2016 COMC purchase: this George is Gorgeous

Fresh off of bragging about my newest Charlie Gehringer cut (hey--three days is sort of fresh, right?), I'm back with another highish-end hit of a Hall of Famer who played his college ball in Ann Arbor:

George Sisler 2015 Panini National Treasures bat (#35/99)

My George Sisler collection isn't terribly large--mostly modern sets that feature some of the game's legends--plus he's a guy from a much earlier era, so his better stuff justifiably goes for a premium.  That would explain my lack of a real hit, an autograph or non-manufactured relic, up to this point.  As a matter of fact, I have three manurelics of the St. Louis/Boston legend, but that was never gonna be good enough for me.

Enter two positive aspects of the hobby:  Panini and COMC.  The former produces some fun cards, and sans MLB license said cards tend to be more affordable if you can get over the lack of logos.  The latter was my (even more) affordable source for this game-used (remember those?!) bat relic out of Panini's classy National Treasures product.  I'm not kidding when I say the price was right--I paid  ridiculous $4.85 for this guy.  I consider that more than fair even as someone who's become skeptical of and less interested in relic cards.

That'll do it for the COMC cards I'll be showing off on this here blog, but I have a nice little handful of more baseball PC guys over on TMM this evening, so if that piques your interest, please head on over!

2016 COMC purchases: Gibby, Barry, and Tram

I'm back after a fun brief trip to Los Angeles last weekend and then another week and weekend of relaxing and being lazy.

Let's get back into the swing of things with some cards of three of my PC guys, all from my latest COMC package:

Kirk Gibson 2002 UD Piece of History MVP Club

Kirk Gibson 2003 Topps Tribute World Series (#141)

Kirk Gibson 2008 Donruss Threads Century Stars

Two of these three may feature Gibby with the Dodgers, but that's cool since a few sets occasionally remember 1988's game 1.  Card #1 from UD's fun Piece of History product highlights Kirk's 1988 regular season NL MVP award, which he won over the Mets' Darryl Strawberry by a decent number of points thanks to this stat line:  .290/.377/.483 with 25 HR, 76 RBI, 106 R, and 31 SB.

Number two hails from Topps' typically beautiful and high-end Tribute set, this one a World Series-themed product.  It features one of the game's most iconic shots of Gibby celebrating his famous homer.  I need to track down his earlier card from this set which includes him with the '84 Tigers.

Kirk appeared in a Throwback Threads Century Stars insert set in both 2005 and '08.  The back of the latter, which you see above, notes his 1984 game 5 two-homer performance, including one off another west coast ace reliever, Goose Gossage.

Barry Larkin 1996 Pinnacle First Rate

I tend to flip-flop between posting my Larkin cards here and on TMM because, while I love showing him off with the rest of my Wolverines, I know there's a much larger audience here that appreciates the HOF SS.  Speaking of folks who appreciate Larkin, Pinnacle did so with this dufex beauty back in 1996.  Barry certainly was first rate the previous year, winning the NL MVP, a fact that's surprisingly left off of the back, which notes that "...he ranked sixth in the league with a .319 BA in '95 and came in second with a career-high 51 stolen bases."

My 333rd Larkin is good enough to bring back the "90s inserts rule" tag, probably to nobody's surprise!

Alan Trammell 2001 Greats of the Game

Alan Trammell 2013 Pinnacle Awaiting the Call

Alan Trammell 2006 Greats of the Game Tigers Greats

Trammell is a bit of a combo-breaker as the other two guys today won regular season MVPs;  while Tram took home the award for his '84 World Series performance, he was flat-out robbed in 1987, posting a full 3.2 more bWAR than Toronto's George Bell.  He also belongs in the Hall of Fame, but that's an argument for another day.

As with Gibson I found three new cards for his PC, two of which are inserts.  First up his his base card for the beautifully understated Greats of the Game set Fleer produced in 2001.  If they ever put out a bad design for this set I haven't seen one.

