2022 trade package #1: Baseball Card Breakdown

That's right, it's February, but at least I'm done covering blogger trade packages from 2021! I still have to go back and recap my TCDB trades from the end of the year once I'm caught up on the other stuff but, hey, it's a start!

So my first trade package of 2022 arrived a few days after the new year from not-quite Christmas baby Gavin of Baseball Card Breakdown. Because the anniversary of his birth falls right around that major holiday I try to make sure to include him in my annual Christmas cards mailings, and last year was no different (see his post here where what I sent is part of a roundup). As he often does at various points throughout the year, Gavin hit me back because he's a good dude.

Here's what the BMWT from Oregon contained this time:

Six many Verlanders! I mean, it's in the name of my blog so you can't go wrong sending me some and I'm always happy to add to his collection. He's so well represented in the envelopes I receive that I've put much less focus and money into collecting him because I don't have to.

With one exception these are all from the past 2-3 years so you mostly see him as an Astro, which I've pretty much gotten used to. Still, I'm happy there's one exception: a Tigers card in the form of his 2016 Bowman base. Looking at TCDB that was his final appearance in the brand with Detroit, and he wouldn't be back in the base set until 2019, which you can see as the third card in the scan.

These break up nicely into three pairs, and the second duo includes the fairly similar 2018 Topps Archives (#2 in the scan) and 2021 Topps Heritage (right below it). Maybe Topps will flip flop the designs on each product once again and I'll have two more similar cards!

Last up are two 2019 cards that have similar designs, which makes sense since Opening Day and flagship/Update don't really deviate from the main look. JV threw seven innings of one-run ball with 9 Ks in a 5-1 win over the Rays on Opening Day 2019. He also started the All-Star Game, his appearance of which is noted on his Update card, and struck out two of the batters he faced in his inning: Javier Baez and Freddie Freeman. Not bad!

Now we'll switch over from a former Tiger to Tigers parallels (of mostly former Tigers). Shelton and Urbina are Refractors from 2005 Topps Chrome. While the flagship version that year wasn't one of my favorites, it did lend itself nicely to the Chrome product, and I think these Refractors look terrific. Shelton was a Rule 5 pick from the Pirates who came out of nowhere to hit 34 HR between 2005 and 2006 (and what a difference between those two teams!), though that would end his run with the franchise.

Urbina was a pretty good closer in the early 2000s and won a ring with the '03 Marlins, then signed with Detroit before the '05 season. I fondly remember him only because he brought back 2B Placido Polanco in a deal with the Phillies, and I think even less fondly of him now that he's out of prison after 14 years for attempted murder. Yeesh.

Thompson's card from 2012 Bowman Draft didn't scan as nicely as its fellow Refractors but it is indeed that type of parallel. Jake was Detroit's 2nd-rounder that year as a high school pitcher out of Texas. He returned to his home state in a deal with the Rangers two years later that brought RP Joakim Soria to Detroit, and then a year later he was flipped to Philly in a deal headlined by Cole Hamels. He was considered a pretty good prospect for a while but appeared in just 42 games between 2016-18 and after bouncing around a bit more (including a return to the Tigers system) he hasn't been affiliated with a Major League team.

Last up in this group is a 2021 Topps Royal Blue parallel of former top prospect starter-turned-reliever Michael Fulmer. That color is blue enough for this Michigan fan to give it a nod of approval, and I still like collecting Fulmer, whom I hope has another good run out of the 'pen this season if we end up having one.

Those two scans include some nice new cards for me but would hardly justify a bubble mailer by themselves. It turns out they were just along for the ride with this:

Much to my surprise I'm now the owner of former Wolverine Clayton Richard's 2018 Topps Big League Topps Vault Blank Back 1/1! For those of you not in the know Topps will occasionally make these available to consumers, usually via eBay, and they come with a hologram sticker on the back and a separate certificate of authenticity. Above you see the cert and here's the (otherwise) blank back:

It's kind of a fun way to acquire a 1/1 if you don't feel like chasing down printing plates and similar items.

This actually isn't my first Topps Vault item as I have three similar cards that were sent to me by Matt (Bob Walk the Plank) a few years ago, along with a couple signed Topps contracts also sent to me by Matt.

Richard's card here came in a stickered magnetic one-touch which I opened to grab a scan for my collection and then reassembled so it'll be easier to tell apart as a special card. As you can see the other three came in Beckett slabs and I may crack the cards out of them to make storage simpler.

I tip my cap to Gavin for sending me such a nice card of a guy not everyone thinks of when they think of me (or in general, I guess). Others may consider him a forgettable low-end guy but I love acquiring new items of any of the former Wolverines I collect so this is great. By the way, it happens to be my 10th plate/1-of-1 and 15th hit overall (yep, two-thirds of them are 1/1s!). That 10-spot places him third behind J.J. Putz's 11 and Rich Hill's ~26 (with more to properly identify).

