2026 trade package #10: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

At long last (my fault) it's time to take a look at the most recent package sent to me by Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store!

This one made its way to me back in April. Since then I've actually sent a response his way, only for him to have to return it because he was asked to pay something like $700 in taxes/duties. I'm still trying to figure out what category of goods to use on the customs form to avoid that ridiculousness.

Anyway, here's the mailer in all its glory. (Maybe I should try a quantity of "1" as well? I typically use a number like 50 or 100 to go along with ~$40ish in value, and only recently has it turned into a big issue.) And here's a look at all the fantastic stuff therein:

The baseball content leads off with some cards representing the much-improved Tigers, then a guy making his collection debut in style. Danny Zimmerman was primarily an OF from 2018-21 at Michigan before heading west to San Jose State (what's up, Fuji?) for 2022. He did pitch in a couple games during his freshman season and a few more during summer college ball. You see him here on a 2016 Leaf Perfect Game card, a Purple auto that's a 1/1, marking quite the first appearance in my collection!

The basketball stuff ended up containing some very nice items as well. French forward Moussa Diabate played one year in Ann Arbor before the Clippers snagged him in 2022's 2nd round. That THJ is one of the two big highlights, a 2018-19 Panini Impeccable parallel numbered to just 25! LeVert and Wagner are both trade package stalwarts that I'm glad to see here while women's star Syla Swords gets her second card in my PC and first that isn't team/NIL-issued. And lastly, Mitch McGary (who just celebrated his birthday Saturday, as noted by Jeff) gets an especially cool add to his pile: a 2013-14 Panini Signatures Draft X-Change card that features an embedded piece like a slide. Cool!

The football content was very, very high quality as you'll see over the next few scans, including a pile of serial numbered insanity that Robert would appreciate! (Apparently it's "other blogger call-out" day!) Tackling machine Devin Bush stars on another very low-numbered insert, and his Contenders chase offering is limited to just 25 copies. Former Michigan TE and current TV guy Jake Butt appears on a colorful Panini Father's Day issue numbered /499. One of my favorite recent WRs Jehu Chesson adds a 2017 Panini Phoenix Orange parallel (SN99) to his RC that I have. Similarly, I have LB Shawn Crable's 2008 Donruss Gridiron Gear RC but not the super-rare Platinum Holofoil O's version limited to just 25 copies (that's three that rare so far if you're counting!). Darboh was Chesson's teammate and another one of my favorites of that time, and up above you see the Blue Wave Prizm version of his 2017 Panini Prizm RC, numbered to 149. Lastly (from this scan, at least), you see the rarest of the bunch (not including 1/1s) in the form of RB Chris Evans' 2021 Panini Spectra Neon Orange Die Cut. The color match serves it very well and I'm a big fan of die-cuts, but the best part here is that this one is numbered to just 10 copies. Whoa!

Blog favorite RB Mike Hart is the first highlight of this group, and the Artist's Proof parallel of his 2008 Select RC is numbered to just 32, once again giving you an idea of the quantity of quality numbered cards Doug sent this time. Mo Hurst's 2018 Rookies & Stars Longevity parallel isn't that much more common at just 75 copies made. One of OSU's least favorite defenders, David Ojabo, is seen here on a 2022 Donruss Optic parallel of his RC called Wave, and that's SN300. And talented wideout DPJ's 2020 Absolute rookie parallel, a Spectrum Blue, goes to just 50 copies while LB Josh Uche feature's in the same product's Spectrum Red insert, doubly common at 100.

And then we have some especially big hits. Doug treated me to not one but TWO autographed 1/1s, which is kind of insane, but that's the kind of stuff I'm grateful we're able to send back and forth sometimes. In this case it's my first signed plate of WR Devin Funchess. The yellow plate was used to produce his 2018 Panini Luminance card, then was subsequently inserted into 2018 Plates & Patches with a sticker auto affixed. What a great card that's now the centerpiece of his collection!

Jack-of-all-trades guy Jabrill Peppers is next with his largest relic swatch in my collection yet. Relic #3 (to go with an autograph) hails from 2018 Panini XR's Maximal Materials, an insert that certainly lives up to its name. It's a huge piece of a Browns jersey from his time with that team and numbered to just 49 copies.

