2025 trade package #21: Sport Card Collectors

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

Please enjoy this 100% Michigan-themed trade recap!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2023 trade package #6: Chronicles of Fuji

It may be April 1st but no foolin', I'm actually posting something! I have an absolute ton of stuff to catch up on so I'm going to try to rapid fire through some of it as best as I can.

Last month I was one of the lucky recipients of a package from Fuji (Chronicles of Fuji), who's sent me lots of great stuff in the past. This time I got a small flat rate box of all kinds of cool items that hit multiple spots in my collections:

It certainly makes sense to start off alphabetically with Jim Abbott. Those oddball Baseball Card Magazine cards are very cool and you'll see more of them a bit later. Retiring future HOFer Miggy featured heavily in this bunch with an excellent nine items (more below), all from Panini.

The remaining Miggy cards here look great too. The Dominators insert is numbered /999 and I love the callbacks to Preferred and the Gallery of Stars insert, plus the die-cut is a plus. Can't go wrong with a pair of DK-related Cobbs. Fielder's UD hologram card is a beaut. And The first of a run of Larkins is also a Topps throwback done by the previously-mentioned magazine.

More Larkins! I'll get to 1000 of his soon at this rate. The pair of numbered V-Marts get a big thumbs up from me as well, especially the Season Stat Line parallel numbered to his 2013 batting average. That "blank" spot is actually a blank front printing glitch issue of HOF P Jack Morris which I'll be happily keeping. Nokes was indeed exciting as a slugging C for a few years with the Tigers. And Palmer and Phillips are two recent favorite PCs.

Scherzer, Tanana, and Verlander combined for 361 wins (out of 686 for all teams) as Tigers, and I'm interested in seeing how the Mets teammates fare this year (as soon as JV is healthy again). And lastly we have should-be HOFer Lou Whitaker.

After one more Sweet Lou there's some fun oddball team logo items and then cool inserts of ex-Tigers I don't tend to collect, but I'll likely keep at least some of them because the cards are great!

Here's most of the rest of the baseball stuff--horizontals and oddball sizes--though there's still a bit more to go. I don't think I'd ever seen that Phillips/Jefferies insert before and it was a definite need for Tony's PC, so kudos to Fuji for finding that one for me! The JaCoby will likely find a better home with one of his bigger collectors soon. And how about all the insanely cool oddball stuff? Champ Summers and Steve Kemp are the stars of the Fleer Stamps on the right.

Paul Gibson is another ex-Tiger I don't collect but I'm not getting rid of what represents my first '91 Topps Desert Shield card! The auto is of Ann Arbor-born Tigers draftee Shannon Withem, a P whose entire MLB career consisted of 3 IP in a 1998 game for the Jays. Then you see the first of the largest items in the package, Donruss All-Star Standups of Jack Morris and Sweet Lou!

Joining those were the even larger regular All-Star cards. Here you see the team set sans Tram. What a great callback to the '84 team!

The basketball and football portions weren't as bountiful but were no less appreciated. Joining ex-Piston Grant Hill and current (for now, anyway!) UM coach Juwan Howard from his own playing days is my first autograph of fellow Fab Fiver Jimmy King. It's a Signature Rookies card so you get some nice college action in the photo, making it a Michigan uni card, besides the bonus of it being my first of King, the 31st different member of my basketball collection.

Over on the football side we have cool numbered cards of Brian Griese and Mike Hart, the latter of which is a "base" RC despite having the Refractor finish on it. Meanwhile, three of the four(!) autographs here are of the Michigan uni variety, a fun reminder of Michigan's spring game having been played earlier today. Breaston's from the fantastic 2009 Topps Magic set, and since I already had it but Jeff didn't, I brought that to him when I visited him at a recent show (more on that in a future post!). Former QB Todd Collins gets a new auto card from '95 Superior Pix, a very similar card to the King above, and that includes a college uni shot that also meets my approval. My favorite ex-Michigan RB Hart adds an autograph to his RC above, this one from a Topps set that shows him during his brief NFL career with the Colts. Fortunately he's doing great as UM's current RBs coach! And fellow legend Marquise Walker closes us out with a very, very nice Topps Finest auto/RC that includes a nicely done signature with bonus jersey number.

Fuji, thank you as always for the generosity and effort that went into you sending this package my way. I'm always thrilled to keep trading with you and this recap shows all the reasons why that's the case. I have a few cards I grabbed for you at a recent show and will try to hit you back once I have enough for an appropriate response. Until then, may the rest of your school year be uneventful!