2025 eBay purchases: go big and GO BLUE!

It's September and Michigan Football will be playing its second game of the season tonight, so let's finish up my pickups from the first half of 2025 with a look at what I bought for myself on eBay.

Purchase #1 was a little more than six months ago when I threw in a low bid on a plate that I was a bit surprised to win, but happy to get:

Braylon Edwards inches closer to the century mark with his 96th hit and fourth 1/1, a 2006 Bowman Chrome cyan plate. Since cyan is the closest you'll get to blue out of the four colors used in printing this is the best possible one for a Michigan collector like me! It joins similar cards from 2009 Topps Mayo (Magenta) and 2011 Topps Inception (Magenta and Yellow) and set me back a bit under $7--a very reasonable price for a plate.

Next, back in March you might recall in a Chronicles of Fuji trade post that I lauded Fuji for his generosity in sending me a $50 eBay gift card in January. I finally used it during my birthday month of May, snagging a huge addition for my football PC:

National champion RB Blake Corum supplanted his former position coach Mike Hart in the program's record books, and at this point I think he's taken over as my favorite to play the position as a Wolverine, so it was about time I found a high-end card of his to start his collection of hits. I don't remember the exact total, but I happily covered a bit more than the $40 cost of this amazing booklet with that gift card, plus I added a bit more to it (more on that in a minute).

 

Sure, I could have gone for some lower-end signature card, maybe the usual low-effort Leaf stuff, or SAGE, or even a pro uni card from one of the plethora of other Panini Brands. But when I saw this one, I knew it was National Treasures all the way. Though they're few and far between in my collection, I think booklets are awesome when done right, and this one counts. The left half comes with a larger Michigan blue jersey swatch with a "WOLVERINES" cutout above it, plus one of those cool acetate signature windows. The right side adds another jumbo swatch from what I would assume is a Wolverines jersey (even if it's "event-worn" or other).

As you can see on the outside of the booklet, it's also numbered to 49 up front, next to a nice, large version of the iconic block "M" logo. Nice!

 

I don't know what the future holds for his NFL career but I'll always appreciate Blake for what he did both on and off the field to represent his school, not the least of which was a storybook season that ended in a national title.

The next card is one of the ones that came along for the ride with the above Corum, along with a couple traders for friends, via the magic of combined shipping and a discount code for paying via eBay's app. In all, I scored four cards from this seller and after using Fuji's gift card, I spent $1.90 of my own money. You could say part of that cost amounted to this:

For basically $1 or so--seriously, the minimum bid--I was able to tack on my third autograph of Jack Blomgren, a former Wolverine and Rockies IF/OF prospect who's now working in Houston's system. While my other two signature cards of him hail from Panini Elite Extra Edition and are therefore use college uni photos (which I of course love), this one is my first of him in an MLB jersey (albeit an airbrushed one, I would assume). It's from 2020 Bowman Draft Chrome and is the Green version numbered /99. Not bad for a buck!

A couple weeks later in May, on my birthday, in fact, I won tonight's last card for just under $10 shipped:

This post's other 1/1 is also a cyan plate, though this time we stick to the diamond (and Bowman) and former pitcher Clayton Richard. My 14th (!) 1/1 of the lefty is the 11th plate I've picked up of him but somehow the first from the 2008 Bowman/Chrome line of sets. While he still can't hold a candle to Rich Hill's 36 cards of the rarest numbering, he's still second in the collection and one of just three with double-digits in that category (J.J. Putz is the other).

As I often say, $10 for a plate of a Michigan player I enjoy collecting is right in my wheelhouse, and given the way prices have gone up a bit over the past few years, I'd probable even go above my usual comfort zone of $15 max if something interests me enough. Fortunately I landed this one right in that affordable range to add to one of my player collections with some nicer rare pieces.

That's it for my personal eBay shopping so far this year, even up to the present, but then again my spending this year has seen a downward trend as I get pickier about what I'm willing to spend on and store. I wouldn't be surprised if found a couple more cool eBay items to recap by December, though.

But way before then, y'all can look forward to a bunch of July-related posts very soon. Stay tuned and GO BLUE! 

2025 trade package #9: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

It's the final day of May and I'm ready to recap the other trade package I received in March. As it turned out, that was the second month in a row I received a crazy nice mailer from Doug across the border at Sports Cards From the Dollar Store. I know I say this a lot, especially when it comes to his mailings, but this one was a DOOZY!

Check out the goods:

Baseball scan one of two is highlighted by some needed '25 Topps Tigers--Hurter, Keith, and Malloy. Hurter's been part of a pleasant surprise of a bullpen that's powered some wins for the surging Tigers, Keith's bat has improved since a slow start, and Malloy's chipped in some ABs for a team missing a few OF in the IL. That oddball Ripken, an '84 Topps/Milton Bradley partnership, is especially cool too!

