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 #28: Sport Card Collectors

Happy New Year, friends! Happily I'm only a bit behind as I'll need five or six posts to cover last December and then start on this month (which already includes a show and a blogger trade package!).

I received two trade packages from blogger buddies in December just after Christmas, on the same day, actually. One of those was a PWE from excellent enveloper Matt of Sport Card Collectors (and other blogs). By my count I believe this was the fifth time he sent cards my way in 2025 and as always I appreciate his generosity.

This one was an all Tigers six-pack, and here's what he sent this time:

Greene is most certainly a Star of the MLB as 2025 saw him post career highs in runs, hits, HR, and RBI, plus he was named to the All-Star team for the second straight season. Jobe could find himself a regular at the ASG if he can return to health and keep himself that way.

Maeda ended up being a misfire free agency signing before the '24 season as he posted awful numbers and negative WAR before being released last year. However, his '25 Topps Confetti parallel (assuming I correctly IDed it) looks quite nice. Topps (and, to be fair, Panini also) releases WAY too many parallels, but at least some of them look nice enough and aren't extremely redundant.

On a more positive pitching note, Skubal won his second straight AL Cy Young Award last season, which was fun to see. His impending free agency spells doom for Tigers fans, but we'll enjoy him while we have him. He joins teammate Riley Greene as a two-time All-Star and his first card above is a Chrome insert (with a Refractor finish, but that's still the "base" version) noting his appearance in the '24 ASG. Tarik pitched the second inning for the AL and was perfect in the junior circuit's 5-3 win. His other card is a '90 Topps All-Star insert (of the Red variety) throwing it back to that set. Skubal started the '25 ASG and gave up a pair of runs in a game that was decided by a swing-off to break a 6-6 tie.

Lastly, Tork hasn't made an ASG yet but he did have a career season in '25, and a very nice bounce-back campaign compared to 2024. Since the theme today seems to be '25 Topps cards, he fits right in with a Heritage Chrome Silver Sparkle Refractor (again, I believe I got that right), one that also uses a throwback Topps design. The pattern somewhat reminds me of the old Panini foil stickers I loved to pull to fill the yearly album as a kid.

Matt, thanks once again for this post-Christmas present! I'm looking forward to your reaction to what I sent you for the holiday while I work on restocking for your next mailer.

Stay tuned for one more belated Christmas gift that you'll have to see to believe!

2025 trade package #22: Sport Card Collectors

Hooray, I'm now only about a month behind! And my first November trade package came courtesy of the person who sent the final one in October, Matt of Sport Card Collectors. While he sends me PWEs throughout the year, he tends to put together a larger package around the holidays, and that was the case here as these constitute my Christmas present from a person who really values that occasion.

And a very nice gift it was! Here's the contents of the bubble mailer:

First up: a nearly full set of 1989 ProCards London Tigers. Minor league affiliates can change decently often and that was the case for Detroit's AA club, the Glens Falls Tigers, who moved from that city to London, Ontario, a couple hours away from Motown, for the 1989 season. They'd remain there until 1993, switch to Trenton (NJ) in '94, Jacksonville from 1995-2000, and ultimately their current location in Erie, PA. I'll show off the biggest name of this bunch in the next image (plus another guy I collect) but I'll also mention that the group includes 1986 first-rounder (18th overall) Phil Clark, a catching prospect that never panned out.

For those interested, the full team set appears to be 32 cards strong and Matt sent me 25 of those, including the two I would have wanted the most.

Miggy leads off this scan in festive form that's perfect for the upcoming holiday, and also in a 1989 disguise, back when I was celebrating my seventh Christmas.