Card #2 is one I avoided for a while since I'm as pissed as other Trammell fans that he's been disrespected by Hall voters.  But it's a cool looking set, even sans logos, and if the veterans' committee ever gets it right then it'll be a fun card to look back on.

Last up is Alan's entry from another Fleer Greats set, this one a 10-card insert covering Tigers Greats.  He's one of three guys in the set I PC, along with Bill Freehan and Gibson, and this is one of the eight cards I grabbed while making this purchase so I'd have the full set.  I'll be showing that off in a future post, likely my next one.

Stay tuned for that along with one or two other COMC-related posts, and if you're interested in seeing some of my other pickups please head over to TMM this evening.

2016 eBay purchase: Michigan's Mechanical Man

Since I haven't posted much this week (or recently, in general!) let's pretend it's still Hall of Fame weekend because I have a pair of HOF cards to show off to y'all today.

My relative drop in number of purchases and overall spending has allowed me to up the ante on some of the purchases I do make, and therefore I've given myself a bit more leeway when looking at singles on eBay.  This month that led me to a fun pair of high-end additions of a couple of my favorite players.

Since I've posted even less on TMM than here recently I decided to show off one card on each blog.  As it turns out, both guys are Michigan Baseball-related while also fitting in well over here, so in a way I could have just flipped a coin to divvy them up.  But once you see the other card you'll understand why it's featured on TMM tonight.

Ok, on to this post's card:

Charlie Gehringer 2011 Donruss Limited Cuts 2 cut auto (#25/49)

Hey hey, it's former Tiger Charlie "the Mechanical Man" Gehringer!  And he's back in cut auto form!  Believe it or not, this is now my fourth auto (all cut-style, natch) of the HOF 2B after adding one last February and two more this past January.  Considering how crazy prices of cut signatures, especially deceased stars, can go, I'm proud to have this many of one of Detroit's all-time greats.

This one from Panini's 2011 Donruss Limited Cuts product differs from the other three--all of which are from UD's SP Legendary Cuts product--by lacking a photo of the player, which is usually a nice feature to have.  Since Panini couldn't use MLB logos, though, I suppose it's not a huge loss.  That's a minor part of the card compared to the excellent signature here, cut from a signed Hall of Fame postcard.  The hand-numbered cut is encased in a one-touch holder sealed with a Panini sticker, which is kind of a nice touch.

As you might imagine, cards from this Panini product aren't as highly sought after as others that are higher-end, licensed, and/or more scarce.  That allowed me to grab this copy as a relative bargain of a BIN for a bit more than $22, a price that easily fit my budget, especially for such a significant signature.

I'll continue trying to add more of Gehringer's autograph to my collection, whether it's a super-rare cut or something more affordable like this one, and I look forward to showing off more.

Please don't forget to head over to TMM this evening to check out my other significant HOF auto acquisition as it's a player I know at least a few of you collect!

2016 trade package #15: it's clear why I love trading with Bob Walk the Plank!

Yes I still exist, I've just been posting less frequently because [insert excuse here].  I really do have a good reason, though!  In preparation for another fun spring summer cleaning I'm doing a big reorg of my collection to once again clear out things I don't want so I can get them into your collections.  I'm still not quite sure when that'll be, but I'm shooting for the next couple weeks.

Anyway, I'm happy to report that I received a pair of new trade packages in rapid succession this week, and given my plans for this evening today is a perfect day to post one of them.  Here's another outstanding two-card package from Matt of Bob Walk the Plank.  (Incidentally, while I love receiving lots of cards in trades, sometimes it's a nice change of pace when I only have to scan, post, and discuss two!)