Last up for football is one more TE (to go with Butt and Funchess, who played the position a bit in college, at least) and a guy who's moving his way up the coaching ladder in the NFL (currently coaching that position for the Falcons). Kevin Koger appeared on a solid number of autographed inserts back in 2012, and this Blue version is my second from that year's Press Pass product. I've long owned the unnumbered Silver card but this Blue one is numbered /50 up front, making it the only numbered signature card of his I own.

Next up is the hockey content, and we'll start with the Red Wings. The highlights of the base cards are franchise legends Fedorov and Yzerman (the embattled GM--more on that later), plus star D Moritz Seider. And then there's a surprise Be a Player signature of F Mike Krushelnyski. Krusher finished his career with Detroit over the '94-'95 season after signing as a FA in '94, but he's probably best known for another transaction. He joined Marty McSorley in the deal that sent their teammate Wayne Gretzky to the Kings in 1988, forever altering the futures of both franchises.

There's plenty more hockey to enjoy thanks to a pile of cards of Wolverines icers. Like the Wings, none of these guys made it to the Cup finals this year, but fortunately that's pretty rare. I love seeing the Wolverwings pop up in these packages and Copp is a good example. The Jackets continue to be a common NHL stop for drafted Michigan guys (including two different Johnsons). And that Herr was a nice inclusion here since it's just my second card of his, and this one is a '98-'99 SP Authentic Power Shift parallel numbered /500.

My favorite Wolverwing Larkin is the star of this scan, though how much longer he'll be with the team is unknown after he recently requested a trade. That divorce may be ugly due to a reported poor relationship between him and GM Steve Yzerman. The latter's tenure has unfortunately been a disaster, and I don't blame a talented guy like Larkin from moving on after 10 years of nothing. I'll continue to collect him either way, but his potential departure will be bittersweet. Meanwhile, though Larkin is in my top 10 of hockey PCs, longtime player Brendan Morrison is second (to Marty Turco), and I'm happy to see even more new stuff of the former national champ here.

Norton and Sloan join the previously seen Herr as players you don't see here too often. Meanwhile, Werenski, this year's Norris winner, is yet another Jackets guy. I really like the OPC playing card-style inserts like Zach's above. Johnson's horizontal insert with interior die-cuts is quite nice as well.

Speaking of Wolverwings and Kent Johnson, the hockey hits portion was most certainly as nice as the others. The SPx Super Scripts auto of Compher is his 4th signed card in my collection, but man does it look nice in-hand. The shiny foil background really makes it pop, plus I'm excited to have my first auto of his as a member of the Red Wings.

Meanwhile, the previously-seen Johnson joins the hit collection with a very cool auto/relic pair. The signed card hails from 2023-24 Upper Deck Credentials' Main Stage Signatures insert, and the design provides for a well integrated window for the sticker. Meanwhile, the relic sports the eponymous blue of his team's nickname in the form of a jersey swatch out of 2024-25 SP Game Used. These make for a quality ending to some top-notch hockey items.

And last but not least, these two UM other sports figures are making repeat performances, both after joining my collection thanks to this package's sender.

Rhodes (born Brandi Reed) hitched along for the trip in a January package I posted early in November, and that was on a Leaf signature card. This time she's back in relic form out of the 2021 Upper Deck Spectrum AEW product. The card doesn't specify what the swatch came from, but in any case it's a cool item to add to a collection (other and non-sports) I plan to put more effort into.

Canadian-born soccer player Shelina Zadorsky also debuted in my collection thanks to a SCFtDS trade package. In her case it was a two-fer that I posted last November: a Goudey base card plus a Goodwin Champions auto. Now I own the latter's memorabilia version, making for a perfect pair! I'm guessing she's more on Doug's radar as she played for his hometown's youth women's club (plus, you know, I don't really follow soccer).

Doug, thanks once again for another mailer stuffed with flat-out quality. As always I appreciate your generosity and how much effort you must be putting into finding this stuff. I'm looking forward to getting a package to you--one that doesn't involve almost $1000 in taxes--as soon as I can, especially once that current envelope gets returned.

As for what's next, I'm not sure if I'll take a quick break from trade packages to show off other stuff, but I have a few of those from May and June, two shows, one eBay purchase, and lots of TCDb stuff, so there's no shortage of content--just effort getting it written up and posted. Until then, I'll probably be outside enjoying some of my favorite weather!