Greg Everson is one of the two '89 Procards cards I'm highlighting because he's a Michigan alum who was also born in my hometown of Livonia, Michigan, so that's about as good as it gets. TCDb has nine cards listed for him (all minors issues) and this is my 6th. Not bad! I'll skip over one card to talk about the other '89 London Tigers base which stars the most successful guy in the set: Travis Fryman. Detroit chose the well know left-side infielder with the 30th overall pick in '87 and he rewarded them with eight productive seasons, half of which saw him get selected for the All-Star game. After the '97 season he was dealt to the brand new Diamondbacks, who then flipped him to Cleveland a couple weeks later for Matt Williams.

And now we have some cool inserts to look at. Those start with a Bowman Gold parallel of pitcher Luke French, a guy whose career wasn't really notable. The next card is, though: a '23 Topps Heritage '74 Topps Stamps card that includes Mr. Tiger Al Kaline plus recent guys Tork, Baez, and Greene. I'd actually traded for this card in a TCDb deal but got sent the wrong one, and thanks to Matt I didn't need to go back and get that fixed to land a card I really wanted! Rotation stalwart Mize's card is a '21 Topps 1952 Topps Redux Chrome in all its Refractor-y glory. Franklin Perez, a headliner in the Verlander deal, also pops up on a nice looking Refractor from 2020, numbered /150. And Tork makes his second of three appearances, this one from Topps Heritage's long-running New Age Performers insert.

Tork #3 is a '24 Topps Royal Blue parallel, one of the ones that are mercifully easy to ID. And he's joined by a trio of--or should I say "three many"--Verlanders. Two of those are Topps Holiday cards like the Miggy so that makes them perfect for the season as well.

The rest of this scan is a good time to ask the question, "Do you really like looking at cards of Ken Griffey Jr.?" If the answer is "Yes!" then you're in luck. If not, you'll want to scroll down quite a bit. Also, you all know I collect Griffey and have over 1000 cards of him, so why would you not expect to see these here?

Anyway, Matt and I are very close in age and both loved watching Griffey play throughout the 90s. And so he devoted quite a bit of space in this envelope to cards of George Jr., which I was very happy to accept!

The horizontal group that kicks off the pile includes a couple mid/late 90s base, a 2001 Fleer Triple Crown insert called "Future Threats," and a 2023 UD Goodwin Champions base, the latter of which includes a much more recent photo of the retired superstar.

(Vertical) Griffey group #1 starts with the early 90s and zooms into 1996. My favorites are the Stadium Club Charter Member card with Junior and Senior, the UD superhero card (we all thought he was a superhero back then), and the '95 Stadium Club base showing off his sweet swing.

Here a couple more '96s give way to six checklists from the 1997 Collector's Choice set. Griffey was a UD spokesman for a few years back then so they featured him prominently in a number of products. In this case the lower-end kid-friendly set gave collecting tips for younger folks in the hobby.

Now we're heading into the late 90s and early/mid-2000s with this bunch. For me I don't think it gets better than that 1996-2001 run UD had, including the '98 design you see above. The Fleer Update card marking his 400th homer is a nice addition, and of course he'd sock another 230 before all was said and done. The fourth card is an UD entry from a multi-product effort celebrating opening day in 2000 and it turned out great. The rest are quite nice too, especially 2001 SP Game Used, and unfortunately my scanning went off the rails with the last card, but I didn't notice until I was putting this post together and didn't feel like re-scanning!

Now we're into the late career and post-career stuff, a lot of which is also fun. I'll take UD's Masterpieces over Ginter any day, but now I don't have to choose! Recent Donruss Preferred doesn't hold a candle to the original, but I do like the callback, just like I do with the Donruss base (though the last card in the scan looks much better than the couple from '21). A Topps '86 throwback insert increases my count of Griffey on the Reds, we get one more Goodwin Champions base, and then there's probably the best photo in the bunch courtesy of--who else?--Stadium Club, and a Home Run Derby moment.

Junior does sneak one last card into this scan as well! I'm working on the '24 Topps Celebration of the Kid insert and this one gives me a total of 8 of the 24, so I'm making decent progress there.