J.D. Martinez 2016 Topps Clear (#10/10)

First up is this outstanding Clear parallel of injured Tigers star J.D. Martinez, who wants to remind you to

You've all seen his bat--don't make him come after you with his BOOMSTICK.  Anyway, this is a totally fun and completely unexpected addition to one of my Tigers PCs, and it's especially apropos today as this evening I'm heading down to Comerica Park to watch the Tigers take on the Royals and (hopefully) get my hands on the night's giveaway:  a J.D. Martinez bobblehead!  We'll see if I can be one of the first 10,000 to enter the park tonight.

This is just my second example of one of Topps' nicer designs recently; I also have Wolverine (and former Royal) Chris Getz's version from 2014.  It's such a cool concept that I have a hard time believing Topps actually went ahead with it.  "What do you mean it's not just another different color?" was likely heard multiple times around the design table.  Multiple 90s and 2000s insert designs, such as 2000 Ultra's Swing Kings, proved that this look can be a winner when done right, and Topps done right here.  As rare as it is to say, I'm happy it's true, and I'm even happier that Matt tracked down this copy of one of the Tigers' brightest "Future Stars" [cue enormous eye-roll].  Like Topps, I don't have to go out on a huge limb here when I say that this is currently the gem of my J.D. collection.

The other card is of a player I usually associate with my Michigan PCs, but he has broad enough appeal that I thought I'd just stick with one trade post over here today:

Jim Abbott 2013 Gypsy Queen Autographs auto

Jim Abbott.  Jim Abbott?  Jim Abbott.

What a crime that show got cut down in its prime.  Anyway, file this card under "I don't have that already?  It looks so familiar!  Yeah, I have it.  I think.  Let me take a look.  Oh wait, I don't have it!"  Which means I'm happily adding my eighth autograph of the inspiring lefty.  I love shots like this that show some part of his unique pitching process, and the old California Angel uni/logos and look of determination on Jim's face combine to make this one a big winner.

Thanks for another outstanding pair, Matt!  I look forward to seeing your reaction to the latest bunch I sent you as we continue one of my favorite back-and-forth trade partnerships.

And go Tigers tonight!

2016 COMC & eBay purchases: Blue Barrys

I may be behind on posting some COMC, eBay, and Sportlots pickups over on TMM, but that doesn't mean I should wait forever to show off new stuff over here!  I've got three new cards to show off, all heading to one of my favorite PCs, Barry Larkin.  Two are from my latest COMC package while the other hails from eBay.  Although I generally like to show off my Michigan PC guys over on TMM, Larkin most definitely has broad enough appeal that I'd rather make these visible to a larger audience.  So, enjoy, fellow baseball fans!

Barry Larkin 2004 Leaf Certified Materials Mirror Combo Red jersey-bat (#167/250)

Card number one is today's least interesting, since I usually like to start like that and then work my way up.  But when your "worst" card looks as nice as this one you're generally doing pretty well.  

One of my COMC purchases was this beautiful Mirror Red jersey/bat relic from Donruss's 2004 Leaf Certified Materials product.  The Certified Mirror cards date all the way back to the mid-90s and have resulted in some stunning pieces with various colors being used as parallels.  See what we're missing thanks to the Toppsopoly?

Red is the perfect parallel color for a Cincinnati player, and it really goes well with a photo of Larkin in one of my favorite Reds uniforms.  The combo of a jersey swatch and bat plus the serial numbering really tie together what ended up being a fantastic hit of the HOF SS.

That's a pretty nice start, so how much could I really improve on it?  Try this pair on for size:

Barry Larkin 2015 Immaculate Collection Collegiate Multisport INK auto (#19/25) and 2015 Panini National Treasures Collegiate Multisport Signatures Silver auto (#09/25)

Yes sir/ma'am, my second and third Larkin autographs feature the famous Michigan alum in his Wolverines uniform!  Panini put a nice amount of effort into producing some excellent college-themed cards this year and I think the results speak for themselves (other than duplicating the photos--come on, Panini, that's Topps' job!).  

