2024 trade package #22: Sport Card Collectors

For whatever reason my mailbox remained trade package-free for the month of October, but that was fine since November and December brought a nice uptick in envelopes.

I believe the first ones in November were three PWEs from my buddy Matt at Sport Card Collectors/Cards Over Coffee. I usually group those envelopes into one post, so I'm counting this as the fourth time he's sent stuff my way this year, and 40th overall. Hooray milestones! Anyway, those really add up and they're fun to tear into.

This time I thought I'd scan the contents of each separately, so I have three images of six cards. Here's what they contained:

#1 starts with a shiny Miggy, which takes some of the sting out of the overused '89 Topps design, as does the fact that Cabrera was an amazing Tigers legend to watch for 16 years in Detroit. Kelly was a solid late-season '23 FA signing who turned into a flip candidate at the trade deadline this year. Tork's roster spot is in on life support with the signing of Gleyber Torres and others potentially in the works, but I'll keep collecting him while he's around. Verlander features on another card using the '89 design, but I can never have too many cards of him. And OF/3B Matt Vierling shines through on a very cool '24 Topps parallel.

All-Star OF Riley Greene, who enjoyed a career year this past season, starts off the second group with a Topps Chrome version of the Stars of the MLB insert. Ibanez (Topps Rainbow Foil) was a capable fill-in at multiple infield spots over the past couple years, though I wouldn't be surprised to see him squeezed off the roster if the team actually puts resources into improving. I love me some shots of #1 PC guy Ripken playing in the field, and though this one didn't scan well enough to show it, his Topps insert is numbered 49/50 up front, making it easily the best card in a very good group. The Green Bowman Verlander that follows is no slouch, though, as it's #d /399 itself! GOAT DB Woodson appears on one of many Panini Mosaic parallels, and former #1 WR joins him in Michigan uni form with a shiny red 2001 Quantum Leaf insert that's #d /4000 on the back.

And the final six start out very strong out of the gate with a pair of new Rich Hills! The 2024 Topps Chrome Pink and Refractor parallels push my collection ever closer to 400 of a guy I hope gets one more shot to pitch next season if he's up for it. Will Mize (Topps Royal Blue) get a chance in the rotation to try to repeat his solid 2021 performance or is he out of time? Two (but not too many) more Verlanders bolster his PC total (680 as I'm writing this) thanks to a sweet Diamond Kings pair. And Michigan Football legend Tom Harmon takes us home with a classy looking Panini Golden Age issue of the 1940 Heisman winner who was selected #1 overall the following year.

Matt, thanks once again for all the great cards you hit me with this year! I'm looking forward to more trading after the calendar flips and will start piling things up for you again starting with a show this Friday.

As I mentioned the other day, I may work on getting the remaining trade recaps up between now and the end of the day tomorrow so y'all might get a few bonus posts to end the year!

2022 trade package #12: The Collector

A few weeks ago I was flipping through Facebook Marketplace as usual and something caught my eye: a signed hardback copy of Anna Kendrick's Scrappy Little Nobody. And it was just $5! And I thought, you know who I bet would love this? Chris from the Collector. A quick car ride (before gas hit $5/gallon!) and a media mail label and the memoir written by the adorable actress and singer was hit.

Oh, and Chris did indeed love it. He also let me know he was returning the favor with a PWE heading my way, and that showed up the other day. And the best part of the hobby, "Here's something you'll like!" "Cool, here's something from me that you'll like!" goes ever on.

Chris did a great job selecting cards that would fit my various collections, and between my experience of trading with him, plus the good omen of the envelope--

--and its Yogi stamps!--I had no doubt he would.

Here's what he sent this time:

The three-card baseball portion was of the Tigers-and-PCs variety, always a great way to go. Baddoo and Jeimer are emblematic of Detroit's anemic offense this year though they're hardly alone. They both also have shown flashes in the past and may be able to turn things around. Their cards here hail from Panini's 2022 Donruss product, with the rule 5 pick coming out of the Holo Red parallel and the former Cubs prospect repping Independence Day. Meanwhile, #1 player Cal Ripken Jr. represents the PC contingent out of Topps' high-end 2020 Museum Collection set. I can claim more than 1,100 Ripkens in my collection thanks to folks like Chris.

Flipping over to the gridiron we have another great trio, all of which were also new to me. While impatiently waiting for college football season to return (but otherwise enjoying the non-football season weather, my favorite) I've once again been going through WolverineHistorian's youtube channel and going on the nostalgia trip of watching my favorite teams and games. These three guys--Braylon Edwards, Brian Griese, and Cato June--all feature in some of those, which is no surprise given the amount of talent that's poured out of Ann Arbor. Braylon is a Blue parallel from 2005 Press Pass (college uni!), Griese is a different Blue parallel from the same year but Topps' Bazooka product, and June is one of three Colts (who wore white and, wait for it, blue unis) on a Topps Total base, also also from 2005. GO BLUE!

