2024 trade package #23: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

My other trade package from November was the typical awesomeness from Doug at Sports Cards From the Dollar Store. He actually managed to get it out in time that it wasn't impacted by the Canada Post strike, which was definitely a stroke of luck considering how long that went on and the fact that we're still dealing with the repercussions of the stoppage. As a matter of fact, I've had a package ready to send back his way for a couple weeks now but unfortunately USPS still isn't accepting mail to send across the border, presumably while their Canadian counterparts get caught up. Oh well, it'll just have to wait.

As for what I got in my final mailing from Kitchener, Ontario for 2024:

We'll start with baseball as usual. I remember Damon's brief stint with the Tigers in 2010 and his decent bat but noodle arm. Larkin and Morris are former Wolverines that won baseball's Ultra best prize in 1990. Walewander seems to be a cult favorite of some Tigers fans.

Heading over to football, Tom Brady starts us off with Topps' return to the sport thanks to their Composite product, one that brings to mind its long lost Fusion set that combined multiple brands, and in this case that includes Chrome. DE Len Ford was one of the most accomplished players to come out of the program, winning an NCAA title and then three NFL rings in a HOF pro career. Harbaugh, of course, needs no introduction, but I hope his ability to quickly turn around the fortunes of teams he coaches becomes the narrative around him instead of the stupid "QB whisperer" crap. Jenkins and Wilson were both drafted this year and I happily added a card each to their RC totals, plus a Scorecard parallel for the Bengals DL. And we go all the way back to RB Hassan Haskins' pre-college days with a Team USA jersey that came out when he was a lower-rated recruit and not yet a Buckeye-killing back.

The non-UM Red Wings all fit into this scan and they also serve as a nice transition into the hockey stuff, giving you a bit of an idea of a couple of the brands that were prevalent in this package: UD flagship and MVP. I'm old enough to remember Ogrodnick's name (likely due to video games made late in his career), though he was gone from Detroit by the time I was really paying attention to the sport. It's very cool to add such a relatively old Wings card to my collection!

Now let's take a look at some Wolverines and WolverWings! Young Kraken star Beniers kicks off the group with another example of UD taking advantage of owning Fleer's brand names like Metal. Compher's having a relative down year with the Wings but then again, who isn't at this point? Connor is once again on a great scoring pace and isn't too far from equaling his '23-'24 numbers, actually. Luke Hughes' stats are also down a bit from last season while last season's Norris winner Quinn continues to stack up points.

WolverWing Dylan Larkin continues to be the heart of the team as its captain, and hopefully a new coach will inspire the team to play up to their potential. Norris suits up for Doug's Senators and is among the team leaders in goals in his sixth season (though two of those saw him appear in just 11 games). Rare Wolverine-in-Buffalo Power just played in his 200th NHL game and has a chance to improve on some decent stats from last season. Trouba, of course, finally got out of New York as he was flipped to Anaheim earlier this month. And not-remotely-rare Wolverine/Blue Jacket Werenski has a chance to finally return to the 20-goal mark, his career high from 2019-20, which would be pretty cool for the stud defenseman. While I'm happy with the various base cards here, he appears on one of the best non-hits, a 2019-20 SP Game Used Orange Rainbow parallel that's numbered to just 103(?) copies.

There are just two horizontal cards to look at this time, but they're both worth a look! Beniers is back with a sweet die-cut numbered issue from 2022-23 SPx, which is probably the best of him in my collection besides the Metal Universe RC above. Connor also makes another appearance thanks to a UD insert called Stars of the Rink that has a cool rainbow "dots" pattern.

And then we have the hits, and boy are they nice ones! Number one is my first autograph of yet another Blue Jacket, defenseman Nick Blankenburg. The two-year Wolverine played three seasons with Columbus before signing with Nashville this past July. I absolutely love the look of his uncirculated autographed acetate RC from UD's Clear Cut brand.