As a Michigan alum and fan I was absolutely thrilled to see guys such as Larkin and George Sisler, among others, included in these high-end products, and better yet, I let a couple others take all the risk in breaking, allowing me to get both of these for fairly reasonable prices.  The on-card Immaculate version is the real gem so I understood having to pay a premium for it relative to the National Treasures issue when I found the former on COMC, but I'm also glad to report that I scored a nice deal on the latter on eBay (a month ago today, oddly enough):  a bit under $25!  While you might attribute that to the slightly sketchy stickergraph, the several other offerings I've seen on eBay have that attribute in common and still tended to go for something like $10 more than I paid.  Hell, I landed the Immaculate card for just a bit more than that and at least that has an on-card signature.

So I'm over the moon to add two new Larkin autographs to his growing PC with both of them featuring Michigan uni photos.  Thank you, Panini, for making cards geared towards collectors like me, regardless of what the naysayers like to complain about.  What do you say, fellow collectors of Larkin, Wolverines, and college teams in general?

The next post I get to will probably cover pickups (from Sportlots) of another of my baseball PC guys, this time a Detroit Tiger, so watch for that soon!

2015 eBay purchase: the Mechanical Man cuts right to the chase

I've got some stuff from the show I went to this past weekend to show off, but I'm lazy and I've been wanting to show off what's in today's post for a bit anyway.  Ordinarily I'd post these over on TMM but I'd rather a larger audience get to see these, plus they fit in with this blog's theme anyway.  Also, I hadn't posted over here yet this year!

As I said in a couple posts late last year, the certainty of my budget at that point meant I could swing for the fences a bit as 2015 came to a close.  That resulted in beautiful auto pickups of Lou Whitaker and Greg Maddux, but as 2016 neared I still had a pretty nice amount available should I decide to spend it.  I wasn't just gonna throw away money for no reason, though--what I found would have to justify the cost.

And then I found the perfect way to close out my purchases for the year:  this pair of gorgeous cut autos for under $100 together from one seller:

Charlie Gehringer 2005 SP Legendary Cuts Autograph Cuts auto (#76/97)

Charlie Gehringer 2006 SP Legendary Cuts Legendary Signature Cuts auto (#67/76)

Gehringer joins Bill Freehan as part of a small club of players I collect that played for Michigan and the Tigers, and his cards are easily some of the highest-end in my entire collection.  As you can see he has a top-notch signature (they don't make 'em like they used to!), and these cuts done in ballpoint and sharpie really pop.  As with my first Gehringer cut (I now have three!) I was adamant that I wanted something that included some sort of photo, not just one of those lower-end framed index card types.  These two are exactly in my wheelhouse and they're the type of cut that usually gets listed for closer to the amount I paid for both, if not more, so $95 was nothing if not a steal.

We're just a day away from MLB's Hall of Fame class of 2016 announcement, and I'm sure to be celebrating in honor of one of my other PC guys, which will tie in nicely with my show haul, so keep an eye out for that tomorrow!

8/2/15 card show report: something old, something else old, something Ginter, something Blue

There's still a COMC post or two to go but since it's already been more than a week I didn't want to forget to cover my haul from the monthly show I attended last Sunday.  There wasn't a lot going on but I still managed to bring home a nice bunch of cards for myself along with some trade bait for a few of you.  I'd say the best stuff is over at TMM this evening, but these are pretty nice too:

Barry Larkin 1996 Score (#5)

After showing off 36 Larkins the other day I suppose just one is a drop in the bucket, but it's still significant to me, even if it's "just" a base card.  This is one of three in that year's Score entry--another typically strong one from that manufacturer--along with this subset.  Make it 314 of the star SS.