I don't need to tell anyone that Skubal's been on fire since last season, while young SS Trey Sweeney is a work-in-progress, albeit a promising one. Devon Travis is one of a number of talented IF the Tigers gave away in awful trades, though they're doing that much less these days (and that's a pretty cool Refractor to boot). And How cool is that Elite Extra auto of former Wolverine Jordan Nwogu? It's my second of the Cubs OF prospect, with the previous one joining my collection thanks to Doug as well, and now I have a new favorite thanks to the college uni shot. Nice!

The basketball portion was a bit smaller but a big boon to my collections. A Bowman's Best Howard insert throws it back to the more creative days of the hobby, and Poole and Robinson represent slightly more recent Michigan NBA alumni, with the latter getting an especially cool appearance.

Then we have three hits, which is where the real fun begins. That Leaf card is my first autograph of the young Bufkin, on a card with a design that honors the 1990 version of the Leaf brand that isn't sketchy in every single way (and a beautiful John Hancock). The well-traveled Burnett (Michigan/Bama/Texas Tech) makes his autograph overall PC debut thanks to Bowman University Chrome, which combines a great college shot and the player's excellent signature. And lastly, French Wolverine cager does the same with a Donruss Optic autograph that's a bit less legible, but at least the card looks great. I now have 39 different subjects in the basketball hits collection, and only three of them don't have an autograph to their name, largely thanks to the sender of this envelope.

Next, the football assortment was similar--just five cards, but some big adds to my collections. Sainristil, the WR-turned-DB who was a huge, huge part of the championship-winning team a couple years ago, gets his first card in my PC not produced by the school itself, in this case a Prestige RC. And then we have even more firsts thanks to a generous quartet of autographs. Each player you see here previously lacked a signature in my football hits collection, but that's no longer the case! Talented DB Dax Hill gets a Michigan uni card from Panini Legacy, LB Carlo Kemp (first overall card as well) arrives thanks to Leaf Draft, DB Josh Metellus (also a first card) stars on a college-themed Contenders Draft issue, and last up is autograph #1 of Dallas TE Luke Schoonmaker, a shiny numbered card found in Panini's Illusions. I now show 264 different subjects from the sport, so even more growth in addition to the basketball stuff above, which I really appreciate!

A couple (non-Michigan alum) Wings made the trip this time in the form of the late Shawn Burr (a Kitchener Ranger!) and Bob Rouse, who won a pair of Cups with Detroit late in his career.

Of course the real action on the ice here featured the ex-Michigan guys. Jason Bailey's yet another guy debuting tonight, and he's a rarity since the OHL card you see above is just one of eight he has catalogued on TCDb after a pair of seasons in Ann Arbor. Cammalleri is my top-rated hockey Mike in the collection with almost 100 cards, such as that Black Diamond you see in spot #2. Hyman is out for Edmonton's cup rematch vs. Florida but did a lot to help get his team there, and a UD Canvas card is a great reminder of the quality player he is. And the last of the non-hits is a sticker of a guy I always refer to as "Patch" given the way you say his name ("patch-or-EH-ty") but I guess "Pac Man" works as well.

And no, Doug's trademark generosity didn't end with the other three sports--he included his favorite as well. I like what Panini did with the design of Jack Johnson's Crown Royale jersey relic as it makes the swatch look huge. That's hit #15 for JMFJ. Wolverwing Dylan Larkin gets another quality relic added to his PC out of 2019-20 SPx, and the numbered jersey card is his 8th out of 11 total hits in a collection I'm proud to continue to grow. And last but most definitely not least, check out the newest 1/1 in my Michigan collection: a 2016-17 UD Compendium Black plate of Steve Kampfer! The four-year Wolverine D-man played sparingly in the NHL over parts of 11 seasons, but found himself in the Compendium Product after a career-high 47 games with the Panthers the previous year. What a great way to end this post!

Doug, thanks so much as always for the time, effort, thought, and money you put into every envelope you send my way. I continue to be floored by your generosity and the quality of stuff you find for folks like me that are fortunate enough to be able to trade with you. I'm looking forward to your last post covering what I most recently sent you while I try to stock back up once again!

I'm thinking the next post should be my first foray into Facebook Marketplace purchases this year, and that should let me close out March.

2024 COMC purchases: Nine from November

With the finish line now in sight I'm even more motivated to get this post done and call 2024 a wrap! Here's a look at the cards I bought for myself during COMC's Black Friday sale:

First up is hit #1 of another UM WR to wear #8 (besides another guy in this post), Ronnie Bell. The receiver/returner outplayed his practically anonymous recruiting rankings and was a key contributor as the Wolverines marched back to respectability under Jim Harbaugh. The Bowman's Best University card pictures him with the Wolverines (instead of the 49ers who'd eventually draft and then release him) and that's a great start for his hits collection! Sure, it's a sticker auto and he signed with his initials, but at least he added an inscription with his jersey number.