The next autograph is somewhat similar with former Jets/current Wings C Andrew Copp signing an SPx card from the previous year's Clear Cut offering. The holographic background makes it a true throwback to SPx's origins and I feel like UD went away from that design aspect to its detriment, so it's a sight for sore eyes here. That's my fourth auto of the WolverWing.

And last up is one more Werenski appearance (hey, there's a reason he's a top-10 guy in my Michigan Hockey PC!). Though I previously claimed four hits to his name, it took #5 here to add my first signature. That comes from the shiny 2022-23 UD Stature Autographs set, one which appears to parallel the base set, which is already fairly high-end itself. I like that his name is fairly legible and as a bonus he even throws in his jersey number, one he has in common with my top baseball PC guy. Needless to say I appreciate Doug chipping away at the list of Wolverines for whom I need certified autographs, one I'm somewhat maintaining over on TCDb.

Doug, thanks so much for this outstanding envelope to end our year of trading. Again, I'm frustrated that I couldn't send a return sooner due to the strike, but I promise it'll be worth the wait, plus at least I have it ready to go at the drop of a hat. In the meantime I'll work on starting a new stack for you at this weekend's show. I hope you and Mischief had a merry Christmas!

I'll be back soon (possibly very soon!) with more trades from December.

2024 trade package #15: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store part 2: hockey

It's been a nice sports weekend for me as Michigan Football beat a lesser rival plus the Yankees are down two games in the World Series. So with that positivity in mind, let's continue on with the mountain of cards sent to me by Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store back in August. (Reminder: part 1 is here.)

We're in one of the busiest sports months of the year as all four major sports are in action plus some of the college versions. Relevant tonight is that both the Red Wings and Michigan Hockey have dropped the pucks on their seasons. As a matter of fact, I got to enjoy the latter in person last weekend!

Doug sent me a big stack of cards of both teams in this box,

and those are what we'll look at tonight!

Let's start with the local pro team, one which features four players from my alma mater, all of whom appear in this post! But we'll get to the WolverWings later. Datsyuk and Fedorov are both team legends and I'm glad to bump up their collections a bit. Meahwhile, Edvinsson is a former #6 overall pick going into his third season in Motown as a good defenseman prospect.

Next, LaPointe and Lidstrom are the most familiar names here. Marty won a pair of Cups with the Wings after they took him 10th overall in 1991, and he went on to play for the Bruins, Hawks, and Sens before hanging 'em up. Plus his son currently plays for Michigan Hockey! Lidstrom, meanwhile, is a HOF defenseman who won four Stanleys with Detroit, playing his entire career in Hockeytown. He's definitely a top-five team player of mine in franchise history.

Ozzie is the biggest name here for me, another '91 draft pick who went on to success with the team. He backed up vet Mike Vernon in the playoffs in '96-'97 before getting his turn with the repeat champs the following year, then came back in 2007-08 and '08-'09, helping the team win another Cup and then coming up just short the year after. Primeau's also pretty well known as a former #3 overall pick who put up some good numbers for the team but was part of the trade that brought Brendan Shanahan to Detroit, which worked out quite well! Raymond's a much more recent guy, chosen #4 overall in 2020, and he's coming off a 31-goal campaign, so he looks to be a big part of the future. Rutherford's a goalie from way before my time--drafted by Detroit in 1969, he found his way to Pittsburgh before a trade back to Detroit (twice!) and appeared in goal in parts of 10 seasons as a Wing.

German D-man Mo Seider leads off this scan and he comes into his fourth season as a key player on the blue line. I already mentioned how Shanny joined the team, and he was a star on a team filled with them that won three Cups. Soderblom is a Swedish winger chosen in the sixth round back in 2019 who hasn't been up with the parent team since 2022-23 but remains a prospect. Veleno was a late first-rounder way back in 2018 that hasn't yet parlayed amateur success into NHL production just yet.

The last of the Wings are represented with these horizontals and one odd-sized issue. Draper's probably the best player $1 ever bought as he brought plenty of grit along with key goals to four Cup-winners. The previously seen Seider looks good on a shiny UD insert. The Captain's NHL career coincided with some great 90s stuff like Collector's Choice's Stick-Ums. And Shanny gets one more appearance courtesy of a Pacific mini.