Vida Blue-Gene Tenace 1970 Topps RC

I was flipping through my favorite vintage dealer's discount boxes when I saw this excellent multi-star RC.  Old rookies are generally my favorite type of vintage to pick up, especially the multiplayer versions, and you just can't go wrong with this pair of Oakland greats.  Blue might not be a HOFer but he put up nine great seasons with the A's that included an MVP/Cy Young combo of a season in '71 and rings from 72-74.  Tenace, whose #1 comp is former A's/Tiger Mickey Tettleton, was an above-average catcher for a good chunk of his 15-year career, the first eight of which he spent in Oakland.  He won the same rings Blue did and was even named MVP in the '72 tilt.

Jim Northrup-Ray Oyler 1965 Topps RC

A different seller let this other vintage multiplayer RC go for cheap, and I couldn't say no to this rookie of former Tiger great Jim Northrup.  Jim spent the first ten-plus years of his career with Detroit and won a ring with the '68 team.  Oyler, a very light-hitting SS, was also a contributor to that team.  Another great add to my rookie collection!

Curtis Granderson 2007 Topps Allen and Ginter Autographs auto

Lastly, I managed to add another autograph to my Granderson PC.  I dislike about 98% of what Topps does with Allen and Ginter, but these framed autographs are still fantastic.  And can you believe that I picked up this signature of the former Tigers fan favorite at a show about 20 minutes from downtown Detroit for just $4?  My 85th Granderson is my 6th hit of the current Mets slugger and just my second featuring his signature.

Here's hoping I have this much luck next month!  For now, look out for more COMC pickups soon.

2015 COMC purchase: LOL (lots of Larkins)

Quick mail note:  Three Jeffs and a Tony will be receiving cards from me this week!

Today's COMC post features the player for whom I picked up the most new cards this time, though it was close (as you'll see in a future post).  I present to you, for your Sunday viewing pleasure, lots of Larkins!:

Since that first card is double-sided and includes Cal Ripken Jr., (which you'll see again in an upcoming post) here's the whole thing:

Four pages exactly equals 36 brand spanking new Barry Larkins, and that sets his new total at 313.  Woohoo!  I passed the 300-card mark finally!  Maybe I can even sneak up on Chris at Nachos Grande since he's been doing the A&G thing instead of posting Larkins.  Ok, I'm probably dreaming, but that's not gonna stop me from nabbing fun stuff of the HOF former Wolverines shortstop.

Happy rainbow day!

On a day where millions of Americans are celebrating overturning gay marriage bans in all 50 states--a victory over ignorance, injustice, and the ridiculous use of religion in politics--I thought I'd celebrate in my own way with a rainbow in the best way I know how:  with cards!

Most of you know I'm a big player collector, but most of those players get featured over on TMM since my supercollections outside of Lou Whitaker are all Wolverines, so I don't know how many of you have seen my Completed Nameplates and Rainbows page over there, not that I've added to it in quite a while.

Well, I finally have another rainbow to show off, and it's one I completed way back in October of last year:

These are the nine cards comprising Chris Getz's 2013 Topps Update rainbow (which features one of my favorite all-time Getz photos):

• Base
• Black (#09/62)
• Camo (#15/99)
• Emerald
• Gold (#0771/2013)
• Pink (#30/50)
• Sapphire (#02/25)
• Target Red
• Walmart Blue

It may not exactly be ROYGBIV but I'll take a one-scan rainbow any day!

Once again, congratulations to those who fought so hard for equal rights and above all, a very good cause:  love.

2015 eBay purchase: this Kid is just 'Pee-Chee

It's not every day that I can add something nice to my collection of significant baseball RCs these days, though it's not for lack of trying.  Still, I was finally able to procure a fun new item on eBay last month, one that actually kills two birds with one stone:

Gary Carter 1975 O-Pee-Chee RC

Those who follow TMM, especially this evening's post, know I picked this up mainly for my Leon Roberts collection, which this card actually completes.  But those of you who read this blog will likely be more excited about the guy in the upper-left, and that's certainly reasonable!  Gary Carter's 19-year career, mostly with Montreal and the Mets, justifiably led to his 2003 Hall of Fame enshrinement--11 All-Star appearances, a World Series ring, and some excellent stats put up playing a remarkable 90% of his games behind the plate will do that.  It's nothing but a shame that he died too young to enjoy those accomplishments as long as he should have been able to.