Last up is a quartet of hockey cards (no surprise--Chris' TCDB profile is "hockeydude"!) with one Wolverine and three Wings. Harlock's the former UM defenseman, and Chris contributed just the second card to his PC, a 99-2000 Ultimate Victory base. He has under 50 cards listed on TCDB but the four-year UM icer (89-90 through 92-93) did appear in NHL games with the Leafs, Isles, and Thrashers after being drafted by Chris' Devils.

Meanwhile, former Wings goalie Jimmy Howard has a college connection that I bring up often as I saw my Wolverines defeat him and his Maine team live in the NCAA regionals the last time they were held at college sites (which was a blast, so obviously the NCAA said no way to that!). Meanwhile, I'm not as familiar with some of the recent Wings as I haven't been following as much during the team's doldrums the past few years. Namestnikov is an ex-first round pick of the Lightning who's suited up for six teams over nine seasons including more than 100 games with Detroit the last couple years before being sent to Dallas for a draft pick. Zetterberg of course needs no introduction, and neither does the manufacturer of his die-cut Atomic-branded base card: Pacific. Hank was a blast to watch in his 15 seasons in Detroit and a die-cut Pacific card is a kick-ass reminder of that.

Chris, thanks for thinking of me with a PWE that once again expertly targeted my collections! I hope you enjoy Ms. Kendrick's book while you're humming along to "Cups", which at least always runs through my head whenever I think of her (besides Up in the Air, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Pitch Perfect, and her other appearances).

2022 trade package #6 and 7: Sport Card Collectors and Cardboard Collections

I meant it when I said the break from trade posts would be short, and this evening I'm back with two small envelopes I thought I could cover in one recap. Once again, good things do come in small packages.

First up is my first 2022 PWE from multi-blog guy Matt whom I most associate with Sport Card Collectors, though as a reminder you can also find him at Big Blue Cardboard and Cards Over Coffee. Matt sent me a six-card mailer and before I get to the five for me I'm going to shout out his generosity for the sixth card which was quite a nice one that I snagged for a trade package going out in the near future. Not that the stuff below is chopped liver, but this is one of the nicest items I've gotten from him and he didn't even hesitate to include it. I'll try to make sure to give him another shout-out when that person receives it, at least on Twitter if not here.

Anyway, on to the PWE!:

Matt and I both love collecting inserts so I wasn't too surprised to see a few Detroit-related items of that variety. Card #1 is a 2021 Topps Update Gold parallel of pitcher Rony Garcia. His name rang a bell but I'll admit that I had to head over to Baseball Reference to recall that the Tigers grabbed him from the Yankees in the 2019 Rule 5 draft. He's appeared in 17 games over the past two seasons, mostly out of the pen, and we'll see if he ends up factoring in there or the rotation at some point, though the odds remain long for a guy like him.

Next up is a guy with a bit more fanfare in top prospect Casey Mize. After a pretty solid first full season last year I'm dying to see how he performs for what should be an improving Tigers squad. Short of the Ben Baller logo I'm a fan of the Refractor-y insert of the future star on an '86 Topps throwback design, or pretty much any card that features Mize at this point since my collection of him is still fairly limited.

And then we have a 2021 Topps Chrome Prizm Refractor of the man himself, Justin Verlander. JV re-signed with the Astros this offseason after a long injury layoff that saw him pitch just once in 2020 and not since. As much as a loathe the Astros, the current incarnation of which won't escape the stink of their cheating scandal, I'm glad to see Justin continuing to succeed as long as his health holds up.

On the football end of things it's a tale of two Michigan QBs: the NFL's GOAT and one of my favorite college field generals. Brady's back (tell a friend) for another shot at glory, and he's back on TMV as well in the form of the 2015 Certified Gold Team insert you see above. The gold plus the foil make for a pretty good looking card, and I've often been a fan of Certified throughout its existence, though of course nothing will ever compare to the pre-Panini heyday of Donruss.

He's joined by a 2008 Topps Rookie Progression RC of gunslinger Chad Henne, a guy who put up almost 10000 passing yards plus 87 TDs in his four years in Ann Arbor, then went out with a bang thanks to a dramatic bowl win against Tim Tebow's Gators. I've always thought the set name was a bit awkward but other than that I think Topps generally did pretty well with designs back when they had the license to use NCAA unis.

Once again thanks for thinking of me, Matt, and especially for that nice addition for someone else's trade package that I think might just make their day! I appreciate your generosity as always and look forward to hitting you back soon.

The other envelope I'm showing off this evening came from busy box breaker/blogger Colbey of Cardboard Collections. Every now and then I'm able to send a package with a few Braves/Panthers/other items he collects, and recently he sent something back up my way:

Along with a nice note, Colbey gifted me this 2021 Panini Chronicles card of JV. Honestly, Verlander's almost the gift card of players you can send me. Not sure who I collect? Verlander's name is in the blog title! Don't have anything else handy? You know I'll like a Verlander card! (I say all of this in the most positive of ways as I'm also a fan of gift cards!)