Now we switch over to the guys in maize & blue. Boston center Johnny Beecher makes his collection debut here thanks to Doug, and the 2019 first-rounder is in his second year with that team. Beniers and Bordeleau are both relative newcomers to the NHL and it's nice to see their collections get a small bump. Cogliano (who's also seen in the next scan) won a cup with the 21-22 Avalanche and then retired after last season, his 17th in the NHL!

Three-year Wolverine Compher was a teammate of Cogliano's with Colorado and also part of that Cup team, and now I'm happy to say that he's one of four Wolverines on the Red Wings! Jets sniper Kyle Connor has been lighting the lamp since 2016 and looks primed to hit the 30-goal mark for for the seventh time in eight seasons. As for Copp...

...he's another WolverinWing, as seen in the first two cards here. It's fun when the former Ann Arbor guys head to Detroit but even better when it's captured on cardboard. Another Team Canada card of Hobey-winner Adam Fantilli gives me two of him with that team to go with a pair with Columbus. Hagelin, who won a pair of Cups with the Pens, nears the 40-card mark as well as the top-10 of my Michigan Hockey PCs. Sitting 10 cards behind him is

Canucks D-man and last year's Norris Trophy winner Quinn Hughes, whose six cards here include a very cool playing card-style item from OPC. Defenseman Matt Hunwick is next, and this trio shows him with two of his six career franchises. Then we have former Leafs winger Zach Hyman who

joined the Oilers after six seasons in Toronto and steadily put up career highs until reaching 54 goals last year plus another 16 in the playoffs for runner-up Edmonton (though he's yet to score this year). While there are no Wolverines named Jones in this package, Doug had me keeping up with the Johnsons. One is Jack, another '21-'22 Avalanche Cup-winner who's now back in his second go-round with Columbus in his 19th(!) NHL season. The other is his new teammate Kent, the 2021 fifth overall pick who's in his fourth season in the league, and has five cards to his name in my collection as opposed to almost 60 for his elder fellow Wolverine.

Wings captain Dylan Larkin was one of the most common names in this package and I loved to see that. I'm grateful that the team has his leadership as he's become somewhat similar to the guy currently in charge, Steve Yzerman, so you'll imagine how much I grinned when I noticed that my collection totals for both players are very close! He's posted 31, 32, and 33 goals the past three seasons so we'll see if his incremental improvement continues, though more importantly I'm hoping for a return to the playoffs--something he hasn't experienced since his debut in 2015-16. Madden, meanwhile, won trophies both in college and the NHL, and missed the playoffs just twice in his career, with one occasion being a cup of coffee in his league debut. Oklahoma City native Jon Merrill also played for the Devils like Madden, though their careers didn't overlap. He was a Red Wing for 36 games in 2020-21 and is now in his fourth season with Minnesota.

I don't think I need to say much about Morrison as he's long been a blog favorite and I've talked about him plenty, so I'll just mention that he's #2 in my UM hockey PCs and the only other player besides Marty Turco to hit the century mark. Next, it's fun to have a shared PC with Doug like Nystrom, who's both a Michigan alum and 2/14 baby! A guy that's not too far behind Morrison is Max Pacioretty, a well-traveled winger who's with his fourth different team in as many seasons. 

My collection of Max is what it is because of folks like Doug who send me so many of his cards, like the ones in the previous scan, the few you see here (two of which are numbered!) and even more below. Palushaj barely had an NHL career to speak of but I still happily collect him. '21 #1 overall pick Owen Power is still fairly new to my collection but, again, thanks to Doug my small collection is growing. Tambellini was a favorite of mine while I had student season tickets. And as you'll see between this scan and the next,

My collection of Trouba got a nice bump as well. The sometimes overly aggressive D-man rests comfortably in the top 10 with just shy of 50 cards, in large part thanks to the guy who sent me these. One of the two Turcos helping to keep him #1 by a large margin can be seen here while there's one more below. Next, we have three of six Werenski cards representing yet another ex-Michigan guy that headed down to Columbus as a pro.