The day's other "first" is my second hit but first signature of LB Devin Bush II, a three-year Wolverine who did some nice work in 2017 and 2018 in Ann Arbor. The Steelers took him in the first round in 2019 and he's since bounced to Seattle and Cleveland, but was good enough to appear in an autograph insert (#d /299) in 2020 Panini Legacy.

In spot #3 is the other WR #8, the sure-handed Jason Avant, who was able to rescue the planted Michigan flag in Columbus this past season after Buckeye Jack Sawyer threw his hissy fit once his OSU team lost to Michigan again. Avant never won a Super Bowl with the Eagles but did have a solid 10-year career mostly spent with them, and I was thrilled to add another Triple Threads jersey/auto of his from his 2006 rookie year. The one you see above is the Sepia version /75 and is hit #66 of #8.

Next, RB Chris Evans appears to be out of the league at this point, but that wasn't going to stop me from picking up a third Michigan uni autograph of his. I may have passed on other brands but usually tend to like the simplicity of Score's rookie autos, so I had no problem ponying up a couple bucks for this one.

Sure, we've already had Devin, but what about second Devin? I paid less than $6.50 total for the cool pair starring former Panthers WR Funchess and I think that was a steal. The card on the left is a 2015 Panini Black Gold Sizeable Signatures Rookie Jerseys prime version, and I'm thinking you'll agree that it lives up to its "sizeable" and "prime" descriptors with ease. The other is a 2015 Panini National Convention VIP manupatch auto, which isn't the kind of thing I'd pay a premium for, but I do like seeing athletes sign things other than stickers. Funch moves up to 34 hits thanks to the pair.

I'll move down one spot horizontally to discuss the next card, a Jake Long 2008 Topps Triple Threads Sepia parallel. This one came with three really nice multi-color Dolphins swatches to go along with his signature (and numbering /75, like the Avant above). It's a great looking card to add to a collection that now stands at a very nice 98 hits, though he remains in third place behind our next two players.

Forever #1 guy Chad Henne continues to outpace the rest by a mile with his 146th hit, which happens to be one of the higher-end items in his collection. The 12th 1/1 I've landed for him, the card you see above is his 2008 Finest Yellow Plate (the non-auto version). It set me back a reasonable $14 which I don't mind paying for a top PC guy like Henne, whose hit collection isn't too far off of that from all-sports leader Rich Hill. As always, I'm a fan of when manufacturers do the border thing with their plates to make it obvious which color you have, especially in this case where the back is otherwise normal.

And last but not least is former blog namesake guy Mario Manningham. The 2008 Leaf Certified Materials auto you see above (#d /100) is everything I love about 2000s-era cards of some of my favorites, but it may be the most significant from this post for an entirely different reason: it puts Super Mario at exactly 100 hits, making him just the second player behind Henne in the football collection (and third overall including Rich Hill) to reach that mark! It actually wasn't 100% intentional as I would have been happy for Jake Long (again, 98) or Braylon Edwards (95) to make it first, but I only found one of the former I liked and none of the latter this time. So it looks like I get to celebrate Too Many Manninghams as my 2024 year of collecting comes to a close! (The football hits collection also surpassed the 1700-mark before the calendar turned, basketball went over 150, and hockey moved up to 350, with baseball very close to 450.)

Once again, thanks to everyone for making 2024 a great year of trading, blogging, reading, comments, shows, and more! I'm looking forward to treating you to recaps of the cards I've picked up since 2025 started including (at this point) seven blogger-related trade packages, two shows, and four TCDb deals. Look for a post covering the first blogger trade of January soon!

2024 eBay purchases: Six more from 24

I'm still slowly plugging away at the piles of 2024 stuff left to cover and after this post should have something like two to go (I think).

This one shouldn't take me too long to recap as it features just six cards, though they're all eBay purchases from last June through December and are pretty decently significant. I'll try not to get too wordy!

Win #1 was the most costly and I nabbed it back in early June:

My second certified auto of Sweet Lou hails from 2019 Donruss Optic and is the Red parallel that's limited to a scant seven copies! This one uses an action photo of Whitaker about to make some good contact, and while it lacks any MLB logos I do like the shot. It's also a fun throwback to the 1985 design used the year after Detroit last won it all, so that's a nice bonus.