2026 trade package #2: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

So much for getting my next post done before the February show, but that's ok because I still haven't been overwhelmed with new stuff coming in this year...yet. Tonight I'm back with another January trade package: a bubble mailer from Canadian friend Doug over at Sports Cards From the Dollar Store. Speaking of his country, I hope they have a fantastic Winter Olympics as I root for the Americans as well!

Here's what he sent last month:

Baseball opens the proceedings with a current and former Tiger, Donruss style. The Topps Holiday of Verlander--the Metallic Snowflake version--arrived not long after the Christmas season, but I'm hoping people have finally put away their decorations as of the time I'm posting this. And we have our first hit in the form of a Bowman Sterling auto of OF prospect Daniel Cabrera. Not to be confused with the pitcher from the 2000s, this Daniel was a 2nd round pick by the Tigers out of LSU in 2020, but he hasn't played since 2024 and I couldn't find a reason why he's on the organization's restricted list.

Both baseball and basketball fit into one scan so I put them together here. The latter includes Jamal Crawford (whose son the team just offered) from the 2020 Topps Seattle Children's Heroes set, which was made to benefit that hospital and includes lots of area subjects. It uses the '84 Topps design but is much glossier and looks great. Next is the collection debut of Pollyanna Johns, a native of the Bahamas who was with Michigan in the late 90s and played for Charlotte, Cleveland, Miami, and Houston in the WNBA. Her 2001 Fleer Tradition WNBA card seen here is her RC and lone card listed on TCDb, so this was a great find by Doug. And lastly we have a '25-'26 Topps of Magic star Franz Wagner, whose collection has grown nicely thanks to trade packages like this one.

The football content could easily be labeled "numbered and new guys." Big Mo Hurst kicks off this section with a very bold blue Leaf Certified parallel that's numbered 46/50 up front and very on theme for a former Wolverine. Former WR DPJ is even more colorful--not a surprise when it comes to the Prizm brand--on a Red and Yellow Prizm parallel that's limited even more: #42/44 on the back.

Next we have the first of two new guys. DL/LB Josaiah Stewart put up great sack numbers during his 2021 freshman season with Coastal Carolina, then transferred to Michigan before the '23 season, helping the Wolverines to a national title. The Rams took him in the 2025 third round and he put up 3.0 sacks in 17 games. He's seen above on a Pink parallel from Donruss Elite, and I hope to add more of his cards--especially RCs and autographs--soon.

The other new guy is here thanks to the CFL-focused JOGO brand. He was also a DL who won a championship, in his case with the '97 team, and he was in Ann Arbor through the 2000 season before going undrafted. The Lions gave him a shot but it was in Canada that he would enjoy his pro football career. That included time with Winnipeg (with a couple year hiatus in the Dolphins org), Saskatchewan, and finally Montreal, with whom he won Grey Cups in 2009 and 2010. Thank you again to Doug for tracking this down and getting his name in my collection.

The last football item is a 2021 Leaf Flash autograph of former Wolverines RB Chris Evans. It's got the usual Leaf craziness going on, and this is the Platinum Blue version of a signed insert called Flash Photography Autographs. Naturally I love the combo of a signed card of a player in a Michigan uni, plus this one's numbered /35 on the back, and it's my fourth auto of a guy who didn't play Superman but who was quite good at times in college.

I mentioned the Olympics which means the NHL's on a break, but that doesn't mean we can't look at some hockey cards. We'll start with the non-Wolverines Red Wings, who are looking good for a playoff spot for the first time since 2016. D-man Ben Chiarot is the one guy in this scan who's currently with the team while Howe, Kozlov, Probert, and Sheppard are all players I know well from the team's history.

The Michigan Hockey stack starts off with defenseman Jack Johnson, who retired last year after 19 seasons, and that makes me feel super old. A pair of UD cards of WolverWing and Olympian Dylan Larkin is next, and I have to say that the first, a 2023-24 SPx Radiance FX Blue die-cut insert, is totally sick. What a great looking design that really calls back to the glory years of the SPx brand, plus it's blue and numbered to 299! D-man Zach Werenski joins Larkin here both from the UD base set and in this year's Olympics, and fellow Wolverines Kyle Connor and Quinn Hughes are also in Milan for Team USA. Go (red, white, and) blue!

