2026 trade package #12: Sport Card Collectors

I've got a second June show to get to tomorrow, which will be another fun blogger/TCDb meetup, so before then why don't I catch up on my mail from May?

The other blogger trade package I received last month was another gem from PWE specialist Matt of Sport Card Collectors. He sent me an envelope filled with quality Tigers during a month where the team was anything but. They went 6-22 including losing streaks of five and eight games with a single winning streak of two. Fortunately things have been a bit better in June with some returns from injuries and better play overall, and they've gone 8-6 plus they have a small lead as I write this.

Anyway, as always, I appreciate receiving cards of my Tigers PC guys no matter how the team is playing. So let's have a look at what Matt sent this time:

Miggy's a great way to start and most certainly always welcome in any envelopes that find their way to my mailbox from generous traders. The '25 Panini Select Orange Flash Prizm is an excellent looking color match of the future HOFer, and the '26 Heritage TBtC subset issue is a fun reminder of Cabrera hitting his 500th homer five years ago. Carp's Silver Portrait from last year's Ginter is a good reminder of how much the team's missed his presence in the lineup and usual production this season. Prince's Select parallel is a great looking insert of the younger Fielder during his time in Detroit. Riley indeed made history last season against the Angels on May 2 when he hit a leadoff solo shot and then three-run bomb in the 9th to become the first player to homer twice in the 9th inning.

Switching over to the mound, Melton, seen on a Rainbow Foil parallel from this year's Topps, has been a stabilizing force for the rotation in four starts: three wins and what should have been a fourth blown by the 'pen. Olson (Heritage Red Border parallel) is still on the shelf for this season but will hopefully come back healthy next year. And of course Skubal's the name on everyone's radar with the Tigers floundering and the trade deadline a few weeks away. Those two Topps inserts will remain with his collection that I'll be keeping whether or not he gets traded. It's funny to me that the '91 Topps design the first card honors came out five years before the ace was born.

Speaking of Tigers aces and injured guys, JV's return to Detroit's rotation continues to get pushed back, and given his age it's hard to say how much he'll be able to offer if and when he's healthy enough to pitch. That said, it's still very cool to have him back in a Tigers uniform. It just looks weird seeing him as a Giant on cards like the '25 Chrome Prizm Refractor and Ginter Mini A&G Back above, so I'll be glad when Topps makes a couple of him wearing the Olde English "D."

Then we have promising prospect Jackson Jobe, and really, how many guys in this post aren't injured right now? The '25 Stadium Club Concentration insert you see above is actually my 24th card of the former #3 overall pick, and it's funny how your collection of a top prospect can grow quickly without you realizing it!

Last up is another '26 Heritage parallel, a Dark Green, with quite the pairing. Skubal and fellow star Skenes led their leagues in ERA in 2025, with Paul's minuscule 1.97 topping Tarik's still excellent 2.21. Both won their league's Cy Young Award (Skubal's second) despite the Tigers' ace winning just 13 games and the young Pirates ace going 10-10, proving that that's not the only category voters consider. It's great that the game has a couple young arms like theirs to match up with some explosive bats in this era.

And as I finish writing this, the Tigers held on to beat the White Sox 4-3. Sorry, Jeff, but don't worry, I won't gloat about it when I see you tomorrow since your team's record is still much better.

I'll give Matt credit for bringing the team luck tonight while I was writing up his trade recap. Thanks again as always, my northeastern friend, and I'll keep piling up some stuff to send back your way whenever it makes sense!

I'll be back soon, though surely not tomorrow with a long drive to and from the show. My next post will likely cover the May show, and then I have a single June trade package to get to before what will be two more show recaps, along with one eBay pickup and a whole bunch of TCDb deals whenever I feel like getting to those.

2025 trade package #12: Sport Card Collectors

Tonight's trade package cards came from the lone blogger envelope(s) I received in June, and none other than Matt of the Sport Card Collectors family of blogs. (Don't worry about me being starved for cards--July ended up being a doozy!) As summer kicked off he sent me a nice little bunch of Tigers and Wolverines:

Who knew back in Spring Training that Riley would be an All-Star? It's no surprise that he continues to make highlight reel plays night after night, though! Jobe's unfortunately on the shelf due to the dreaded TJ surgery, but he's certainly earned his Rated Rookie logo. I believe Keith's '25 Topps parallel above is called "Silver Crackle Foilboard," not that I'd have any clue if I couldn't look it up somewhere. The number of parallels is too damn high!

Moving to the second row, Mize no longer pitches for the Erie Seawolves (or Moon Mammoths, if you prefer, thanks to the wonderful John Oliver), but that's because he's 10-4 for the Motor City Kitties this season! Olson ('25 Topps Holo Foil, apparently? I dunno, I see that and want to call it Sand Glitter, another parallel offering) is also on the shelf for at least the rest of the regular season, but he has an outside shot at a return for the playoffs. Perez (2020 Bowman Chrome Prospects Refractors) was supposed to be the centerpiece in the Verlander-to-the-Astros trade, but that didn't work out--JV's still pitching and Perez hasn't pitched in '25 that I can see.

