7/5/24 card show report: Bought on the 5th of July

I was able to convince myself to spend a bit putting together a post this evening because I knew there wasn't a ton I had to show off. Tonight you get to see my pickups from July's monthly card show.

This was the usual one in Taylor and I headed over the day after the Fourth to celebrate my freedom the American way: buying stuff! My spending sheet says I threw down $70 at this show and that's as detailed as I'm going to be able to be here, but that's ok: I have a few scans for y'all to enjoy:

We'll start as usual with the trade bait portion. I'm pretty sure the Sowers jersey was a buck because I tend to ignore relics like that most of the time. Sabathia is a 2020 Topps Tribute Green triple jersey and numbered /99, and I'd bet that came out of the $5 (or 5/$20) box. If you're surprised to see a Raptors jersey up for grabs, know that it's because I accidentally bought two, but did make sure to send one across the border. As for the football items, the Shaq Evans auto (2014 Rookies & Stars) and Cadillac Williams jersey (2010 Elite, #d /299) were likely also in the $1-$2 range.

Please claim 'em if you want 'em! I might be a bit pickier in what I want for the Sabathia but we'll see.

And now on to my keepers:

First we have a couple Maddux cards: an insert from my favorite hobby decade, plus a Donruss base from last year. A Prizm of current Tigers hurler Mize is followed up by a franchise great in Morris, also from '23 Donruss, though pictured/listed with Minnesota. A shiny 2002 Donruss Fan Club insert of Ripken finishes off the baseball content.

Moving on to the court (and a team that currently has a brighter season outlook than the football team, unfortunately), THJ got a nice little bump to his collection with a trio of colorful Panini inserts. Houston, who plays in Orlando and not his namesake city, joins Hardaway as one of four Wolverine cagers to appear in this post.

LeVert and Poole--definitely keeping up the shiny/colorful theme, round out the basketball group.

Meanwhile, on the gridiron, transfer RB Charbonnet has been relatively quiet in his sophomore campaign for former Michigan DC Mike Macdonald's Seahawks, but he does have three rushing scores and a TD catch in six games this season as fellow transfer tailback Kenneth Walker III's understudy. Collins was on pace to improve on an impressive 2023 season when he got hurt, and the Texas will surely miss him for the multiple weeks he'll be out, as they did today.

The next two cards form a nice pair as QBs involved with Michigan's most recent national titles. I thought the shiny insert (numbered /500) of Griese, the 1997-98 field general, looked awesome, and Harbaugh, the former UM QB and coach of last season's champs, is also seen on a very cool 90s design with his image and some of the text raised on the insert above. Everything that could fall into place and go right did so in 2023-24 but has since fallen apart this year due to a majority of the coaching staff and a ton of talent leaving. Michigan fans look to be in for some down seasons as new HC Sherrone Moore and his not-ready-for-prime-time assistants try to figure it out, but I'm still basking in that championship and can put up with it.

We'll end things tonight with a pair of talented defenders. Ojabo is an enticing talent if he can stay healthy for a Ravens team known for producing excellent defenses. Here you see him on a Canvas parallel of his '22 Donruss RC. It's hard to tell but it has a bit of a canvas texture to it which is a fun feature. Meanwhile, 2023 Cowboys first-rounder Mazi Smith is in his second season and looking to make a claim for more playing time. I scored my first autograph (or hit of any kind) of the DT in the form of a 2023 Leaf Exotic parallel called "Prismatic Zebra." Leaf gonna Leaf, I guess. It's a Michigan uni-ish card (boo airbrushing) and numbered 9/13, so it's not a bad start to his collection. That makes him member #253 of the football hits collection.

That takes care of this show and I have nothing else from July to post other than one eBay purchase and possibly some TCDb deals, though I'll be grouping those into other posts when I'm caught up on everything else. That means the next time I post you'll probably be getting a look at one of four trade packages that were delivered to me in August, most of which were absolute doozies.

Until then, I hate the Yankees and Michigan State and hope to see both lose one or more upcoming games.

2024 trade package #11: Sport Card Collectors

Hi, friends! Do you like reading recaps of trade packages I received from a longtime blogging/Twitter buddy named Matt in May of this year? If so, you'll be excited about tonight's post being the second in a row to meet those requirements. This time it was Matt of Sport Card Collectors (and several other blogs). He tends to treat me to a PWE or two a few times each year, and that's exactly what he did a few months ago.

Here's what I pulled out of that PWE:

Javy's heating up enough to be considered an MLB star if only for a few recent games, but that's better than nothing! Since leaving Detroit, Jeimer's had a decent 2023 with the Nats, then an overall rough performance after being traded back to the Cubs. He sure looks cool in Detroit duds on a Topps Chrome Sepia Refractor, though. Who will Dick Mountain be pitching for late in the season? I hope we find out soon, but for now I'm excited about getting a card I actually needed of him from 2019 Topps Rainbow Foil. Update: he's back with the Red Sox!