What you're looking at is the Holo Gold parallel of Verlander's appearance in the America's Pastime portion of Chronicles. Those of you who've seen these in-person know they're pretty thick--this one just about matches up the six card stack from Matt above--so you know I've gotta bust out the Milhouse GIF:

I think these are quite cool since besides the thickness they have an acetate-type layer on the front, along with an interesting background. I think these are considered the "base" set (at least on TCDB) and then you can find lots of other designs/products inserted as well. As I mentioned, the one Colbey sent my way is the Holo Gold parallel so his name is spelled out with that type of foil plus the card is numbered to 49, putting it somewhat in the middle of the seven parallels. I like numbered cards, acetate, cool designs, and any Verlanders I don't have so this one is definitely a winner.

Thanks again for thinking of me with this cool new JV, Colbey! I hope I can find more goodies to send your way, and in the meantime I hope you have fun keeping the breaking business going!

Looking over at my desk I currently have two more decently large packages to cover so I'll try to get to those next, one at a time. In the meantime, please check out the blogs of both of today's trade partners.

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!

2021 trade package #26: Night Owl

Blogging legend Night Owl and I are very different in terms of what we collect, but one great part of the hobby is that that doesn't remotely matter when it comes to trading. To thank me for sending him his first second autograph of Paul Lo Duca, a cheapo I found at a recent show, Greg got a PWE over to me earlier this week. I didn't expect anything which made it that much nicer, and that meant I had no idea what I'd be pulling out of the envelope, which is even more fun. I'd say he did an outstanding job picking out these cards for me:

Since I had room I thought I'd include the tiny note he sent (always a plus, and something I like to do as well!) and fancy business card. I know I've said this before but I tend to keep pretty much anything like the latter because it's kind of fun to collect in its own right, plus people obviously put effort into it, so you won't see me throwing that stuff away!

Anyway, on to what we have here. Let's start with the quartet of vertical Tigers. Cards seem to be less and less for kids these days but you'll still see mascots pop up like Detroit's Paws on a 2020 insert. I didn't realize that season marked his 25th as the team's mascot, a pretty cool fact! Then Panini gives us a double dose of Tigers legends (and batting title winners) in Kaline--2018 Donruss last name only variation--and Kuenn--'21 Diamond Kings. I like that the latter has him listed with Detroit where he enjoyed the best seasons of his 15-year career, from 1952-59. He'll actually be popping up again in a future post, by the way. Joining him in that set is future rotation stalwart Casey Mize on an artistic RC. 2021 saw him enjoy a pretty solid first full campaign and I'm looking forward to seeing how he does when the team's actually got more talent around him.

The other four cards are also very exciting for me because they're kind of a double-dip: favorite players and wantlist help! I don't know if Greg hit up my wants on TCDB but I needed the entire quartet, starting with card #5 out of '95 Fleer's Cal Ripken Jr. insert also known as "Enduring." I now need just cards 1 and 3 to knock off the 15-card set, so if this was a blind guess by Greg then it was a hell of a shot!

Similarly, while I'm not going after the entire enormous 2007 Topps Generation Now chase set, I've slowly pieced together the ones representing current blog namesake Justin Verlander's 17 wins in 2006 (done) and also those of former title guy Curtis Granderson. Grandy put up 31 doubles in his first full season, then went 20/20/20/20 (2B/3B/HR/SB) the following season. The three cards Greg sent me got me up to 24/31 with not a double in sight, so once again if he managed to do that on a pure guess, that's amazing, and if instead he sought out my wants on TCDB, he's a very smart person.

Greg, thanks again for a fun PWE that hit my favorite baseball team, two of my best PCs, and two set wantlists all in just eight cards! I'll see if I can't hit you back before the end of the year in the event that I can find anything up your alley.

I'll be back soonish with another PWE trade post, one that's double the fun, plus a much larger package too!

2021 trade package #25: the Lost Collector

A.J. may call himself the Lost Collector but this is a dude who's far from lost when it comes to sending great PWEs. The chaser of all things Tino Martinez had promised to send a few Michigan cards my way and then as usual I forgot all about that so the envelope that showed up this past Friday was a surprise to me.

After Michigan's satisfying win over Penn State yesterday afternoon I'm definitely in the mood to show off some Wolverines cards, so here's what A.J. sent my way:

Three players, two brands, and one scan, so this will be nice and easy to recap! McKeon ("Mc-KEWN") was a solid TE in Ann Arbor and went undrafted in 2020 before being selected by the Cowboys, for whom he recorded his first pro catches in this afternoon's demolishing of the Failcons. Patterson, of course, was Michigan's QB in 2018 and 2019 and had an up-and-down career that left him undrafted as well. He's now playing in the CFL where a few other Wolverines have found success, so that's cool. And DPJ is definitely the most successful of this trio, with at least one catch in each game this year, and three TD catches in his previous two games. The 2020 sixth-rounder (which is still ridiculous to me) could see his role increase with headache machine Odell Beckham Jr. gone.