The last regular sized card is a '24 Topps Update Gold (#d /2024) of short term Tiger Gio Urshela, who appeared in just under 100 games with the 2024 Tigers and then was released. There may be way too many parallels but Topps's Gold is still a solid yearly offering. And last up is a '21 Ginter A&G Back Mini of Daz Cameron, another promising young player that came over in the Verlander trade but didn't work out. He's still active, at least, having caught on with the A's in '24 and Milwaukee this season.

As we head over to the gridiron I'm reminded that Michigan kicks off its season in just three weeks! Unfortunately it's a night game, but whatever. Anyway, the cards Matt sent are a nice lead-in to the season.

From last year's Prestige product he sent me two of Michigan's best recent defenders. Hutch is of course very well known by now, and meanwhile DL Kris Jenkins will head into his sophomore NFL campaign with the Bengals.As with most draftees of the past five-plus years, I still need a lot of the latter's RCs like the one above (not to mention Hutchinson's!).

The second row is even more colorful. First up is a '24 Prizm Draft Red Ice parallel of Michigan DB and NFL HOFer Ty Law. While it's not a color match card, the shade of red plus ice pattern look terrific together, along with a great college action shot. And speaking of colors not matching on a card that still looks great, how about a 2022 Bowman U Chrome Pink Refractor of QB Cade McNamara, a guy who managed to beat OSU before heading off to browner pastures in Iowa?

Matt, thanks again for these fun Tigers and Wolverines additions! I haven't picked up much for you since the last package I sent, but I'm sure before long I'll have another mailer's worth of Giants and 90s inserts to send out east for your enjoyment.

I've got a few ideas for my next post but haven't decided what it'll be just yet--June's show, my eBay pickups from the first half of '25, or a quick recap of some TCDb deals from earlier this year. Either way, you'll see all three of those at some point in the next week or two, so stay tuned for those!

2024 trade package #4: Sport Card Collectors

Happy June! As for me, I'm on to March over here, though I think that was a relatively slow month for me so maybe I'll make up some time with enough posts over the next few weeks.

Tonight you get to see the first cards that were sent to me this year by Matt of various blogs including Sport Card Collectors. He always manages to PWE over some cool stuff, especially when it comes to my Tigers and Michigan Football collections.

Here's what he sent me back in March:

RP Lange is one of three current/former Tigers seen on Purple Heritage parallels tonight. Though he'd been decent in the past he's had a frustrating year (join the club--oh wait, he's on the right one for that) and a hissy fit that included firing a ball over the dugout when being taken out led to a demotion to AAA for now. I'm sure he'll be back, but things aren't looking great for supposed winner AJ Hinch.

Speaking of frustrating, one guy who has a legitimate beef is starter Reese Olson (2024 Topps) who gets just about zero run support whenever he pitches, leading to a completely unjustified 1-6 record. It took until his 10th start to get his first victorious decision despite giving up more than two runs just twice in 11 starts. Just think how good of a 1-2 he and Tarik Skubal could be if the cheap/incompetent owners and front office actually acquired and held on to quality bats!

Tork, star of a Topps Chrome insert, looked like such a bat by the end of last year but he's got some different swing mechanics going on this year that I blame on the coaching staff because this is a guy who could hit right out of college.

I'll get to the Verlanders in a minute but first let's look at Vierling (another purple!) who's been decent this year, plus a Mini of Austin Meadows, the guy Detroit foolishly traded away Isaac Paredes to acquire. Maybe his little bro will pan out for the Tigers, but so far that's feeling unlikely.

(Another tire fire of a Tigers season aside, this was a nice selection of cards of my hometown team!)

And now we get to just a few too many Verlanders! Can you believe in just a few weeks it'll be the 17th anniversary of JV's first no-no, which he fired against the Brewers? His 2022 AL Cy Young nod--pointed out by that Heritage card--was his second with Houston and third overall go go with 2011 and 2019. As mentioned, he joined Lange and Vierling in this shipment in getting the Heritage Purple treatment. And finally, there are a couple Ginter Minis including another relatively rare appearance from his stint with the '23 Mets. That's my 13th card of him with the dysfunctional franchise that can't stop punching itself in the face.

Besides Verlander, the best player in the envelope was one Aidan Hutchinson, the local boy who made good after moving on up to the Lions once his outstanding college career in Ann Arbor ended. These two Retail Blue Panini Select cards appear to do a good job of showing off one of his coveted traits: the "endless motor" that draftniks love. With what's likely a very improved secondary, he could make even more noise at and behind the line of scrimmage this year, living up to his hype as a QB-seeking missile.