The rest of the hockey content arrived in the form of these stickers, and there were lots! Most were made by Panini and released in the last 15-ish years, including those of Cammalleri, Cogliano, Johnson, Knuble, and Komisarek. The tiny Knuble is a bit of an exception as it's from 2003-04 Topps Mini Stickers, my first example of that product. I see other Wolverines in that set and will have to try to track down their minuscule counterparts. Jeff Norton, a much older Michigan/NHL alum, joins from the '91-'92 and '93-'94 Panini sticker sets.

Ordinarily we'd be done by now having covered hockey, but Doug had one more surprise in store for me. I do have a small collection of Michigan alumni from other sports (including Olympians) and non-sports, and that collection got a new member thanks to this card. Brandi Rhodes (born Brandi Reed) indeed graduated from my alma mater, chose to go into broadcasting and modeling, and eventually joined the WWE, mainly as a ring announcer. She spent time with a few pro wrestling organizations and also married fellow wrestler Cody Runnels, a.k.a. Cody Rhodes, son of Dusty Rhodes, a WWF wrestler from my time as a fan.

Doug found the above 2023 Leaf Heroes of Wrestling green autograph and sent it my way, and thanks to him she's now the sixth member of my other/non-sports Michigan collection. Cool!

Doug, many thanks for this great envelope, especially the thoughtful new additions to three sports! I'm still working on putting together a return for you and it may take a while, but in the meantime I wish good luck to your country's Olympic team as well as a great week leading up to your birthday!

I'll be back again soon-ish with my third and final January trade package, then you'll get a January show recap, first February trade package, and a show recap from yesterday.

2025 trade package #19: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

Happy American Thanksgiving, friends! As always, I'm thankful for all of you who follow, read, and comment here, trade with me, and post your own content.

And I specified the "American" part above to highlight the sender of tonight's trade package. Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store recently celebrated Canada's version of the event, and now thanks to him I have a ridiculous smorgasbord of cards to feast on! Here's a quick run through them because there's just so many and I know I'll need a nap afterwards:

Part 1 of baseball opens with a Wolverine in Abbott, but the rest are Tigers. Lopez's card is from the '81 Tigers Coke team set, and Skubal's Topps Holiday card is perfectly timed for the season.

Part 2 of baseball offers a Verlander (can't have enough of those!) and a good chunk of the OPC cards in the package (along with a note hoping I liked/didn't mind getting a bunch of that brand. I did indeed like them!). Sparky, Bergman, and Lemon were all '84 Tigers of course so those were my favorites.

HOFer Jack Morris joins that '84 group from above to form a nice quartet from the Canadian brand.

Then we have some cool hits to flip through! Zack Semler was a Michigan IF back in the late 2010s and he joins the collection courtesy of a Leaf Perfect Game signature. Thank you to Doug for going the extra mile and finding a new Wolverine once again!

As for the Tigers, Dylan Smith is a pitcher who made his debut this year and earned a win over 7 solid relief appearances. The 2021 3rd-rounder is here by way of Donruss Elite Extra Edition. Walker ('23 Topps Chrome) was a White Sox 2018 2nd-rounder who bounced to Texas (with whom he enjoyed his only MLB action), San Francisco, then Detroit, and it looks like he's been out of affiliated ball since the Tigers released him in 2023.

Ziomek (2013 Bowman Sterling Orange Refractor auto /75) was also a second-rounder, taken by Detroit in 2013, and he never advanced above the high-A level of the minors. Manning, though, is no stranger to my collection even though the 2016 #9 overall pick was sent to Philly at this year's deadline and is now a free agent after failing to pan out like his rotation-mate Casey Mize did. His Diamond Kings Rookie Expression jersey is one I'm glad to add to Manning's collection even though a return to Detroit is unlikely for now.

Doug went above and beyond again when it came to basketball because not only did he send me the usual excellent selection of players that are generally mainstays, but he also included three newbies in the form of women's hoops alumni Leigha Brown, Naz Hillmon, and Stacey Thomas! Brown transferred from Nebraska and spent three seasons in Ann Arbor, then played a bit for the 2023 Connecticut Sun. Hillmon was a big deal in her four seasons with the Wolverines, being named their first All-American among many other honors. She's now in her fourth season with the Atlanta Dream. Thomas put up four productive college seasons of her own and then spent 2000-05 in the WNBA, winning it all with the 2003 Detroit Shock, the motor city's previous pro team. Many thanks to Doug for this outstanding trio!

