2026 trade package #7: the Collector

This is not a drill: we have real actual regular season baseball coming up this week! My Tigers open up the '26 season on Thursday afternoon in San Diego (what's up, Fuji?) in a sign that we're almost over the utter bullshit that is winter.

So what better time to show off a diamond-heavy trade package from Sox fan Chris of the Collector? This is an envelope he sent me earlier this month after he finally got some new Tigers in over the holidays, according to his note.

Here's what he sent:

A few products dominated this envelope, starting with '25 Topps Holiday. In this scan alone you see three of the four cards Chris sent from that product, including slugger Kerry Carpenter, injured pitcher Jackson Jobe, and his fellow "JJ"in IF Jace Jung. Each of the latter two make multiple appearances too. Jobe can be seen on a '25 Topps Archives insert that reuses the 1987 Topps Boardwalk and Baseball design (hey, I remember those!) as well as a Chrome parallel from the same year's Heritage. Jung's other appearance is another '25 Heritage insert, this one called "1976 Redefined" that offers another take on the look of the now 50 year old set.

The bottom row starts with a '25 Update Diamante Foil of pitcher Chase Lee, which serves as a great reminder of how quickly transactions can happen (and how slowly cards are made)--the '25 rookie was flipped to Toronto in December. Speaker of pitchers that debuted for Detroit last season, that's Tyler Owens' '25 Update RC, and he's still with the team after re-signing (minors deal) last year. And then we have the best of the best Tigers pitchers in Tarik Skubal. His first of two issues today is done up in the style of a 1990 Topps base, and the two-time defending AL Cy Young winner wasn't even born until six years later! He also leads off the next scan with the final example of '25 Topps Holiday.

One of the more interesting cards of this mailing is that of IF Trey Sweeney. This is my first example of the '25 Topps Flagship Collection insert, one that apparently could be found in packs included only in Costco's Super Boxes. I find that design more appealing than the base set's for some reason.

Our last baseball item here stars--who else?--Justin Verlander, who thrilled many a Tigers fan upon returning to Detroit for 2026. I think he may even be lined up to start the team's home opener, though I could be wrong. Either way, you can see him above on a '25 Heritage Chrome Refractor that represents card #717 in my collection of this blog's namesake. I'm glad he's no longer with the pictured Giants and back where he belongs, with an outside shot to hit 300 wins if he sticks around beyond this season.

Just one football cards came along for the ride but it was much appreciated: a 2025 Panini Phoenix RC of Dolphins DL Kenneth Grant. It's my seventh total card of the national champ and fourth first-year.

Next, the Wings have scuffled a bit lately due to dropping some tough games and suffering injuries, but they're currently still clinging to a wild card spot. One guy who was no stranger to the playoffs during his time in Hockeytown is HOFer Pavel Datsyuk, who played postseason hockey in all 14 of his NHL seasons, winning two Cups (2001-02 and 2007-08). His 2013-14 Score card above was made when he was winding down his outstanding career.

Last up tonight is a pair of hockey Wolverines, whom I'm posting the day Michigan was officially named the #1 overall seed of the NCAA hockey tournament. Will this be the year they go all the way for the first time since the late 90s? Tonight they're represented by a couple former players, the first of whom is John Beecher (2019-20 to 2021-22). The C is pictured (2025-26 Upper Deck) with Boston, his drafting team, but he was grabbed off waivers by Calgary last November. He's joined by fellow C Luke Glendening, a former Wolverwing from 2013-14 to 2020-21. The four year Wolverine (2008-09 to 2011-12) has since bounced to Dallas, Tampa, New Jersey, and Philly, but was with Detroit when the above 2017-18 Upper Deck base card was released.

Chris, thanks very much for this great package that has me fired up for baseball season to start (not to mention the NCAA hockey tourney)! I'll see if I can't find a few new cards to fit in the increasingly small spaces of your collection, and in the meantime I look forward to new posts in your latest feature covering the top 10 at every position in each sport. Keep up the great work!

As for me, my expected upcoming posts include the March show, a Facebook Marketplace purchase, and some eBay pickups, if one of them ever arrives.

2025 trade package #26: the Collector

With Christmas just a couple days away let's have a look at the penultimate trade envelope I received in November. This one was actually a pair of PWEs from Chris, the Collector, who apologized for the lack of baseball but made up for it with some "Michigan" and "hoops and hockey" stuff. As always I was happy to receive anything, especially new stuff, from someone as generous as Chris.

Here's what he sent:

The lone baseball item was a '24 Heritage card that paired up 2012 MVPs Miggy and Buster Posey. Buster's Giants swept Cabrera's Tigers in the World Series, and both should have plaques in the HOF when all is said and done.

Hoops-wise, three players got boosts to their PCs while a fourth makes his debut tonight. A LeVert Prizm base puts him at 70, good for 6th in my collection. Poole's Topps Holiday base is perfect for this time of year. Franz has more cards in my collection than his older brother by a factor of almost three because he appears in trade packages so often, like the Prizm Monopoly card above.

And Yale transfer F Danny Wolf joins the collection thanks to a '25-'26 Topps 1980-81 insert that throws it back to that year's design. After playing his first two seasons for the Bulldogs, Wolf headed to Ann Arbor for the '24-'25 season and was productive enough to get selected #27 overall by Brooklyn earlier this year. Chris pulled this card himself and was nice enough to include it here when I asked if it was available.

