7/5/24 card show report: Bought on the 5th of July

I was able to convince myself to spend a bit putting together a post this evening because I knew there wasn't a ton I had to show off. Tonight you get to see my pickups from July's monthly card show.

This was the usual one in Taylor and I headed over the day after the Fourth to celebrate my freedom the American way: buying stuff! My spending sheet says I threw down $70 at this show and that's as detailed as I'm going to be able to be here, but that's ok: I have a few scans for y'all to enjoy:

We'll start as usual with the trade bait portion. I'm pretty sure the Sowers jersey was a buck because I tend to ignore relics like that most of the time. Sabathia is a 2020 Topps Tribute Green triple jersey and numbered /99, and I'd bet that came out of the $5 (or 5/$20) box. If you're surprised to see a Raptors jersey up for grabs, know that it's because I accidentally bought two, but did make sure to send one across the border. As for the football items, the Shaq Evans auto (2014 Rookies & Stars) and Cadillac Williams jersey (2010 Elite, #d /299) were likely also in the $1-$2 range.

Please claim 'em if you want 'em! I might be a bit pickier in what I want for the Sabathia but we'll see.

And now on to my keepers:

First we have a couple Maddux cards: an insert from my favorite hobby decade, plus a Donruss base from last year. A Prizm of current Tigers hurler Mize is followed up by a franchise great in Morris, also from '23 Donruss, though pictured/listed with Minnesota. A shiny 2002 Donruss Fan Club insert of Ripken finishes off the baseball content.

Moving on to the court (and a team that currently has a brighter season outlook than the football team, unfortunately), THJ got a nice little bump to his collection with a trio of colorful Panini inserts. Houston, who plays in Orlando and not his namesake city, joins Hardaway as one of four Wolverine cagers to appear in this post.

LeVert and Poole--definitely keeping up the shiny/colorful theme, round out the basketball group.

Meanwhile, on the gridiron, transfer RB Charbonnet has been relatively quiet in his sophomore campaign for former Michigan DC Mike Macdonald's Seahawks, but he does have three rushing scores and a TD catch in six games this season as fellow transfer tailback Kenneth Walker III's understudy. Collins was on pace to improve on an impressive 2023 season when he got hurt, and the Texas will surely miss him for the multiple weeks he'll be out, as they did today.

The next two cards form a nice pair as QBs involved with Michigan's most recent national titles. I thought the shiny insert (numbered /500) of Griese, the 1997-98 field general, looked awesome, and Harbaugh, the former UM QB and coach of last season's champs, is also seen on a very cool 90s design with his image and some of the text raised on the insert above. Everything that could fall into place and go right did so in 2023-24 but has since fallen apart this year due to a majority of the coaching staff and a ton of talent leaving. Michigan fans look to be in for some down seasons as new HC Sherrone Moore and his not-ready-for-prime-time assistants try to figure it out, but I'm still basking in that championship and can put up with it.

We'll end things tonight with a pair of talented defenders. Ojabo is an enticing talent if he can stay healthy for a Ravens team known for producing excellent defenses. Here you see him on a Canvas parallel of his '22 Donruss RC. It's hard to tell but it has a bit of a canvas texture to it which is a fun feature. Meanwhile, 2023 Cowboys first-rounder Mazi Smith is in his second season and looking to make a claim for more playing time. I scored my first autograph (or hit of any kind) of the DT in the form of a 2023 Leaf Exotic parallel called "Prismatic Zebra." Leaf gonna Leaf, I guess. It's a Michigan uni-ish card (boo airbrushing) and numbered 9/13, so it's not a bad start to his collection. That makes him member #253 of the football hits collection.

That takes care of this show and I have nothing else from July to post other than one eBay purchase and possibly some TCDb deals, though I'll be grouping those into other posts when I'm caught up on everything else. That means the next time I post you'll probably be getting a look at one of four trade packages that were delivered to me in August, most of which were absolute doozies.

Until then, I hate the Yankees and Michigan State and hope to see both lose one or more upcoming games.

2024 trade package #13: Topps Cards That Never Were

Happy September, y'all! We're quickly approaching fall, which means college football is back, and the defending national champion Wolverines opened up their 2024 season with a win this past weekend. And somehow the Tigers haven't even been eliminated yet. So it's a great month for sports around here.