Lou doesn't appear in a ton of autograph sets and of course this particular card is fairly rare, so I didn't mind spending a bit under $60 to get it. My favorite in my collection is still his 2001 Topps Archives rookie reprint auto, but I'm thrilled to add a second like this one to it. I also picked up a JSA-certified 1983 Fleer auto (apparently from 2011 Leaf Ink) a while ago to give me sort of a third signature.

This one is definitely sweet!

A few weeks later I scored another pricey high-end signature card, and if I recall correctly, Greg was the one that let me know it was available, so if that was the case, thank you to him for the assist.

Bill Freehan's autographs have naturally gone up in price a bit due to his passing a few years ago, although I would say not egregiously so. In any case, I wasn't shocked that this dual signature card of him and fellow Wolverine/Tiger Rick Leach wasn't super cheap since I'm assuming TK Legacy, one of my favorite products as the manufacturer focuses on individual colleges, was likely distributed regionally. I don't recall if I saw this one up for sale before, or at least at a price I could handle, but at this point in my life, a bit under $50 was money I was willing to spend.

Naturally I love it because Freehan's one of my Michigan favorites--he went on to play for the Tigers and is a franchise great there too--and Leach is also a pretty significant Wolverine. But the focus on the college careers of both players is especially cool, as is their link which the back goes into. What it also doesn't mention is that both also played football for the Wolverines. Leach's gridiron career is more notable than Freehan's since he was a touted QB, but Bill was a notable two-sport athlete as well.

Not only is this my 14th signature of Freehan, but as a bonus it's also my first certified signature of Leach, who joins the baseball hits collection as member #40!

Roughly a month later I threw in a low max bid on a basketball card and was surprised to win it:

You all know I love my cheap plates so I was glad to win this one of former Wolverine Nik Stauskas for a mere $6.50 ($4.25 bid plus $2.25 in tax and shipping). "Sauce Castillo"'s RCs were released in 2014-15 so this cyan plate was used to create his rookie in that year's National Treasures product. I believe these plates were actually inserted into a subsequent product like a later National Treasures offering, but we still have them listed under 2014-15 NT on TCDb so I'll leave it categorized as such for now.

Believe it or not this is my SIXTH plate of Stauskas, which isn't something that happened intentionally, and it's hilarious to me that half of my hits of his are of the 1/1 variety while I only just recently picked up an autograph.

At the end of August I continued the printing plate theme with a return to baseball:

As usual here's my disclaimer that the subject of this card is pitcher Matt Miller who was drafted by the Brewers, not the Rockies/Indians P from Mississippi or the Texas Tech lefty who appeared in a few games in the early 2000s for the Tigers. The one I collect was born in South Carolina, went to high school in Indiana, and of course played for Michigan.

It looks like this Miller was only in organized ball between 2010, his draft season, and 2014, all while in the Brewers org. He pitched parts of the 2011 and 2012 seasons with the pictured Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (who doesn't love minor league team nicknames?) and appeared on 31 total cards catalogued on TCDb, with a mix of minor league issues joining regular issues from 2010 Elite Extra and 2011 Topps Heritage Minors and Pro Debut. Oddly enough I now own the yellow plates from both of the latter, and my only needs include his for minor league issues plus the remaining seven 1/1s from the Topps products. As rare as it is to find cards of his I need, $10.60 wasn't an unreasonable price for this.

Once again just a couple weeks later I added one more plate to my collection courtesy of eBay:

I think I may have mentioned my proclivity for collecting Rich Hill around here before! Now I can make the crazy claim that I own more 1/1s of Dick Mountain than I do combined hits of any one other player in my baseball collection (Zach Putnam has 35 to his name)!

This is my first of his from the 2020 flagship set to go along with the same year's Chrome Update and an On-Demand Mini Silver 1/1 parallel. The lefty dwarfs all others in that collection with 152 hits, literally representing more than 1/3 of the 447-card total. It's a mountain of Hills! (That definitely sounds better in my head than a mountain of Dicks.) Sometimes it's not easy staying at the top and I definitely had to fight off a few other bids to land this one for a bit more than $16.

My final personal eBay purchase wouldn't be until early December, and the subject of the card (at least one of them) remained the same:

The "Chirography" name had been around for almost a decade as part of Upper Deck's SP Authentic product when this dual signature starring Hill and fellow lefty pitching prospect Sean Marshall was made in 2006. I believe I own nearly 100 cards that include Rich's autograph so you could say I've studied his handwriting quite a bit in my hobby career.

Out of that grouping, I have a few signature cards he shares with others but this is my first that includes his former teammate Marshall, who was drafted a year later than Hill in 2003. He lasted nine years in the Majors, pitching six in Chicago and three more with the Reds, mostly as a bullpen guy from mid-career on. Marshall's now 42 and has been out of the game since 2014 while Hill has a chance at 45 (in March) to pitch in his 21st season. Crazy! I hope he gets a shot at more than the four games he pitched for Boston last season and gets to go out on his terms when he's ready.