2020 Score is the first of the two products that featured in this PWE, and it's one with a design I give a thumbs up to, in no small part thanks to college uni photos. Patterson's RC represents the lone base of the four while the other three are Black parallels covering all three players here. Score has traditionally put out quite a few unnumbered color parallels over the last decade and these may be among my first from last year's offering. More Michigan uniform cards are always welcome to join the PC!

The other product you see is 2020 Leaf Draft, which just includes just Patterson and Peoples-Jones in its 100-card checklist. A.J. sent me base and Gold parallels of both guys, which was super helpful in making sure I had my bases covered there. I'm not sure where Leaf gets off throwing a "RC" logo on their cards, but I haven't taken that tag seriously from other brands for years, so why not go nuts? The only real downside of brands like Leaf is that they have to airbrush parts of the uniforms so you get quasi-team looks. Still, I appreciate the product as it's sometimes responsible for cards and occasionally autographs of guys that might not otherwise get them.

The group you see above bumped my collection of McKeon to 5 plus 7 each for Shea and DPJ. Bonus points to A.J. for a 100% college uni PWE!

Here's the backs for completeness. I'm kind of curious why Leaf used gold accents on both the base cards and Gold inserts, but again, Leaf gonna Leaf.

A.J., thanks again for hitting me back just in time for me to celebrate my Wolverines being 9-1 and in the hunt for the playoff with two games left. I'll keep looking all over for cards you don't have, though I know how much of a challenge that is when you could easily rename your blog "Too Many Tinos"!

2021 trade package #23: Topps Cards That Never Were

Those of you who were following Jeremy at Topps Cards That Never Were are probably already aware that he appears to be retiring from the blogosphere for good. That's a shame since it's always fun to read what a fellow Tigers fan is thinking, and he produced some pretty cool customs too! Plus, how many people do you know that actually collect the Rays?

Last month marked two years since he first sent me cards, and I've posted PWEs from him on four other occasions: late last year, then this past January, March, and May. This evening I'm back with one last surprise envelope from the erstwhile blogger, one that this past weekend I teased would drive away the clouds and rain that have made up most of the weather around here recently.

As usual the envelope came with Jeremy's customary baseball-shaped note and a nice message. I owe him just as much thanks for the stuff he sent my way! And that includes the brightness you'll see below:

In 1999 Stadium Club Chrome proved to be a beautiful looking insert thanks to Topps combining their perennial best looking base design plus the Chromium elements that took the hobby by storm in other products. It even became its own product for one glorious year in 2000 (and one more time last year). But it's otherwise been a fun insert to find since its 2017 return, and even more fun when you get the Refractor version, which you see above starring one Barry Larkin, a guy I happen to collect. Stadium Club tends to be a Topps product that includes a lot of past HOFers and stars and I'm always glad to see Barry represent the Maize & Blue in sets like this. Plus, I mean, it's a Refractor!

And speaking of shiny Larkin cards, here's my newest version of his 2021 Donruss base: a Holo Purple parallel. I don't tend to think of the Holos as Panini's answer to Refractors as much as I do their various Prizms, which are printed on Chromium-type cards, so I won't compare this to the above Refractor. But I will say it's still a cool shiny insert with a border that makes identifying it a breeze, plus a design that takes me back to Barry's 1987 Donruss RC.

Want to see the Little League home run described on the back you just read? Feast your eyes on this:

There's almost enough shine between these two to make me forget how quickly it gets dark this time of year!

Anyway, I want to say a sincere "thank you" to Jeremy for six envelopes full of some great cards and wish him well as he spends more time with his family. Thanks, dude!

2021 trade package #21: Sport Card Collectors

Buddy of the blog Matt of Sport Card Collectors let me know last week that I could expect a new envelope from him soon, and then Saturday I was happy to find it in my mailbox. Considering its contents the timing was great, and before I watched Michigan face off with Washington under the lights in prime time, I was PWE partying!

A six-card envelope full of 2021 UM draftees, all of which are in Michigan unis, is about as good as it gets on a college football Saturday. As a reminder, WR Nico Collins went to Houston in the third round; RB Chris Evans was a sixth round choice of the Bengals; and Kwity Paye, a DE with a mean streak, was Indy's first rounder. Nico had one catch in Houston's hilarious win over the Urban Meyer-"led" Jags, Evans doesn't look to have participated or at least recorded a stat as Cincy beat Kirk "Come at me, COVID" Cousins' Vikings, and Paye had three tackles--two solo and one for a loss--plus a fumble recovery as his Colts lost to a Seahawks team that actually let Russell Wilson throw.

Now, as for the cards, the top row all comes from Panini's 2021 Chronicles Draft product. I'm on record as liking the variety of designs as it incorporates multiple brands, and this year Panini seems to have numbered them as one big set instead of multiple inserts. I don't know what that does in terms of what's considered a RC but I don't really care. Anyway, in this case you see, left to right: XR, Spectra, and Playbook. A quick look on TCDB indicates that other brands/designs include Chronicles base, Donruss, Score, Prestige, Illusions, Recon, Status, Donruss Optix, Flux, Select, Rookies & Stars, Legacy, and Playoff. Sheesh!