Both of those teams and more popped up in the latest trade package I received from fellow Tigers fan Jeremy of Topps Cards That Never Were back in June. In fact, "more" is a good description for this absolutely stuffed package full of players I collect:

Hey, how about Rich "Dick Mountain" Hill joining the Red Sox to pitch in his 20th MLB season at the age of 44? Jeremy sent me three Topps parallels picturing Hill with three different teams, though none of them are the Sox, a team he's pitched for in four stints (in parts of six seasons). His fellow ex-Wolverine Barry Larkin is another of the school's most well known alumni, and he did indeed dominate at times over his HOF career. Dean Palmer is probably not as common of a PC outside of fans of Detroit, Texas, and maybe KC, so I appreciate folks like Jeremy including him when sending me cards. Meanwhile, Cal's my biggest player collection by far with nearly 1300 cards, like the Topps offerings you see above--my favorite being the die-cut--and a couple more below.

This doesn't happen too often but I prefer the Topps insert to the Panini/Donruss one in this case, both because of the design and photo choice. Tork's had a nice few weeks back with the big team and actually homered off of Rich Hill today! And I can never have too many Verlanders, like my first 2024 issue of him from Bowman.

Jeremy also included lots of basketball stuff. That begins with a three-pack of Hoops-related cards, including the Winter version. Former coach Juwan Howard is next with a pair of college issues, but these are just two of a larger bunch from the package.

If those Howard cards don't scream "1990s" I don't know what does! Meanwhile, LeVert is a top-10 guy in my basketball collection and one of just seven with 50+ cards. Like THJ he got in on the Hoops action too.

Though they don't all look it, all of LeVert's cards are different because they're either regular or Winter versions, or parallels with small color foil differences. Caris gives way to Glen Rice, my top basketball guy with over 200, currently the only member of that club. A single Duncan Robinson has him tied for third in my collection of players with that last name (according to TCDb) behind David and Rumeal, and tied with Glenn. Jalen Rose is another Fab Fiver to get some love here thanks to eight total cards, three of which you see here.

That many different cards means we get to see Rose on a number of teams and designs, which is always great. And that's also true of his Fab Five teammate Chris Webber, #2 in my collection and nearing 200 (Howard and Rose are 3 and 4, the only others above 100). He was the most popular player in this mailer with 27 cards by my count!

Lots of Webber means lots more 90s stuff, and these definitely take me back to my teenage years. Out of all of these, the Upper Deck base feels a lot more timeless to me than the other designs that are more a product of their time (though still fun).

As we approach the end of the 90s and get into the aughts we get into some designs that appeal more to me. UD3 was a very cool product in multiple sports, Ultra was a perennial favorite, UD continued a streak of quality, Bowman's Best was superior to its recent baseball efforts, and even Topps Tipoff looked solid. Fleer's Premium was pretty nice as well, but the weird Topps Chrome design here feels like a rare miss.

Here's the last of the Webbers including a cool UD trio from later in his Sacramento tenure, then a couple horizontal issues from Ultra nd Stadium Club. The Award Winner card refers of course to his '93-'94 Rookie of the Year nod in a close vote against Penny Hardaway, another guy who went on to a very nice career.

And we'll finish up with football. Jeremy hit a whole bunch of names here too, which I loved. Brooks and Cooper are kind of deeper cuts for folks that aren't fans of the program like I am, but Brady, Calloway, Carter, Edwards, Henne, and Hutch are all pretty well known, I'd say, especially the GOAT and the biggest reason the Lions have returned to respectability. (By the way, this isn't the last time you'll see Aidan in this post!)

If you thought that first scan had a lot of talent then feast your eyes on this one. Kenn was a five-time Pro Bowler at LT for the Falcons. Long was a fantastic LT in his own right, and a former #1 overall pick. Owens spent nine years in the league at linebacker as a Rams first-rounder. Wheatley's storied Michigan career led to 10 NFL seasons--not bad for a running back! Fearsome LB/DE LaMarr Woodley won a ring with the Steelers. And Woodson is simply an all-time great in both the college and pro games. The Select insert that includes Hutch and Nico is especially cool as it features talent from all aspects of the game: offense, defense, and special teams.

