2016 trade package #12: USPS can go to Hoyle

My final envelope from April arrived from one of the more prolific non-blogging traders out there:  Mark Hoyle.  If you've ever been lucky enough to get cards from Mark you know that he's a generous source of vintage and oddballs, among other things.  I got a good idea of that the last time I showed off cards from him on this here blog back in January of last year.

Mr. Hoyle followed that up last month with a fun PWE that mostly featured Tigers.  But first, let's have a look at another example of USPS's reliable, gentle treatment of the things we pay them to transport for us:

All I have to say to that is

That being said, Mark packaged the cards up well enough that everything arrived in what was probably the same condition they were in when he sent them.

Here's what was inside:

A nine-spot of Tigers!  The first seven cards represent guys I keep sorted by player in my Detroit box, and they comprise a very nice group of past Tigers, including '84 Series winners (Sparky, Gibby, and Morris), the previous team leader in saves (Henneman), a slugger that was one of the brighter spots in the 90s (Palmer), a future HOFer that brought Detroit back to respectability (Pudge), and a pitcher that won 240 career games (Tanana).  I seem to have an irrational affinity for Palmer cards given that he wasn't with Detroit for long.

More Tigers!  Specifically PC guys.  Don't ask me why I didn't throw Gibby in with this group, I just forgot or something.  The '87 Fleer and '91 Leaf Trammells were new to me as was JV's 2016 Heritage base card.

Oddball Tigers!  Moseby's card is from 1990 Topps Big, and that's nicely juxtaposed with a 1962 Topps stamp of outfielder Bill Bruton, a Milwaukee Brave that spent the last four years of his career with Detroit in the early 60s.  Besides the difference in size these two items show the crazy range of stuff Mark digs up to send out.

Last up from the baseball side of things is this Harry Heilman photo from an old magazine called the Sports Hobbyist.  I know that thanks to Mark introducing these to me when he sent a Charlie Gehringer from the same set last time and then explained a bit about them in the comments of that post.  A great photo of a Tigers great!

And finally, moving on to the Detroit hockey club, here's a 1974-75 Topps leaders card featuring former Wings player and current TV guy Mickey Redmond.  Mick had some nice years in Detroit over the latter half of his career in the 70s, putting up 50-plus goals two years in a row, including the '73-'74 season this card covers.  An excellent 21 of his 51 scores that season came on the power play, easily leading both divisions; #2 was Rod Gilbert of the Rangers with 16.  I don't have a whole ton of Red Wings vintage, so this is definitely a fun add for me!

Mark, thanks for the unexpected and much appreciated PWE of goodness!  I might just have some interesting stuff of your guys to send out before long as a thank you.

2015 trade package #3: Mark Hoyle is an oddball

I've traded back-and-forth with Mark Hoyle a few times now, and while I think many of us know him as a guy who's very generous in sending vintage stuff in trade packages, that's not entirely what he's all about as this post (and others I've seen this month) will prove.  This time Mark sent me one of the oddballiest packages I've ever received, and it was great!  See for yourself:

First up is all six Tigers cards from Donruss' 1986 All-Star oversized card set.  It highlights players who made the team in 1985, the year after the Tigers won the Series, so it's no surprise that six guys made it:

Sparky was the manager by virtue of representing the AL in the previous year's Series; Hernandez won the league's Cy Young and MVP awards and closed out two of the Series' games; Morris went 19-11, famously threw a no-hitter, and won both of his World Series starts; Petry went 18-11 and placed fifth in Cy Young voting, helping Detroit to its blazing start, and earning his lone All-Star nod.

Trammell had an excellent all-around season, then won WS MVP honors by hitting .450 with 2 HR and 6 RBI in the Fall Classic;  Whitaker won a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger award then went on to score 6 runs for the champs.

Herndon, meanwhile, is from Donruss' earlier 1983 Action All-Stars.  He wasn't actually an MLB All-Star at any point in his career, but did do well for Detroit in the '84 Series.

Finally, the tall Whitaker comes from another Donruss product, this one from 1985 called All-Star Standups.  I'm too much of a nerd to pop it up and display it--it wouldn't be in MINT CONDITION.

There was one last group of oddball things:

The Cochrane and Gehringer come from something called the Sport Hobbyist, and I really don't know much about them, so maybe someone in the know can clue me in.  The Gehringer photo is great with its sepia tone.  The Gibson, meanwhile, proved to be the oddest ball of them all:  it's a tag from a Gibson-model baseball glove produced by Wilson.  How cool is that?

Oh yeah, there was a small group of "regular" cards too:

The Kalines hail from UD's well-known 2008 Heroes set, and Bautista, probably better known for his time with the D-Backs, is a Gold Medallion from '95 Ultra (anybody else miss those?).  Finally, getting back on the oddball bandwagon, albeit at a normal size, is Dwayne Murphy from the 1989 Ames 20/20 Club set made by Topps.  Murphy is a bit of an obscure Tiger since he appeared in just 49 games in Detroit in his penultimate season, 1988, and he actually achieved the 20/20 mark with Oakland in 1982 (27/26).