Matt threw in one basketball card and it was a bit of a surprise: a relic of THJ, out of 2018-19 Prizm. He's out in Denver after spending last year with the Pistons, and he's putting up decent PPG as a bench guy.

And we'll close things out with Michigan Football. As I write this post the big news in Ann Arbor is coach Sherrone Moore getting fired for an inappropriate relationship with an employee. I'm sure lots more info will come out over the next couple days, but in the meantime I'm mainly thinking of his wife and three daughters and hoping they can get through this heartbreaking situation. UM will find a new coach at some point and life will go on, but may their lives not be made a million times worse by his awful decisions.

That aside, I have a few more cards from Matt to enjoy. The first is Panini Zenith No Huddle red parallel of RB Blake Corum's RC. He just had himself a game, piling up 128 yards on 12 carries and two TDs including a 48-yarder as his Rams thumped the Cardinals. Hutch is always welcome in a trade envelope, be it on his own cards or on those that include other fantastic college/NFL defenders like Paye and Gary.Ojabo still hasn't found his footing in the NFL and I don't know if he will, but I love college-themed cards that remind me of him helping take down Ohio State. And DPJ may be out of the league but he had some memorable moments in Ann Arbor wearing the maize & blue, like he's doing on a Panini Legacy card above.

Matt, thank you once again for this awesome stack of cards, headlined by the Griffeys but supported by lots more of my favorite PCs. I appreciate the warm Christmas wishes and promise I'll return the favor pretty soon so you have something to put under your tree!

I'll be back pretty soon with another trade package recap!

2025 trade package #21: Sport Card Collectors

Tonight I'm covering my lone October trade envelope which I think arrived about a week before a super busy month for my mailbox. This one's a fun collaboration as Dion (Dion's IP Autos Only) sent it to me on behalf of buddy of the blog Matt of Sport Card Collectors. Matt sends me PWEs throughout the year pretty regularly and this was a fun way to get one as he traded Dion for some Michigan cards I could use. (He also sent me an early Christmas package but you'll have to wait a few days until I catch up to November!)

Please enjoy this 100% Michigan-themed trade recap!

Larkin represents baseball tonight, and he's a pretty good option given he's probably the most notable Michigan alum in MLB of the past 50ish years, though that's nothing against guys like Jake Cronenworth, Rich Hill, JJ Putz, and many others. The HOF SS looks great in his School Colors.

Michigan Basketball is certainly having a season to remember (along with the hockey team, though they're not represented here tonight), firing on all cylinders with an 8-0 start that includes four games in which they scored 100 or more. These two guys have long since left Ann Arbor but Bufkin and the younger Wagner bro, as seen on Wild Card Alumination cards, both put up good enough numbers over two seasons each to get drafted in the first round. Wagner's turned into a star for Orlando and that's been fun to see, especially as my collection of his cards continues to grow.

Football ended up comprising 75% of this envelope and that's 100% fine with me! First we have former Bills (and three other teams) QB Todd Collins appears on items from 1995 Classic and Superior Pix. They get me a couple cards closer to the century mark with a current total of 92, and of course I'm digging the college action photos.

I'll talk more about the other football guy in this scan since

he appears four more times in this one! Before Blake Corum's Michigan career Mike Hart was my all-time favorite Wolverines RB, and I think that may still be the case, but they're very close. That's why I was super excited to see the last card of the first scan, a 2008 Topps Rookie Progression Gold parallel that's numbered /199 on the back. I have 140 cards of Hart but it feels like it's rare for me to get anything this nice of him anymore. That makes this insert my favorite in the package.

But that's no slight against the rest. 2008 UD Draft Edition's set included a number of multiplayer cards, some of teammates and others of guys who shared positions. The one of Hart with #1 overall pick LT Jake Long, who blocked on many of Mike's TDs, is especially cool, and the other pairs him with fellow back Darren McFadden, the first-rounder out of Arkansas who played 10 seasons with Oakland and Dallas.