The last I have of the football stuff is these horizontal cards. All guys were mentioned above except new Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh. The Brady/Woodson insert is fun given their notable playoff history that will forever link the '97 champion teammates.

Jeremy, thanks again for this huge amount of great cards that'll benefit many of my collections! I have some interesting stuff set aside for you and may be shipping them out within the next week or two depending on how things go.

As for posting over here, I think next up will be another show recap, or I may get to eBay or Facebook Marketplace purchases, whatever I feel like. Until then, eat 'em up, Tigers, and GO BLUE!

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 Facebook Marketplace purchase: February Facebookin'

Since I'm still recapping February's pickups, today I'm going to give a quick look at my first Facebook Marketplace purchase of the year.

So later in that month I saw a seller that had a few different postings that included images like this one:

I asked him what he wanted for whatever he had left and that amounted to a total of three boxes and somewhere between 9000-10K cards.

He originally asked for $60 for that stuff, then quickly went down to $50 taking into account that I'd be driving over there (not far from my monthly show in Taylor). That sounded good to me!

I brought it all home and started flipping through it, and once again I most definitely got my money's worth of trade bait, keepers, and fun. The four major sports were well represented, plus soccer, WWE, MMA, and even other stuff. And I was very happy that a relatively small amount was junk with most of it being stuff from the past five-to-ten years. If I recall correctly I think the seller told me these were leftovers from a collection he acquired from a guy who busted a lot of boxes/packs, and that seems accurate.

I'm still sorting through everything and have started listing the set-fillers on TCDb, plus I think I got most of the better inserts up already, and that's led to some trades there, and a lot of you that got trade packages from me in the past couple months got anywhere from a few to a lot of the cards from this lot (so, again, mission accomplished!).

Right now the bulk of what I listed on TCDb was from the past few years of Heritage, Archives, and Donruss, but we'll see what else I list, including possibly a ton of Topps flagship (especially 2021) and some miscellaneous others, not to mention the other sports. I may make an announcement here when I have more listed in case anyone wants to match me there for trades, but for now my best advice if you trade there is just to keep your wantlists updated.

So with all that out of the way, here's everything I found for my own collections, which is great since it'll give you a good sense of some of the products that were well represented:

Avila's a former Tiger I still collect if not one I go after that hard. I was ready to dump all over Baez even more in this post until he (and the rest of the team) went off the past couple games. There's still a pretty high chance he'll be one of those former Tigers whose cards I flip over to my trade list, or at least most of them--I tend to keep the cooler looking inserts--but for now I'm holding onto them. He was one of two current/former Tigers that dominate tonight's post.

Seriously, there was a lot of el Mago and between this haul and some trades (especially a couple packages from Jeff) I went from not very many to 77!

Here's the last page of just Baez, though you'll see a bit more of him later. Are you getting a good sense of which sets were prominent here? I think '21 Heritage and that year's flagship Topps were the top two but either way there was a good mix of designs and inserts.

How about some inserts and base of Tigers legends Miggy, Cobb, and Goslin (1934-37 including the '35 champs)? When Cabrera gets elected on his first ballot he'll join those two as well as Griffey and Gwynn in the Hall. Mr. Padre reminds us here that Stadium is still amazing.

One Larkin parallel did manage to sneak into the bunch, and Maddux is the third of the big quartet, though Ripken isn't represented this time. Co-prospects Manning and Mize flank another former catcher I sometimes collect in James McCann.

Rogers' bat hasn't come back yet but I'm glad to see him back to health. Former Tiger Scherzer was the other guy whose totals got a nice bump thanks to this purchase as you'll see in this scan and a few others.

If I wasn't so lazy I could look at my TCDb history to see when his PC grew and by how much, but for now I just looked at the site and I have 125 of him, so these pickups definitely pushed him over the century mark. Simba's new card is from a small stack of Sport Kings cards I pulled out of the boxes.

Tigers ace Skubal leads off this scan and boy is it fun watching him pitch this year, just like seeing vintage Verlander. It's still a travesty Detroit never won a title with JV and Max, but I chalk that up to bad luck and questionable management. Speaking of the latter, Baez sneaks in one more time and is joined by former stars Fielder and Pudge.

