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.

2018 trade package #5: Sport Card Collectors

It's only mid-March and I've already received my second PWE this year from Matt of Sport Card Collectors.  Just like last time he sent me a nice little group of Tigers, and in this case he's got me in a spring training state of mind with six cards of four guys who are all on the 2018 squad:

Future HOFer Miguel Cabrera can pretty much bank on having a better season than he did in 2017, which ended with an unthinkable -0.8 bWAR.  His full-season career low was previously 2.7 in 2008 besides a 0.8 mark during a half-season 2003.  Perhaps he'll be healthier and more focused after putting some offseason off-the-field stuff behind him, though it remains to be seen how much he'll contribute to a rebuilding team that's getting younger.

Matt sent me this trio which starts with Miggy's 2017 Bowman's Best base plus--I'm thrilled to say--the Refractor version!  The latter comes across fairly well in the scan but as is always the case, when you have it in-hand you can tell the difference.

Those are joined by Cabrera's base card from Panini's 2017 Chronicles product, which I got to see for myself for the first time thanks to a trade from Paul of Scribbled Ink.  I hope Miggy doesn't go through a prolonged slump this year as the team could use someone like him to keep filling the seats during a down year.

That Refractor is one highlight of this group but my favorite card of the package is this insert of potential future ace Michael Fulmer.  I love getting new cards of him since his future looks very bright, especially if he can stay healthy; his 2017 numbers weren't too far off from those of his Rookie of the Year campaign the previous year, and that's in spite of some health-related ineffectiveness.  By all reports he seems to be healthy now, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him pile up some scoreless streaks, which are the subject of this 2017 Stadium Club insert.  I'll definitely work on getting to some games I know he'll be starting.

V-Mart has been largely useless (or worse!) the last few seasons despite the questionable extension Detroit gave him a couple years ago, but maybe he'll bring something to the table in 2018 as he'll have to earn his way onto the roster.  The DH looks like he's sleeping on this 2017 A&G Mini but he can't afford to let his bat do the same.  Regardless, I hope he doesn't suffer any ill effects from the heart issues he's gone through the last couple seasons.

Last up is starting catcher James McCann, a guy who's been serviceable both behind and at the plate the last few seasons.  He's no catcher of the future but has generally been able to get the job done, including amassing double-digit homers in the past two campaigns.  He handles his position just fine as well as seen in this fun photo on his Gold parallel from 2017 Topps (#0728/2017).

Thanks for sending more Tigers stuff my way, Matt--it's got me looking forward to the upcoming season!  I'll have a return package ready within a few weeks after I reload on stuff I know you'll like at a couple shows.

If you readers are fans of inserts please make sure to check out my post on TMM this evening--it's got numbered stuff, Refractors galore, and more!