Anyway, this card also completes one of my favorite player trios:  the '75 trifecta of OPC/Topps/Topps Mini, a feat I've now managed five times, hopefully with more to come.  I was able to nab it for a very reasonable $12 delivered on a best offer from a Canadian seller.  This is a card I can now appreciate for many reasons--it's vintage, includes a pair of Tigers, completes my Roberts collection.  But the fact that it's another RC of one of the greatest catchers to play the game is a nice bonus too.

2015 eBay purchase: JV and Charlie

After slogging through a very quiet January in terms of spending I upped my game quite a bit this month with purchases from COMC, eBay, JustCommons, and Sportlots (plus a show), so as it turned out it was very useful having that extra money in the budget.  I was goofing around on eBay one day about a week ago and found a BIN that I knew I was gonna grab.  Before long I was checking out the seller's other stuff for combined shipping (the best invention since blue painter's tape!) and caught another nice card available via BIN.

Ok, that's enough introduction, let's get to the cards:

Justin Verlander 2007 SPx Young Stars Signatures auto

Believe it or not, I'm leading off with this as it's the lesser card of the two!  For about $25--which seems to be roughly the going rate based on a very small sample size--I picked up what becomes my third Justin Verlander autograph ('05 Topps Chrome and '07 UD Black),  It may be a stickergraph but that's actually not terribly noticeable here on a lovely horizontal design with a great pitching action photo.  

Maybe I'm being overly optimistic thinking he could return to something close to his Cy Young form of a few years ago, but I still feel like this is a good time to pick up something like this just in case.  Even if he returns with a subpar year, surprises like another no-hitter or stellar playoff performance could change card values again quickly!  Hell, even if it goes down I'm thrilled to have another signature from my favorite all-time Tigers pitcher.

So really, what could be better than a shiny new autograph of the player after which this blog was named (eventually)?  Try this on for size:

Charlie Gehringer 2007 SP Legendary Cuts Inside the Numbers Cuts auto (#52/60)

Now this, this is the card I grabbed initially; I'd been searching high and low for a Gehringer cut auto that met two requirements:  reasonable price and good-looking.  To this point I had yet to find something that satisfied both, not that HOF cut autos and low prices tend to go hand-in-hand.  I'm more than just satisfied with this one, though, because the cut signature looks great and I'm happy with the design, one that actually includes an image of the player (such a novel concept these days).  I do have one other cut auto in the form of this George Kell, but this one immediately becomes my favorite because of the design plus the fact that old Charlie is a PC double-dipper:  a Michigan Baseball alum who played for the Tigers!

Needless to say I've since cut down on my spending for the rest of the month, but it's pretty obvious that what money I did spend was put to very good use, with another nice autograph of one of my favorite modern players to go along with a sterling cut auto of a HOFer that hits multiple collections.

And now you should stay tuned for a bevy (yes, a bevy) of trade packages as soon as I can get them scanned and ready.

2014 trade package #37: this post is not a SCAMB

I'm showing off what may be my final trade post of 2014, though if that changes I certainly won't complain.  In this case, Braves fan Scott from Sports Cards Ate My Brain contacted me a couple weeks ago to let me know he had a vintage Tiger card he wanted to send me.  I was able to find a similarly vintage Brave for him, and thus a trade was born, and it's my first with Scott, which makes it even cooler.  Here's what he sent:

Dick Kryhoski 1950 Bowman

This is my vintage Tiger, and it doesn't get much more vintage-y than 1950 Bowman!  I believe this is now the oldest card in my vintage PC, so the fact that it's a Tiger is an even bigger bonus.  I didn't know much about Kryhoski, so of course I headed straight for baseball-reference.  He was a Yankees signee (no draft in those days) that was traded to Detroit in 1949.  The 1B was with the Tigers for two of his seven seasons, then swapped to the St. Louis Browns in a deal that brought fellow vintage collection member Cliff Mapes ('52 Bowman) to the Motor City.  He was then sent back to the Yanks in the 1954 deal that led to Don Larsen being in pinstripes; well, Larsen HAD led the league in losses with 21 (with just three wins) that year.