More Scherzer, more JV, and a couple team cards I somehow didn't have. Verlander's last card warrants another "Stadium Club rules!" comment because, come on, look at that shot!

The basketball portion was also somewhat fruitful for me thanks to three players appearing at least once: THJ, Poole, and Duncan Robinson. Illusion, Mosaic, and Prizm were fairly well represented in that sport and I'll probably have a better idea how those look if/when I get them sorted and listed.

Brady and Bush kick off the gridiron content, and since I picked up these boxes the latter has signed with the Browns.

Gary is one of two players in the group who got a pair of cards added to his collection, joining Chase Winovich. Haskins, dumbass Lewan, Wheatley, and the GOAT Woodson each saw their PC increase by one.

The amount of hockey in the bunch was relatively small but I did snag one new card of stud Nucks D-man Quinn Hughes, whose team will go to a game 7 with Zach Hyman's Oilers tomorrow night.

Without taking a lot more time which would certainly make me even less motivated to post I don't think this gave you the best idea of the fun I had flipping through these cards and finding some great content to send out to some of my favorite folks, but if it only gives you a snapshot I guess that's not bad. I expect my spoils to continue to result in more trades with bloggers and on TCDb and that makes this purchase another unqualified success.

I actually have another Marketplace purchase I'm excited to show off eventually when I'm more caught up (you'll continue to see that phrase a lot) but first there's other stuff to cover from previous months.

2023 trade package #23: Cards on Cards

Let's get back to my pile of trades to cover with a fun package sent by my MLB/NCAA collecting counterpart in the west, Kerry of Cards on Cards!

This one included a nice amount of baseball, a bit of football, and to my surprise, a whole lotta basketball stuff. While the latter sport is my least favorite to watch, it's always great receiving those cards in trades because I put very little money and effort into those PCs. That means just about anything sent my way has a high likelihood of being new to me, plus it bulks up some collections that I'm often neglecting otherwise.

So here's a look at what my future Big Ten-watching pal sent this time:

Baseball 1 of 2: There was some chatter that Baddoo might not be in the team's plans next season but other than the recent acquisition of Mark Canha I haven't seen anything to support that so I'll keep on collecting him and his many crazy parallels. Kudos to Kerry for including the Russ Brock since he's a bit of a deep cut out of my Michigan Baseball PC! I don't know if the reality of Miggy retiring will really hit me until he's not in the lineup next season. And thank you to folks like Kerry for bulking up my Cronenworth collection in packages like this one to the point that I've eclipsed the century mark. There's so few active UM alumni these days that I especially appreciate people finding his cards to send me. And Cal's Optic card features a different view of his unorthodox stance.

Baseball 2 of 2: a classic shot of Gorgeous George leads off, followed by a two-pack of Tigers rising star slugging 1B Spencer Torkelson. We might just see him in the neighborhood of 30 bombs next year, and I hope the front office gives him some lineup help.

The baseball group then ends, appropriately enough, with blog namesake guy JV. The Mosaic Aces insert looks quite cool, then we have a pair of Mets cards to document his short stay with the dysfunctional New York franchise ("LOL which one?!"). Finally, how about a relic card with a design as eyeball-popping as anything made by the guy I wrote about in my last post, Mike Cramer? The oversized relic card is numbered to just 99 and looks to be my 30th hit out of what now amounts to more than 600 cards, another fun milestone!

And now we have the first of five(!) basketball scans. This one features just two players: Trey Burke and Jamal Crawford. Burke was a blast to watch in college and Crawford seemed to be in the league forever (20 seasons, counting one game in 2019-20) while suiting up for nine teams. There's some nice looking base designs for both of these players and each gets a solid collection bump: Burke's right at 30 and Crawford sits at 39.

Not only does this 100% THJ scan feature a nice bit of color, but it also includes a pair of season-appropriate Hoops Winter cards. You'll see a few more of those in the rest of the scans. My favorites have to be the Prizms, though, with the Red/White/Blue having the best color combo, but I think I like the design of the first Green card up top a bit more. This bounty bounces his collection up to 54, good for 6th place in my collection.