As I mentioned, Chris did indeed include some football cards. GOAT QB Tom Brady stars on a 2017 Absolute base with a design that feels like a bit of an anomaly for the brand, though not at all in a bad way, especially since it wasn't split into hobby/retail versions that year. WR Steve Breaston's 2010 Panini Contenders is much more typical of that product's look, and one I tend to enjoy. Prestige has been pretty consistent too, like WR Devin Funchess' 2017 card above, especially when it comes to RCs with college photos that I like to collect. LB David Harris was in just his second season when the '08 Topps card above was made, and he'd go on to pile up over 1100 combined tackles in 11 years, all but one with the Jets (Patriots, his 2017 swan song). And you all know Henne as one of my absolute favorite QBs. The KC playoff hero can be seen above on his 2010 Panini Epix base that came out a couple years before he'd suit up for Jacksonville.

I'll get to Michigan Hockey stuff in a minute, but there was also a pair of non-Wolverwings in the envelopes. There was a group of five pretty cool UD inserts in this shipment and one of them is the UD Portraits card of young star defenseman Mo Seider, whose productive play has helped Detroit show vast improvement this season. He's joined by fellow D-man Jake Walman, a guy Steve Yzerman spent a second-rounder to dump on the Sharks last year, only to see San Jose flip him to Edmonton earlier in '25 for a first round pick. 

And lastly we have the hockey Wolverines, with a nice bit of red indicating a couple Wolverwings! That's the case for C Andrew Copp as seen on last year's UD design. The recently traded Quinn Hughes (Minnesota) and fellow traded defenseman Jacob Trouba (2024, to Anaheim) also hail from that set that offers superb photography. Hughes also appears on a '24-'25 UD insert called "Gaming XP" that notes how long its subjects have been in the league. I'll add that this appears to be a "Speckle" parallel of that insert, which is a tougher pull and therefore even better!

Along with the four portrait cards is a quartet of landscapes. Kyle Connor's Sizzle Reel insert from this year's UD looks fantastic, especially in-hand, and the rainbow foil brings to mind 90s inserts from brands like Select. Wings captain Dylan Larkin gets two very appreciated additions from this year's UD, the very shiny "Compositions," and last year's "Gaming FOV," (I inadvertently flipped them when scanning). As you can see, the '24 product liked the "gaming" theme, which surely was an appeal to a certain younger generation of collectors, and the FOV card has a cool look to it, if you ask me. By the way, I now have 77 cards of #71.

Last but certainly not least is another base card from Upper Deck's base set a year ago, starring third-year RW Mackie Samoskevich. The young Panther appeared in four playoff games last season and tallied an assist in Florida's successful quest to repeat their win over Edmonton. Oddly enough this card is also his debut in my collection, and he appears to be the 98th subject to join that PC.

Chris, as always I appreciate you thinking of me and sending me cards of my favorite players and teams. I'm glad you enjoyed your Christmas Cards as a quick break from the Topps advent calendar rip. I'm looking forward to more trading between us next year and reading more interesting features on your blog. May you and your family have a peaceful Christmas together.

I plan on being back tomorrow, Christmas Eve, with the final trade package of November '25. Season's greetings to you all!

2025 trade package #13: the Collector

Hey all, I'm finally back to cover the first trade envelope I received in July, a month that ended up being super busy collecting-wise. This one came from Chris, The Collector, a couple months before his family experienced a heartbreaking loss. Please head his way and show him some support--he's one of the best and most generous members of the blogosphere and deserves all the love people have shown him.

True to his history of generosity and the effort he puts into finding great stuff for the collections of folks he trades with, he sent me a pair of PWEs containing some much-appreciated cards from all four major sports:

Encarnacion turned out to be an awful person off the field but at least Flair Showcase is a GOAT product. IF prospect Graham is still in Detroit's system after being selected in 2022's second round and he helped the team to the 2025 Midwest League championship after a dominant regular season. Jobe unfortunately had to undergo TJ surgery but if healthy could be a big part of what will probably be a Skubal-less rotation in a couple years. Kell's Topps Tribute card is probably the best looking in the bunch (with some great options) and I'd love to add more from that product. Keider's had some ups and downs as a spot starter for a team hoping to cling to a division title. And I'm not sorry that Wentz and his absurd ERA stats are gone!

As for basketball stuff, Dickinson was a star in Ann Arbor before transferring to Kansas for his final two seasons and going undrafted. THJ stuck it out for three Michigan seasons and became a first round pick who's still in the league. And a nice little run of Juwan Howard cards begins with the outstanding EX2001 product.

Juwan may not be Michigan's coach anymore but I'm still happy to collect any new cards of him like the very interesting bunch above. Those include some cool UD and Fleer stuff and even a post-career Finest issue from four years ago. He's joined by Fab Five teammate Chris Webber on another of my favorite designs from a Topps Chrome set.

Football wasn't as well represented this time but that's fine since it dominates my Michigan PCs anyway. In this case it's a Michigan uni card of RB Donovan Edwards out of Bowman Chrome U. In some ways he didn't live up to lofty expectations, especially in his final college season in 2024, but he supplied plenty of big runs as a runner, receiver, and even trick play QB, for teams that beat OSU, won conference titles, reached the playoff, and ultimately won it all in 2023-24. I don't know if we'll get many cards of the NFL UDFA but anything that gets sent my way is very welcome here.