Gavin, thanks a lot of thinking of me and sending such a cool package of Verlanders, Tigers parallels, and a surprise big UM Baseball hit! As soon as I can get back to shows and other sources of cardboard acquisition I'll be working on another envelope to send to the other side of the country, hopefully filled with Gavins, Black Refractors, #12/24 cards, and other stuff you like.

Look for more trade recaps coming whenever I feel like it!

2021 trade package #27 and 28: Sport Card Collectors

As if I didn't already have enough to be thankful for today--a day off, sleeping in, hanging with my family, and some great food--Matt of Sport Card Collectors (and Big Blue Cardboard and Cards Over Coffee) recently decided to treat me to a PWE and then seconds, with both arriving on Tuesday. This evening seems like a perfect time to share them so I'm going to do just that, changing things up a bit and covering them one at a time!

PWE #1:

Tigers and Wolverines: two teams I'm thankful to root for even if it's been a while since either has been at the top of their sport. We'll start on the diamond with a pair of AL ROY pitchers. Fulmer came back from TJ surgery to be fairly effective as a closer, though I don't know if that's his expected role in 2022. He appears here on a 2020 Topps Update Gold parallel (#0080/2020). A decade earlier some clean shaven kid named Verlander took the league by storm and was the top rookie, and Justin's seen here on a cool 2021 Diamond Kings insert I wasn't aware of called "The Club." The back notes a cool feat of his from 2019 when he joined the club (hey, that's the name of this set!) of pitchers with 3000 strikeouts while also going over the 300 mark for the season. Not bad!

The football side of things was all college unis all the time, so bonus points to Matt! First up is a 2021 Score insert called Collegiate Champions, and yes, Brady had a small role on the last title-winning Michigan Football squad, and then went on to contribute a bit to seven Super Bowl champs. Hart is my favorite all-time Michigan RB and I love how he's guiding the current players while coaching the position. You could call him the gold standard and that would be appropriate as he's seen here on a 2008 SAGE HIT Gold parallel. 2021 first-round monster Kwity Paye, as seen from this year's Prizm Draft set, has gotten better as the season's gone on, picking up a sack in each of his las two games to go with a forced fumble (and a pair of fumble recoveries earlier this year). And Hart's 2008 draft mate and #1 overall pick Jake Long was also a gold standard while manning LT for Dolphins teammate Chad Henne in Ann Arbor and Miami. He shares a 2008 UD Draft Edition Franchise Foundations subset offering with USC/Falcons T Sam Baker, a guy also highly regarded at the position who joined Jake as an '08 first rounder.

That was a high quality group of cards, so how about envelope #2?:

Look who's back--Michael Fulmer! He was the only landscape card so I scanned him at the end of the first row but I'll start with him here. Though the image doesn't completely capture the reflectivity going on here, that's a 2019 Topps Rainbow Foil parallel of a nice action shot. After missing 2019 and a chunk of 2020, he came back this season to appear in 52 games, just four of which were starts, and ended up with 14 saves. I don't get the impression the rotation will have room for him unless a young guy really falters in spring training, but he could still be a valuable bullpen arm, swing starter, or trade piece.

And now we head back to college football, the sport on my mind as Michigan prepares to face football factory/school optional juggernaut OSU. Brady is our second of three repeat players here and his is the only card with an NFL action shot. That's from 2020 Score's In the Zone insert and as you can tell from two of the corners it's the Gold parallel version. Speed-in-space receiving back Chris Evans of the Bengals gets half this envelope to himself thanks to 2021 Panini Chronicles cards repping Prestige and XR along with the previously seen Prizm Draft. XR hasn't been around long and I don't know if I'm a huge fan yet but Prestige has long been good to collectors like myself. And Paye also makes his triumphant return here in a product I don't believe I'd set my eyes on before, 2021 Wild Card Matte White. It brings back the well known name from a few decades ago if not the design or a license, but Paye's Wolverines uni didn't need to get airbrushed so that's a big plus for me. Also, the Stripe parallels are back and some might chase those for the nostalgia kick.

Matt, thanks as always for your trademark generosity in PWE form. At some point before the next holiday I'll be rewarding you with a larger envelope filled with your favorite blue team and lots more.

And most definitely before then I'll be showing off the substantial trade box that arrived the other day, a couple high-end eBay pickups, and then hopefully more of the Facebook lot. But I'm ready to succumb to turkey coma, so Happy Thanksgiving, all!