Once again, hooray for more cards that I can put away! I think my last two '24 posts should be a few more Facebook Marketplace buys and then my late-year COMC haul. Then I'll be glad to get reporting on 2025 trades, shows and more.

2024 eBay purchase: how Rudock!

(Quick note: I thought I was wrapping up February when I went to post this and then realized I actually purchased the card in late January. Oh well, whatever--I tend to do something like quarterly eBay pickup posts and this is the only item I've bought on that site for myself through May, so we'll press on!)

Above note aside, let's finish up February's (or January's, or whatever!) pickups by looking at my first eBay buy of 2024:

Here we have a magenta plate of former Iowa/Michigan QB Jake Rudock. The plate was used to produce his 2016 Playoff RC though it was actually inserted into Panini's Plates & Patches product that year, as is Panini's wont.

Since I can't remember when I discussed Rudock last, I'll give a quick recap of his college and pro careers. A fairly standard pocket-passer-type QB, the Florida native headed to Iowa and was pretty much their starter in 2013 and 2014, with the team going 8-5 and 7-6 over those two seasons. He transferred to Big Ten foe Michigan for the 2015 season as it was apparent that new big thing C.J. Beathard would be taking over under center in coach Kirk Ferentz's stone age offense. The switch (or other combined factors) led to the Hawkeyes going 12-0 in the regular season, though they lost by 3 to Big Ten champion MSU, then got their faces kicked in by Stanford in the Rose Bowl. The following season Iowa stumbled to an 8-5 record once again.

Meanwhile, Rudock would become the answer to a trivia question: Jim Harbaugh's first QB as coach of his alma mater after the embarrassing end to Brady Hoke's tenure (which was the result of Rich Rodriguez's embarrassing tenure). He brought some respectability to the position (though that's no ding against the valiant efforts made by the colossally mismanaged Devin Gardner) and after stumbling in a tough road test against what would be a ranked Utah team, he led the Wolverines to 9 regular season wins with a close loss to temporarily good MSU and a typical blowout loss for the time against the Buckeyes. Highlights included a November bombing of Indiana in a 2OT game plus a 41-7 curb-stomping of the Gators in the Citrus Bowl. That was Michigan's first bowl win since the 2012 Sugar Bowl and would be Harbaugh's only postseason victory until his squad defeated Alabama and Washington to win the whole thing earlier this year.

Based on his steady improvement, Rudock earned a look with the Lions as a 6th round pick after that season, which is not bad at all since he didn't appear to have much of an NFL future before heading to Ann Arbor. That's not to say that his NFL career amounted to much--just spot duty in three 2017 contests in which he completed 3 of 5 passes for 24 yards and an interception. The Lions eventually let him go in early 2019, then he signed on with the Dolphins, though he never went active with them.

You won't hear Jake complaining about those results, though, because he gave the league his best shot and is now in med school back in Ann Arbor. How cool is that?

Rudock remains one of a growing number of transfers (both in and out) that I collect, with that number sure to shoot up big-time thanks to the burgeoning landscape of the transfer portal and NIL money. I'll always fondly remember his single season with the Maize & Blue when he and Harbaugh arrived to try to right the ship, the first step on a long journey that culminated in a championship that brought elation and relief to Michigan fans worldwide. This plate is now my best card in his small collection, joined by a higher-end autograph to make a solid pair. At about $12 delivered (including tax), I was happy to add it. As luck would have it, I'm even tied with Jeff as his top collector on TCDb at 11 cards!

And with that I should now be caught up through February (aside from TCDb trades which will get recapped in a larger catch-up post) so I should be moving on to March next time.

2024 trade package #2: Scribbled Ink

My next trade package from January arrived courtesy of another longtime buddy of the blog, Paul, who can be found on Twitter now that he no longer blogs as Scribbled Ink. This one was just full of surprises and, well, just check it out:

It wasn't long after Christmas that the envelope showed up in my mailbox so I'd say the little Tigers helmet was still appropriate for the season. It looks great and has a perfect little olde English "D," and I may decorate a small tree late this year with all my sports-related ornaments.

Paul also included an unopened 2023 team set of his local minor league team, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. The sets you can get starring these teams are very cool, period, and I'm always glad to add more whether I've seen the team or know any players on them. This set includes last year's roster of AA players working their way up Toronto's system and the subject I'm most familiar with is a favorite of Paul and his son, Orelvis Martinez. The slugging Dominican infielder popped 28 HR in his first full minor league season, 2021, then added 30 and 28 more the two subsequent seasons, working his way up to AAA Buffalo. He's a top 100 prospect and I hope his fans get to enjoy his Major League debut soon!