The other two Hart cards also describe him very well. 2009 Topps Magic is a fantastic set, and it was magic how often Hart ran without losing yards or fumbling, and how often he'd pick up key blocks while stoning players much bigger than him. And if he was "Mini" sized, well, he made up for it in strength, toughness, and determination. That makes him a great choice to be the most prominent player in this envelope.

Last up is another very tough Michigan RB from the 2000s. Chris Perry was a Heisman finalist in 2003 as he had a crazy 338 rushing attempts for almost 1700 yards, plus 18 runs for scores (in addition to a pair of TD catches). He embodied persistence with a school record of 51 carries for over 200 yards against rival Michigan State that year, leading the Wolverines to a tough 27-20 win in East Lansing.

I love that the maize & blue really pop on the two 2004 Press Pass cards Matt got from Dion for me: a base card and Showbound insert.

Thank you again to Matt for getting these for me and Dion for making the effort to send them my way. I may just have Christmas items in store for both of you! As I mentioned I'll show off the next package from Matt soon, but first I need to do a quick recap of October's show. That package will then lead off at least six November trades from current/former bloggers, and I'm looking forward to thanking each person for what they sent me.

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!

2025 trade package #10: Sport Card Collectors

We're in mid-June and the MLB season is getting close to the halfway point, but things were just getting started for my Tigers and the other clubs back in April when Matt of the Sport Card Collectors family of blogs sent me a cool pair of PWEs mostly featuring that team.

Here's what Matt sent me this time:

Bowman is often the home of prospects you've never heard of (and likely won't ever hear from again), and Ardoin's no exception--he pitched just three years of Minor League ball. Miggy and I were both six years old when the '89 Topps set the insert above is based on came out, and one of us went on to a storied MLB career. '24 World Series winner Flaherty is back in Detroit's rotation, and the results have been somewhat mixed, but he's still a solid guy I'm glad is on the team (plus, who'd say no to a Refractor?).

When it comes to infielder Colt Keith, he wouldn't be born for another 12 years after '89 Topps' release, and he made his MLB debut a total of 35 years after the abundant firestarter was found in packs, as seen on a cool Topps parallel. While '25 has been a bit of a down year for Keith, Torkelson has reversed his fortunes and is playing like a Star of the MLB, on pace to exceed the 31 bombs he totaled two years ago.

'84 World Series champ Trammell looks regal on a recent Panini Crusade design, and though he was famously screwed out of the '87 AL MVP, he does have a better crown to wear: MVP of the previously mentioned World Series. Verlander, meanwhile, has a trophy case absolutely stuffed thanks to a ROY, MVP, three Cy Youngs, and two World Series rings, not to mention an ALCS MVP. Autumn wasn't kind to him until 2017 with the Astros, and the third time was the charm for Mr. Kate Upton. As always he also looks great in Refractor form.

There were two more baseball items in these envelopes, both of diminutive stature. The first is a Mini Miggy, not to be confused with erstwhile Tiger Avisail Garcia, and the second is a Ginter Mini of 2008-09 and 2012 Tigers OF Clete Thomas, who ended his brief MLB career with the Twins in 2013.

Matt's also one of my more consistent sources of Michigan Football stuff, which I always appreciate, and he included a couple recent defensive guys here. First is a '24 Score RC of LB Junior Colson, who was drafted by his former college coach Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers, for whom he played 11 games last season. As always, hell yeah to the occasional college action RC! The other is a Panini Mosaic base of Aidan Hutchinson, the beastly edge player whose return to health could portend even more success than last year's Lions. My collection of the Lions' best player is growing nicely and is nearing the 50-card mark thanks to envelopes like this one.

Matt, as always, thank you for more of your trademark PWEs as they always include some of my PC favorites. Pretty soon I should also be able to cover the newest pair you sent this month, though I have a bit more catching up to do. In the meantime I look forward to any post(s) you put together on the envelope I just sent your way.