2020 trade package #3: Chronicles of Fuji

I count myself among the people lucky enough to trade with Fuji and I'm always glad to hear when he's sending something my way since I know it'll be great.  That was mostly definitely the case when Mark played Santa last month and sent out a fleet of envelopes all over the country.  Even with my expectations high Fuji's generosity always manages to surprise me.  Check out this latest mailer:

Make no mistake, this package was a hit parade, and this isn't even half of it!  We'll start with Michigan pitching great Jim Abbott on a signature from UD's Goodwin champions.  As usual with the brand the artwork is suspect but the auto is top notch!  Then there's a whole mess of Tigers.  The first of two Miggy relics from 2019 Topps is a jersey from the set done up in the '84 design, which reminds me of the Tigers '84 set I grabbed at Comerica Park last year.  Next is a 2017 Topps Holiday jersey of Michael Fulmer which is somehow my first hit of the former ROY whom I continue to hope returns to full health.

Going a bit older school we have what I considered a pleasant surprise:  a 2000 Topps Traded autograph of former catcher/infielder Brandon Inge.  He could be streaky but put together a few nice seasons in the mid-aughts with his best year coinciding with Detroit's return to the Fall Classic.  That's my first auto of BInge and only my second hit overall along with a jersey, so this was a great inclusion!

Last up in this scan is a trio of nice jersey relics of Trashtro pitcher Justin Verlander.  I may cover this more in a future post but for now to answer what may become a FAQ:  yes I still collect JV, though I've soured on him as a player given his lackluster reaction to his team cheating its way to a title.  Anyway, these relics are quite nice and hail from 2017 Ginter and Heritage and '19 Donruss.

And the bevy of Tigers doesn't end there!  Up top is a very cool acetate auto out of 2002 Topps Pristine of '01 first-round bust P Kenny Baugh.  In a round one short on quality regulars (Joe Mauer, Mark Prior for a minute, Gavin Floyd, Mark Teixeira) Baugh was still a bad miss as he never made it out of the minors, plus he was selected ahead of, among others, David Wright!  That see through auto card is super cool, though, and I'm planning on keeping it for now despite the fact that I rarely hold onto cards of such players.

The other two here are somewhat similarly designed jersey relics of former teammates Miggy and V-Mart.  Cabrera's is from 2019 while Victor's was made the previous year.  I may have looked this up and mentioned it before, but as teammates from 2011-18 they combined for 454 HR while seeing their production fall off a cliff after 2016.  By the way, this is just my second hit of Victor and first of him as a Tiger, so again, nice job by Mark!

And now we're on to the "other sports" portion of the package.  I thought the Jimmy King/Ty Wheatley duo card made for a nice segue between the two games seen her, and naturally I enjoyed the college photos out of the terrific looking '95 Classic Five Sport set.  Biakabutuka's card is also very interesting:  a $20 phone card inserted into packs of '96 Press Pass.  They apparently also could be found in values of $5, $10, and $1996.  Remember phone cards?  That's so 90s.

And I'll give the best card of this bunch its own paragraph.  Glen Rice is probably the best player from the '89 champs and I'm always happy to get new stuff of his, especially when I don't have to buy it myself!  This 2016-17 Panini Excalibur Calligraphy card is a textbook example of how nice his signature can look, and he clearly lives up to the set's name here.  This is my fifth auto of Rice and of course I want to keep adding more.

Last up is the football hits portion, or what I'm going to refer to as the "Long haul" for obvious reasons.  I wonder if any of you can picture my face after I pulled card after card out of this package and thought, "How much great stuff did Fuji just send me?!"  I mean, take a look at the previous three scans and keep them in mind when you look at this bonanza.  Yowza!

Let's start with Touchdown Tim in the upper-left corner.  You wouldn't know it from the looks of it but that card was made by Fleer during his rookie year of '96, and despite the plain look it's nice to have since he doesn't have a ton of signed cards.  Then we have what's just my second auto of DL Ryan Glasgow of the Michigan walk-on Glasgows.  The reason it's difficult to see his name in that scan is the color of the foil--blue, appropriately enough--since it's a parallel version of his regular auto in the set.  As usual with Contenders/Draft I think it looks awesome and love the college action photo they went with.

Before we get to the guy who had the biggest day I can cover two of his teammates and fellow '08 draftees.  #1 PC guy Chad Henne is first with a jersey relic out of that year's UD product and then we jump forward two years for a sweet dual jersey out of Sweet Spot of another top guy in Mario Manningham, a.k.a. the namesake of my defunct sister blog.  The latter looks especially cool with, yep, a great college photo.

And now to the man of the hour, Jake Long, who represents a quarter of today's hits, with all of them being autographed!  Two of them--'08 Stadium Club and '09 Topps Mayo--include "just" signatures while the other three--'08 Leaf Certified Materials, Bowman Sterling, and UD Premier--come with relic bonuses.  Again, pulling these out one at a time was a crazy experience, and I'm humbled once again by Fuji's trademark generosity, not to mention the effort I like to credit when people go above and beyond to hit my preferred college collections.