As for some of the stalwarts of past envelopes, Howard and Rice are always appreciated. And given the way Michigan Basketball has opened this season, I hope they're celebrating at the end of the season as Rice once did.

Taylor, Vaught, and Webber are also common names to find in these packages and are just as welcome. So are '91-'92 Panini Stickers of the previously seen Rice as well as Gary Grant!

Basketball got its own hit parade as well, opening with my third auto of Calbe Houstan (not "Houston," UD) out of Goodwin Champions. Juwan's kid Jett is up next with his hit collection debut out of '23-'24 Topps Chrome, and he's in his third season with the Orlando Michiganders, who also roster Mo and Franz Wagner plus Colin Castleton. And speaking of Mo, Doug treated me to my first signature of the older Wagner bro, this one thanks to 2019-20 Prizm. As with Houstan, his signature is, uh, not the most detailed, but about par for the course given the stupid amount of cards/stickers these guys have to sign these days.

Numbered inserts of Steve Breaston, Devin Funchess, and Karan Higdon are a great way to segue into the football content just a couple days before The Game. Steve's card is the rarest, numbered to just 25 on the back, while Funch goes for 194 and Higdon's is rarer at 50. Shoe Carnival is an apt sponsor for a card starring Lewan since the nicest thing I can say about him is that he's a clown. CB Ambry Thomas joins the numbers game with a blue Prizm parallel ("No-Huddle" to be specific) that's SN79 on the back. And the hit here is a good omen for Saturday's Ohio State tilt as I fondly Buckeye-killer Hassan Haskins piling up FIVE rushing TDs to lead Michigan over OSU in 2021. That Absolute jersey card above has a swatch just about nice enough to be a patch (or "prime" as they're sometimes calls) and it looks excellent as hit #5 (hey, there's that number again!) in his collection.

On the ice, the Wings have had their ups and downs this year, but generally seem to be better than last year so far. Guys like Chiasson and slightly more recently Franzen and Holmstrom take me back to the joy of watching the team succeed starting in the 90s for a good couple decades.

Kocur, Lidstrom, and McCarty were also key contributors on some of those Cup-winning teams, and I'm happy to see them in any group of cards someone sends me. Larson and Micalef are fun vintage-adjacent throwbacks to before I was old enough to follow hockey.

Seider's a star defenseman for the current team but guys like Zetterberg, Draper, Hull, and Shanahan all realized Cup glory with the Wings. The OPC stickers of Ivan Boldirev (1983), Reed Larson, and Paul Woods (1982) were a fun surprise.

And to close out the Hockeytown content we've got a bevy of hits! There's a nice jersey of Cholowski, one of many failed 2010s first-rounders, though he's still in the NHL (New Jersey) and has an excellent first name. Allure provides a colorful autograph of C Robby Fabbri, who was with Detroit for five seasons and put up decent numbers. Howard was an above-average goalie that was with Detroit for his entire career, and that's a beautiful red jersey swatch above to celebrate an All-Star nod in his penultimate season. And my favorite of the bunch is an SP Game Used jersey of Tomas Holmstrom, the enemy of goalies everywhere as he set up camp in front of the crease and was a pest, often putting back rebounds when not making netminders' lives a living hell otherwise.

A jersey of "Double A" begins the horizontal trio, made during his five-season stint with Detroit to open his career. That's joined by white and red jerseys, respectively, of winger Taro Hirose and D-man Gustav Lindstrom.

The Wings may be looking better than last year but they're nowhere near as hot as the NCAA's current #1 team, Michigan Hockey! They're 13-3-0 with 83 goals (good for 5+ per game!) and absolutely cooking right now. So why not look at some cards of past Michigan icers?

There are some absolute beauties in this first scan, especially thanks to UD brands like Allure and Synergy. The latter remind me a bit of Pacific's Invincible thanks to the circular inset photo. I'm also a big fan of Hyman's Canvas insert thanks to its great design and cool throwback jersey.

This scan includes a couple hockey Mikes, relatively recent G Jack LaFontain (Synergy again!), WolverWing Dylan Larkin, and hey, what's more thanksgiving than John Madden? Ok, it's not the turducken guy, but did the Raiders coach win three Cups like this guy did? I don't think so!

