2021 trade package #7: My Cardboard Mistress

It's definitely nice that a hobby is something you can do at your own pace. I spend a decent amount of "card time" on a weekly basis but don't get the urge to blog much, so I write up the occasional post whenever I feel like it.

Adam ("Spankee"!) who blogs at My Cardboard Mistress seems to have the same philosophy, or at least found himself pulled in other directions enough that he posted once each year in 2019 and 2020 and has gotten one up this year. There's definitely nothing wrong with taking a hiatus from collecting and/or blogging, no matter the reason, because you can always get back into it if you feel like it.

That said, it's great to have him back, even if it's only temporary. Adam was one of my favorite trading buddies a few years ago because he's another guy that likes to collect baseball plus a college team (go Hokies!), and recently he surprised me by letting me know some cards were on their way to me from him. As I opened them it felt like no time had passed at all, other than the years of the cards being much more recent:

Sometimes I get annoyed when a manufacturer uses the same basic look in product after product, but I guess there's also something to be said for "Awww, this is a doub--wait, no, this is from the Holiday set, not flagship!" So hell yeah to a new Granderson, even as I look forward to the coming months when we'll hopefully be free of snow!

Everything else was football which is great since you know I love me some Wolverines. Mr. Brady here was the most well represented with six total cards, two of which are college shots. Nice! 

Tom's Rookie Debut was a 1/3 for six yards cameo in relief (I'm assuming) of Drew Bledsoe in a 34-9 loss to the Gary Moeller-coached Lions. How have things gone for both franchises since then, anyway? 2010 Sweet Spot was a fun product because the base set was college-oriented and looked great, plus you could pull those sweet signed manuhelmet cards. Contenders' ticket motif is pretty much always a hit with me, like that 2018 version. The Elite Primary Colors insert is definitely one of the coolest cards of the package, with many of the front elements raised a bit, and numbering /299 on the back to boot! "Hero" is definitely an apt word to describe the GOAT's on-field performance, and that holofoil Playoff insert looks sweet. And finally, TB10 is a staple in Panini's college products that include past players, and I'll take any of them that I can get.

The non-Brady items were just as nice. Two of my absolute favorites in Henne and Manningham join Brady out of 2010 Sweet Spot despite the set being released two years after they were rookies, and those look awesome as well. Big Mo Hurst is still trucking along with the Raiders after a questionable medical diagnosis made him fall to the fifth round. Adam provided looks at him in Maize and Blue and with the team that drafted him, the latter in the form of a really nice 2018 Contenders auto RC! That's just my third auto (and hit of any kind) of the big man, and I really appreciate my fellow college collector for including it here. And last up we have another UM favorite in Denard Robinson on a Rookies & Stars Crusade insert from his 2013 rookie year. It's a great reminder of one of Donruss's coolest, shiniest inserts from its heyday.

Adam, thanks again for this fun trade package! It looks like it's the first time we've swapped cards since 2015, and no matter how long the wait it's nice to be able to do it again. Hopefully when things get closer to normal I can put together another pile for you, but in the meantime please enjoy the envelope I just sent your way in return!

2015 trade package #21: a HOF package from My Cardboard Mistress

Adam from My Cardboard Mistress and I don't seem to trade quite as often as we used to, but that's ok because when we do, we make it count!  Exhibit "A":  the last time he sent me a package it included an entire set of 2001 UD College Legends football, which is just a top-notch set for collectors like both of us.

The man they call Spankee was at it again recently, sending me another great envelope filled with Tigers and Wolverines.  Here's the damage:

We'll lead off with Miguel Cabrera--yeah, that does sound weird, but with the way Brad Ausmus has been managing this season, stranger things could happen.  Anyway, Adam gifted me four nice inserts of the future HOFer, including a pair of Refractors sandwiching one of Panini's beautiful acetate cards which I can't get enough of, and finally a Topps Green parallel.  In the center square is HOFer Ty Co--
DID SOMEBODY SAY "SANDWICH"?
Oh hi, Prince Fielder.
I'M PRETTY SURE I HEARD THE WORD "SANDWICH."
Yeah, my bad, I was using it as a verb, not a noun.
SO NO SANDWICH?
Nope, not this time.
*Prince Fielder glares at me and then waddles away to wash himself with a rag on a stick*

Ok, so that was a weird interruption, but yeah, Prince made it into the package, which was mighty generous of Adam because those three cards probably added about $10 worth of postage.