Matt, as always thanks so much for thinking of me and IDing some great new fits for my collections. Having already fired back (which you've already recapped), I'll have to start another stack for you, but in the meantime I'll be glad to show off the next bunch you sent me once I've made it into May's acquisitions.

I think the next post you see here should be my March show recap, and that may just do it for that month. April might not take me too long either with a single show and two or three trades. May will be a crazy month to catch up on with three shows (the "June" show for me was actually yesterday, still in May) plus a bunch of trades. So, yeah, lots more good stuff to come!

2023 trade packages #21: Scribbled Ink

Well once again it's been far too long since I've posted--we're in October now!--but here I am back with another trade package, and boy is this one a doozy.

Buddy of the blog Paul, who I believe is enjoying some recreational R&R right now, mailed me a couple sizeable packages back in August and I'll cover them together this evening. I'm curious to see if everyone else will be as blown away as I was!

Scan #1 is all cardboard/whatever they use nowadays. Paul's a dude for the three-card assist for my Cronenworth PC which has eclipsed the century mark since he fired these westward. Panini brands like Prizm and Mosaic were the stars of this one and I'm totally cool with that. Why not when another PC guy like Junior Griffey gets in on the fun with a pair of great shots at the plate? Hill's a rare non-Panini entry here but very much appreciated. I'm curious to see if Mize is part of the team's future next year on a roster that could very much use him back. Ripken was the most represented player this time at five cards, and the best in my eyes is the Gallery parallel you see here in spot #9.

Cal continues to dominate my baseball player collections (and all sports, in fact) with over 1200 cards thanks to generous packages like this one. JV's Astros are headed back to the postseason, and nothing against the dude himself but I hope his team falls to the winner of the Jays/Twins series. Woodson's blue (what else?) parallel was a fun football throw-in.

And then we have the biggest (literally) card of the envelope: a dual jersey booklet of two of my favorite Tigers of the past 20 years! It's weird to me that A-Jax retired a year sooner than Grandy, who debuted six years prior to Jackson, and then of course they were both involved in the three-team trade between the Tigers, D-Backs, and Yankees. And here they are together again! If this booklet looks familiar that's because I previously nabbed the slightly rarer Gold version:

I really appreciate Paul tracking this down on COMC and sending it my way!

That's it for the card portion of the two shipments (though they hardly deserve a "that's it) but Paul had bigger things up his sleeve.

I know Paul to be many things and one of those is an excellent photographer. He's taken some great looking photos, many of which I've seen, and one thing he likes to do is print out some favorites and get them signed. He did exactly that when Tigers pitching prospect Reese Olson and the organization's AA Erie SeaWolves visited Paul's nearby New Hampshire Fisher Cats late last year. He ended up with three very vibrant photos of the future (and now current) Tiger warming up, then sent those off to be signed. He kept one, sent one to John, and included one for me here as well.

As you can probably tell I slightly ruined the bottom of the photo trying to remove the blue painter's tape holding it to the cardboard it shipped in, but I figure I can either cut off that portion or cover it up with framing. The popping colors and cool baseball action can't be overridden by something that small anyway.

I really liked that he included not only the COA from the local-ish (to me at this point, not him!) signing, but a ticket from that game as well. That's a perfect compliment to a piece I'm glad to have. And I hope Paul continues pursuing his photographic hobby at other games.

So that leaves one more item, something that came in an oddly shaped box:

(5000-card monster box for scale)

Ok, so I knew in general what the item was by the shape, but not specifically what he'd paid a hefty amount to send me. That ended up being this:

Wow, that's a black beauty of a bat! Louisville Slugger is obviously one of the most well known makers of MLB lumber and this one is a stunner. But wait, that's that?...

Do my eyes deceive me or is that name up there one Dean Palmer, celebrated slugger of some 90s Tigers squads and a favorite of this guy right here? Hell yeah it is! And it's my first game-used memorabilia item as far as I'm aware. What an absolutely amazing item for my collection!

(Admire my knob)

While I decide how I want to display this, likely with at least one or two other bats that would be worthy to join it, I'll just celebrate how cool it is to have it and throw some big respect Paul's way for acquiring it (I believe along with something for his own collection) and going to the expense of shipping it 700+ miles from New Hampshire to Ann Arbor. WOW!

I owe Paul a huge thanks for some absolutely huge--both size and how impressive they are--items I had the pleasure of showing off tonight, and now I'm glad I found some quality stuff I could send his way the last time I hit him back, which I'll try to do again very soon. Thanks, Paul!

For the folks reading this, what's your favorite item Paul sent me this time?

I'll be back with lots more stuff to cover soon, and I may go a bit out of order so I can make some trade bait available in anticipation of sending out a pretty large stack of packages after this Friday's show. Stay tuned!