Lastly, we have a five spot of Michigan Hockey cards from the erstwhile hockeydude. Four of those are O-Pee-Chees from a fat pack he got at Target, and his note mentions a fifth that he kept for himself and replaced with a UD Artifacts base of Luke Hughes, a guy from his team, the Devils. I like all of these but Beecher's a nice addition to a tiny-but-growing collection, and of course I'm a fan of Wolverwing cards like Compher's, which is also a Retro parallel. You'll be happy to know that Doug hadn't sent me any of these (yet, anyway), Chris.

As always I'd like to thank my buddy from New Jersey for all of these goodies and being so talented when it comes to finding quality fodder for trade packages. Chris, I know things are very difficult for you and your family right now and I hope any time you spend with them processing your grief gets you to a better place. I always mean it when I say I'm here to help with anything and that you have so many friends in the hobby. Thank you for thinking of me here as you were going through a terrible situation.

I hope to be back with more trade package coverage soon as I owe many other great folks similar thanks. 

2025 trade package #11: the Collector

The All-Star break has come and gone since I last posted so it's about time I got another one up. Today you're getting a quick recap of a couple PWEs sent to me by Chris, The Collector, back in May.

This was the second time he'd sent some cards my way this year and he's since done it once more. It sure is great to have him back and I continue to try to send supportive and healing thoughts to his family.

Here's what he sent this time, wrapped up in and protected by a printed out copy of this Defector article ("Never put poison in your mouth."):

These worked out nicely as they could be split into three sports each with eight cards. The baseball section was naturally all about the Tigers, who ended a season-long six-game losing streak last night and look to regain the momentum of their excellent start. The three guys right down the middle, all on '25 Topps parallels, oddly enough, are part of that outstanding squad, with Mize the best of the trio. The inserts you see are, from top to bottom, Rainbow Foil, Spring Training, and Diamante Foil.

There's also a nice pair of (a.k.a. too many!) Verlanders, one of which calls into question my scanning abilities. It looks like I'm just a couple away from 700. I wonder how long it'll take to get to 1K?

When it comes to basketball, Chris sent me quite the poker hand: four pairs. Bufkin, Poole, Robinson, and the younger Wagner bro Franz all had me seeing double. Poole is nearing the 50-card mark while Franz recently crossed it, building up a collection that continues to surprise me. I don't hate seeing the Hoops Winter cards right now while we're in my favorite season but I would probably be glaring at them if it was January.

Lastly, on the gridiron I was treated to another two pairs, but first we'll check out the other players represented. The Don races into the first spot with a cool Bowman Chrome U college action card. Defensive beast Rashan Gary and former UM coach Jim Harbaugh get paired up thanks to last year's Prizm. And like Edwards, upcoming second-year Bengal Kris Jenkins appears in the Maize & Blue on his '24 Score RC.

 As for the pairs, it's all about the defense. First is the versatile Jabrill Peppers, who had a trying year in '24 on an awful Pats team while also dealing with some pretty nasty charges, though he's since been acquitted of those. Hopefully he can stay out of trouble. In fact, he should try to be more like Charles Woodson and keep his nose clean off the field while being amazing on it. He should also put in more effort than Panini did, using identical photos cropped slightly differently on cards from 2021 and '24.

That concludes a recap of the only blogger trade cards I received in May, but don't worry, I've still got lots to show y'all.

Many thanks to Chris as always for thinking of me and putting together a couple very nice envelopes! Chris, I hope you continue to find some time and energy to collect and blog because you should be aware that many of us appreciate you.

I'll be back soon once I figure out what to show off next. Until then, go Tigers, and welcome back to MLB, Rich Hill! 

2025 trade package #2: the Collector

Today's the first day of March and it sees me returning with another trade envelope from January, the second I received this year.

I was very happy to see a PWE from longtime blog friend Chris ("The Collector") who'd largely gone MIA since shutting down his blog. The cards themselves were nice but in general I was a bit relieved that he was still around. I won't share his brief note or my speculation on what's happening in his world and just say that I'm grateful for the cards and wish him and his family the best.

Here's the contents:

The lone baseball item as Spring Training is kicking into full gear was this '24 A&G Gold Border Mini of former/current Tigers P Jack Flaherty. He was, of course, sent to the Dodgers to help them bring him another ring, and in the time between when Chris mailed this PWE and today when I'm writing this post, Flaherty returned to the team that helped him rebuild some value last year. Given some of the potential question marks in terms of the starters it's nice to have a proven guy like him to go with Tarik Skubal and some of the other young arms.

At the time he sent this both of these sports more associated with winter were still in action, and of course one of them will still be active for a couple months to come. On the football side of things, Brady and Woodson are two of the greatest players to come out of Michigan, not to mention play their positions in the NFL. Since Brady left New England for Tampa it's actually a bit funny to see older cards of him with the Pats. I'd say his record and that of Bill Belichick post-split pretty much tell the story of which of the two was more responsible for their remarkably dynasty.

Last up is hockey, which is still in full swing in terms of both the NHL and NCAA. The Red Wings have bounced back in a big way since firing a very ineffective head coach, and they're actually participating in an outdoor game in Ohio as I write this. A crazy eight former Wolverine icers can be found on the two rosters and six of them should be on the ice tonight. I don't think any of the Wings represented on these cards are still with the franchise, but Michigan alum Kyle Connor is still putting up huge points numbers with the Jets, and he may even crack 40 goals for the second time in his productive career.

Once again, thank you for the envelope and cards, Chris, and for indirectly letting me know that you're hanging in there. Again, I wish you and your family nothing but the best and want to remind you that you have lots of friends in the hobby if you ever need support.