Mark, thanks once again for this stunner of an envelope!  I'm not sure when or how I'll hit you back, but regardless of what you say I intend to do so one way or another.  And in the meantime I'm enjoying seeing the similarly amazing packages popping up on other blogs.  It's good to be a friend of Mr. Fuji!

2019 trade package #38: Nachos Grande

Way back near the end of November Chris, who runs Nachos Grande, announced his Season of Giving giveaway in which people could sign up for some free cards of their favorite teams, with Chris trying to oblige as best as he could.  He's always been a good dude to trade with and I appreciated the dual goals of finding good homes for unwanted cards and sending things out for the holiday season, so I put my name in, and he was nice enough to send a stack of Tigers (and a few other things) my way.  If that's not the epitome of holiday giving I don't know what is!

Here's what Chris sent this time:

We'll lead off with possibly my favorite card of the whole package, a '98 Paramount Team Checklist card featuring Tony Clark, kind of the Tigers' Nicholas Castellanos of his day.  Detroit developed him as a high draft pick and he put up some good numbers on some awful teams before being cut loose in his seventh year.  At least he made the playoffs a couple times after that!  This card is another pefect example of how fun Pacific was back in the 90s.

Encarnacion was Clark's teammate for a few seasons and went on to win rings with the Marlins in '03 and Cardinals in '06 (against the Tigers!).  Fulmer's Bunt insert from 2017 was new to me, and I'll continue being a broken record in hoping he returns to health and effectiveness next year.  Hunter gave the team a couple quality seasons before retiring after a one-year return in Minnesota.  Kaline looks great on a 2002 Fleer Fall Classic base.  Kinsler (also '17 Bunt) was one of my favorites in his three-plus seasons in Motown and 2B hasn't been the same since he left.  Playoff hero Magglio appears on a 2008 UD Heroes Charcoal parallel #d 352/399.  Palmer's big bat was a rare highlight on some bad 90s teams, and '99 UD retro was a highlight of that year's releases.  And I somehow didn't have the base version of Phillips' '94 Collector's Choice base where the underappreciated multi-position player can be seen going airborne turning two.

And now some horizontal cards and more!  I didn't arrange things like this on purpose but the cards down the left side are all new to me while the other two are dupes.  While Granderson's redundant thanks to my '08 Topps complete set, I needed two of the '14 Topps base:  Miggy's 2013 AL RBI leaders base and an issue of V-Mart sliding into home in better times for him and the franchise.  '84 champ Larry Herndon's '88 Topps Big card was also new, and I'm sure I'm lacking a bunch of Tigers from the three-year(?) run of the product.  And then there's my co-favorite item today, an '85 Topps Rub Downs piece that includes Lou Whitaker along with Carney Lansford, Mario Soto, and John Denny, plus a glove and a couple of balls.  Chris had it in a penny sleeve with the instructions card, which was cool from a collecting perspective, and also wise of him since the other piece is so thin.  It's a very cool oddball item to add to Sweet Lou's collection, now sitting at 290 different items.

Lots more Tigers to get to!  Casanova had a great name but not a bat to match, and he was one of many players the Tigers acquired from the Padres or Astros in the 90s.  Higginson's act wore thin for me toward the end of his tenure, but that '98 Flair Showcase card is a thing of beauty.  The Bowman Chrome card (2012) is of RP Matt Hoffman, a 26th round pick that found his way into the set for some reason.  I'll always appreciate Robinson for being just good enough to entice the Orioles to send Mickey Tettleton to Detroit.  And while the humorous Sparks didn't put up great numbers, I do appreciate the fun design of 2003 Studio and its cool background photo of one of the entrances to Comerica Park.

Ok, now we're done with the Tigers.  Knudson's not worth mentioning but the 2011 Topps Attax cards of the park and mascot Paws are fun.  The former is actual a foil version but it was hard to get that to come across in a scan.

And last up today is a trio of non-Tigers cards, in this case Barry Larkin, a guy Chris also collects for some reason.  He sent a nice mix in the form of 2005 Throwback Threads, 2015 Contenders, and 2016 Topps Archives.  Those of you who know me at all shouldn't be surprised that I'd rank them 2, 1, and 3, in that order--Michigan uni cards almost always win--but all three look great no matter what.

Chris, thanks again for including me in your Season of Giving, and I'm glad you liked your own Christmas cards from me!  Let's do more trading in 2020, especially if I can hunt down more set-fillers for you so you can continue the completion momentum you've got going in your latest series of posts!

2019 trade package #23: The Collector

I've traded with a number of collector-bloggers named Chris.  I've traded with a number of folks with some form of the word "collect" in their blog's name.  But only one of those is Chris of The Collector, lover of Devils and Red Sox and sender of my latest trade package:  a PWE that arrived at the end of July.