The MLB stuff starts with some '96 Topps Tigers, and the less said about the teams back then, the better, though the players seen here are of higher quality than the average guy on those 90s squads. Cronenworth's start to the '24 campaign gets Gold Stars from me in addition to Topps. That Griffey Topps insert is deceiving because it's actually a green version and numbered /299! And a couple late 90s Cals lead into just a few more in the next scan.

Seven's just a few, right? The couple recent Topps and Donruss parallels are great--orange really goes well with Baltimore's unis, of course--but those 90s cards are outstanding. 1997's design is one of my all-time favorites from Topps, and Chrome makes it look even better, plus the photo they went with on this one is easily a top-10 Ripken for me. The horizontal Zenith is simply a work of art depicting the HOFer at bat. And the others are excellent too!

Paul even managed to sneak a Verlander (just one!) into this package, a Rainbow Foil from last year's Topps flagship product and one of a small number I own that show him with the Mets.

And last up for baseball, Paul was nice enough to snag one of the last two 1997 Score Hobby Reserve base cards I needed to re-complete my set. It's been a few years since I discovered that while most of my complete set included cards with the "HRxx" numbering on the back, a handful of the cards were the wrong version lacking numbering like that. I chipped away at the set until I got down to just two cards: the Nagy that he picked up and shipped to me, and the Andruw Jones Goin' Yard subset card you see above, which I bought myself on Sportlots last year. So, once again for the first time, I'm the proud owner of the full 1997 Score Private Stock/Hobby Reserve base set. w00t!

And we'll end on a strong note with some football and hockey. The latter is made up of a pair of UD All-Star related cards from the early 90s starring a couple Wings favorites from the team's 90s/2000s dynasty, Fedorov and Yzerman.

And the second football item is quite nice: a triple jersey of former UM QB and current (for now, given his arrest earlier today for OWI) staffer Denard Robinson, my 57th of Shoelace.

But SWEET MERCIFUL CRAP, what is that leading off this scan? Are you kidding me, Paul? An Aidan Hutchinson printing plate AUTOGRAPH?

Yep, sure is! That's an unexpected late Christmas gift if I've ever seen one, and a very, very, VERY generous one at that! Hutch could be found in Leaf's 2022 Ultimate Draft football product and this plate, which is indeed signed, was used to create Aidan's autographs found therein.

This is just my third Hutchinson hit and somehow all three include his signature, but it's going to be extremely difficult to top a signed 1/1.

Paul, sorry for the super belated post but thank you again for the incredible stuff above, truly a great mix that lives up to your reputation for sending a good variety every time. I don't have anything remotely close to the quality of some of this but will be able to hit you back relatively soon, which I can hopefully do now that the shock of the contents of this package has worn off!

This post wraps up January's blogger trades so next I'll either move on to one from the following month or recap some shows or something. We'll see relatively soon.

A super 2023 TCDb trade roundup, part 2

As is sometimes the case I have a lot of non-card stuff going on right now, hence my posting even less than usual, and that includes needing to temporarily move my collection and other things in my house for carpet installation. Still, I'm trying to sew up my 2023 pickups, so let's blast through the rest of the trades/PIFs I received from TCDb friends last year.

I specifically grouped these together because these items came from four of my closest friends on the site, some of whom I talk to just about every day, discussing checklist updates/fixes, fun new pickups, and anything else we feel like.

First up is Shawn, a.k.a. corky. The former Washington resident (now in Arizona) hangs out on the site once in a while and does great work when he's around, plus he's an excellent trader.

He sent me some very cool Griffeys, including a '96 Ultra promo, plus an oddball of another former Mariner I collect in Putz. And former UM CB Dave Brown is included on a sweet Seahawks card which stars another well-known Seattle guy in Largent.

Thanks, Shawn!

Next, Wisconsinite Brian (firesnbeers) sent me a bunch of stuff throughout the year in PIF form. The 2023 TCDb Member of the Year--and very deservedly so given his hard work and generosity on the site!--went to the National, so some of what you'll see below came from there, plus some came from a card shop not too far from him.

These came from a PIF about a year ago. That Conlon card is Vick's lone cardboard issue listed on TCDb, and it's now part of my Michigan Baseball PC. He played baseball and football for the Wolverines in the late 1910s/early 20s, apparently liking positions starting with a "C": catcher and center. Though his MLB career, 57 games over four seasons with the Cards, was short, he did win a ring with the '26 champion St. Louis squad, though he didn't actually appear in the Fall Classic.

There was a good bit of football content in that mailing as well, including the QB-heavy group above.

I can also often count on Brian to send me a nice bunch of Packers stuff since that comes with his territory, and he's especially reliable for getting oddball-ish stuff like police issues. Hence the additions to my Des and Woodson PCs from the group above.

