2021 trade package #15: Matt's Wonderful Blog Of Hobbies

In my last post I teased a trade package from a "reliable trade partner" and now you know exactly who I meant: Matt of Matt's Wonderful Blog of Hobbies! If the blog name sounds a bit unfamiliar to you that's because it had mostly been named "Sport Card Collectors" for a while. (Also, you probably know Matt's other project, Cards Over Coffee, especially if you follow him on Twitter.) I know a bit about changing up a title for various reasons, and in Matt's case I think it was part of a fairly comprehensive refresh of that blog, which is pretty cool.

Anyway, he'd recently lamented not having sent me anything yet this year in a comment on one of my posts, though I don't think he should feel particularly bad about that after the bonanza he sent me around Christmas! But either way, he managed to put together a brand new PWE for me that arrived just the other day, another Tigers/Wolverines special that hits the spot on this lovely mid-May evening:

Let's start with the Tigers, comprising three parallels and an insert. First up is Castellanos, who had a bit of at professional baseball-ruiner Rob Manfred's expense recently. It took me a bit to confirm it to be the Black Foil version of his 2019 Stadium Club issue, with the main difference between it and the base being, not surprisingly, the small amount of foil up front done in black. It's a typically nice Stadium Club look, though I'm not a huge fan of the font used for the player name. Compare that to the brand's Chrome version from last year and you'll see team/name design elements I like a bit more. Also, that happens to be an X-Fractor of C Jake Rogers, one of, I dunno, 10? backstops currently with the team. He called a nice game in a strong start by top prospect Casey Mize last night, and that connection may allow him to stick around even if his bat fails to develop.

Speaking of pitchers, moving down to the second row we go all the way back to 2014 with a Topps Chrome Gold Refractor of Anibal Sanchez (#36/50). After parts of seven seasons with the Marlins (including tossing a rookie-year no-hitter in '06) he came to Detroit and put up a pair of good-to-great seasons in 2013-14 before steadily declining. Here you can see him in gold, the color of the ring he earned with the Nats in the 2019 World Series. His former teammate from 2012-17 when they both left the club, Verlander, also knows something about no-hitters and World Series rings. But that was all in the future when his 2005 Topps Chrome auto was packed out. That 2021 Topps Through the Years insert, which is a card of a card, is not signed by JV, but I'm fortunate to have grabbed the pictured item for something like $20 years before its price exploded, and it's served as the background image for this here blog for a while, though you can't really see it since I widened most of the blog elements at some point. Trust me, it's back there! Here, it'll be easier to see this way:

Aaaahhhh, nothing like a real image instead of a mock-up to get the full effect.

Anyway, now we'll switch mascots over to the Wolverines for a pair of football cards. #1 is a Glossy parallel of former LB/DL Tim Jamison (UM 2005-08) out of 2009 SAGE HIT. I know the scan doesn't show it but this thing is super glossy, which is nice since sometimes that type of parallel can be questionable. Anyway, Jamison managed to appear in 56 career games for the Texans, which is not bad for an undrafted guy. A player with a bit better draft stock is OL Cesar Ruiz, a former top C recruit who put in three very good years for Michigan, pretty much living up to the hype. The Saints nabbed him 24th overall last year they seem to see him as a guard, which I'm sure he has the talent to play. Matt sent me my first card of his, a 2020 Donruss Optic RC that features the man in his college uni, which kicks all kinds of ass. According to my checklist I have another five first-years of his to track down, which isn't surprising since I haven't made much headway with the 2020 draft class yet. I hope to build on this initial card soon!

Just six cards to scan, plus a few of them needed images on TCDB, so here's the backs.

Matt, thanks for getting a new PWE out to me, not to mention one as exciting as this one! I have a few things set aside for you from the show I got to a few weeks ago and will be waiting until I get to one or both of the ones coming up over the next few weeks before sending them out to you, but I think you'll appreciate this fan of "go blue" sending you some "big blue".

2020 trade package #35: Sport Card Collectors

Well if I wasn't in the Christmas spirit before, I sure am now! I'm the proud owner of a few cool Christmas card packages that have arrived over the past couple weeks, and today's post features a big one (in every sense of the work) thanks to Matt over at Sport Card Collectors.

He'd let me know to expect this bountiful bubble mailer--special for the occasion since he's a big fan of PWEs, so don't think that went unnoticed!--and I was happy to see it safely arrive. First, the note:

See what I said about Christmas spirit? As Matt mentioned, he sent me both a bit of stuff I was sort of expecting trade-wise and lots more that I'll certainly consider a generous gift.