So now I know more about another former Tiger and can add a great, old card to my collection!

Scott threw in a few other cards including

Ripkens!  Four to be exact.  The UD card notes that "Hector Carrasco becomes answer to trivia question" as he was the pitcher that allowed Cal's 3000th hit on April 15, 2000.  Nice group of cards for sure.

Finally, Scott made this a special trade package by including a pair of legendary Wolverines:  Tom Harmon, who won the 1940 Heisman, and Bo Schembechler, Michigan's ubiquitous coach.  Harmon comes from a set honoring Heisman-winners while Bo, of course, hails from 2013 Panini Golden Age, which included several different sports.

Thanks, Scott, for a fantastic trade, and I'm looking forward to doing more dealing next year!  Readers, enjoy the controlled chaos that is Sports Cards Ate My Brain tonight.

2014 COMC purchase: Motown Mechanics

I do have one other COMC card to show off over here, though it also features in tonight's post over on TMM.  Since not many of you necessarily read both of my blogs, I thought I'd give it its own spotlight over here:

Charlie Gehringer 2004 Sweet Spot Classic Patch 300 manupatch (#216/300)

This sweet Gehringer manupatch is from 2004 Sweet Spot, and it proves UD was making some solid manufactured relics before Topps started up their own offerings.  COMC has another version that's a bit rarer and replaces the hat logo with a patch commemorating the '34 World Series.  I have a Frank Robinson patch similar to the Gehringer above, plus a Walter Johnson '24 Series patch along the lines of what I linked to above.  All of them look great and you really can't go wrong with the set.

As it's my first "hit" of the Mechanical Man, it mark's Charlie's first appearance in my Tigers PC, and it's a nice new addition to my PC of the HOF 2B, which stands at 22 cards right now.  Hopefully I'll have something even nicer of his to show off before long.

2014 trade package #27: a trade as American as Home Run Apple pie

Keith from the Home Run Apple emailed me recently to check on the possibility of a trade, and not long after, he and I agreed to our first deal.  The Mets/WVU collector was very easy to work with, and I was glad to see he enjoyed the stuff I sent his way.  In return I received a great package as well:

Kicking things off is a trio of Super Bowl-winning Wolverines.  I always love trading with fellow college team collectors because they're more likely to be willing to find cards of your team.

Next up is a nice bunch of Tigers inserts.  First we have an Al Kaline from 2013 Triple Threads' Amethyst parallel set; I don't believe I have anything of Al from previous Triple Threads sets, so that's pretty cool.  Next is a pair of Verlander inserts from a couple somewhat recent Topps products, and I went ahead and scanned those for Justin's PC, which now has more than 50 cards in the album.  After those comes a great Topps Gold parallel of OF Andy Dirks doing some wall-climbing.  Among the rest, a GQ Miggy mini is the only card of a current player, and that's bookended by the Prince of back pain and another mini of the guy that came to the Tigers with Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis.  Rounding things out is a trio of Topps Emerald parallels.

And then there's the card Keith originally offered me to kick off the deal:

Justin Verlander 2013 Topps Heritage jersey

Hooray for more Verlanders!  There can never be too many, after all.  This Heritage relic from last year is a good example of how a solid design can overcome something like a single-color swatch.  Topps has come up with some pretty good Heritage designs and I count this card among them.  It's my seventh relic of the Tigers' former ace, and 12th hit overall.

Thanks again for a fantastic first deal, Keith, and I'll be more than happy to work with you again in the future.  For those of you who haven't traded with the man in charge of the Home Run Apple, know that he's now TMV approved!

