2015 trade package #1: Nomo's Sushi Platter rings in the new year

It's a new year and that means it's time to reset the counter on my trade package posts!  Number one from 2015 comes from Spiegel at Nomo's Sushi Platter.  I sent him some Christmas cards last month because he'd sent me a package last March, and then he decided to return the favor.  This is another two-part trade post with the other half of the package viewable at TMM, so don't forget to check those out too.  Here's what Michael sent me this month:

How about some Tigers?  Cabrera, Holaday, and Price are the current Detroiters here while Fielder and Granderson highlight the group of former players.  The Price may be my first of him with the Tigers, though I may have already said that recently!

More Tigers!  Pudge, a pair of (soon-to-be-former Tiger?) Scherzer, and Whitaker are the best of the bunch.  That's definitely one of my favorite Whitaker base cards as it's from later in his career but still shows his enthusiasm for the game.

He also included a pair of other guys I like to collect in Griffey, who should be in next year's Hall of Fame class, and Maddux, who's of course already in.  I may just have to make the trek next year to see Junior's induction, and if I do go I can get a shot of Mad Dog's plaque as well.

There were a couple nice hits as well:

Clete Thomas 2008 SP Authentic auto RC (#600/850)

Clete appeared in parts of three seasons with the Tigers and was most recently in the Majors with the Twins in 2013.  I really like that year's autograph design with the cool window for a signature as it's a definite upgrade over a sticker.

Carlos Guillen 2009 Upper Deck Icons jersey

Would you believe this is my first hit of Guillen in the Tigers collection (or at all)?  I'm not sure how I went this long without one, so I'm grateful to Spiegel for sending this my way.

Thanks again for a great first trade package of the year, Michael!  I promise to find some new stuff to send your way before much longer.

2014 trade package #9: O'Nomo's Sushi Platter sends a lucky package

I'm back for a St. Patrick's Day trade post!  You know, for a guy whose middle name is Patrick, I sure do have an aversion to the color green.  Now the blue in the above banner, on the other hand....

Anyway, today's package comes all the way from the left coast courtesy of Spiegel, author of Nomo's Sushi Platter.  The Nomo (and more!) collector took me up on my buy-on-COMC-trade-to-you offer and I sent him, among other things, a nice Nomo insert (surprise!).  I don't recall Spiegel promising anything specific, which ended up making this deal even more fun.  Here's what he sent my way:

Nice!  A trio of Cabreras followed by a triplet of former rookie sensation Matt Nokes, whose magical '87 season was overshadowed by McGwire.  Lastly, former prominent Tigers Jack Morris and Magglio Ordonez, plus current cheek-puffer Anibal Sanchez round out the group.

A pair of Trammells and a Whitaker make this a classy trade package indeed--I especially like the Leaf duo of the double-play combo.  How great is the shot of Tram turning two with Kirby sliding right at him?  Bookending some former Tigers (sadly including Tui) is a trio of multiplayer prospect cards that document how poorly the team drafted in the late 90s/early 2000s (aside from Kapler, who was ok...for OTHER teams).

Spiegel also made sure to hit a few of my favorite non-Tigers, including Griffey,

Maddux (BOOOOOO ROGER CLEMENS), and

Cal, with an outstanding fielding shot and another matchup with Jeter, though there's worse players with whom to be associated, no?

Finally, he included four cards for my Michigan Baseball PCs:

Jim Abbott 1994 Leaf

Jim Abbott 1995 Topps Cyberstats

Drew Henson 2002 Fleer Authentix

Barry Larkin 1994 Triple Play

The two Abbotts bump his total up to 66, Henson jumps to 23, and Larkin sits pretty at 207.  I love getting these guys in trade, even in simple base or insert form, so please take a page out of Spiegel's book and send me some more!

Thanks again for the great deal, Mr. S.  Rest assured I'll keep my eye out for some new Nomos and the like so we can trade again before long.  Everyone else should get to following a fantastic blog (if they aren't) in the form of Nomo's Sushi Platter!

Happy outgoing mail Friday!

I'm just back from the post office taking care of shipping four trade packages I've been dragging my feet on or just couldn't send until today:

None are surprises, so I'll reveal their eventual destinations right away (click the banners to go to each blog):

This is a newer blog run by Pirates/WVU Mountaineers fan Matt, so check it out!