Here's what was inside:

One of my surprises right off the bat was this 2001 Pacific Private Stock Game Gear 2018 Topps Major League Material Relics jersey of former Tiger V-Mart. I do love making fun of Topps for cribbing this design from a product released more than 15 years prior, but it's one I recall fondly so I'll allow it! This is just my second hit of Victor with the Tigers so it was a fun addition I didn't see coming.

I'll paraphrase the overused joke here and say that someone once asked me which Verlanders I wanted. My response: "Yes." Matt happily obliged here with TOO MANY VERLANDERS, and in this case "too many" equals a perfect page of nine. Better yet, everything here is new to me. I love the two Panini cards--a Diamond Kings Artists Proof (hard to see the logo in the bottom right) and an Optic Prizm--and the Chrome Sepia Refractor is extremely cool as well. TCDB tells me that I'm right at 450 cards of Mr. Upton after this haul, so many thanks to Matt for some really nice JVs to bump up that total.

And speak of the devil, here's one item I did know was coming. A couple months ago a reasonably priced plate of one of his favorite PCs, Rodney Hampton, came up for sale on eBay. I snagged it so Matt wouldn't miss out on it and traded it to him for future considerations. We eventually agreed on a 2005 Topps RC of Verlander, which is worth a lot more than it used to be. I don't remotely understand how flagship rookies that exist in abundance are worth so much but other people can spend their money however they want. As for me, I already have one of these, but now I have something nice to send to fellow Verlander collector Paul who could definitely use one; Merry Christmas to him!

The rest of the package was absolutely stuffed with Michigan Football stuff, which was a blast to go through. I decided to separate these into three scans worth of stuff that's new to me and one large image of the rest so I didn't have to do something like 11 or 12 scans here.

While not every single card featured a college photo it sure feels like the majority of them did, which is 100% awesome. This scan includes four new RCs for my Rookie Blue project, half of which are maize & blue cards: two of injured sideline-to-sideline LB Devin Bush plus Classics cards of Jake Butt and Mo Hurst. They wouldn't be the only first-years in this package....

Besides them, we have a Butt insert (huh-huh, huh-huh /Butthead voice), numbered Braylon, and Gold Press Pass parallels of Hart and Bennie Joppru, and a SAGE IHT base of former DE Tim Jamison. I initially had Hart in the dupes pile until the light hit it correctly and I was able to note that it had gold foil, which meant I could happily add another card to his PC!

I'm designating the top row here as not quite RC status. 2020 Cowboys TE draftee Sean McKeon appears on Panini Chronicles cards with Donruss and Optic designs--cool how they used photos from two different games--and a Scorecard parallel. I believe the Chronicles cards are technically considered inserts, so for now they won't go towards the RC project, but I'm still very glad to have them.

Former QB Navarre makes an increasingly rare cameo (his stuff is just harder to find for some reason) on a Press Pass parallel of his own, this one appropriately Blue, while handing off the ball to a guy we'll see in the next scan.

Do-everything defender Jabrill Peppers also gets a nice trio of his own. Shiny Optic and Prizm parallels bookend another Classics RC appearance, and those inserts represent just a couple more pro uni cards. It's been nice watching him make some plays this season for the hapless Giants!

Last up are a couple 2004 inserts of that RB I just mentioned, Chris Perry (Hot Prospects and Topps), a sweet Elite base of Mr. Heisman Charles Woodson, and a double-the-fun duo of '08 draftees Jake Long and Mike Hart that I somehow didn't have. Woodson and Tom Brady have pretty much become staples of Panini's yearly college themed sets and that's totally fine by me, though I'd be happy to see even more past Michigan legends.

That was the last of the "new" stuff but this huge surprise also counts, in a way. I already owned Terrell's "raw" 2001 Pacific Dynagon Retail RC but I surely won't say no to a PSA 10! I will say that if I didn't already have a copy I probably would have cracked this, but now it'll be fun to keep one slabbed like this.

Lastly, if my words didn't convey how many Michigan Football cards were in this package, hopefully this picture will help you. There's even more maize & blue here, and besides a number of guys you already saw, plenty of my favorites like Arrington, Henne, and Shoelace. Michigan cards never go to waste here, and I'm glad to say that Paul's not the only one (besides me) getting something out of this gift that keeps on giving, as Jeff will be the proud owner of a few new cards himself! Hooray for the season of giving.

Matt, thanks again for this amazing mailer full of Tigers and Wolverines (which sounds way more dangerous when I say it that way!). I really appreciate your generosity, including going outside of your comfort zone to send a package this large all at once. I've had another great year of trading with you and you can bet I'll be back at it in 2021!

Next time, even more giving! Stay tuned while you're decking those halls....

Blowout Blowout, Jr.: May Edition

Edit:  you're not experiencing deja vu, I was fixing the tags on this post, re-published it, and now it exists in the future, or now, or whatever.  So enjoy it again or spend your time laughing at my Blogger failure, either way, everyone wins!