Back soon with another January trade recap!

2024 trade package #19: the Collector

Will I at least get all of my trade package recaps done before the calendar flips to a new year? Probably not, but I'll keep posting these as I feel like it.

Tonight's cool pile of stuff comes from Chris, the Collector, who was a longtime friend of mine here (and of many of you as well). Unfortunately I can no longer link to his blog since it's gone, plus he appears to have deactivated the email address I always used to contact him. Needless to say I'm plenty worried about how he and his family are doing, but for now I'll just wait and hope that everything's fine. Chris, if you're reading this, I'm always here for you!

Anyway, back in September he sent me a surprisingly large package of stuff, and I'll get to why it was so physically large at the end, but first we'll start with the cards:

Baseball part 1 starts of strong with a Jim Abbott and besides a RC of short-term star Brennan Boesch and a Miggy insert, the rest of the scan includes a bunch of '24 Topps Chromes of current Tigers Javy Baez and Kerry Carpenter. You'll see the same product and team pop up a few more times in this post so I have to imagine Chris was part of a group break at some point. I really appreciate him treating me to these as I haven't seen them at shows yet (not that I've looked, to be fair), and I'm liking having a good number of the base and parallels, which include Prism and standard Refractors. I'm also thankful for a trio of new Carpenter cards as my Kerry Bonds collection is still small for now.

"Wahoo" Sam Crawford is always welcome in trade packages sent my way. Davis was a Tiger for 60 games between 1993 and '94, as 1994 Fleer reminds us. 2017 first-rounder Faedo hasn't done much for Detroit but Flaherty worked out nicely in a win-win deal that brought the Tigers two very good players and the Dodgers another ring. And I hope to see Riley in HR celebration mode even more in 2025.

Greene and Higginson are former Tigers while Keith is a potentially exciting part of the future in the infield (and another '24 Chrome entry). Kinsler remains a short-time favorite of mine for his three-plus seasons in Detroit and helping the team dump Prince Fielder. Lipcius has 35 ABs to his name, all with the Tigers in '23, but was grabbed by the Dodgers before the '24 season, so I don't know what Topps was thinking (not that I mind another Refractor). Mikie's career was brief but Parker looks like he could be a mainstay in the outfield for years to come. And Olson could bolster a good young rotation if he can stay healthy.

Hey, it's blog favorite Dean Palmer! Peralta was very solid in Detroit and part of the 2012 AL Pennant winner. Multi ring-winner Scherzer is from one of Topps' All-Star Game-stamped sets, which are cards I don't generally seek out but do like to add. Check out make-or-break '25 guy Tork on three different Chrome cards: base, Prizm Refractor, and Refractor. More-than-0%-chance-'25-Tiger Verlander also appears on 2/3 of those. Worth proved to not be worth the 2nd round pick Detroit used on him in the 2007 draft, though at least guys like Giancarlo Stanton and Freddie Freeman were selected before him and not after.

The unfortunately recently injured Wagner is the only basketball representative here but despite his injury it's been quite a season for him. Former UM coach Harbaugh's done decently well leading the Chargers this year. The fact that Hutch could return for a hypothetical Lions Super Bowl appearance is still a crazy sentence to type. Another ex-UM QB, Patterson looks great on an appropriately blue Score Artist's Proof card that's numbered to just 35 copies! And lastly, Mazi and (also somewhat recently injured) Turner are draft picks from last year on some shiny Donruss Optic parallels, with the Bengals DB getting a second card in the form of a Green Hyper insert to go with his own Holo issue.

As you can see the cards hit a bunch of my collections and I would have been more than happy with this package if they made up the entire contents, but then Chris threw this in as well:

I was still buying Starting Lineups back in 2000 and already had this Classic Duos combo of Cal with Chipper, but then Chris sent it my way noting that it was a throw-in in a recent purchase of his, and I was excited to get it because not only is it in better condition than the one I already had (the packaging suffered wear and tear due to several house moves), but it also comes in a protective display case that should keep it that way! Oh, and as a bonus, I can pass on my extra to fellow Cal collector Jeff. Bonus!

Chris, thank you once again for your generosity a few months ago and all the great stuff you've sent me over the years. Again, I don't know if you're even reading blogs anymore, but if you are, please know I appreciate our friendship and I'm lucky to have been able to trade with you. According to tracking info, the Christmas cards I sent your way should have been delivered today and I hope you enjoy them and have a great holiday.

With some much-needed downtime coming up I'll work on finishing up trade recaps for this year as best as I can in the next couple weeks.

2024 trade package #7: the Collector

Happy July, y'all! With the NBA and NHL done for a bit, it's the time of year when baseball gets to shine before the return of college football next month. Let's celebrate by looking at some cards from all four major sports sent to me by Chris, the Collector, back in April.

Miggy most certainly was a star of the MLB over his 21 seasons, and it's bittersweet to see the back of his final Topps Chrome base card packed with his career numbers. Faedo, Manning, and Mize are all trying to bring some Mojo back to the Tigers' rotation (though it's mostly been the bats plus Kenta Maeda letting them down), and Faedo could potentially find himself back in a starting role soon while Manning tries to get right at AAA Toledo. The Verlander /75 is probably the best (and at least my favorite) card in this package, and I'm glad he got to celebrate two World Series titles because the villainous Astros are so easy to root against.

Flipping over to basketball, Chris did a nice job IDing a few former Wolverines I collect, mostly in colorful/shiny form. Iggy's been out of the league but was fun in college. It's crazy to me that THJ will be in his 12th NBA season later this year, and it's possible he'll be suiting up for the Pistons which is even cooler.