In this scan the Norris and Power (SN699!) cards are great, but I'm choosing to highlight the collection debut of Cristoval "Boo" Nieves. Boo played at Michigan from 2012-13 to 2015-16, and I remember seeing the C with the cool nickname play live a few times. TCDb lists just 34 cards for him and a good chunk of those are 1/1s or local/minor league issues. Therefore I'm grateful to get an NHL uni card of him, and even more thrilled that it's on the great looking Upper Deck Ice design (and numbered /1299 to boot). Cool!

And we'll end tonight's post with a few of the best cards in the whole package. Werenski also gets in on the Synergy fun, but the Pacioretty has even that cool set beat. The former player who joined the coaching staff this year as a special assistant features on a Black Diamond Diamond Might insert that's basically a thin acetate layer sandwiched between four thick cardboard pieces that are held together on each side by the action image. The overall effect is extremely cool and I love having something to enjoy that's an insert and not a hit. Also it's numbered /99 on the back. A winner in every way!

Last up we have two more hits, and more very nice ones at that. First up is a 2023-24 Upper Deck MVP Cyan Plate of WolverWing Andrew Copp where he's even pictured as a member of the Original Six team! That's my first 1/1 of his out of five total hits, and I believe 21st subject in the hockey collection to appear on such a card, plus it's obviously the best card I have of him so far.

He's joined by just my second autograph of D-man Christ Tamer, who was drafted by the Penguins and also suited up for the Rangers briefly, then Atlanta (as pictured above) for his final five seasons. His fairly legible signature and bonus jersey number inscription appear on a 2020-21 SP Signature Legends Gold Spectrum insert, one that has a very nice design.

Oh wait, I'm not actually done because Doug included these surprises as well! Canadian soccer player Shelina Zadorsky is indeed a Michigan alum, having played for the Wolverines from 2010-13, including acting as captain her senior year. Wikipedia says she won bronze (2016) and gold (2020) medals with the Canadian Olympic team, and now I'll have to do some research to see which other Wolverines earned Olympic medals in sports I don't tend to follow.

Thankfully my Canadian friend was aware of Zadorsky's alma mater and sent me this 2018 Goodwin Champions base and auto pair. She's the fifth member of my "other" Michigan sports category collection, and represents IMO the most legitimate "sport" of the bunch (two pro wrestlers, a boxing writer, and an auto racer). What a cool find!

Before I close things out, I also want to note that thanks in part to the cards in this post, I now have more than 2700 Michigan sports hits, so I'll once again express thanks to all who've contributed to that collection. Here's to the run to 3000 and more!

Doug, thanks once again for this feast of cards from August that I'm finally enjoying on Thanksgiving. I appreciate it as always and as is also usually the case, I'm looking forward to returning fire before Christmas.

Next, I'll see what I feel like getting to this weekend depending on how I feel before and after The Game. 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.

2025 trade package #7: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

It's the last day of April so let's finally look at the mailer I received from Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store back in February!

Your first place Tigers were well represented in this package that arrived a couple months before the season opened. The past guys are pretty good company between Miggy, Fister, and Grandy, but Carp, Greene, and Jobe are all making big contributions to a club that's exceeded my expectations so far. Speaking of Riley, who needs team parallels when you have your own name parallel?

Keith's been slower to get things going this year but did homer today. Manning's stock may be down but McGonigle's has shot up quite a bit, making that numbered Donruss parallel extra nice. Parker's still working his way back from injury and so is Rogers, but Mize has been a nice story so far as he leads the Tigers with four wins. Morris's Predictor insert is a bit of a combo-breaker, but not entirely since end his 13-year career in Detroit, playing 40 games here in 2000.

Ex-Tiger DeMeritte's fantastic 2020 image, one of the best of that year, gets the Chrome and Refractor treatment, and I have a feeling we'll see this one popping up in highlights for years to come. Miggy leads off the hit parade with a 2024 Ginter jersey, my 16th such card of the future HOFer. A beauty of a jersey/auto of '24 Tigers bullpen ace Tyler Holton was one of the bigger surprises of this mailing. Limited to just 25 copies, it comes with a solid signature and cool jersey swatch. And we'll end the baseball content with a non-Tiger: my first auto of former Wolverine Jordan Nwogu. The Canadian Cubs prospect eluded my hits collection up until Doug rectified that, and he becomes baseball hits PC guy #41. Nice!