In lieu of a card show I'm not going to this weekend (and because my money's probably better spent this way anyway), I went on another small but productive BlowoutCards forum spree this past week.  Staying true to my general (and accidental) purchase ratio, I nabbed 11 PC cards and 13 for trade bait.  First up, the PC stuff:

Brandon Graham 2010 Donruss Classics Significant Signatures auto RC:  Brandon could become a great player if he can get healthy, stay healthy and get big enough to last in the pros.  All big ifs, but doable for a guy who WAS the defense at Michigan.  Also, dude--you've got a ton more sticker available to sign, no need to scrunch it in there.  Purchased along with the forthcoming Breaston for $8 dlvd.

Braylon Edwards 2007 Leaf Certified Mirror Red Materials jersey

Braylon Edwards 2008 Bowman Sterling jersey

Braylon Edwards 2008 SP Rooke Threads Flashback Fabrics dual jersey

Braylon Edwards 2009 Prestige Prestigious Pros jersey

That's four numbered Braylon Browns jerseys from the biggest lot of the three that I purchased.  A nice mix of swatches and designs.  Incidentally, these four tie Braylon with Chad Henne at 23 hits for #2 in my collection, despite the following card. 

Chad Henne 2008 Absolute Memorabilia RPM jersey-ball-jersey RC:  I picked this one up along with a forthcoming trade bait card for $6 dlvd.  I already have the autographed version that spells out "NFL", but that's a great looking football piece and I really, really like this set, so woo for more RPMs.

David Harris 2007 Leaf Limited auto RC

David Harris 2007 Topps Performance auto RC

David Harris 2007 Topps Performance Breakout auto

Three Harris autos was a nice get for me.  All came from the large lot of 20 for $50, which was stuffed with Jets because that's mostly what the guy had (and made for easy trade bait with BA Benny).  The two Performance autos put me up to four from that set, including the two I already had:  his Bronze auto RC and jersey/auto RC.  For those keeping track for some reason, I now have 10 Harris hits and all are autographed, one including a jersey and one co-featuring LaMarr Woodley.  I'm very happy with this collection so far.

Steve Breaston 2010 SPx Super Scripts auto:  Got this one along with the Graham for $8 dlvd.  Great shot of Stevie in a Michigan uni on a nice design.  In many ways, I'm happy UD was forced to go with college photos (big shock, I know).

Tim Jamison 2009 Upper Deck Draft Edition auto RC:  Player #42 in the PC was this guy, an undrafted Michigan DE featured in Draft Edition.  He's apparently with the Texans now, but more importantly, he was born in Riverdale, which at least I find funny.  I wonder if his teammates call him Jughead, especially after Michigan's dominance over Minnesota.


And now the part you probably all skipped down to:  the trade bait!  Sorry it's almost all BA Benny-type stuff, it's just that I know we're going to trade 10 more times before Tuesday and I wanted to load up, plus the guy had mostly Jets anyway.

• Chansi Stuckey 2007 SP Authentic auto RC #0091/1199  (Pending:  GSNHOF)
• Chansi Stuckey 2007 Press Pass Authentics auto (Pending:  GSNHOF)
• Santana Moss 2003 Donruss Elite Masks of Steel facemask #365/400
• D'Brickashaw Ferguson 2006 Bowman Signs of the Future auto
• Leon Washington 2006 Absolute Memorabilia RPM jersey/ball/jersey RC #103/849
• Marcus Henry 2008 Topps Letterman "R" (no auto) #4/6
• Mark Clayton 2008 Leaf Certified Materials Mirror Gold jersey or patch, black/gold, #4/25
• Maurice Jones-Drew 2007 UD Premier Premier Stitchings logo patch #74/75

• Ricky Williams 2002 Private Stock Reserve jersey
• Ray Lucas 2000 Fleer Autographics auto (Pending:  GSNHOF)
• D'Brickashaw Ferguson 2006 SAGE Hit auto
• Kellen Clemens 2006 Gridiron Gear Gridiron Gems jersey/ball/jersey RC #24/50
• DeWayne Robertson 2003 Absolute Memorabilia RPM ball/jersey #505/750

Everything else is most definitely available, though BA Benny will have some dibs because he's already acquired more stuff to send my way.  Please make some offers and I'll work with y'all on some trades.

Overall that was 24 cards for $64 dlvd:  the Graham and Breaston for $8, the Henne and Stuckey SP Authentic for $6 and the other 20 for $50.  That's about as well as I would have done at this weekend's show and I spent much less than I would have there.  Plus now I have yet more trade bait for all of you--win-win!