Finishing up with basketball we have a Crown Royale insert that evokes the heyday of Pacific, and this one stars another Wolverine/Piston combo, Isiah Livers, though he's not longer with the team. The card is numbered /75 just like Verlander's above and the blue goes well both with the Pistons' colors and those of his college team.

Repping the reigning NCAA champs of football, we begin with a Prizm base of stud defender Rashan Gary, a pass-rushing terror who's earned a good amount of respect in the NFL. Speaking of champs, we all know Griese led a team of them back in 1997-98 before a solid journeyman pro career. McKeon is yet another Michigan alum to have latched on with a Detroit team this offseason, signing with the Lions after four seasons with the team that drafted him, the Cowboys (and that card looks awesome thanks to its college action photo, though it would be even better if the border was something less Ohio-ish!). And lastly, a current Cowboy, Mazi Smith (seen on a Panini Mosaic RC) has a lot of work to do to live up to his first-round billing.

Would it really be an envelope of cards from Chris without some hockey content? No ex-Wolverines this time, but no problem there because I have plenty of love for the Wings too, especially the guys from the teams that were super successful for a good chunk of my life. The late Petr Klima, the first Czech player to defect directly to a team in the US (as opposed to Canada), is seen on his 1988-89 Topps base, and I remember him a bit from his early career in Detroit before wandering the league a bit and then returning briefly in 1998/99. And of course I'll always remember the Captain (1992-93 Stadium Club) for his 22 years and three Stanley Cups in Hockeytown, none bigger than 1996-97 when the Cup finally, finally returned to Detroit.

Chris, thanks again for thinking of me and sending some great new stuff my way! I'm slowly building up some interesting (and not entirely cardboard-based) stuff for you so I can return the favor in the near future. Until then, I hope things are going well with your wife's health situation, and I want to remind you that you've got a bunch of friends pulling for you and willing to help.

That does it for my April trades so next up will either be a quick Facebook Marketplace purchase recap or a look at my haul from that month's Taylor show.

2024 trade package #3: the Collector

The calendar may say May--one of my favorite months--but in terms of blog time I'm still back in February. Baseball's spring training was due to begin shortly when Chris, a.k.a. the Collector, hit my mailbox with one of his excellent PWEs. One thing I liked about it is that he themed it to the sports of the season at the time: basketball, football, and hockey. You all know I put very little time, money, or effort into my basketball collection, and not a whole lot more of each into hockey, so I appreciate it when some of my trading buddies are nice enough to include them like this.

Let's take a quick look over the cards he sent this time:

McGary didn't pan out as an NBA first-rounder but he did help Michigan get to the NCAA finals in 2013. "Sugar" Mills was a big part of UM's '89 champs and then spent 11 years in the NBA, six of those with his hometown Pistons. Rice was the star of the 1988-89 Wolverines, then enjoyed 15 NBA campaigns, winning it all with the 2000 Lakers. Riley turned a decent four-year Michigan career into a second round pick and five NBA seasons, each with a new team. And of course Fab-Fiver Rose went from a star-studded college roster to 13 years in the league, though he lost out in his lone finals appearance to Rice's Lakers.

The football side of things here is smaller, but that's ok because I can take care of that myself easily. Still, I appreciated the Mazi Smith RC out of Prizm and the Score base of GOAT DB Charles Woodson. Mazi definitely didn't have the season anyone wanted--a lone sack and 3 TFL--after Dallas took him in the first round, but we'll see what a difference a year makes.

And then we have the hockey content from hockeydude. Beniers, Hyman, and Powers all hail from the same UD set, and that's one super talented trio right there. Matty's numbers dipped a bit in his third season after Seattle made him 2021's #2 overall pick, but he's got a bright future ahead of him. Owen, the #1 choice just before Beniers, had a solid season on Buffalo's blue line. And perhaps no former Michigan icer has enjoyed a better season than Hyman, who ranked third in the league in regular season goals with a crazy 54, and has added seven more in the playoffs to tie for the lead with his Oilers into the second round.

Hughes is looking pretty Glossy this season too, putting together a ridiculous 17/75/92 line as a defenseman and putting himself in position to win the Norris Trophy. Kolarik was a low draft pick who appeared in all of six NHL games but had a very nice college career, and I love adding a numbered card to my small collection of him. Larkin had a tough season for a number of reasons off the ice, but he proved to be the most important player on the team he captains. He reached a new high in goals (33) and eclipsed 200 scores and 500 points this season on a team that sadly choked away its chances at the playoffs. And lastly, Werenski reached new heights in assists (46) and points (57) on a team that missed the postseason but gave playing time to four other Wolverines.

Thank you again to Chris for the lone blogger trade envelope I received in February (not a complaint), and of course, because he's a generous guy, I have yet another one to show off from last month once I catch up. Again, I appreciate you finding some great stuff for my collections, especially the ones I don't really focus on my myself.

Still to come from the month that was February: a show (at which I've spent the most so far this year through April), a super cool Facebook purchase, and a Twitter pickup from someone just about everyone should be familiar with.