Chris stuffed this envelope--seriously, it included 18 cards!--with some very recent Tigers, many of whom are currently on the roster.  Let's take a look:

With the trade deadline having come and gone since this envelope hit my mailbox, the guy on the top corners, Nick Castellanos, has departed for greener (and smaller) pastures with the Cubs, and I'll definitely wish him well.  Nick shares that Donruss card leading things off with Miguel Cabrera, who's been anything but a masher since 2016.  Jeimer, a former Cubs prospect, has at least shown a little promise, though he'll have to show lots more to stick in the bigs.  Cespedes (2015 Donruss) was a Motown Masher until being flipped for Fulmer (also pictured), who could have turned into a major franchise cornerstone if GM Al Avila wasn't completely clueless.  Niko's at least turned into a very shrewd pickup as a utility guy who can actually hit.  His 1.9 fWAR (as of this post) towers over the rest of the offense, and I hope he sticks around.

Greiner (nice throwback to 80s Donruss!) doesn't seem like the future behind the plate like McCann, below him, could have been, but at least Jake Rogers (who came over in the Verlander deal) could make things interesting.  The Dixon Tigers fans are interested in right now is IF Brandon, not the offensively challenged Machado, who of course is doing quite well at AAA for the Cubs.  Mahtook's at least doing the same at Toledo for Detroit, though his MLB track record is iffy.  Stewart is another guy not performing well this year but it's not for lack of talent, and a real MLB hitting coach (and fielding coach, for that matter) could do wonders for him.  Zimmermann is a cause and symptom of a squad that seems dead set on losing a record number of games, but at least he'll finally be gone in...2021?!  Paws has at least been a constant during good times and bad, and is a solid mascot that actually represents the team's nickname, so we've got that going for us!

The Tigers may suck this year, and maybe even for a while longer--Al Avila got a contract extension?!--but there's still some bright spots if you know where to look, and that includes many of the keepers Chris was nice enough to send me here out of the blue.  Many thanks, Collector dude, and I look forward to hitting you back soon with a little return that's so clean you might just call it...pristine!

2019 trade package #10: Base Card Hero

I'm happy to announce that my recent return to picking up cheap but interesting hits at my monthly show resulted in a deal with a new trade partner:  Ryan of Base Card Hero.  The fan of Minnesota teams expressed interest in a Glen Perkins manuletter auto I nabbed back in February, and eventually we swapped addresses and some cards.  I hadn't had anybody busting down my door for Twins so the deal was more than welcome, plus I love trading with new folks, and I found Ryan easy to work with.

And I should probably also describe him as generous.  Witness the plethora of Tigers that arrived in my mailbox in late April:

Here's some Tigers A-G, all of which I like to collect.  Of this group, Cobb is the only one I've cataloged on TCDB but I hope to get the others added soon.  The Diamond Kings cards are the easy highlights for me here, especially given the players (plus that framed Hank is sweet!) but I was happy to see a couple more Fulmers as I wish him a speedy return to health.

I'd be happy enough with base Kinslers, but shiny Kinslers are even better!  Traders like Ryan have sent me some very nice stuff of his over the years and he's another guy whose collection will likely look quite nice for me on TCDB.  McCann is a guy Detroit is clearly missing behind and at the plate now that he's away from Lloyd McClendon's nefarious influence.  Seriously--send Lloyd west to the Angels and see if Mike Trout turns into Steve Trout at the dish.  I might have more cards of Magglio than any other non-player collection Tiger.  And it's still nice to think about the days when Scherzer turn his turns in Detroit's rotation.

Here's some interesting stuff of guys who aren't currently sorted by name in my Detroit box.  Ordinarily lackluster RP Joba is notable here as an SP from 2014 Topps update.  Maybe I'll eventually have enough cards of Sam "Wahoo" Crawford to give him his own spot in the box!  Stewart brings back the Diamond Kings love and a reminder of a couple big games he had earlier this season.  The two Bowman guys don't rank highly in the system, but you never know.

And to those I can add some inserts, mostly of the parallel variety.  Niko's a current Tiger while Smyly and Price are both long gone.  The back of the Wal-Mart Blue team parallel notes that in 2012 the Tigers swept the Yankees in the ALCS with OF Delmon Young picking up the game-winning RBI in each contest, an MLB first (which I hadn't remembered!).

There were three players in this envelope with enough cards to split them into separate scans, and first up is Miggy.  The 1B/DH is in the midst of a power outage and his best days are likely behind him, but there's lots of cardboard to like here, especially if you enjoy parallels.  Also:  Diamond Kings once again!  TCDB tells me I have 288 Cabrera cards, so we'll eventually see how Magglio stacks up to that number.

Mr. Tiger is next up, and again I'm thrilled with the DK base card, though another reprint of his Topps RC, which is as close to the real thing as I'll get for a while, is a nice touch too.  And I'm always glad seeing vintage photos of guys like Kaline such as the Topps 150 insert.  Looks like I have 88 cards of the HOFer, and I'm hoping to add more vintage to that count this year.