Other than a single Mitch McGary card here (#12 in his collection), the star of this scan is former four-year Wolverine LeVert. Once again there are some mighty fine designs here, especially the Revolution and Optic cards, but nothing tops that Prizm, which I believe is called "Red White Orange Shimmer." You'll see a couple more of his items below which means Kerry sent me 10, and those vaulted Caris into the top 10 of my basketball collections with 42 cards, one more than I own of Michael Jordan via the sets I've built!

Just a bit more variety here with four players represented. I'm glad Poole got dealt away from the Warriors and complete toolbag Draymond Greene, though I wonder if his best days may be behind him after a legendary NCAA tourney performance and a title with Golden State in '22. The first two cards of his trio look especially nice, and when I add them to what I had before I now own 21 Pooles.

I'll handle GRIII and Sauce Castillo together as they were teammates from 2012-14 in Ann Arbor. Both were drafted in 2014 after a pair of good seasons though neither is in the NBA at this point. It looks like I have nine Robinson cards, fewer than the 16 I own of his dad. Stauskas is a bit more prevalent among the hoopers I collect with 21 cards.

And then including the next scan I can show off six cards of the younger of the two Wagner bros to play for Michigan: Franz. Just like Hardaway above I was treated to a pair of Hoops Winter cards and a reminder that the season is coming with its frigid temperatures whether or not I like it. What I do like is shiny cards like the last one in this scan, and collecting brothers who played for the same college program and are now teammates in the league (along with fellow Wolverines Caleb Houstan and Jett Howard!). Including the three you'll see next, I now claim ownership of 24 of Franz's cards, and that has me :clap: pumped up.

Last up in basketball we have a four-pack of the older Wagner bro, Mo. I'll still take Donruss's Rated Rookie logo over Topps' rookie cup any day, but that's me. The two Panini Status cards--a rookie and Rookie Prominence insert--are shiny and cool and right up my alley. The group grows his collection to 14, a distant 10 away from little bro. Speaking of which, Franz joins the previous seen LeVert in sticker form bringing to mind the original iteration of Panini and the stickers they sold.

One last scan will take us home tonight, and that includes the two football cards in the package. Before he headed to the NFL and some legal trouble, Haskins etched his name in program lore with five TDs against a soft Buckeyes squad to put Michigan back in the win column of the rivalry in 2021. Appropriately enough you see him here in the winged helmet, probably racing past another defender with no chance at stopping him.

Ordinarily a college uni card would be my favorite but I'll give the edge to a new item for one of my top PCs, Chad Henne. One of six players to hit the 300-card mark among the gridiron guys I collect, Henne is seen on a 2013 Prizm Pulsar parallel that could only be one color for a Michigan alum: Blue. Great find, Kerry!

Many thanks to Kerry for this outstanding pile of cards, most of which, if not all, were new to me! I'm grateful to have a few friends who also collect college teams because it's so much fun seeing what we can find for each other.

With this one covered, I hope to recap a few more trade packages soon!

2023 trade package #12: the Collector

Tonight's trade envelope comes from a collector I've traded with many times who recently celebrated 600 transactions on TCDb (quite the feat!). That collector's name? THE Collector, Chris!

Not one to sit around and wait for deals to come to him, Chris put in a bunch of work to hit that 600 deal milestone (in preparation of celebrating his 600th post). I can see in his transaction history that he started 2023 with 545 done and he's completed 78 already this year as I'm writing this. Nice! Find him over there as hockeydude, by the way.

Chris reached out to me early last month and I became his 596th swap. He offered me a nice little mix of items from my wantlist in return for future considerations, though I happened to have some stuff on hand I was going to send him anyway, so that worked out really well.

Here's what the New Jerseyan sent westward to me in Michigan:

The transaction Chris proposed actually only included the bottom six cards so the trio of Tigers were nice throw-ins. The Cuyler and Fryman are from '93 UD while Jose Lima hails from the '96 product. Cuyler got a pretty good number of ABs with some of those terrible 90s Tigers squads while Fryman enjoyed a respectable career in Detroit before finishing out his run with the Indians. The late Lima looked like nothing special before a trade to Houston produced the highest moments of his career. He did return to Detroit in 2001 for parts of a couple seasons.

Another Tiger is the lone baseball representative from the deal as originally agreed upon. J.D. Martinez is a guy who pulled a reverse Lima, heading from Houston to Detroit and overhauling his swing to great results in the batter's box and his wallet. His 2017 Topps All-Star Game set card got me to look up his Midsummer Classic appearances, and he's made five--one with the Tigers and four with the Red Sox.