And then there's the bottom row, which is all "Come Come, Kwity, Kwity, You're so hitty, hitty." Paye's Prizm Draft RC pairs up nicely with the Red, White, and Blue parallel. Speaking of base/parallel combos, I can add the last card you see here, a 2021 Score Red, to the Kwity RC I already have to make another nice pair. There's lots more versions of both for me to chase though my priority will remain the base rookies.

Just six cards to scan, plus I uploaded missing fronts/backs for three cards on TCDB, so here's the backs as well. Lots of block "M"s for my fellow Michigan fans and me.

Matt, thanks for another excellent PWE that proved to be very timely as I enjoyed it before watching my favorite team literally run all over Washington en route to a second win in two games. As I've told you I have lots of stuff piled up for you so at some point in the near future I'll be hitting you back with an envelope of the bubble-with-tracking type!

2021 trade package #16: The Lost Collector

A few weeks ago when I did my show report after getting to one for the first time in forever, I mentioned that as usual most of my money went towards trade bait, which was excellent since that's generally my best source for reasonably priced quality items for trade packages. As solid as everything was, it was only $1.

I mention that because one of the cards I snagged just in case was a Tino Martinez numbered jersey. I deal with enough folks that could potentially use it that I was glad to bring it home, and at worst it could go on TCDB anyway. That worst cast scenario was in no way necessary, though, because the first person I offered it to (via Twitter DM) is a bigtime Tino collector, and as it turns out he even needed it, despite being over the 1,100 mark in that player collection!

I'm guessing that most of you who know him already put together that I'm talking about A.J., a.k.a. the Lost Collector, who was nice enough to show his appreciation in his post here. A.J. didn't stop there, though, as he subsequently sent me an unexpected PWE with a few cards that fit my collections perfectly:

That trio of Tigers along the top is an excellent start! First up is Ty Cobb's appearance in 2020 Topps' Topps Choice insert set. In that one you can find past and present players on Topps designs from 1956, 1965, 1987, 1991, 2008, 2011, and 1971, with the latter being the source for the Georgia Peach's card above. In addition to the usual writeups, the backs mention in large print which set the designs came from, which is a good way to try to educate folks less familiar with their past products.

Big Daddy is up next on his 2019 Topps Chrome Update Family Business insert, and "daddy" is the key word here. Every player in this Refractorized insert has or had at least one other family member in the game, and of course Tigers fans were well acquainted with Cecil's son Prince before he became a star in his own right. Due to the way the younger Fielder's tenure with Detroit ended, my opinions of the two have flip-flopped and I'm back to preferring the guy who brought joy to the area when he socked 51 HRs in 1990.

Last up in the Tigers group is Mr. Tiger, Al Kaline, who got plenty of screen time in my most recent post. Happily, while I added a bunch of new stuff to his collection via Sportlots, I still needed the 2019 Topps Update Perennial All-Stars insert you see above (my third, to go along with Griffey and Ripken). The back states that Al is the youngest position player to start an MLB Midsummer Classic at 20 1/2 in 1955 (the year he won that batting title), plus he'd be named to 13 in a row (15 total), which is the definition of "perennial"!

Last up today is a pair of Wolverines that makes me appreciate this envelope even more, because it shows that A.J. put as much effort into knowing what to include for me as I did in finding something for him. I love my Michigan uni cards and that's exactly what I have here in 2020 Prizm Draft RCs of QB Shea Patterson and WR Donovan Peoples-Jones. It's no surprise that Shea went undrafted after the way his Michigan career went, but DPJ has a chance to make some noise in his upcoming second season with the Browns after putting up 14 TD catches and two punt return scores in college.

And here's the backs for those of you who like to see those.

A.J., once again I'm glad you liked the Tino, and I'll be happy to look for more stuff you could potentially use, especially if I can get back to the same show next week. Either way, I really appreciate you getting me back with this five pack that really targeted my collections nicely!

With nothing else coming in the mail for the foreseeable future I'm planning to be back next time with more Sportlots cards as I continue to work through those stacks.

2021 trade package #15: Matt's Wonderful Blog Of Hobbies

In my last post I teased a trade package from a "reliable trade partner" and now you know exactly who I meant: Matt of Matt's Wonderful Blog of Hobbies! If the blog name sounds a bit unfamiliar to you that's because it had mostly been named "Sport Card Collectors" for a while. (Also, you probably know Matt's other project, Cards Over Coffee, especially if you follow him on Twitter.) I know a bit about changing up a title for various reasons, and in Matt's case I think it was part of a fairly comprehensive refresh of that blog, which is pretty cool.