Leading off in this scan is a guy who did occupy the top spot in Detroit's lineup for a while:  former blog namesake Curtis Granderson, in the form of a pair of inserts.  Next to him is a Panini parallel of HOFer (see the theme I've got going here?) of Tiger great Harry Heilmann, a 1952 honoree.  Below them is a pair of AJax inserts, highlighted by a 2013 Black Refractor numbered 001/100; nice find, Spankee!  Al Kaline, who put the OF in HOF, is next up with a couple inserts, and next to his Tall Boy is a Mini of fun-to-watch 2B Ian Kinsler.

All in all some really nice cards, but they can't help be overshadowed a bit by another (future) HOFer in one of the more oddbally forms I've seen recently:

Appropriately enough for representing Detroit, a Pudge Upper Deck issue (possibly custom-made for this product) is paired with a mini Ford F-150 in this UD venture from 2007.  It looks like other teams were available as were various vehicle models including a Ford Mustang and Peterbilt tractor/trailers.  Definitely a fun item to add to my oddball stuff!

Thanks for taking the time once again to send some stuff my way, Adam!  I have a few things set aside for you and will likely ship them your way soon.

Readers, please also make sure to head over to TMM tonight to see the rest of the package Adam sent me.  Also, never forget to

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

2013 trade package #30: MCMmmm mmmm good

As many of you already know, Adam of My Cardboard Mistress is back in the game, and he was nice enough to send me a pretty sweet trade package recently, which I'm finally getting around to showing after having to get over a lack of desire to go through the hassle of scanning stuff (I call it scannertia).  I owe it to great traders like Adam (and others, posts pending!) to put in the effort if they're willing to go to the trouble of sending me stuff, right?  RIGHT!

Here's the TMV half of what Adam sent (and as always you can catch the rest on TMM this evening):

12 base cards from 2013 Score football.  We're both working on the set (and I just sent Adam a bunch for his), and out of these I still needed 10, which knocked out more than a quarter of the 39 I had left:

Before:
2013 Score:  2 13 15 21 28 43 49 60 72 87 97 99 107 109 112 114 129 146 148 150 154 175 184 193 200 206 212 214 226 233 254 264 268 274 278 281 291 302 330

After:
2013 Score:  2 13 15 21 49 60 72 87 99 107 109 112 114 129 148 150 154 193 200 206 212 214 226 233 254 264 278 291 302 330

That's one case where shrinkage is a plus!  He also threw this in:

Laugh it up, Spankee, the Motor City Felons are in first place somehow!

Ok, back to sports that matter in Detroit:

This is a pretty good quartet of Tigers.  I hope Detroit holds onto Porcello and he turns into a good #3 or 4 starter.  Sandwiched between his cards are a guy who's no stranger to sandwiches, 2013 playoffs LVP Prince Fielder, and a guy who's earned all the sandwiches he can eat, probable 2013 AL MVP Miguel Cabrera.  Adam would have sent a Fielder mini but he wouldn't have fit on a card that small, though his ALCS stats would.

And then there was THIS surprise:

Cecil Fielder 2013 Topps Allen and Ginter Framed Mini Relics bat

Very cool, my first hit of Big Daddy!  I'm glad it's a bat, as that's what he'll always be remembered for in Detroit.  I still remember being a young Tigers fan the year he clubbed a pair of homers on the final day of the season to eclipse 50.

Oh yeah, and this popped out too:

Barry Larkin 2002 Upper Deck Championship Caliber Swatch jersey

Nice!  It's a Barry Larkin relic I didn't have.  I'm always happy to add anything of his, hit or not, so this one, my 13th hit of the HOFer, is very much appreciated.

Thanks again for the trade, Adam, let's do it again soon!  Readers, head on back to My Cardboard Mistress to get caught up on Spankee's catching up posts.