Brad recently traded me a beautiful Drew Smyly Refractor auto along with a bunch of Tigers, and since my COMC package arrived today, I'm finally able to respond in kind, so keep your eye out for a trade post from him soon!

GCRL promised me a pretty exciting vintage card, among other stuff, for a few specific COMC wants, so I look forward to seeing how that return turns out.

Spiegel asked for--surprise--a Hideo Nomo insert on COMC, and I was happy to oblige and make that part of a trade package headed to his coast.  I don't know what he has planned for me, but everyone knows he's great to trade with so I can't wait!

You guys should all hopefully see your packages by Tuesday.  Sorry to those of you I made wait this long, and thanks again for making trades with me and making the blogging experience that much better!

Holiday trade package #2: Nomo's Sushi Platter

Today's post features a trade package from another blogger I'd somehow failed to deal with up til now:  Spiegel of Nomo's Sushi Platter.  He grabbed one of my more random baseball fall cleaning lots, then was nice enough to send a way better package back to me, meaning I now owe him some great stuff!  Here's what was in that package:

Tigers standouts, past and present.  The Verlander Triple Play sticker is one I especially appreciate because I wasn't going to be buying any of that product, but I'm always happy to land a new JV.  My next favorite is the Cabrera Gold (still my favorite non-Chrome Topps parallel), and then the Jackson mini, as I'm growing a nice collection of AJax stuff.  The Sanchez Tigers card is nice to have, though, now that I know he'll be around for at least a few more years.

Vintage Tigers!  The Fleer card commemorating '84's two perfectos and a no-no is especially cool, and all that pitching dominance brings to mind recent seasons, no?  A new Ripken and Griffey for those PCs rounds out the base card portion (which also included a few other former Tigers).  And then I found THIS thing in the package:

Mickey Lolich 2001 Topps Team Topps Legends auto

Well THAT was certainly out of the blue!  That's my first Lolich auto and I love that it's on one of Topps' nice reprint sets (you know, before they really jumped the shark with the concept).  This Team Topps Legends card is a reprint of his 1964 Topps RC, which arrived just a few years before he helped the Tigers win the 1968 World Series.  In that matchup, he homered and started three of the Series' seven games, winning all of them, including the deciding game seven against legend Bob Gibson.  He finished his Tigers career with more than 200 wins and will always be remembered as a Tigers great.  This is just a fantastic addition to my Tigers PC and was totally unexpected considering what I sent to Spiegel.

Thanks again for an awesome trade package, Spiegel!  Rest assured I'll get you back with something just as good.  Everyone else who's not already doing so had better head over to Nomo's Sushi Platter after you're done reading this, otherwise you're all dead to me.

COMC haul #5: a Griffey kind of glove

(Note:  all COMC haul posts can be accessed here)

Before I get on with today's post, I want to make a quick COMC-related plug.  As some of you may already know, awesome blogger Derek from Tomahawk Chopping decided to throw some stuff up on that site, and as a reminder, you can find his port here.

Well, on a related note, his fellow awesome blogger, Spiegel of Nomo's Sushi Platter, decided to do the same, so make sure to show him some COMC-style love and hit up his port that can be found right here.  And, you know, check out both of their blogs because they're great.

Meow, onto MY COMC pickup of the day.  The Tigers do play game 2 tonight, but considering how last night went, I'm gonna take a one-day break from Tigers cards and post something else I picked up that I thought was pretty awesome:

Ken Griffey Jr 2001 Upper Deck Gold Glove Slugger's Choice batting glove

For a mere pittance of $5, I picked up a sweet batting glove relic of one of my favorite players of all time.  I have to say that Junior Griffey had the best swing of any player who's played during my lifetime; I constantly find myself imitating it whenever I'm in a batting situation.  Because of that, I think it's pretty cool that I can say I now have nice relics of both his batting gloves and bat.  I can work on other relics at some other point, but I'm definitely satisfied with this pair at the moment.

Although he never did win a ring (or, you know, play in a World Series at all), I'm hoping posting a non-Tiger like Griffey brings my Tigers better luck (DAMN YOU, THIRD BASE) in game 2!