The other three sit atop this scan, including a typically excellent UD base plus the usually very cool (no pun intended) UD Ice. Two of the best looking cards in the entire box aren't even hits, but instead super thick cards of young Flyer Cam York. Both are '21-'22 SPx issues, with the first being a Finite inserted #d /399 and the other being a gorgeous Shadow Box card that has to be seen in-person to be appreciated.

We'll close out this scan (but not the post, oddly enough) with some beautiful hits. First is a beautiful RC auto of J.T. Compher, who's had his named called today already and will have the honor one more time. That's out of 2017-18 Ultimate Collection and the signature /399 is my third autograph to go with one relic. Tyler Motte, meanwhile, represents WolverWing #4 in this post, and that SPx Blackhawks jersey (/235) is relic #5 out of nine total hits. The former Chicago center joined Detroit as his 8th NHL team. Well represented PC guy Max Pacioretty is next with an SPx jersey representing one of his four seasons with Vegas. He's up to 12 hits including nine relics like that above average jersey swatch. And last up is a Panini Rookie Anthology card of Travis Turnbull that I swore I already had until I realized Doug had sent me the Patch version that comes with two excellent pieces of a Sabres jersey to go with Turnbull's signature. Besides the swatch upgrade, the card is #d /99, and that becomes my third hit of a Buffalo player who scored a single goal in three NHL games.

Like I said above, we weren't quite done yet because we still have some horizontals and other oddities that I decided to scan after the hits. Compher, Jack Johnson, and Patch all get some cool X-axis cards, and once again I love UD's flagship look. David Oliver isn't as common of a name around here--that's just my fourth card of his--so I appreciate the deep cut. The trio of goalie cards starring two of Michigan's best--Shields and Turco--has me wishing Pacific and its die-cut Crown Royale were still around. I love that he sent a base and two different parallels to give a nice look at the range of colors that set offered. Compher makes one last appearance thanks to a Panini sticker. And then we have one last player: David Shand. Like Oliver, he's not a very common name and actually only has 12 cards catalogued on TCDb. I now own three of those thanks to this 1979 sticker also made by Panini which may be the oldest such issue in my collection.

Once again I hope the fact that I had to give in and split up this package into two posts goes a long way towards indicating just how generous Doug can be when it comes to trading. Not only did he bomb me with quantity, but there was an absolute ton of quality across these two posts, and rest assured that I don't take such effort for granted. Thanks for being one of my favorite trading partners, Doug, and I hope to close out the year with a Christmas package that shows my appreciation!

Stay tuned for another August trade package coming up soon!

2023 trade package #32: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

Hey, it's been a while, how about another trade recap?

Here's what a "Small Packet" envelope from Canada looks like:

Something this large and in charge and stuffed with goodness could only be from one person: Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store!

Here's a (very) brief overview of what he sent my way back in December:

Baseball was highlighted by numbered cards of Mr. Tiger and Barry Larkin. All hail Upper Deck! The other Tigers are great as well, including the Deckle Freehan, which isn't a dupe because this one has a blank back.

Basketball and football get short shrift this time in numbers but not quality. My first card of Mazi (rhymes with "Ozzie") is a Michigan uni RC out of Prestige. Sounds like the Cowboys enjoyed some of that quality Texas education when deciding to completely misuse him this year!

A pair of numbered UD Henne autos are among the highlights of the package, and I can never have too many of these! (But I'm not renaming the blog.)

The bulk as usual is hockey, starting with the much-improved Wings. I'm a big fan of the Lidstrom and Howard cards especially, with the former being a nice color match.

I don't know if these are from shows, repacks. elsewhere, or all of the above, but I was excited to have a bunch of ex-UM icers to flip through. This one already stars two hockey Mikes, not to mention a rare for me Beniers.

Hughes and Hyman have had nice years for their teams, and of course I love seeing Copp join the ranks of the WolverWings.

Another hockey Mike here, the John Madden I prefer, and I feel like I don't add Montoyas to my collection often enough. Plus there's WolverWing supreme Dylan Larkin, who's been fantastic this year for the home team.