The next bunch of scans came from a big August '23 mailing that included some National pickups, interesting stuff from his card shop, and lots more. Sweet Miggy cards here!

Gwynn, former Tigers, and a Rich Hill, excellent!

Hell yeah, even more of yesterday's birthday boy Dick Mountain, and in numbered form in a couple cases! More Tigers and another Michigan Baseball alum too.

Former Tigers in the wrong uniforms start off this scan but there's other cool stuff, including even more Hills! And one of the top cards in the whole package is the second oldest George Kell in my collection, out of 1955 Bowman. Wow!

He picked out these Topps Mini Pink parallels from the National after finding a nice deal on them and I thought that was very cool, though I did make sure to send the Jones to Paul as he still collects JaCoby.

A few more very interesting items here. The two columns of '79 Topps cards are from a box or uncut sheet or something, I forget which, but I thought it would be fun to add because of the presence of Bergman, another former Tiger in Corcoran, and of course the Maris/Aaron combo. Northrup is a '71 Topps Super and represents my first piece of that odd but great product's run. And last up is an Al Kaline mini record that was also made in 1971 by Mattel. That quickly became one of the most unique items in my collection!

There was plenty more football in this package as well, and a really nice mix of players to boot.

More football and more recent guys in Michigan unis. SAGE even managed their usual level of QC by calling former Michigan star DB Hill "Draxton" instead of Daxton.

And the last of the football and this package overall. A couple Topps Total multiplayer cards feature ex-Wolverines, a Score Red Siege parallel of former WR Chris Calloway looks great, and backfield bowling ball Leroy Hoard is high-steppin' on an extra tall Fleer GameDay card.

And now we're into the last PIF Brian sent me which was back in October. The first of two baseball scans offers more Miggy, three quarters of my Griffey/Gwynn/Maddux/Ripken quartet (don't worry--Cal's included in the next scan), and, oh yeah, just another vintage HOF card: Al Kaline's '71 Topps. Awesome!

There's the Ripken I was referring to, along with Gwynns big and, uh, normal, and another Maddux.

And lastly, Brian made a big trade with another member and arranged to acquire cards for a few folks, which was very nice of him. I took advantage of his offer by picking up all of these needs for my '94 Finest and Pinnacle and '95 Finest sets.

Thanks again for a bunch of amazing PIF cards, especially the vintage and oddball stuff, Brian!

Next we have my fellow Michigander Jason (jasongerman9), the first of this group that I've met in-person, which I'll detail more in a future show recap. Jason's a baseball coach at a college near where he lives close to the Michigan/Indiana border, and it's easy to find stuff he can use as he has a huge wantlist of Reds and other PCs. He sent me a few nice sized PIFs last year broken down like this:

PIF #1 last February included a fun mix of baseball, basketball, and football stuff. If that Mosaic Kaline isn't emblematic of today's Panini, I don't know what is! I knew Jason was sending me the two IP/TTM autos of NCAA champ Glen Rice but they were still fun to get all the same.

There was even more football to enjoy but the top highlights by far were the super vintage mini RCs of Albert "Ox" Wistert and John Greene out of 1948 and '50 Bowman, respectively:

Albert was one of three brothers (Francis, a.k.a. "Whitey," and Alvin a.k.a. "Moose") to suit up for Michigan (but not at the same time) and all of them were OTs. This one played in Ann Arbor from 1940-42, then was selected by the Eagles, with whom he earned a selection to the first ever Pro Bowl plus a pair of pre-Super Bowl Championships. His #11, worn by all three of the brothers, is one of six to be retired by Michigan. He joins a few other ex-Wolverines in the '48 Bowman and/or Leaf sets as a rookie and represents a tie with Bob Nussbaumer from the same set as the oldest card in my Michigan PC!

Meanwhile, the '50 Bowman RC of ex QB/OL/other and wrestler Greene is just one of two cards in his name cataloged on TCDb, with the other being a 1986 reprint of this exact card, which hails from the same set as that of HOFer Elroy Hirsch's first year. He played in Ann Arbor in the early 40s before being drafted by the nearby Lions where he was basically a TE from 1944-50.

These two very early RCs are incredible and I can't thank Jason enough, probably because I owe him even more thanks for...

...this super cool custom jersey of my favorite former Michigan RB...

...Mike Hart! It turns out that Jason had a connection that could make something like this and asked me what name/number combo I'd want if such a thing was possible. I thanked him profusely for getting this made for me and was glad to wear it a few times last season during the team's national championship run with Hart guiding the running backs. Sadly, Hart is no longer with the team apparently for personal reasons, but I'll always be thankful for his contributions on the field and the sidelines (and to Jason for my favorite Michigan jersey in my entire wardrobe!).