Ryan may be new to trading with me but he already was well aware of how to get on my good side:  send Verlanders.  Many, many Verlanders.  He sent me nine, or exactly one page worth, and I needed seven of them, which is a great ratio for me considering I have over 350 cards of my favorite Tigers pitcher.  Everything but the first two cards you see in the image is brand new, and I continue having no problem accumulating cards of JV as an Astro.  Topps made the easy decision to pair him with Nolan Ryan in this year's Greatness Returns insert, and the Heritage New Age Players looks pretty nice as well.

Ryan, once again I'll say thanks for a fantastic first trade!  I'll be following your blog as I work on picking up more Minnesota trade bait to send your way.

Everyone else can look forward to more trade package goodness soon.

2019 trade package #2: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

I know what it's like to worry whether or not I sent a good enough trade package to Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store considering the amazing stuff he always sends me, but I'm not sure why he'd ever have to fret about that.  Once again he's termed the latest envelope he sent my way as "quantity over quality" but in typical Doug fashion there was both.  To the great benefit of my favorite collections a good amount of the quality tilted towards what I'm showing off on TMM this evening, but there's also plenty of great stuff you get to see right here:

Soon-to-be former Tiger, probably-not-for-a-while former Tiger, and recent former Tiger.  I'm curious to see if the Tigers get smart and put Castellanos at DH where his bat can do plenty of harm to opposing teams and his glove won't do the same to his own.  A full return to health could portend a return to form for Fulmer this year.  And JV is always welcome back to these here parts!

Here's a very good group of quality prospects as all but Gibby's son Cam can be found in the team's top 30 according to mlb.com.  As has been the case for a system that's struggled to produce quality hitters for a long time, the pitchers lead the way here with Alexander (24), Burrows (5), Hall (23), and Manning (2).  Burrows (86) and Manning (53) both also crack the site's top 100 prospects list.  Those two were Detroit's first-rounders in 2016 and '15, respectively.

As for the hitters, Lugo checks in at #15 for the organization and Paredes is the next best hitter at 13.  The former came over in the correctly maligned J.D. Martinez Deal while the latter was paired with fellow infielder Jeimer Candelario in return for Alex Avila and Justin Wilson at the deadline in 2017.  The Heritage Minors cards look especially nice here!

Doug also sent me a pile of Red Wings to rival or even outpace the Michigan Hockey cards he included this time.  I decided to start things off with the nine Hockeytown stars from 2018-19 O-Pee-Chee that I found in this envelope.  Glendening is a favorite since he's a Michigan guy, and I'll always remember Zetterberg fondly even though he's career is pretty much over at this point.

Cleary and Draper both played roles on Cup-winning teams as the former enjoyed the success of the 2008 champs while the latter was part of all four recent titles.  Hall of Famer Alex Delvecchio was a nice find here after his amazing 24-year career in Hockeytown that produced three Cups.

Plenty more winners to see here.  Fedorov scored exactly 400 goals for the Wings over his 14 years in Motown and was a blast to watch as one of the most talented of the Russian Five.  The recent HOFer was part of all of the Cup-winners except for the 2008 squad.  Holmstrom was an absolute pest in front of the net and joins Draper in the four-Cup club.  Mr. Hockey enjoyed both accomplishments:  the Hockey Hall and four Cups himself.  And so did another recent star:  my all-time favorite D-man, Nick Lidstrom.

I don't know that Osgood will ever be enshrined in Toronto but I sure am glad he spent 14 years with the Wings in his two stints and won three of those Cups.  So did franchise icon Steve Yzerman, who'll hopefully get a chance to right the sinking ship in Detroit as GM at some point.  Zetterberg "only" won with the '08 team but had a great 15-year run here.  And for some reason I remember being a big fan of Sheppard, though he was gone before the team turned things around in the late 90s.

As always Doug, thanks!  This huge bunch of Tigers and Wings and Wolverines was a great start to 2019 for another year of trading with my most prolific partner and I'm looking forward to hitting you back before that notable birthday of yours.

2018 trade package #23: Sport Card Collectors

I'm thrilled to have a pair of trade packages to show off today.  You can find one of those, an in-person deal with Jeff of My Sports Obsession in which he handed me a card before we headed to the Michigan/Maryland game, on TMM this evening.

And the other is the star of this post, which is another PWE party thanks to that type of envelope arriving from buddy of the blog Matt of Sport Card Collectors.  This is the sixth time he's been nice enough to surprise me with a PWE, one that included some Tigers and more:

A PWE doesn't offer enough room to go from "A" to "Z", but "B" to "G" isn't bad when it's a group like this!  Bondo appears on a 2004 Topps Cracker Jack Mini, one that rightly explains that he was "rushed into action in 2003", something that definitely explains his 19 losses that season.  The team screwed him out of quality development while injuries shortened his career, but at least he got to enjoy that magical 2006 season.