2013 purchases #1: 2008 Score football value packs (x2)

I was at Meijer yesterday for the usual reasons, and as always I stopped by the card aisle, though I rarely purchase anything there anymore due to the relative futility of pulling anything good from retail packs, and mainly because I was resolved not to repeat my mistake of excessive retail spending from last year.

These two discounted fat packs of 2008 Score football caught my eye, though, and I figured for less than six bucks I could have fun ripping a couple value packs of a set that included my favorite ever NFL draft class.  It also didn't hurt that each pack comes with 52 cards, making those a nice value even at their original $3.99 cost.

Score has traditionally been and continues to be a low-end set targeted towards younger collectors--a not-so-crappy version of Topps Opening Day, if you will.  That explains the low price despite the huge number of cards per pack, plus the simple base set and inserts.


Speaking of the base set, here's what they look like, front and back:

It's a nice enough looking set that I think anyone can enjoy, and the card backs are better than some of Score's other versions, including a reasonable amount of stats and a quick blurb.

I pulled a few doubles, but I didn't really care because I wasn't picking these up for set-building--there's 440 cards in the set, including 110 rookies, which aren't so abundant in packs.  In fact, even in these value packs, you only get four at a time, meaning I ended up with eight:

These would be a pain in the ass to compile via wax, especially considering the ridiculous number of doubles you'd incur.  The design of these, though, with the simple addition of a "rookie" indicator along with pretty good photography, is reasonable enough.

While I'm still discussing the base set, I'll take a page out of Spankee's book and attempt to predict the Super Bowl tomorrow based on the number of Ravens and Niners in these two packs:

Yep, that was it, except for a pair of inserts you'll see in a minute, one of each team.  I sure hope this pack proves to be wrong!

Speaking if inserts, I pulled a total of 12, what essentially amounted to six one-per-pack inserts in each:

Bruschi is numbered 391/400 and Wayne is 273/400.  The Anderson is a Scorecard version #d 753/999.  You only see one of the stickers, called "Donruss Decals," because you'll see the other in a minute.  Those tattoos represent the other Super Bowl entrants in my packs, and I literally laughed out loud when I pulled one of each.

Speaking of the Derek Anderson, I also laughed my ass off when I read the back of the card:  "The Browns have a unique situation with two potentially elite starting quarterbacks in Brady Quinn and Anderson."  That could only have been written by a Notre Dame homer since anyone with a brain knew Quinn hasn't been "elite" for a single day of his life.  Also, try to say "Derek Anderson" and "elite" in the same sentence while maintaining a straight face, I dare you!

The last of the inserts.  The Carlson and Stokley are the Glossy parallel, one of the kinds I consider to be extremely useless and wasteful, but whatever.

Finally, I managed to pull six Wolverines from these packs, which was pretty exciting for me:

Yep, my other sticker was a Henne, which I thought was pretty cool, though the only place I'm gonna stick him is with the rest of his cards in my Michigan PC.  Not a bad group at all!

So I had fun busting a couple packs for less than $6 and got a few keepers in the process.  The rest of the stuff will go towards trades, but for now, not likely by request as I'll probably be including it in current and future trade packages (plus I don't feel like listing out everything I pulled).  If you do have a set wantlist for these, though, please feel free to send it my way.

And now we wait and see how long I go without giving in to the temptation of retail packs again!

Holiday trade package #5: My Cardboard Mistress

My last trade package of 2012 (not chronologically, necessarily--I kind of did these randomly) came from Spankee, a.k.a. Adam, of My Cardboard Mistress.  Adam's an outstanding blogger and a guy I've traded with many times already, mainly due to the fact that we both collect cards of our fellow alumni, as well as Justin Verlander.

Adam actually didn't claim anything from my fall cleaning lots like just about everyone else in these posts, but that's because I had already sent him pretty much all I had of his guys...at least at that time.  Adam--I have a nice stack of stuff for you that'll be heading your way as soon as I have some nicer hits to throw in as well, but for now, rest assured it's stuffed with a bunch of 2012 Topps football you need!

Here's what Adam sent my way this time, in what was easily the largest package of the five Holiday trade packages (and these are only the highlights--there was lots more to enjoy!):

Five many Verlanders!  I think at least a couple of these are new to me, and I'll have a better idea once I get on scanning my JV PC.  New Tiger Prince Fielder also joined in the fun this time.