Moving ahead to July, he sent me a Tigers-filled PWE with some great looking stuff in it. I was especially happy to get more Miggy stuff during his sunset season, but the Orange Refractor of Castro is quite cool as well.

These are limited to just 25 copies and this one was fairly close to being a Christmas card!

And here's the rest of the Tigers from that envelope highlighted by two guys I hope to see remain in the rotation throughout 2024 without any injuries, Manning and Skubal.

And finally in December he sent me some really nice Christmas cards. This scan features a lot of shiny stuff which I'm always a sucker for, and it's mostly Tigers plus a Cronenworth I didn't have. Sparky's Topps Chrome Platinum parallel is called a Platinum Toile Cream/Fuchsia Atomic Refractor (Topps and Panini parallels have long since jumped the shark) and is numbered /100. Meanwhile, I'm still a fan of Topps Tribute base cards I can get on the cheap or in trades because they look so premium.

TCP pops up in scan #2 as well and we're not even done yet after these! Remember when Grossman was a Tiger for a minute there? The two parallels you see of him are a Blue Mini-Diamond Refractor (/199) and a Black and White Mini Diamond Refractor. IF prospect Jack Lopez looks to appear on a similar version to the first Grossman but that's actually a Platinum Toile White/Blue Refractor numbered /199. OBVIOUSLY. Anyway, they look cool and that's a plus. Also, I've received so many copies of that Heritage Hill I don't know what to do with all of them!

And here's an exciting way to close out this group. Tram's sweet looking issue is a regular old (but plenty appreciated) Refractor. Charley Maxwell's 1962 Post Cereal card, just my third item of his, was one of two huge surprises in this envelope. The other was a 2009 SAGE HIT Cyan Plate of ex-Wolverine Tim Jamison! The Michigan DE played between 2005-08 and therefore saw the end of the Carr era and the beginning of the RichRod experience. He put up a reasonable 18.0 sacks and 28.5 TFL before appearing in a solid 56 games over six seasons with the Texans as an UDFA. I'm excited to have such a nice piece for my small collection of him!

Thanks for your generosity last year, Jason--that was some really impressive stuff you sent my way, and I look forward to more trading and hopefully meet-ups this year!

And last up tonight is a nice stack of stuff I got from longtime member Dan (vrooomed) to go with all of the other great items he sent me earlier in the year that I already covered. This was kind of a combination of a trade with a few surprises thrown in.

Dan threw in some newer Tigers to go with some Fielders I picked out, plus he included a cool STAR promo (and a shiny Miggy too). For those that don't know, he worked for the STAR company back in the 80s and therefore knows a good amount of what goes into producing cards. Also he had quite a few extras from those sets over the years to clear out, which you'll see more of in a bit.

Big and small, I trade for them all! Former Wolverine Ignasiak is another STAR card I'm sure I wouldn't have found otherwise. Keller joins my '91 Swell Greats set chase. And the minis of Bergman, Henneman, and Parrish join others in all three PCs!

I mentioned that Dan had lots of STAR cards to offer, and that included these nine minor league team sets that all included at least one PC guy I collect. Here's a quick list of the sets:

• 1988 Charlotte Rangers, Florida State League All-Stars, Ft. Lauderdale Yankees, Lakeland Tigers
• 1989 Burlington Braves (missing a few at the end of the checklist), Cedar Rapids Reds, Hamilton Redbirds (Cardinals)
• 1990 Elizabethtown Twins, Memphis Chicks (Royals)

I ended up with 10 player collection needs which was great, including two new Dean Palmers. Wolverines P Greg Everson got three new cards added to his total (including one in the next scan where he's referred to as "Chuck" on the front) and I now have five of his eight issues. Kamieniecki's well known enough, I think, and I've mentioned the late Powell a few times. However Karasinski (Braves P who didn't make the bigs) and Morse (Twins 2B, same) are making their collection debuts; Lata also gets a second card to his name.

I'm going to keep all of the sets intact because why not? Since I needed to scan the third Everson as the 10th card in the bunch, I thought I'd pull a few other stars that caught my eye. Juan Gon and Sosa joined Palmer in a star-studded '88 Charlotte set, Felipe Alou was a coach for the '88 FSL All-Star Game, and Conine was the best card found in the '90 Memphis Chicks set featuring future Royals.

Dan, once again, thank you for some super fun trading throughout 2023 and your generosity in sending some very useful items my way!

And thank you once again to all four of these guys for being awesome friends and fellow TCDb members! The site is better with all of you actively trading, handling IRs, and providing advice, and I appreciate all that you do!

Lastly, thanks to everyone who doesn't care that I post like once a month sometimes. I'll be back at some point with my final 2023 post recapping my COMC Black Friday pickups.