2023 trade package #s 34-37: Bob Walk the Plank, The Collector, The Lost Collector, and A Penny Sleeve For Your Thoughts

So I can finish up covering the trades I received from bloggers last December before the calendar flips to March, here's a combined trade post featuring the last four envelopes that hit my mailbox before Christmas '23:

Former Bob Walk the Plank blogger Matt and I still manage to swap cards at least once or twice a year and I enjoy that we tend to keep things fairly high-end, or at least above average. This time he sent me a very nice Michigan-themed Christmas present after picking up some stuff from COMC:

Merry Richmas! Of the five you see there, four are new to me and the fifth was a great deal he didn't want to pass up despite knowing it was a dupe for me. The latter would be card #1 in the scan, a Bright Yellow Back from 2017 Heritage that isn't numbered but is limited to just 25 copies. That's most definitely a good idea of the generosity remaining in this envelope. The other Hills include his 2019 Topps Mini Pink parallel (/25), 2020 Topps Mother's Day "Hot Pink" (/50, and could have fooled me on the color!), 2020 Topps Mini Pink (/25), and 2020 Topps Update Black (/69, NICE). That's an outstanding selection of recent numbered Hills and it's not like I get to add this many of him at once very often!

Joining him on the baseball side is one more dupe Matt couldn't pass up, a 2008 Bowman Chrome Draft Gold Refractor (/50). He's obviously got great taste because pre-2010-and-later Refractors continue to look fantastic!

Finishing up on the football end of things we have a pair of very rare Wolverines. Former TE and solid broadcaster Jake Butt is up first with a 2017 Panini Certified Mirror Green auto. It's really tough to make out on the scan but along the upper-right edge it's numbered a ridiculous 5/5--hell yeah! That's my 9th hit and 7th auto of the talented pass-catcher. Flipping over to defense, there's my third signature of LB Mike McCray, and certainly my best as it's a 2018 Elite Orange Status die-cut auto numbered 07/10. The signature's nothing to write home about (pun intended) but the card design--die-cut plus numbered--and home college uni action photo make this a winner in my book.

Thanks again for our yearly trading and in particular this outstanding Christmas present, Matt!

Next I have a fun surprise PWE from Chris, the Collector, which ended up being the second that he sent me last December and third since November:

Former Michigan pitcher and current Guardians prospect Steve Hajjar leads off this one. This is just the 9th card in his collection so the Wolverines uni-highlighted '21 Prizm Draft Green Pulsar Prizm was a fun surprise. I was of course thrilled to see another Rich Hill need out of '23 Topps Chrome Update even if Topps dropped the ball on showing him with the Padres. And Chris tapped into his extensive hockey knowledge to send me a foily 2002-03 Pacific Vanguard base of goalie Steve Shields, a very successful netminder in Ann Arbor in the early 90s who played for six teams over 10 NHL seasons.

And as if those weren't enough, the big prize was this full SI For Kids sheet from the November/December '23 issue starring none other than NCAA Champion RB Blake Corum (plus a few other notable names). Corum and his teammates delivered the greatest possible present to Wolverines fans after the holiday with a Rose Bowl win over Alabama and title win over Washington. He ended his extremely productive Michigan career with school highs in single-season rushing and total TDs and points scored and career records in those exact same stats. I look forward to seeing what he can do in the NFL though I wouldn't ask a single thing from him after his career in the college game that I much prefer anyway. But I'll be glad to add on to the paltry five cards I have for now.

Thank you, Chris, for the extra Christmas present!

Next, after sending me a nice chunk of cards last September, AJ the Lost Collector hit my mailbox again before Christmas with this small but effective group of cards:

I think I'm sensing some kind of theme here.... First up is what's easily my best card of WR Ronnie Bell so far, a '23 Prizm Draft Gold Ice Prizm. It's just my third card of the Niners pass-catcher who outperformed his recruiting ranking in college by a mile, and it'll be hard to top for a while! Breakout WR Nico Collins of the Texans is next, hailing from last year's Score set, and I look forward to seeing him continue his upward trajectory next season. RB/PR Chris Evans hasn't been able to get things going for the Bengals but I'm happy to continue to add his RCs to his collection either way, such as the '21 Donruss Optic up above. And how could you possibly go wrong with two defensive stars Michigan lost, only to continue their dominance in 2023, in Mazi Smith and DJ Turner, out of last year's Prestige? The brand continued its practice of using college photos, which of course I love, and I was glad to cross these off of the needs lists of those two players, for whom I now own two cards and one card of--welcome to the collection, DJ!

Thank you, AJ, for gifting these to me last year just before my team put a bow on possibly their best season ever!

And finally tonight, definitely the most Christmassy bunch of cards that could have sat under my tree came from A Penny Sleeve For Your Thoughts' Jon. Whether you're a fan of Culture Club's "Karma Chameleon" or get excited at the site of Christmas colors red, gold, and green, you'll love these as much as I did:

Panini's solid 2013 Cooperstown product offered cracked ice-type parallels in a number of colors, and Jon represented three of those over three different players in the HOF-themed product. Wolverine/Tiger Charlie Gehringer is up first with Gold and Red cards, which is great as I apparently already had the Green of him. The Golds are /299 with the Reds a more common /399. Tigers HOF hitter and iconic broadcaster George Kell is next, and Jon sent me his cards in three colors, including the Green, whose set is the most common and not numbered. Another former Wolverine, Gorgeous George Sisler, rounds out the group with a Red card of his own. I'll have to track down his Gold but do have his Green as well. I also have Blues /499 of Sisler and Gehringer, and need to track down Matrix (/325) cards of everyone seen here.

Jon, thank you for a very festive PWE of HOFer PCs (too many acronyms!) to close out the year in collecting, and I look forward to trading with you again this year!