Basketball gets just one new card today but that's fine because it's my least favorite sport. Chris hit one of my Wolverine cager PCs with a 21-22 Donruss Optic base of Tim Hardaway Jr., a three-year Michigan guard who's spent the last five of his nine NBA seasons with the Mavs. Wait, he's been in the league for nine years?! Man, I'm getting old.

Switching over to one of my alma mater's more recently successful sports, Chris found a pair of ex-Wolverines that I was happy to see. First is five-time Pro Bowl OT Mike Kenn who played 17 seasons for the Falcons. He appeared in 251 NFL games, all of which he started, and that's an excellent pro career if you ask me. His '82 Topps card above notes his second of five eventual All Pro selections. Joining him from the other side of the ball is DE Kwity Paye on a '21 Panini Chronicles Flux base that shows him in college action. Paye, like Kenn, was a first round selection, in his case by the Colts, and he'll be going into his third NFL season this fall.

And we'll wrap things up with a hockey duo from hockeydude right in the thick of what's probably sports' best postseason setup. Mike Comrie (2001-02 Topps Reserve) never won a Cup but did contribute a pair of goals and four assists to the 06-07 runner-up Ottawa Senators, who fell to the Ducks 4-1. Meanwhile, Ann Arbor native Andrew Copp (21-22 OPC's Retro version) is still active in the league and has 54 playoff games under his belt including 20 last year with the Rangers, but saw his new team, the Red Wings, fall short this season. I'm hoping the team exits its long rebuild soon and that Andrew is part of that success.

Chris, many thanks for making me part of your quest for 600 trades and congratulations on blowing that goal out of the water! I'm looking forward to picking up more stuff for you at the next show and in the meantime I hope those deals keep rolling in on your end.

2022 trade package #23: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

It's October which means it's cooling off rapidly and we're heading full speed into hockey season (pro and college!). What better time to show off a package from Canadian buddy of the blog Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store?

Don't let his blog's name fool you, though--Doug's no cheapskate. Not only does he send great cards my way every time, but he also packages them with a level of care that goes above and beyond despite the extra cost. Seriously, for at least the second package in a row I think about 75% of the weight was made up by toploaders.

But I don't want to give the quality aspect short shrift either--time after time he sends some absolute gems my way. Here's what came in last month's salvo from across the border:

The baseball section starts things off on a great note. In terms of base and inserts the Larkin looks great (and is new to me!) and the rest are current and recent-ish Tigers.

And then things really get cooking with a trio of great autographs. The first two star the latest member of my Michigan Baseball hits collection (#33 overall), pitcher Steven Hajjar, the #61 overall pick last year (second round) by the Twins who was flipped to the Reds in a deal for Tyler Mahle at the deadline this season. As usual I love Panini's Elite Extra Edition set and its various versions like the ones you see here.

Meanwhile, Franklin Perez was pretty much considered the headliner of the deal that sent above players JV to Houston and Cameron to Detroit, but he's become the least accomplished of the trio (for various reasons). He hasn't turned 25 yet, though, so who knows what could happen? And in that case why shouldn't I enjoy an acetate auto like the 2018 Bowman High Tek card you see above?

Next, there was a whole mess of Red Wings, many of them recent players I don't know as well since I haven't followed the team as much since the days of Datsyuk and Zetterberg. But there's some great stuff in here with plenty of stars, and you know I got excited seeing a pair of Yzermans. That Octopus foil Mascot insert from 21-22 UD MVP is awesome, and the old school stars from Parkhurst are outstanding as well. And that is indeed an IP or TTM auto of former Wings C Mike Sillinger, a former first-rounded who spent parts of five seasons in Motown during his nearly two decades in the NHL. Sweet!

The basketball portion was relatively tiny at just two items which is fine since that's my least favorite of the four major sports anyway. Jordan Poole features on a sticker that probably won't be hanging around goon/former Spartan Draymond Green's locker anytime soon. And THJ has a slightly legible signature on a Prizm autograph, surprisingly my fourth signed card of his. Is he really about to go into his 10th NBA season?! Now I feel old.