I took way too long to post this package but it's still not that close to Halloween yet, no matter what that LeVert Hoops card would have you think. Franz had a career best season, albeit one limited a bit by injury. Ex-coach Juwan looks great on a gorgeous '90s SPx design. And LeVert makes a second appearance in the form of the second relic I can claim of him: a jersey inserted into 2020-21 National Treasures.

I didn't time it this way on purpose but this scan ties in well with the recently completed NFL draft. The group includes five '24 rookies, all of whom were difference-makers for Michigan's recent title, plus a base of talented vet Rashan Gary. It looks like I'm shy four more vets (Aidan Hutchinson, Nico Collins, Charles Woodson, and Ty Law) and one RC (Jaylen Harrell) to complete the team set. As always I'm a fan of Score using college action photos for the first-year guys.

Former Pats Ty Law and Josh Uche plus Giant/Raider Ty Wheatley round out the base portion of the football content. Then former TE/WR Devin Funchess double dips with a very, very nice pair of hits. His 2019 Certified auto, numbered to just 30 copies, features a typically eye-pleasing holographic design, and that marks 15 cards I own that include his signature. It's joined by a large jersey swatch from that year's Crown Royale, a decent throwback to the excellent Pacific brand. Funch continues to outpace the other three Devins in my football collection with 35 hits.

Fortunately some of the other teams represented today have been or were at least moderately successful this year because both of the hockey squads underachieved and missed their playoffs. So it goes, but I still enjoy collecting them! First up we have the local pro team, and a mix of recent and older. The big highlights for me are the bookend images here: Pavel Datsyuk and Nick Lidstrom. The 2014-15 Metal card of the former may have been a tough scan but it looks great in-person. And the further we get from Lidstrom's playing days, the more I appreciate the things he did to make the Wings a perennial playoff threat.

Unlike the second Datsyuk above, Lidstrom's second card--also a Fleer brand throwback--scanned very well and the image represents just how nice it looks. Seider's SP Authentic card is a shiny look at the future/present of the Motown blue line. Shanahan's UD insert looks just as pleasing in my hands as it does in 2D on your screen. And Sheppard was a favorite of mine from the Sega EA Sports NHL game days.

In this last Wings scan, Veleno and Yzerman are linked as the latter flipped the former in March in a deal to bring former Detroit goalie (and Doug's fellow 2/14 baby) Petr Mrazek back. Zetterberg was another of those stars the team doesn't seem to be developing much these days, but maybe we'll see more of them again in the future.

Speaking of player development, Doug included a pair of hits of former prospects. Ex-Spartan (barf!) Taro Hirose appears to be with a German team now but he was a decent prospect at one point and good enough to appear on beautiful UD cards like the numbered Black Diamond signature you see above. Meanwhile, Smith, seen on a very nice numbered jersey in the form of a large Red Wings red swatch, was one of the team's two 2016 second-round picks, and he's since bounced around a bit, finally landing in Philly's system.

Lastly, the Michigan Hockey content may not have been abundant, but the quality and a big side of shininess were most definitely there in spades. Just look how that top row trio of Beniers and Connor cards just pops! The numbered Hughes is especially nice right now as he chases a second straight Norris trophy, competing with a guy in the next scan. Hyman scored exactly half of his 54 goals from last season but still had a decent enough year for the Oilers. And Larkin continues to be a good captain for a Wings squad that continues to fail him.

You want more shiny and/or numbered? You've got it! A pair of pretty Pacioretty cards begins tonight's last scan, courtesy of UD's Allure and Ice brands. Trouba's finally away from the Rangers and that's probably the best I can say about his season. Werenski is Wolverine Norris Trophy finalist #2 this year thanks in part to his career highs of 23 goals, 59 assists, and 82 points. And yet another top-notch card of a high-end blueliner will close things out tonight: a numbered Black Diamond of Cam York. My York collection is small but pretty much nothing but bangers thanks to Doug, with pretty much everything being this high quality.

Many thanks to Doug, my favorite Canadian trade partner, who managed to send this and another mailer plus post the first part of the package I recently sent his way before I finally got off my butt to recap this February envelope! I look forward to seeing your follow-up posts as I try to reload for future considerations.