2014 trade package #14: My Legendary Mistress

Easily one of the coolest banners you'll ever see

It was in November of 2013 that I last received a trade package from Adam of My Cardboard Mistress, but fortunately for me, the legendary Spankee decided to do something about that, and now I've got another great one to show off!

Leading off (baseball pun!) is this pair of 2013 A&Gs of two-time former Tiger Omar Infante.  The base card is actually an SP, which makes it a nice get, and the Mini is a mini and is therefore automatically cool.  These are actually the only baseball cards in the bunch...

Because the main draw was a complete set of 2011 UD College Football Legends!  This beautiful set calls back to the design of the extremely popular set of the same name that came out in 1997, and that ended up being a great choice.  The design is gorgeous, featuring action-packed color AND black-and-white photos atop a cool but simple bottom border that includes the player name and a small cropped version of the main photo.  As the name implies, all cards feature players in their college unis.

Adam busted more than a case of this late last year and remembered that I expressed interest in picking up a set from him.

I'm thrilled to pick it up, and really only have two complaints.  For one thing, where are all the Wolverines?!  Just one is represented.  And secondly, why bother including a group of 2011 rookies when you could have had room for more legends?  Not EVERY set has to include rookies.  Those small gripes aside, this is a beautiful set chock full of college stars, and I'm proudly adding it to my football collection.  Here's a look at the full set, with captions because the names are tough to read since the cards aren't the easiest in the world to scan:

Keith Jackson, Tommy McDonald, Willie Buchanon, Ron Yary, Tony Casillas, Steve Young, Jason White, Daryl Johnston, Troy Aikman

Raghib Ismail, Bubba Smith, Roman Gabriel, Bob Griese, Alan Page, Mike Alstott, Craig Morton, Bo Jackson, John Elway

Paul Hornung, Greg Pruitt, Jerry Rice, Lee Roy Selmon, George Rogers, Lee Roy Jordan, Doug Flutie, Tim Brown, Barry Sanders

Jim Kelly, Kellen Winslow Sr., Bernie Kosar, John Cappelletti, Roger Craig, Rocky Bleier, Floyd Little, Brian Bosworth, Charles White

Earl Campbell, Mike Singletary, Thurman Thomas, Eddie George, Danny Wuerffel, Billy Cannon, Rod Woodson, Dave Casper, Ozzie Newsome

Archie Griffin, Andre Rison, Chris Spielman, Antonio Freeman, Tony Mandarich, Daryle Lamonica, Herman Moore, Cris Carter, Dwight Stephenson

Ken Stabler, Gary Beban, Gino Torretta, Ron Dayne, Andre Ware, Eric Metcalf, Steve Owens, Jim Plunkett, Ty Detmer

Herschel Walker, Todd Marinovich, Warren Moon, Gale Sayers, William Perry, Dan Marino, Tom Rathman, Joe Theismann, Billy Sims

Jim McMahon, Johnny Rodgers, Tony Dorsett, Adrian Peterson, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, Steven Jackson, Jake Locker, Pat Devlin

Christian Ponder, Colin Kaepernick, Prince Amukamara, DeMarco Murray, Kendall Hunter, Noel Devine, Daniel Thomas, Greg Little, Leonard Hankerson

Ronald Johnson, Titus Young, Blaine Gabbert, Cam Newton, Ryan Mallett, Andy Dalton, Mark Ingram, A.J. Green, Julio Jones

And the 100th card (actually #58) of your lone Wolverine in the set, Anthony Carter:

And as usual, while I'm at it, for completeness here's a back from Aaron Rodgers' card:

And amazingly that's not all!  Head over to TMM to see the Wolverine portion of this package as well.

Thanks as always for a fun-filled envelope, Adam!  Maybe you'll get a Hokie-filled package in return before much longer, who knows?  Readers, head over to My Cardboard Mistress for some great blogging, and don't forget to