Anyway, he'd recently lamented not having sent me anything yet this year in a comment on one of my posts, though I don't think he should feel particularly bad about that after the bonanza he sent me around Christmas! But either way, he managed to put together a brand new PWE for me that arrived just the other day, another Tigers/Wolverines special that hits the spot on this lovely mid-May evening:

Let's start with the Tigers, comprising three parallels and an insert. First up is Castellanos, who had a bit of at professional baseball-ruiner Rob Manfred's expense recently. It took me a bit to confirm it to be the Black Foil version of his 2019 Stadium Club issue, with the main difference between it and the base being, not surprisingly, the small amount of foil up front done in black. It's a typically nice Stadium Club look, though I'm not a huge fan of the font used for the player name. Compare that to the brand's Chrome version from last year and you'll see team/name design elements I like a bit more. Also, that happens to be an X-Fractor of C Jake Rogers, one of, I dunno, 10? backstops currently with the team. He called a nice game in a strong start by top prospect Casey Mize last night, and that connection may allow him to stick around even if his bat fails to develop.

Speaking of pitchers, moving down to the second row we go all the way back to 2014 with a Topps Chrome Gold Refractor of Anibal Sanchez (#36/50). After parts of seven seasons with the Marlins (including tossing a rookie-year no-hitter in '06) he came to Detroit and put up a pair of good-to-great seasons in 2013-14 before steadily declining. Here you can see him in gold, the color of the ring he earned with the Nats in the 2019 World Series. His former teammate from 2012-17 when they both left the club, Verlander, also knows something about no-hitters and World Series rings. But that was all in the future when his 2005 Topps Chrome auto was packed out. That 2021 Topps Through the Years insert, which is a card of a card, is not signed by JV, but I'm fortunate to have grabbed the pictured item for something like $20 years before its price exploded, and it's served as the background image for this here blog for a while, though you can't really see it since I widened most of the blog elements at some point. Trust me, it's back there! Here, it'll be easier to see this way:

Aaaahhhh, nothing like a real image instead of a mock-up to get the full effect.

Anyway, now we'll switch mascots over to the Wolverines for a pair of football cards. #1 is a Glossy parallel of former LB/DL Tim Jamison (UM 2005-08) out of 2009 SAGE HIT. I know the scan doesn't show it but this thing is super glossy, which is nice since sometimes that type of parallel can be questionable. Anyway, Jamison managed to appear in 56 career games for the Texans, which is not bad for an undrafted guy. A player with a bit better draft stock is OL Cesar Ruiz, a former top C recruit who put in three very good years for Michigan, pretty much living up to the hype. The Saints nabbed him 24th overall last year they seem to see him as a guard, which I'm sure he has the talent to play. Matt sent me my first card of his, a 2020 Donruss Optic RC that features the man in his college uni, which kicks all kinds of ass. According to my checklist I have another five first-years of his to track down, which isn't surprising since I haven't made much headway with the 2020 draft class yet. I hope to build on this initial card soon!

Just six cards to scan, plus a few of them needed images on TCDB, so here's the backs.

Matt, thanks for getting a new PWE out to me, not to mention one as exciting as this one! I have a few things set aside for you from the show I got to a few weeks ago and will be waiting until I get to one or both of the ones coming up over the next few weeks before sending them out to you, but I think you'll appreciate this fan of "go blue" sending you some "big blue".

2021 trade package #13: Topps Cards That Never Were

I was happy to get to enjoy a surprise double mail day last week, so I've got two trades to show off before getting back to Sportlots stuff, and maybe even other secret stuff?

First I'm going to show you the very cool PWE sent to me by Floridian Tigers/Rays fan Jeremy of Topps Cards That Never Were:

Ooooh, more Larkins, I'm already hooked. And I couldn't help but laugh out loud at the parenthetical about the "usual Verlander parallel". More on that in a minute. Here's a look at what was inside:

I guess I'm living in a parallel universe since all three of these are alternative versions of base cards! Card #1 is a Sepia parallel of Barry Larkin's 2020 Stadium Club base. That's a product you could endlessly parallel and I'd be into it because the photo/design combo is Topps at its best (and I just don't understand why they can't bring the same success to flagship). The basic 2020 design, while being very textbook Stadium Club, differentiates itself nicely, and Sepia gives it a classy look for sure. Great start!

I think I may have to hand the first place trophy to card #2, though, a 2021 Donruss Holo Orange insert. The shiny orange border looks really nice on Barry's card, part of the "Retro '87" subset as it reuses that year's design. Makes sense since Larkin's Donruss RC can be found in that very set. Believe me that the scan doesn't do this one justice, especially because it leaves out the "holo" part. Just an excellent looking Barry, and now I want to track down one in red!

Finally, we have what's become an unintentional tradition in Jeremy's envelopes to me. This is the fifth time he's sent me some cards, and the last three in a row have all included at least one JV parallel. You can somewhat tell from the scan that this here is one of Justin's four appearances in 2020 Topps Update's Gold Foil set. His other three are league leader cards while this one highlights his 2019 All-Star Game selection. You'd be forgiven for thinking it's a Rainbow Foil card--I sure did--but the tell is the gold area on the left side of the card. Why have both Gold and Gold Foil parallels? Only Topps knows!

Here's a quick look at the backs, which I like to include when traders are nice enough to limit the amount of work I have to do!