Thanks again, Mark--you never cease to amaze me with what you send, so rest assured I'm looking forward to whatever you've got planned for next time.  In the meantime it's my turn, so I'll put together some more modern Red Sox for you!

2014 trade package #29: Rats! Hoyled again!

I'm betting enough of you have received cards from reader Mark Hoyle that you mainly associate one word with the guy:  vintage.  For the third time so far (June, August), Mr. Hoyle lived up to that reputation with another quality PWE:

Mark started things off with a pair of 73s; the Hendrick card kicked off the package because he realized blog favorite Bill Freehan also featured on the play at the plate card.

In the deciding game 5 of the 1972 ALCS, Reggie Jackson led off the top of the second with a walk and eventually knotted up the score (Freehan had grounded in a run earlier) by stealing home.  Hendrick replaced him in center in the second, reached on an error in the 4th and came around to score on a Gene Tenace single for the winning run, slipping past Bill's tag.  Oakland went on to beat the Reds in 7 games.

Coleman is a nice addition too as he joins some of the other 73s Mark sent me a few months ago.  If I wasn't getting them from him I might not be getting them at all!

Mark also found a few other things to throw in to make it worth the postage:  a pair of '90 Classics (Tony Phillips!), an '89 Fleer Tanana, last year's Gypsy Queen base of clubhouse leader Torii Hunter, and a 2014 Topps sticker of Jose Iglesias, a guy the team surely missed this year.

Thanks again for a great PWE, Mark!  I promise to get a nice response chock full of recent Red Sox headed your way soon!

2014 trade package #20: Reader Mark H. throws me some more throwbacks

First of all, welcome to this here blog's 600th post which, as always, would be more impressive if it hadn't been in existence as long as it has.  But at least I'm still going!

To celebrate (as if I wasn't gonna post this anyway), here's my second trade package from reader Mark Hoyle, one of the guys that participated in my recent giveaway/contest.  Back in June he shot me over a very cool PWE stuffed with vintage Tigers, and he recently followed that up with even more, quickly cementing him as one of my top sources of Detroit cards of yesteryear.  Here's what I got this time:

Last time Mark sent me one '71, but he doubled that effort today with the well-known Horton along with Cesar Gutierrez, a SS who played in a bit more than 200 games over five seasons with the Giants and Tigers.  As usual, the design looks great.

Next Mark tacked on another pair to the huge number of '72s he sent in June.  One is a multiplayer RC (w00t!) including Jim Foor, Tim Hosley, and Paul Jata.  Foor was a first-rounder in '67 that barely appeared over three MLB seasons.  Hosley played in parts of nine seasons, mostly with Oakland.  Jata appeared in 32 games in '72 and that was it.  I'll have to add those to the rest and see where I'm at in regards to the team set.

And now onto the '74s, which dominated the package this time.  Sharon was a Pirates '68 first-rounder that came over in a deal for the previously-mentioned Foor.  Brinkman, (who appeared in the last post for the '73 set) came to Detroit in a deal that sent former star Denny McLain and Wolverine Elliott Maddox to the Senators.  Speaking of the Sens (and that same deal), Coleman, a pitcher, was their #1 (3rd overall) in '65, and Mark also included him with the '73s last time.  I showed off the Cash in my last card show report, but it's great to land another of the well-known Detroit slugger.  Finally, LaGrow was featured on two cards Mark previously sent.

The top row here includes the last three '74s from the main set, including Mickey Stanley, the OF who famously moved to SS for the '68 World Series, a tactic that aided the Tigers in their ultimate victory.  Next to him is Woodie Fryman, an 18-year veteran who both started and relieved during his long career.  Lastly is another multiplayer RC, this one of the multi-team variety.  John Gamble, owner of 3 PA, 0 H and 1 R over 13 games in his two seasons with Detroit, is the lone Tiger, but Chalk was a two-time All-Star, Mackanin lasted for nine seasons, and Trillo was a four-time All-Star with seven teams over his 17-year tour (and is obviously the best player on the card).

The remaining trio comprises cards from the '74 Traded set.  Sutherland was a Montreal expansion pick in '68 and was with Detroit for about two-and-a-half years out of his 13 seasons.  Ray came over in the same deal, but the 28 games he played with Detroit in '74 proved to be his final ones.  Luke "Sky" Walker (just kidding, obviously, since Star Wars hadn't come out yet) also closed out his career in Detroit with 28 games after the team purchased him from the Pirates, for whom he pitched in his previous eight seasons.

Thanks for another great PWE, Mark!  I'm loving all the help you've given me towards the Tigers team sets from the early 70s, of which I have pretty much nothing.  Readers, if you haven't traded with Mark yet, keep an eye on your comments sections and know that he comes TMV-approved!