Moving on to pitchers still in the franchise's system, we have 2017 first-rounder (#18 overall) Alex Faedo.  The righty for Florida recovered from knee surgery to earn the MVP of the CWS, which his Gators won.  My first card of his is this 2018 Bowman High Tek, and I'll guess the pattern is "Dots Bow-Tie", maybe?

Meanwhile Fulmer had a season to forget on a terrible 2018 team, going 3-12 over 24 starts during a year when his health didn't exactly help his results.  You won't see me giving up on him anytime soon, though, and I hope he comes back en fuego in 2019 like his 2017 Topps Fire Gold Minted parallel.

Last up for the Tigers is 2018 playoff participant Curtis Granderson.  I couldn't be happier for the Grandyman that he's back in the postseason for the eighth time after heading to the Brewers from the Jays.  With the Yankees happily eliminated the only team I'll generally be rooting against is Boston (though they do have a few former Tigers too), so I wouldn't mind seeing this here blog's former namesake get a third shot at a ring after missing out on two others.  That would be a Piece of History, like the UD brand of the Stadium Scenes insert above (#495/999).

And as if that wasn't good enough Matt did more damage to my Clayton Richard checklist in a repeat of the cards he sent me in August.  In both cases I ended up with cards from 2018 Gypsy Queen and flagship parallels, and that means SCC is responsible for all four of the Richard cards I currently own from this year.

This time the GQ card is an Indigo parallel (#201/250), and that ends up being a fairly nice color to use.  Of course, I would have called it "blue", but that's my limited color vocabulary for you.  Meanwhile the new flagship card is the Rainbow Foil parallel, which pairs nicely with the Factory Set Foilboard card he was nice enough to flip me a couple months ago.

Counting new releases my latest Richard checklist comprises 199 cards and this duo gets me up to 118 of those (and 128 overall), including four of 31 so far in 2018.

Once again thanks a ton, Matt, for a fun and productive surprise PWE!  I've got a few things in-hand for you from recent shows and when I can fill out an envelope a bit more I'll be returning the favor; Giants and Griffeys may be involved....

2018 trade package #21: Night Owl

Highly decorated and prolific blogger Greg, whom everyone knows better as Night Owl, was nice enough to send me a great little package after I completed a few of his wants a couple months ago.  Getting a Night Owl package is lots of fun because I never have any idea of what I might get.  Oh sure, Tigers will likely be part of the equation, but in what form?

There's no reason for me to keep you in suspense, check them out!:

Mini Miggy, Donruss Miggy, Topps Miggy, Blue Miggy.  Sounds like something you might hear on The Big Bang Theory followed by "Bazinga!" ::laugh track for 10 minutes straight::  That blue Donruss parallel is perfect and I love the throwback to the '84 set.  And no, I don't remember flipping the Topps and Donruss base cards while scanning these.

Recuperating starter Michael Fulmer looks good on the plan-but-solid '18 Donruss design, as does Mr. Tiger on a name variation.  There's also a Topps Rookie History reprint of Kaline that's another reminder that I need to knock that original card off of my collecting bucket list before it gets reprinted 20 more times.

Greg also fired the McCannon a couple times with a pair of inserts.  Naturally I'm especially attracted to the Refractor from 2015 Chrome but the Big League card from this year is no slouch.

Of course I was excited to see two Verlanders among the goodies, especially since one is a true RC:  his 2005 Donruss Throwback Threads base in which he looks every bit of the 13 years younger that he is as pictured.  I say true RC as opposed to the ridiculous "(RC)" designation that lingered for a few years.  Anyway, that's a great card, not to mention generous on Greg's part since JV escaped Detroit's poor coaching and reestablished himself as a top pitcher!

Joining that is a Topps team card from 2015 which is very cool since those don't tend to be easy to track down, at least without having to purchase the whole set.  They're also easy to miss since the photo up front is identical, but the large numbering on the back beginning with "DT-" is very helpful.

I tossed the rest of the modern Tigers in this same scan, and those include another 2015 Chrome Refractor, this time swingman Buck Farmer, a couple base examples of 2018 Big League in the form of Dixon Machado and Jordan Zimmermann, a 2015 flagship Snow Camo ("SNOW CAMO?!") parallel of short time closer Joe Nathan, and a 2018 Opening Day insert of fan favorite mascot Paws.

I said "modern" Tigers above because here's where things got especially interesting.  An '84 Fleer base of Chet Lemon, a guy who was an All-Star that year on a fantastic team, is about as mainstream as it gets.  That's followed by a fun new addition for me, a '94 Ted Williams base of Mark Fidrych.  I neither have many cards of that brand or player, so it's definitely a cool throw-in for me.