Does Kaline belong in an inserted called Perennial All-Stars? He appeared in one (or both, where applicable) midsummer classics each season between 1955-1967, plus '71 and '74 so, uh, yeah, I'd say so! Tork's Pink Topps Chrome parallel is a reminder that he's still working his way back to the bigs with some nice power numbers and not much else at AAA Toledo. In better news for me, though, the baseball group ends with three many Verlanders! Oddly enough, all three of his MLB teams are represented here which is quite cool. Does he still have at least one more no-hitter left in him?

On the football side of things Matt came up with two Michigan uni cards and a couple more featuring two of the most prominent Wolverines to have starred in the NFL over the past 30 years. Interestingly enough, all four play defense too! DT Mo Hurst Jr. got a little play with Cleveland, his third NFL franchise, last year after missing 2022 due to injury, and we'll see if he sticks on their roster or elsewhere. Hutch is one of the most valuable defenders to come out of Ann Arbor and definitely lives up to his card's Elite billing with 21.0 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 4 fumble recoveries, and 4(!) interceptions over his first two seasons. Mazi could use some positive momentum after Dallas selected him in last year's first round only to see him play relatively disappointingly, but hope springs eternal with a new season nigh. And lastly, Woodson is simply one of the top five best Wolverines to suit up in the NFL, which explains why you still see him in sets like 2023 Score (and its Red parallel) almost a decade after he retired.

Matt, thanks once again for one of your signature PWEs that always hit multiple PCs when you send them my way! I have a little stack going for you and I'm sure it won't be much longer before I'm hitting you back.

Up next I have one more trade package recap (from literally the other side of the country) and then a show post should finish out the month of May.

2024 trade package #7: the Collector

Happy July, y'all! With the NBA and NHL done for a bit, it's the time of year when baseball gets to shine before the return of college football next month. Let's celebrate by looking at some cards from all four major sports sent to me by Chris, the Collector, back in April.

Miggy most certainly was a star of the MLB over his 21 seasons, and it's bittersweet to see the back of his final Topps Chrome base card packed with his career numbers. Faedo, Manning, and Mize are all trying to bring some Mojo back to the Tigers' rotation (though it's mostly been the bats plus Kenta Maeda letting them down), and Faedo could potentially find himself back in a starting role soon while Manning tries to get right at AAA Toledo. The Verlander /75 is probably the best (and at least my favorite) card in this package, and I'm glad he got to celebrate two World Series titles because the villainous Astros are so easy to root against.

Flipping over to basketball, Chris did a nice job IDing a few former Wolverines I collect, mostly in colorful/shiny form. Iggy's been out of the league but was fun in college. It's crazy to me that THJ will be in his 12th NBA season later this year, and it's possible he'll be suiting up for the Pistons which is even cooler.

Finishing up with basketball we have a Crown Royale insert that evokes the heyday of Pacific, and this one stars another Wolverine/Piston combo, Isiah Livers, though he's not longer with the team. The card is numbered /75 just like Verlander's above and the blue goes well both with the Pistons' colors and those of his college team.

Repping the reigning NCAA champs of football, we begin with a Prizm base of stud defender Rashan Gary, a pass-rushing terror who's earned a good amount of respect in the NFL. Speaking of champs, we all know Griese led a team of them back in 1997-98 before a solid journeyman pro career. McKeon is yet another Michigan alum to have latched on with a Detroit team this offseason, signing with the Lions after four seasons with the team that drafted him, the Cowboys (and that card looks awesome thanks to its college action photo, though it would be even better if the border was something less Ohio-ish!). And lastly, a current Cowboy, Mazi Smith (seen on a Panini Mosaic RC) has a lot of work to do to live up to his first-round billing.

Would it really be an envelope of cards from Chris without some hockey content? No ex-Wolverines this time, but no problem there because I have plenty of love for the Wings too, especially the guys from the teams that were super successful for a good chunk of my life. The late Petr Klima, the first Czech player to defect directly to a team in the US (as opposed to Canada), is seen on his 1988-89 Topps base, and I remember him a bit from his early career in Detroit before wandering the league a bit and then returning briefly in 1998/99. And of course I'll always remember the Captain (1992-93 Stadium Club) for his 22 years and three Stanley Cups in Hockeytown, none bigger than 1996-97 when the Cup finally, finally returned to Detroit.

Chris, thanks again for thinking of me and sending some great new stuff my way! I'm slowly building up some interesting (and not entirely cardboard-based) stuff for you so I can return the favor in the near future. Until then, I hope things are going well with your wife's health situation, and I want to remind you that you've got a bunch of friends pulling for you and willing to help.

That does it for my April trades so next up will either be a quick Facebook Marketplace purchase recap or a look at my haul from that month's Taylor show.