Jeremy, thanks for the fun surprise PWE! I really liked all three cards, all of which I needed, and which are more than easy on the eyes. I should be hitting up at least one show, if not two, in the next few weeks, and I'll make sure to keep an eye out for a few things I think you'll enjoy. And maybe I'll figure out a "usual" type to send your way too!

2021 trade package #11: The Collector

I follow a pretty large number of blogs, and based on the blogrolls and mentions I see on those I'm aware that they only represent a fraction of what's out there. That's awesome because it's a great sign that both the hobby and this part of it are still doing great.

While I can't claim to pay attention to many of them to the degree I'd like, such as commenting on posts the writers clearly put lots of work into, I do try to make the effort to participate on some more than others. One such blog is The Collector, run by one of my favorite trading partners Chris. He and I are like-minded collectors in several ways so he's always fun to deal with. He also recently reached a very significant milestone: 500 posts! Among those are one of the best series I've seen on any blog: his all-time teams, which definitely required a lot of work but resulted in some great reading.

I mention all that because last week I received a PWE from him which included a note thanking me for reading and commenting to the extent that I do, which is really nice considering he's one of the folks I can pretty much count on to find a comment over here. Oh, and some cards for me too!:

Jeez, anybody still remember 2013 Topps? Two-time Derby winner Fielder didn't take home the crown that season, but he was the 1B for the 2012 squad pictured on card #2 up there, a team that beat Oakland in the ALDS and swept the hated Yanks to reach Detroit's most recent World Series berth, only to get swept by another great even-year Giants run. I still can't believe one of the teams from that era didn't win it all!

Chris apologized for what ended up being a hockey-heavy envelope, as if that's a bad thing somehow. On the Wings side, AA's been gone for a couple seasons while Bertuzzi still has a chance to but into a star. And then we get to three big pieces of Hockeytown's success over the past quarter century: Holmstrom, Yzerman and Zetterberg. At some point I'll get my Wings PCs loaded in TCDB so I have a better idea of what I have of some of those favorites.

Oh yeah, and for good measure Chris included a very Alluring autograph. Kuffner only got a cup of coffee with the Wings in 2018-19 and then was included in the deal with AA above for Sam Gagner, a pick last year, and a second rounder this year, so that could still turn into something. He's one of those Canadians you occasionally see spurn the OHL to play American college hockey, which I love. That and the colorful design makes this one a winner.

He even managed to make an almost even split of Detroit stuff and Michigan cards, which is pretty cool (besides the already impressive fact that there were no dupes in this PWE!). I needed each of Burke and Sauce Castillo (a RC) from the shiny 2014-15 Panini Prizm. 

OLB John Anderson (who also punted in college!) played 12 seasons for the Pack but only made it onto 39 items catalogued by TCDB, with even fewer being mainstream products. Yet Chris was able to send me a third item for his collection, his 1984 Topps second year base--a card with six years of stats on it. RCs are weird but that design is still a classic.

And then there's a quartet of some recent(ish) Wolverines hockey stars. Cogliano has never been a star, but this year he gets to Be-a-Player for the 14th season, and that's awesome. Hagelin is nobody's idea of an MVP at this point but he chipped in 10 goals and 21 points over 48 playoff games with the Pens, winning a pair of rings. WolverWing Larkin has seen the quality of the team around him erode but is still young enough to become an MVP one day. And all Patch has done is score 300+ goals in parts of 13 seasons, never being named the most valuable, but winning the '11-'12 Masterton ("Qualities of Perseverance and Sportsmanship") so there.

(Wait, why was he worried about this being hockey-heavy again?)

Chris, thanks again for a fun PWE as you celebrate 500 posts! Congratulations on keeping up with the blog for that long (and hopefully years to come!) and thanks for being a terrific trade partner. Should things fall in line it's not inconceivable that I could have some card show-sourced items headed to your own mailbox in the next month or two.

And coming up next on this here blog...another trade package? Don't mind if I do!

2021 trade package #10: Topps Cards That Never Were

Baseball is back, bay-bee! The Tigers kicked off the season with a traditional home opener, which meant a sell-out crowd (if not a full stadium, thankfully) braving freezing temps and snow. Miggy homered, John's guy Matt Boyd pitched well, Paul's guy JaCoby Jones knocked in the game-winning run, and the bullpen mostly combined to not sabotage the lead. All in all it was a nice way to open up the month and the season--no foolin'!

Since I'm in a celebrating mood I'll mark the occasion with my latest trade package, a single-card PWE from Jeremy of Topps Cards That Never Were, who's enjoying weather that's much more my style. That seems very appropriate to me since we both root for and collect the Tigers, plus his other favorite team, the Rays, signed my favorite player, Rich Hill, so we'll have him in common as well.

This is the fourth time he's sent me an envelope and I was happy to see it in my mailbox since he's done a great job of picking out stuff for me in the past. Plus I was thrilled it meant the minimum amount of work since I only had one thing to scan!

As Cap would say, "I understood that reference!" The last time he sent me cards, the first trade envelope of 2021, one of the items was a 2020 Topps Update Rainbow Foil parallel of a certain guy I collect whose name is in this here blog's title. I appreciate the promise of possibly including a Series 2 card next time!