As this was my lone trade package from April I don't have too much more to show off from that month, but I'll be back soon with an outstanding showing of generosity. 

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!

2024 trade package #14: Sport Card Collectors

As it turns out I have just one trade package from July to post, making catching up a bit easier (though I do have quite a few from August and September). Tonight you get to see the latest PWE sent to me by Matt of multiple blogs but most recently Cards Over Coffee.

Matt treats me to these envelopes a few times a year and I can always count on some cool Tigers and Wolverines (if not stuff that hits other PCs). That was most definitely the case here:

It was sad to see Miggy hang up his cleats after last season, but there's no doubt that having a roster spot plus the DH position open for guys like Riley Greene and Kerry Carpenter aided in Detroit's stunning second-half turnaround this season. Honestly, it felt more like 1987 than '88, the year the design of those Topps inserts honors.

Manning, meanwhile, had a 2024 season he'd surely like to forget, going 0-1 in just five starts while not faring much better at AAA Toledo. He's only a few years removed from being a top 50 prospect but time may be running out for him to claim a spot in the rotation.

Lastly, Tork also didn't exactly have a season to remember like his 31 HR 2023 campaign, but considering how poorly he started, leading to his own demotion, the fact that he crawled his way back is a positive sign. He still needs to show a lot more in 2025 to earn a role on what appears to be an up-and-coming team, but for now he'll continue to appear on shiny inserts (like Refractors!) while proudly wearing the olde English "D."

If the timing of this post--a couple days after the Tigers were bounced from the playoffs--seems a bit inauspicious, it's nothing compared to the stunning turn of events for the player and team featured on the first few cards here. Aidan Hutchinson was such a massive piece on a defense trying to claw its way from embarrassment to competency, and his gruesome broken leg halts what looked to be a historic season for player and team. Here's hoping he comes back stronger than ever for the '25-'26 season, and in the meantime I hope the Lions don't miss his intimidating presence too much.

Matt obviously decided that one Wolverine great wasn't enough, so he added four nice looking cards of GOAT DB Charles Woodson. I really like that both of his franchises are represented here: the Raiders, with whom he began and finished his career, plus the team that allowed him to add a Super Bowl to his NCAA title trophy and other college/pro accomplishments: the Packers. If the nine-time Pro-Bowler didn't deserve first ballot admission to Canton, who else would? He's indeed a living legend and it's great to see him back in the Big House when doing his job for Fox.

Matt, thanks as always for another great PWE! I've got a pretty nice stack going for you and just need to decide when to pull the trigger on sending it your way. I can promise you at least one card that's seasonally appropriate given the rapidly declining temperature here in the northern part of the country.

I should be back soon with what I expect will be a recap of July's show, so stay tuned for that while watching what's rapidly become an MLB postseason featuring uninteresting/unlikable teams. Who the hell am I supposed to root for now?!

2024 trade package #11: Sport Card Collectors

Hi, friends! Do you like reading recaps of trade packages I received from a longtime blogging/Twitter buddy named Matt in May of this year? If so, you'll be excited about tonight's post being the second in a row to meet those requirements. This time it was Matt of Sport Card Collectors (and several other blogs). He tends to treat me to a PWE or two a few times each year, and that's exactly what he did a few months ago.

Here's what I pulled out of that PWE:

Javy's heating up enough to be considered an MLB star if only for a few recent games, but that's better than nothing! Since leaving Detroit, Jeimer's had a decent 2023 with the Nats, then an overall rough performance after being traded back to the Cubs. He sure looks cool in Detroit duds on a Topps Chrome Sepia Refractor, though. Who will Dick Mountain be pitching for late in the season? I hope we find out soon, but for now I'm excited about getting a card I actually needed of him from 2019 Topps Rainbow Foil. Update: he's back with the Red Sox!