Next is a five-spot of old, olllld Tigers from 1992 Conlon, giving me a great opportunity to learn about more players from that era:

• Shea was with the Tigers from 1927-29 and again in '39.  The backup catcher's career spanned parts of 11 seasons and six teams, and his claim to fame appears to be when he was sent to the Browns by Boston for future HOF catcher Rick Ferrell.
• Sorrell pitched his entire ten-year career (1928-37) in Detroit and put up decent numbers, including a 92-101 record and 17.0 bWAR.  Unfortunately for him, by the time the 1935 World Series team rolled around he wasn't on the mound much, and sometimes out of the 'pen when he was.
• In Stoner's case somehow a rapper of the same name did not impede my search results.  The pitcher came from a huge family where pretty much all of the kids seem to have been named after famous people--Ulysses S. Grant in this case--and there's also a story about how he came to have an oddly bent index finger on his pitching hand on his SABR page.  He spent most of his nine year career in Detroit, in 1922 and 1924-29, and went 50-57.
• Tavener was nicknamed "Rabbit", and why not back then (1921 and 1925-28, plus a year in Cleveland).  The SS was small even for his era at 5-5, small enough that Ty Cobb didn't want him, but he put up a few solid seasons in Motown.  So I guess now we know what it would be like if someone my size played in the Majors in the 20s!
• Finally, Joyner Clifford "Jo-Jo" White was lucky enough to earn a cool nickname and get a ring with the '35 Tigers.  The OF was with Detroit from 1932-1938, and while it doesn't look like he lit up box scores, he was apparently a solid enough option off the bench to appear in both the '34 and '35 Series.

And now I'm going to borrow one of Night Owl's cooler features (I mean he's got so many), one I don't think he's even used in a while:

For me the best card in the package was definitely the last card you see in that scan, card #61 in a set produced by local paper The Detroit News in 1981 that celebrated 100 years of the Tigers (one that I definitely need to track down now!).  This one honors the World Series champion 1945 squad, and the back helpfully lists who appears:

The biggest names here are Newhouser, who put up a ridiculous 12.1 bWAR that year, longtime Tiger Dizzy Trout, and Rudy York.  Hank Greenberg, returning from three years away due to WWII, isn't pictured for some reason, but he was a big contributor in the win over the Cubs, so I'll at least mention him here.

And then we have the final card in the package, and the only one that doesn't fit the Tigers theme.  It's a 2017 Topps Update base of PC guy Ken Griffey Jr.--a very young Junior Griffey, in fact, working a camera at Comiskey Park.  There's never a bad time to include Griffey in a package of cards heading my way!

Thanks once again for surprising me with all of this great stuff, Greg!  I know we don't trade often but I promise I'll send some more wantlist help and Dodgers so we can do it again!

2018 trade package #17: Baseball Card Breakdown

When it comes to trading, "good things come in small packages" is more than just a cliche; it's often true.  I like an envelope stuffed with cards as much as the next blogger but I'm just as appreciative of a PWE that contains just a few.  Like the one I got from custom card king Gavin of Baseball Card Breakdown the other day, for example (for the second month in a row, no less).  When you get as lazy as I do about posting, having to scan and write about three cards is a treat!

So what kinds of things could be contained in a PWE from Gavin?  How about...

...a 2016 Topps Heritage RC of an impeccably bearded Michael Fulmer?  As I've said the last few times I've mentioned him this year his 2018 campaign hasn't quite gone according to plan, a bit of a continuation from a relatively disappointing 2017 that followed his 2016 Rookie of the Year season.  It's hard to say if that's due to injury--he's currently on the shelf with an oblique strain--but the silver lining for Tigers fans is that it makes him much less likely to be traded, at least this year.  Count me among the folks that would like to see the talented Fulmer stick around in Motown as long as possible!

What else could he have slipped in?  Try...

BLUE MANY VERLANDERS!  Hahahahahaha, I kill myself.  Kudos to Gavin for combining three of my favorite cardboard likes:  Justin Verlander, Refractors, and the color blue.  The lefty is from 2015 Finest and is numbered 128/150.  It's just my third Verlander from that product (base and regular Refractor).  Meanwhile the one on its right is from 2017 Topps Chrome and is nearly identical in being numbered 133/150.  The '17 flagship design didn't lend itself well to the Gold parallel but it works very nicely with Chrome's color variations, that's for sure.

By the way, considering Verlander was the AL's ROY in 2006, how soon should we expect the Tigers to draft 2026's award-winning pitcher?  Maybe 2022?  Regardless, Gavin is on the hook for sending me at least one card of that future Tiger star--I'm putting that in writing right here.

Thanks again for a fun PWE that was both rewarding and relaxing, Gavin!  I already having something set aside for you that I'll send you the next time I get some trade packages out, and hopefully by then it'll have been joined by a few friends.  For now, please keep those amazing customs coming!