Topps' flagship design has always been hit or miss with me, mostly the latter, but Stadium Club is rock solid when it comes to looks. I love the horizontal Verlander photo of him finishing his pitching motion, and the Sepia parallel looks quite nice as well.

Most (but not all!) of the rest of the content is basketball, and Hoops-related products are well represented. That works for me since I needed practically everything here! As with football, Panini released a Halloween-themed product called Haunted Hoops, and Bufkin and the younger Howard are two of the former Wolverines you can find in it. Burke is "just" a regular Hoops RC (nice!) and former UM coach Howard gets just his second card from the past decade to join my collection thanks to 2023-24 Topps Chrome, with Topps having to do the logoless thing like Panini does with baseball.

LeVert, Poole, Robinson, and both Wagner brothers also get the Haunted Hoops treatment here. Every card you've seen has been a base except for the two Orange parallels--Bufkin above and Poole here. Poole also gets a new Panini Flux for his PC, Robinson joins Bufkin above from the apparently-difficult-to-scan Hoops Premium Stock product, and Franz adds appearances from Panini Illusions and the most recent Topps Chrome.

Remember a bunch of the guys we just saw? Well they're back--in sticker form! These are all 2023-24 Panini Stickers, and four of them are standard versions while Poole gets a cool holofoil entry and Franz appears in the Global Icons subset representing his native Germany. I hope both Wagner brothers heal up in time to run it back next season!

Lastly, I can always count on a fellow college collector like Kerry to send some Wolverines my way. Better yet, half of these are college uni photos! Hutchinson's season ended too soon earlier this year but with the injury luck the Lions have had in 2024 there's no doubt he wouldn't have made it through the season anyway. That doesn't dampen my enthusiasm for collecting him, and I continue to root for his team to keep winning to make my friends who are Lions fans happy.

His former teammate J.J. McCarthy suffered his own injury before even making it through the preseason, and I hope he returns to health next year as well. For now I'll keep collecting him, especially Michigan cards like the above pair of Score inserts which remind me of happier memories earlier this year when JJ led Michigan to a national championship.

And lastly, I guess the theme of this section is injured recent Wolverines because Wilson also dealt with similar issues in the preseason and has barely played so far in 2024. His pro debut may be done prematurely but boy did he come up big time and time again for last year's title-winners catching 12 TDs including the one that tied the Rose Bowl against Alabama with under 2:00 to go in the eventual OT win for the Maize & Blue. While I tend to favor Score's RC design, Prestige does sometimes have its moments, and I've always appreciated them using college shots as well.

Kerry, thanks again for this envelope stuffed with Tigers and Wolverines! I'll continue my full-throated support for your team especially as a matchup looms with a team with possibly the most toxic fans in the nation. GOOD LUCK, DUCKS!

Well that's three posts I've done today and that leaves three for New Year's Eve, giving me something to do as I watch Michigan's noon bowl game against Alabama (again). Most of the impact players will be gone due to the draft or transferring, and it was already looking like a mismatch before taking that into account, so I won't be expecting a win, but regardless I'll be thankful for one last 2024 Michigan Football game after the calendar year began on the best note possible. LET'S GO BLUE!

2/2/24 card show report: fabulous February

Yesterday I went to my second show in just over a week and John (with whom I got to hang along with Jeff, Kevin, and Jason--more on that in a future post) made fun of me for being as behind as I am on posting so here I am! Tonight I'm covering my monthly show haul from Taylor back in early February.

My spending tracking sheet says I spent a year-high $130 while I was there, split up between my favorite seller plus the vintage guy that often sits behind him. That was too long ago to remember how that breaks down but I know I added some nice trade bait pieces to packages that have and will be sent out.

As for my own haul, it looked like this:

I believe the Griffeys were a buck each, and who doesn't love Starting Lineup cards, with or without the figures? A lot of the other stuff you'll see here likely came from dime or quarter boxes (or maybe $0.50-ers, I can't remember!) and I was quite happy with the mix.

The Griffey and Maddux in this scan plus the Verlander all came from my usual guy, and I believe JV's jersey cost me somewhere in the neighborhood of $5 or $10. By my count that's 32 hits of Mr. Kate Upton, and it was nice to get something of him in a Tigers jersey again.

The others came from the vintage guy and if I had to guess I spent $40 on his $3 box where you can get eight cards for $20? Got some for me and for others. Lolich's '75 Mini is appropriate given this year's Heritage/Mini set while the others were fun oddballs of Tigers greats. The Fidrych and Horton food issues are cool but man do those stamps look sharp. And I was excited to add a cool piece in the Kaline scratch-off card, which I did not scratch off, but did scan in full here:

I grabbed a few trade bait items from him as well.

Next up is some slightly rare basketball content in the form of a couple relics that I think were $2-$5. Bufkin, thanks to one of Panini's sweater cards, joins the collection along with former Piston Livers. An aptly named hooper, Bufkin was a two-and-done in Ann Arbor, going to the Hawks at #15 overall in last year's draft. I'm sure I'll find something more interesting like an autograph to add to his collection but since these sweater cards are still cooler than any "event-worn" plain white swatches, I'll take it!

I ended up with about one and a half scans worth of cheapo Wolverines out of the dime, et al, boxes, and got a nice mix of players and color.

See? There's a few more to enjoy here including two new items for the GOAT Woodson's collection, and I keep growing Hutch's as well, which has been a nice trend.

Lastly, though I have to spoil that this theme has since been broken, I came home with three more Funchess hits from that show, where I often seemed to attract them like a very grateful magnet. In this case they're all jersey relics but at least there's a mix of color, size, and designs, and all three are numbered. The trio puts him over the 30-card mark to 31, making him the 16th player in my football collection to hit that milestone.

So that's another show recap in the books. I believe my next post will be one that recaps another great Facebook Marketplace experience that I'm still benefitting from months later. And yeah, I'll eventually catch up to my two shows from this month, including the meetup I mentioned from yesterday.