Shop smart:  Shop V-Mart.  I think all four of this Martinezes are new, and better yet, all feature him as a member of the Tigers.  I sure hope he actually gets to, you know, PLAY for the Tigers this year.  Joining him are five minor league cards of Tigers prospects, including playoff star Avisail Garcia.  Both Topps minors sets look pretty cool, and if they included more of the guys I collected I'd probably chase at least one of them.

A bit of Tigers randomness.  Avila, of course, is the current Tigers catcher and a guy I hope sticks around for years.  The UD Cobb is definitely new to my PC and serial numbered, which is even better.  And the Kaline mini is awesome--I've been fortunate to pick up a few new Kalines thanks to these trade packages.

SWEET!  TWO many Grandersons!  I'm pretty sure there were multiples of each of those cards, as well as the other guy in this scan, Cabrera, which makes me assume Adam nabbed some of these in group breaks.  The Cabreras are all nice adds to my PC of him for sure.

For some reason I simply have a ton of Magglios, but I don't think I had more than one or two of these, and he's a fun guy to collect either way.  Though he played a good chunk of his career with the White Sox, I think I'll always associate him more with Detroit.  I believe the trio of Jacksons are all new as well, and I might not have had the Morris either.  A trio of excellent Tigers for sure.

And now, the outstanding hit portion of the package:

Chris Shelton 2006 Artifacts Auto-Facts Signatures auto (#726/750)

I laughed as soon as I saw this one because I also got one from Screaming Line Drive.  This is obviously a ploy to get me to rename my blog "Too Many Chris Shelton Auto-Facts Signatures" so more people will send Adam their Verlanders, but it's not gonna work, o illegitimate son of Jefferson Burdick.  Nice try, but this is heading over to the baseball trade bait album posthaste. 

Cameron Maybin 2007 Bowman Draft Future's Game Prospects jersey

And why shouldn't I have a hit of one of the Tigers' better first-rounders of the last decade, even if he's no longer with the team?  Maybin's largest contribution to the Tigers was being a part of the package that brought Miguel Cabrera to Detroit, but all the same, he's been a solid Major League contributor, especially due to his speed.  I also happen to like the Future's Game jersey cards, so this was easily a win-win.

Curtis Granderson 2009 Upper Deck X Memorabilia jersey

People still remember that I collect Granderson?!  Seriously, this jumps to the top of the heap (a small heap, I suppose) of Grandy relics I own thanks to the pinstriped swatch and spiffy design that incorporates the team's colors.  All told, it's my fourth relic of the former face of the Tigers.

 Magglio Ordonez 2009 Upper Deck Spectrum Spectrum Swatches Blue jersey

This purdy jersey becomes my surprising sixth relic of the former Tigers OF and batting champ.  Magglio is a guy I don't necessarily seek out, but I'm always happy to add new stuff of him to my PC, and as I mentioned, I somehow have a ton of his stuff.  Well, if you guys wanna send me more, then bring 'em on and I'll take them!

Miguel Cabrera 2012 Topps Update Blockbusters Commemorative Hat Logo manupatch

Well now, HERE's something I didn't expect, especially with all the other nice stuff this package included.  I never had any intent to purchase any of the Tigers from this set, but I did think it was actually a fairly cool concept among Topps' many hits and misses on the manurelic front.  It's simply cool to get a normal looking team logo that looks like it belongs on a hat in a manufactured relic card, not to mention one that focuses on star players changing teams.  So this was definitely way more than I expected when I was flipping through everything in the package.  Then again, raise your hand if you're traded with Adam before and he HASN'T gone above and beyond.  Anybody?  Didn't think so.

Thanks once again to Adam for a ridiculous trade package to close out another great year of collecting!  I promise you'll have some stuff you like in your mailbox before too much longer.  And as I mentioned yesterday, congrats again to your Hokies on their bowl win the other day--it was easier to pull for them when they weren't playing my favorite team ever.

To everyone else reading, you're probably already following My Cardboard Mistress, so consider this post a reminder to head over there again soon.  Otherwise, crawl out from under your rock and start following today.  COLLECT.