Heading over to the gridiron, you can't go wrong starting off with the GOAT in Tom Brady. How often do you get to see kickers on cards like Feely? Big Mo Hurst has announced he'll be there in-person for this weekend's huge matchup against Penn State, and I hope the DL is as hungry for rushing the QB as he was! Speaking of hungry guys rushing off the edge, big thanks to Doug for my first two cards of #2 overall pick Aidan Hutchinson, who's unfortunately languishing a bit with the garbage Lions, but will likely break out before long. I love this pair of Panini Chronicles cards that come from the Phoenix and Recon subsets, especially because they offer college action photos.

And even more football! Paye is from last year's Phoenix. Rawls has been out of the league for a few years but surprised me by appearing in 35 NFL games over for seasons. It's so great to have Shoelace back on the sidelines blaring his megawatt smile while selling recruits on the sport's greatest historical program. Toomer gets to enjoy a typically shiny Pacific design. Woodson surely loves what he's seen this season, including the guys that play his former position. And that Funchess patch/auto is sick! Game- or player-worn doesn't make much difference to me when a card is autographed and sometimes it's just nice to get a great looking patch whether or not it came from a game jersey. That's hit #21 of him further bolstering my bunches of Funchess!

And now we hit the ice, possibly in time for tonight's season openers in New York and LA. The last few years of Upper Deck's base set featured heavily in this package and that's great because I needed many of them, plus you'll see repeat appearances of a few other products. Of these players, Cogliano is with Colorado (having won the Cup with them last season), Connor is still with the Jets, Copp will soon be making his Red Wings debut, former Wing Glendenning is still with the pictured Stars, and rising star Quinn Hughes will be in his fifth season in Vancouver.

This scan is a good reminder of the firepower Michigan has sent the NHL over the past few decades. Larkin the WolverWing is of course my favorite and I really like how UD occasionally brings back Fleer favorites like Metal sometimes. From this group Hyman, Larkin, and Norris will all appear for their pictured teams. Morrison, of course, has been out of the league for a decade but was a quality regular for a long time after a legendary college career. Meanwhile, Motte will join Norris with Doug's beloved Sens and elder statesman Patch will suit up for Carolina in his 15th NHL season!

After a couple more cards of Max this scan moves on to defenseman Greg Pateryn, who I'm slightly surprise has spent as long in the league as he has. I think he's still in Anaheim's system but don't know if he'll be with them (his sixth team) for a second consecutive season. Stewart is a fellow native of Doug's hometown of Kitchener. Turco remains one of my all-time favorites from the program's history. And former #8 overall pick (one of many first-rounders from the program's history) Werenski will be appearing in his seventh season in (hold on, I need to hold my nose while I say this) Columbus.

Doug included two very cool hits from this sport as well. One is a swatch of a banner from the 2019 NHL Heritage Classic, and outdoor match that saw the Jets defeat the Flames 2-1 in Saskatchewan. The guy pictured on the card, Kyle Connor, had an assist on the OT game-winner, a notable feat in a notable game. I like that you can tell which part of the banner the gigantic swatch came from. If you gave me a choice between an event-worn jersey and something like this I can't say I'd be mad either way, especially with how nice this card looks. It's just my third hit (all relics) of Connor.

And the other relic stars Werenski, whom we just saw a couple cards to the left. It's a swatch from a rookie photoshoot, and it joins one I already had from the 12-card set of...Kyle Connor! How cool is that? If my Connor PC is small then the pile of Werenskis I have is even more diminutive at just two relics, but as always I appreciate having someone like Doug helping me out with my lesser appreciated collections like this.

Doug, as always, thanks for a fantastic pile of cards. I hope you had a nice Canadian Thanksgiving and that you enjoy a happy hockey new year! May your Sens bring you more joy than pain in '22-'23. And may I continue have luck slowly piling up more cards to send you in our ongoing high quality back-and-forth that I've enjoyed for going on a decade!

I expect to be back with more TCDB trade recaps for the next few posts while I wait for other things to arrive and because I skipped this month's show. Maybe I won't go weeks between posts again, who knows? Until then, good luck to your favorite MLB playoff teams and NHL franchises (and NFL too, I guess) as I continue to focus on the 6-0 Wolverines.