Does Kaline belong in an inserted called Perennial All-Stars? He appeared in one (or both, where applicable) midsummer classics each season between 1955-1967, plus '71 and '74 so, uh, yeah, I'd say so! Tork's Pink Topps Chrome parallel is a reminder that he's still working his way back to the bigs with some nice power numbers and not much else at AAA Toledo. In better news for me, though, the baseball group ends with three many Verlanders! Oddly enough, all three of his MLB teams are represented here which is quite cool. Does he still have at least one more no-hitter left in him?

On the football side of things Matt came up with two Michigan uni cards and a couple more featuring two of the most prominent Wolverines to have starred in the NFL over the past 30 years. Interestingly enough, all four play defense too! DT Mo Hurst Jr. got a little play with Cleveland, his third NFL franchise, last year after missing 2022 due to injury, and we'll see if he sticks on their roster or elsewhere. Hutch is one of the most valuable defenders to come out of Ann Arbor and definitely lives up to his card's Elite billing with 21.0 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, 4 fumble recoveries, and 4(!) interceptions over his first two seasons. Mazi could use some positive momentum after Dallas selected him in last year's first round only to see him play relatively disappointingly, but hope springs eternal with a new season nigh. And lastly, Woodson is simply one of the top five best Wolverines to suit up in the NFL, which explains why you still see him in sets like 2023 Score (and its Red parallel) almost a decade after he retired.

Matt, thanks once again for one of your signature PWEs that always hit multiple PCs when you send them my way! I have a little stack going for you and I'm sure it won't be much longer before I'm hitting you back.

Up next I have one more trade package recap (from literally the other side of the country) and then a show post should finish out the month of May.

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 package #30: Sport Card Collectors

My final post of 2023 is my Christmas gift from Matt of the group of blogs I still refer to as Sport Card Collectors. Not that long after the second of the latest two PWEs he sent me materialized in my mailbox I had another envelope with even more goodies. As it turns out, he treated me to a bunch of Tigers IP/TTM autos from expert in that field Dion, so thanks to both of them for this outstanding collaboration:

We'll start with Bartee (1997 Topps), who's one of the most notable names in the group. It's not like his MLB career was much to write home about, but the six-year MLBer returned to Detroit in 2021, eventually serving as the first base coach, and he was due to return the following season before he tragically died suddenly from a brain tumor at just 49 years old.

Crosby (2012 Bowman Draft RC) was a top-50 pitching prospect drafted by the Tigers out of high school in 2007, though as with many such selections in the past 20 years he didn't pan out, lasting just one season in the bigs. It looks like the lefty was given a chance by the Twins in 2018 and he otherwise played in indy ball in 2017 and 2019-20.

Duran (1998 Stadium Club RC) wins the award for this post's best card design/signature combo for sure. That's an excellent legible autograph running up the right edge under his pitching arm. Roberto pitched out of the 'pen in 31 games over 1997 and '98 on a couple forgettable teams. He didn't get to appear on any certified autos so kudos to the Domincan hurler for a great signature he didn't have to practice as often as players these days.

Edmondson's (1993 Bowman) name is one I'm not familiar with, but after looking him up it's probably because he never pitched for the Tigers. Drafted out of high school in 1991, he later bounced around between the Mets, Braves, and Marlins, getting a nice tour of the current NL East. His MLB career consisted of a 9-12 record over 121 games between 1998-99, then he finished his minor league career in the Detroit system again before a season in indy ball. It looks like he's since landed on his feet, going into coaching future pitchers.

Another guy that's very notable for me is Fields (2013 Panini Prizm Perennial Draft Picks), for a couple reasons. Drafted out of a local high school in 2009, he was surely even more familiar to the Tigers as the son of Bruce Fields, who played briefly for the team in 1986 and then worked for the franchise as a minor league manager and hitting coach. Another connection for me is that Daniel was thought to be leaning towards his commitment to play baseball at Michigan. A $1,625,000 signing bonus (as a 6th rounder) changed his mind. Unfortunately he saw just three plate appearances in his lone MLB game (in 2015, though at least he doubled and scored.

