2015 trade package #19: 2x3 Heroes sends 2 sports x 3 Nicks

It's been almost a month since I last posted a trade package from Jeff over at 2x3 Heroes, but in reality the amount of time between when that envelope arrived and I received another great PWE from the master of envelopes of the plain and white variety was actually much less than that.

I'll stick to my previous statement that Jeff is a classy guy because this time he sent me cards of not one but two of his teams' rivals:  the Wings and the Tigers:

First up is one of those cool Fire Die-Cuts from 2014 Bowman Chrome, and it's 3B Nick Castellanos, whose hitting has improved a bit in the last few weeks.  I'm a little confused that these look more like tidal waves in shape than fire, but the overall concept is fun.

Next up is a '93 UD card of "Top Prospect" P Rick Greene.  I avidly followed the Tigers in the 90s, awful teams and all, and I remember some of the guys who were potential blue chips like Tony Clark and Justin Thompson, but I definitely don't remember Greene, so I looked him up.  I was surprised to find that he was Detroit's first-rounder in '92 but not surprised that he appeared in literally one MLB game, with the Reds in 1999.  The Tigers took him ahead of guys like Shannon Stewart, Rick Helling, Jason Kendall, and Charles Johnson.  Oh, and some guy named Johnny Damon.  Hello, "1990s Tigers SUCKED" tag.

Lastly we have a 2010 Bowman Chrome rookie-or-not of former RP Brayan Villareal, who had a pretty solid 2012 before being flipped to Boston in the trade I mentioned again yesterday that brought Jose Iglesias to the Motor City.

Justin Verlander 2012 Triple Play (#291)

The other baseball entry today is this kid-friendly Panini Triple Play subset card of blog namesake Justin Verlander.  I believe I have his other base card from that set but I'll have to dig around to take a look.

Moving closer to the Detroit River here's the bulk of the Red Wings portion, which includes puck wizard Pavel Datsyuk, D-man Niklas Kronwall (Nick #2!), legendary Red Wing Nick Lidstrom (Nick #3!) and Jan Mursak, a Slovenian winger currently in the KHL.  Then there's a gorgeous Zenith Mozaics insert (remember the awesome baseball versions back in '96?) featuring young star Tomas Tatar, Lidstrom, and star forward Henrik Zetterberg.  I really love the design Panini used here in addition to the nostalgia factor.

Niklas Kronwall 2013-14 Black Diamond Dual Jerseys dual jersey

Oh yeah, and there was also this sweet dual jersey hit of Kronwall (too many Nicks!) to add to my Wings PC.  The thumping defenseman can now claim three entries in that group thanks to this six-piece relic and a solo autograph.  A nice surprise hit to be sure!

Once again Jeff, I thank you for your generosity and promise you that a package will be headed back your way once I find enough good stuff of the Hawks and Sox.  Until then, GO TIGERS CUBS!

2014 trade package #32: 2x3 Heroes in: 'PWE Are the Champions'

A surprise PWE showed up in my mailbox last week, but now that you know it was a PWE you probably won't be surprised by the sender--Jeff of 2x3 Heroes.  I had notified him of my interest in one of his recent pulls so I guess I should have known better that he'd shoot it my way!  Jeff's Blechhawks Blackhawks have won two Cups since the Red Wings last won a championship in 2008, though Detroit does hold an 11-to-5 edge in overall titles.  We probably both at least agree that the Original Six teams are the best, so there's that.  Anyway, here's what was in this PWE:

Here's a Hockeytown quartet, starting with a pair of Wings from 2008-09 OPC:  star forward Pavel Datsyuk and fearless net presence Tomas Holmstrom (who retired after the 2011-12 season).  Those are followed up by Pavel's fellow star Henrik Zetterberg plus a Brett Hull Immortals subset card (#d to 999) out of 2012-13 Certified.  The superlative Hull won a Cup with the 2001-02 Wings.

And now for the card I originally asked for:

Niklas Kronwall 2008-09 Upper Deck Champ's Mini Signatures auto

Mini auto!  Kronwall, a standout defenseman, was Detroit's first-rounder back in 2000, and has been good enough to merit a seven-year contract inked a couple years ago.  Needless to say this is my first hit of him in my tiny Wings collection, so I humbly thank Jeff for it (and for possibly not spitting on it when he pulled it).

Oh yeah, there was one other card in the envelope:

This is a Chris Getz 2010 Topps Peak Performance auto that I've had for a while, and apparently he wasn't able to offload this copy to anyone else who collects White Sox (though why anybody would want to do that is beyond me).  I'm fine keeping a second copy with Getz's PC if nobody else can use it since there's no such thing as too many Wolverines!

Thanks as always for the fun surprise, Jeff.  With some COMC specials to be taken advantage of later this month I promise I'll come up with an interesting return package in just a few weeks.  Readers, please make sure you're following the professor of PWEs at 2x3 Heroes.