Thank you once again to everyone who sent me cards in 2023, which resulted in an average of 1.5 envelopes/packages per month! No matter how long I keep blogging, I'll continue to work with all of you that enjoy swapping cards as it's one of my absolute favorite parts of being here. I already have some 2024 trades to show off once I finish up the rest of my '23 acquisitions, and I promise I'll get back to sending packages out myself soon. As a matter of fact, two are due to arrive to current trading buddies in the next day or so.

Next time: either TCDb deals (likely split into two parts), a show recap, eBay pickups, or my late-year COMC haul, though the latter will likely be my '23 finale.

2023 trade package #31: the Collector

Happy new year, friends! The calendar has flipped over to another year but in terms of cards I need to recap I'm still stuck in 2023 a bit longer. It's worth it to give credit to some traders that continued to send me great stuff through the end of the year, though.

Tonight's subject is Chris, the Collector. Chris actually sent me a couple envelopes in December and this was the larger of the pair. Here's what arrived in this one:

Sparky's looking mighty fine in Tiffany form! Baez, Miggy, and Greene (plus Tork in the next scan) are all from '23 Topps Archives, and I got at least one of each of the 1956, 1965, and 2003 card designs. The second Cabrera is an insert from that product: 1957 Hit Stars. The Gibby cards were both new to me: a 1990 Starting Lineup rookie year version (so he's shown with the Tigers, not the Dodgers), and 1993 Pacific Spanish's Jugadores Calientes (Hot Players) prism insert. Grandy is from the beautiful Topps Tribute set, in this case 2013's version. And Topps can't keep up with the number of times Hill changes teams so they should just airbrush his jersey and go with "???" for the team.

Here's a bit more baseball plus a basketball pair. Fan favorite Chet Lemon comes from '87 Donruss Opening Day. Ripken is from UD's strange Ionix product released in 2000. Remember when Scherzer pitched for the Tigers? There he is on a 2014 Topps Blue parallel. There's the Tork I previously mentioned, part of the 1956 design portion. And how about that super cool Brandon Inge auto? Sticking with the 2023 Archives theme he's the first card alphabetically in the Fan Favorites Autographs insert, a yearly favorite that mixes current stars with past team guys like Jayson Werth, Jesse Orosco, Devon White, and Chili Davis. Very cool of Topps to include him here on the 1964 design. That's just my second signature of his to go along from one made waaaaay back in 2000. Thanks, Chris!

The basketball portion pairs up Robert "Tractor" Traylor on a '98 SP Top Prospects card that was hard to scan with HOFer Chris Webber out of UD's 2003-04 Glass. I have Chris's Fab Five teammate Jalen Rose from the same set.

There was a bit of football and hockey to be had as well! AC's 1989 Starting Lineup card is one of few (if any) SLU cards I own and a very cool item to find in this envelope. I don't know if I'll ever have the corresponding figure but I appreciate owning the card. Grbac's '98 Bowman Chrome Refractor looks amazing as that insert often does. Oddly enough this envelope didn't include current blog namesake Justin Verlander but Chris did find something to represent my defunct second blog: a Mario Manningham 2011 Rookies & Stars Longevity parallel numbered to just 99. No, I still don't have enough of him! Former teammates Patterson and Peoples-Jones probably couldn't have predicted our Wolverines would be in the national title game this coming Monday and it still sounds strange when I think about it, but I can't wait! And Hutch was a big part of Michigan Football's turnaround, and now he's due a lot of credit for how much he's returned the Lions' D to respectability and helping the team to its first playoff berth in forever.

Chris wouldn't be TCDb's hockeydude if we didn't swap hockey cards once in a while, and here he threw in a 2023-24 UD base of Red Wing C Robby Fabbri. The former Blues draft pick arrived in Hockeytown in a 2019 trade and is now in his fifth season with the winged wheels. He's even looking likely to top his career high of 17 goals with 11 as of this post. Let's go, Red Wings!

Chris, thanks again for all of these great cards, not to mention being a fantastic trade partner and regular reader/commenter. I appreciate the effort and quality you put into envelopes like these and I'm looking forward to trading with you more in '24!

I think I now have six blogger-type trades from December left to cover in addition to that month's show, late year eBay purchases, and lots and lots of TCDb trades from throughout the year, so I'll keep at it as I work on catching up. First, though, should be show #1 of the year for me tomorrow (Saturday), and then Michigan's first shot at a national championship since 1997. GO BLUE!

2023 trade package #28: the Collector

Welcome back, everybody! I hope you all had an outstanding Christmas like I did. And now I'm back to show off more presents in the form of trade packages that I received in the last couple months of 2023.

We've at least made it into November now, though I'll still be covering 2023 pickups in January. Oh well!

Tonight's envelope was a PWE that came from Chris, the Collector. He and I have been sending cards back and forth for about seven years now and the fact that we're both on TCDb also makes things a bit easier since we can find more specific needs for each other. Here's what he sent this time:

Funny story about the '96 Finest Bonds and Clark: I sent Chris a big old package of stuff a few weeks ago including some complete sets, and one of those was one of my dupe Finest Series II bronze sets. I believe Chris kept the cards he wanted or needed and put the rest on his trade list. I noticed the two above, which are the last two I needed for one last extra S2 bronze set, and basically got them back from him. Nice!

Mike's son Daz didn't end up working out in Detroit after being acquired in the deal for Justin Verlander, but I can't blame the Tigers (or anyone else) for assuming he'd pay off his potential. His '22 Heritage High Number card is one of several Tigers I own from that set.