Don't be fooled by the goofy scan, this is indeed a Rainbow Foil card, not some weird experimental purple parallel! As in years past the whole card has that reflective foil look, and this year's return of borders also aids in telling parallels apart.

And yes, it stars one of my favorite guys to collect in Verlander, a guy who's no stranger to opening day. While with the Tigers he was the pitcher in game #1 from 2008-2014 plus 2016 and 2017. Detroit went 6-3 in those games while Justin's record was 3-1 when earning the decision.

Unfortunately his TJ surgery rules him out for most if not all of 2021. Neither that nor the fact that he hasn't been with the Tigers since 2017 will dampen my enthusiasm for picking up new cards of him like this one, though. Oddly enough I don't have the base version yet since the one I recently got from Kerry was an SP. I have no problem starting things off with something shiny, of course!

Here's the back with a crazy 16 years worth of JV's stats. If you excise his cup-of-coffee 2005 season and super abbreviated 2020, his average campaign comes to a 16-9 record with a 3.31 ERA and 214 strikeouts, plus a bWAR of 5.2 (and HOF-affirming total of 72.3). And just look at all those times he led the league in one or more stats!

Jeremy, thanks again for the fun surprise addition to my many Verlanders by continuing the rainbow streak! Whenever I can get to a card show after getting vaccinated I'll make sure to gather up a few nice things to send back your way. In the meantime I hope Rich Hill and your Rays have you celebrating too.

2020 trade package #38: the Collector

As is the case for many people right now I'm awaiting delivery of some stuff from DeJoy's woefully underprepared USPS--I appreciate the hard work being put in by everyone other than that corrupt cue ball--but there's no way that's gonna spoil my holiday. Why? Christmas cards!

This evening I'm covering the last of those I received (so far) this month, and today's envelope comes from a generous dude who's one of my most reliable commenters, and who runs a truly outstanding blog: Chris over at the Collector.

Chris, whose name comprises the first five letters of "Christmas" (whoa, conspiracy! Illuminati confirmed!) upped the ante by sending cards inside of a literal Christmas card:

Not only was this holiday-appropriate, but it also served as a great way to protect the trading cards:

That was a very nice gesture by Chris who, to my knowledge, has never been seen in the same room with Santa Claus, just sayin'. Anyway, my collecting will be very happy since he sent me this great trio:

A Tigers card, a PC addition, and a Wolverine base make for an outstanding not-so-secret Santa gift for me!

First up is a 2019 Panini Father's Day base (/199) of Casey Mize, one of Detroit's top pitching prospects. The 2018 #1 overall pick out of Auburn made seven starts last year and went 0-3 for another tanking Tigers squad, but his future looks very bright, just like this card. The scan doesn't remotely capture how nice it looks, with glittery rainbow dots and lines appearing all over. As indicated here, Mize pitched for the US Collegiate National Team in 2017 after his second college season, and was just as successful against other countries as he was here. I'm looking forward to a Tigers rotation staffed by guys like him, Matt Manning, Tarik Skubal, and other future stars!

Next is a card that may have some of you turning your heads sideways like confused dogs, but it's perfect for me. I PC former Tiger Dean Palmer and needed that 1994 Fleer base, which I confirmed after checking on my TCDB wantlist. While I've crossed the 150-card mark I still have a long way to go, so everything helps, even low-end base cards like this (though I do have reinforcements coming in from COMC at some point). Dean-o wouldn't head to Detroit until five years after this card was made, but the previous season, 1993, saw the slugging 3B smack what at the time was his career high of 33 HR. He'd go off for 38 in both '96 (still with Texas) and his '99 Debut in the Motor City. Kudos to Chris for remembering I collect him.

And double bonus points for including a Michigan card of some sort, in this case a '92-'93 Ultra base of Jamaican Wolverine G Rumeal Robinson. Seen here in some old-school Hawks duds, he's best known for making two foul shots to win the '89 NCAA title with Glen Rice's Wolverines. His subsequent NBA career wasn't much to speak of, and then he made some bad decisions that led to criminal charges, but he at least seems to have been out of the headlines for five years. His role in Michigan's basketball title gives him a special place in my UM collection so I was very happy to see him as I opened Chris's card.

And here's the backs for all you...uh...back-o-philes? Apparently I did a terrible cropping job since a good chunk of Mize's card is cut off. "2019 Panini - Father's D--"? Father's what?! Father's Donut? Father's D'Brickashaw Ferguson? We may never know.

Chris, thanks very much for thinking of me and putting some nice thought into this Christmas card filled with cards! Once the COMC order that includes items I purchased to send out my own versions arrives I'll happily be returning the favor.

With nothing else in-hand besides the massive UM box from TCDB that I'm still trying to figure out how to present, I may be taking a brief hiatus until after the holiday, but as always, you never know when more cards will materialize into your possession. In case that happens, I want to say Merry Christmas and thanks to everyone who traded with me and read/commented on TMV this year--you're all the gift that keeps on giving!