Foucault (1978 Topps) is the oldest player in this bunch, and amazingly he pitched for six MLB seasons (including 1977-78  with Detroit) despite being a 43rd(!) round draft pick back in 1969. There were about 20 fewer teams back then, but still! His claim to fame for the Tigers would be the player the team received in a deal that sent fan favorite Willie Horton to Texas in 1977. The card he signed above, quite legibly, I should add, is his lone cardboard appearance with the Tigers.

On to the second scan! Greisinger (1999 Topps) was the biggest prospect of this group, I would think, as the 6th overall pick out of Virginia in 1996. He was a top-100 prospect to Baseball America the following season, then made his debut in '98, winning six of his 21 starts. The injury bug got him soon after, though, and he'd spend just 21 more games in the bigs with the Tigers, Twins, and Braves. He had a much better time in Korea and then Japan, though, spending nine mostly successful seasons there. And he has a pretty interesting signature to boot!

Heath (2002 Topps Chrome Traded) is a guy I had to look up, and for good reason: he was a 31st round pick in 2000! It looks like he never got above high-A ball with Detroit or the Angels so I'm not sure why Topps considered him a prospect, but I'm happy he got himself a card and I'm bet he was happy to sign this one. He's another guy that appears to have gone into coaching, in his case, high school ball.

Lowry (1987 Donruss RC) was a backup catcher (and occasional 1B) for the Tigers in 1984, '86, and '87 after being drafted out of UNC in 1980. It doesn't look like he appeared in the playoffs for the '84 champs but it must have still been amazing to be part of the wire-to-wire champs! He managed in the franchise's minor league system from 1995 until his untimely death in 1997 from a heart attack at just 39. His Wikipedia article mentions that the Tigers named their Player Development Man of the Year Award in his honor.

Back when signing players out of Asia was much less common (though growing, thanks to the rousing success of Hideo Nomo), the Tigers took a gamble on Taiwanese lefty Fu-Te Ni (2009 Bowman Draft RC) before the start of the '09 season. The Yankees' Chien-Ming Wang's success had lots of teams looking to replicate that strategy. Ni pitched quite well in 36 games out of the 'pen that season, but his numbers went the wrong way the following season. While MLB didn't work out for him he did go on to play through 2020 for various indy and foreign leagues. His signature didn't scan especially well here but it's easily one of the coolest of the bunch.

Time to come clean again: I had no idea who Yuri Sanchez (1992 Classic Draft Picks) was. That surprised me a bit more because the Dominican IF was actually a second round pick in 1992 out of a Massachusetts high school. The player selected right after him? Todd Helton (who, to be fair, didn't sign and ended up going to college, not playing for the Padres). He appears to have spent 1992-2000 in several teams' systems but never made it higher than AAA with the Reds in '96. Sanchez then played parts of six seasons in indy ball.

And last up tonight is Larry Sheets (1991 Upper Deck), whose last MLB cards were produced after his single year in Detroit--1990 (though he did play 11 games for Seattle in '93). The 1978 Baltimore second rounder--the first of four Orioles picks that round, and it took two more for them to select a local kid named Ripken--his 1984 cup of coffee led to a solid five-season run with the O's that included 83 homers. Detroit made a deal for him in January of '90 and he put up not-awful numbers as mostly a DH doing spot work in the outfield corners. I think I remember him best thanks to some of those late 80s NES baseball games, and mostly as an Oriole.

Many thanks again to Matt (and Dion for the assist!) for these 12 autographs of Tigers, some of which I knew well and others I obviously didn't. I'm always happy to learn more about who I collect, though, so this was a very educational post for me, at least, in addition to a great Christmas present. I hope both guys I mentioned here had a fantastic holiday as well and I look forward to Matt's reaction to my gift to him whenever he's ready.

And as for everyone else, I hope you all had a great year of collecting in 2023, and here's to a fantastic '24. Happy New Year!