Meadows is another guy that came over in a lopsided trade and unfortunately his Tigers career was all too brief things to injuries and anxiety, but I continue to wish him well as he potentially works his way back to playing. His '22 Stadium Club Chrome card looks outstanding, as you'd expect from that brand.

Kudos to Chris for remembering that I collect cards of Dean Palmer, like the above '95 Pacific. I suppose, though, that he can just look at my TCDb ranking of members who collect Dean-o and see that I'm quickly approaching the top spot.

Finally, "hockeydude" lived up to his username by sending me a pair of ex-Wolverine icers from 1993-94 Donruss. That season was Jeff Norton's first with the recent expansion Sharks after six with the Isles, the team that drafted him. His career would span all the way through 2001-02, so, not bad! Meanwhile, Stewart, a native of someone I know's hometown of Kitchener, Ontario, would make his NHL debut after three college seasons in which he showed steady improvement. That makes the card you see above his Donruss RC, which I'm glad to own now.

Chris, thanks again for these cards, plus the couple shipments you sent this month that I'll cover at some point! I'm glad you had such a successful year of trading on the DB and that I could be part of that fun!

Back soon with another trade recap.

Thankful

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving today, whether that was alone or with friends and family.

Today as always I'm thankful to all of you who come here to read my posts, comment, and trade with me.

To make this a card post I'm showing off a freebie I got from Chris, the Collector, a couple months ago when he let some folks who'd commented on some of his posts pick from some cards he was giving away.

I thought it would be cool to add this Topps Heritage insert of former president (and Michigan Football player) Gerald Ford. This card, which appears to be #9 in my collection of Homer Simpson's best buddy.

(I'm not treating this like a trade post since I want to give Chris credit for his generosity.)

Thanks again for the cool freebie, Chris, and I'm looking forward to sending you a small envelope you can fit under your tree in time for Christmas.

For now, to all who enjoy any combination of watching football, eating nachos, and drinking beer, happy Thanksgiving!

2023 trade package #15: the Collector

Well we're more than halfway through the year and I still have a lot to catch up on in terms of cards to show off on my desk, though it's getting a bit better. It certainly helps when I actually post them and can get on to the next pile!

Tonight's envelope was yet another from one of my favorite trade partners (I have a lot of favorites), Chris of the Collector. We send stuff back and forth all the time, often without any warning, and I'm pretty sure that's what happened here because I don't remember him letting me know something was on the way.

Here's all the cardboard goodness he hit me with this time:

Now that's a nice pair of Miggy cards! I'm still partial to the 2001 Topps set so the Archives parallel is especially cool to me. Also, this is a great time to chastise MLB for not giving Cabrera the kind of send-off he deserves as much as guys like Pujols, Ortiz, and Jeter. Whatever, just another ball dropped under Rob Manfred's watch.

E-Rod's looking good in blue and I wonder if he'll be wearing a new jersey with that color (or any others) in just a few weeks. When I saw the Sabo I hoped it was one of those annoying to track down Gold Hologram versions, and it was! With the MLB draft all wrapped up I'm sure some fans are already giving up on Tork and looking ahead to some of the bats and arms the team took this week. Verlander was one of those arms way back, a rare good draft choice for the franchise. And underrated SS Carlos Guillen represents a trade that went in the Tigers favor plus a guy whose talent I appreciated during his eight years in Motown.

Sure, we've had some normal sized cards, but why not oversized? Back when Finest still looked like its own premium product, like 2000, you could snag a box topper like Mr. Padre above (and even a Refractor version!). Gwynn is #17 in the set so he would have been pulled from a Series 2 box while #s 1-10 were found in Series 1. It's a beauty and one I'll happily add to his collection.

Sticking with oversized stuff but going even more oddball, how about this thing? I'm sure those of you familiar with 90s stuff remember Stadium Club's Master Photo pieces, but did you know Topps collaborated with Toys'R'Us to produce a 100 card set that came with a bonus 12-card insert set that included the 5x7 above? Sure, just about any Tigers "prospect" they picked back then would have sucked, but it's still a very cool piece. Thanks, Chris!

One last scan will take care of the other three sports that made it into the package. The Fab-Fivers go well together, but while Webber's has the cooler design, King happens to be the subject of a recent feel-good story, returning to Michigan to finish up his degree in time to graduate with his daughter!

Heading over to football, Brady and Collins are notable guys from recent Panini Products, but Ojabo may be less well-known to non-Michigan fans (unless you're an Ohio State fan!), and of course you don't hear as much about SAGE as the major brands. Still, that's a very cool card of a guy who could be making some major noise in the league when he's fully healthy.

Lastly, we move onto the ice where Michigan just had another guy drafted in the Top 5, with Hobey-winner Adam Fantilli joining the Wolverine contingent in Columbus at #3 overall. The photography on the UD cards Chris sent me looks excellent as always, and I'm grateful that Larkin will continue to captain the Wings for years to come (with a pair of fellow ex-Wolverines to boot!). I wouldn't mind seeing another former top-10-er, Jacob Trouba, on Detroit's blue line. And lastly, I realized later when I had finished scanning everything that the Ultra Gold Medallion of front-of-the-net-maestro Tomas Holmstrom had fallen behind the scanner so I made sure to add it to this group.

Chris, thanks again for such a fun surprise envelope with some especially cool oversized items! I'm not sure when I'll be returning fire but best believe when I do you'll be getting the same quality coming back your way!