I loved the plethora of Brendan Morrison cards and he remains one of my top hockey PCs, second only to a guy you'll see later in this post. Nystrom is a 2/14 baby meaning Doug and I both collect him.

MaxPatch is a Buckstorecards trade package stalwart, and Palushaj often comes along for the ride as well, but recent star Power is nice to see when it comes to some of the newer guys I haven't collected much of yet.

There's the #1 dude, goalie Marty Turco. He was featured on a lot of Pacific cards including an insert set of his own (card #3 above), not to mention the usual enjoyable stuff like the die-cut Crown Royale product. Goalies often simply get the best photos on cards, and Marty deserves it!

There were a few horizontal and odd-sized cards, covered here, plus a couple more hits. The two Topps minis of Madden have the same front image but different backs. Naturally Pacific brings the heat with more die-cut action including a numbered card (#d /290) of another hockey Mike: Comrie. A numbered swatch of Jack MF Johnson plus a Cup-shaped jersey of Blue Jacket Zach Werenski (wait, do I need a "hockey Zachs" tag too?) close out the cards portion.

But we're not done just yet because we go big AND go home with this signed 8x10 of four-year Wolverine and former Leaf/current Oiler winger Zach Hyman! (#HockeyZachs) This is a beautiful, high-quality photo signed with a very legible autograph plus Hyman's jersey number. He's been very effective for Edmonton since signing with them back in '21, establishing career highs in all three big offensive numbers. Based on those stats it's no surprise that he's pottted an absurd three hat tricks this season!

Thanks again to Doug for all of these goodies that arrived in plenty of time for Christmas. As always I appreciate the huge variety among sports, players, and designs, and of course the quality of the goods. I don't have a lot to send your way just yet but will be working on it as usual.

Next time, another trade recap!

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.

2021 trade package #3: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

I'm back tonight with the last January trade package that I have in-hand (so far, at least!), another Canadian special from buddy of the blog Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store. For some reason he's generous enough to keep sending me packages even though I've owed him at least one for a while. Fortunately I just got one on its way to him, so things will start to even out a bit. I didn't hit him in time for Christmas (or anyone else, for that matter) but I think this one will get there before his birthday on 2/14 (send him some cards of guys born that day!).

Anyway, this was another multi-sport bonanza with a few things I knew would be included but mostly some outstanding surprises:

Let's begin with the Wings stuff, a nice red and white quartet. I'm glad the Applicator, a former Spartan, is no longer in Hockeytown, but his base card along with Nielsen's from 2020-21 Upper Deck looks fantastic. I'm glad UD is still around in some capacity because their designs are top notch! Turgeon's still a work in progress but his Upper Deck Ice RC, #d /999, fits in with the comments I just made about the brand's design chops, with Ice being a particularly cool motif. And then there's The Captain, a.k.a. The GM. The star of a Team Canada Juniors card made by--who else?--Upper Deck has his work cut out for him in terms of a rebuild, but what a great moment it would be to see the guy who captained the Wings to their first title after a long drought do the same from the front office!

Switching over to Michigan Basketball stuff, I enjoyed checking out this bevy of recent guys. NCAA tourney legend Jordan Poole leads the way with six cards, finally getting his collection to double digits, and that's thanks to a cool quartet of rookie-year issues, some of which are Panini Chronicles-related, and a nice Contenders college action card. A Nik "Sauce Castillo" Stauskas RC with a bit of a hardwood feel is another cool highlight. 

Then we get to a trio of cool hits. Poole features on a die-cut relic from a Crowne Royale set, a product known for that design feature. The Hoops sweater card where Jordan co-stars with Iggy Brazdeikis had me laughing and was perfect for ugly sweater season. And then there's one more Michigan uni card to enjoy: a Contenders auto (my first card of any kind, in fact) of Kentucky transfer Charles Matthews, who headed north to Ann Arbor for the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons. Those were coach John Beilein's last two years coaching Michigan and included reaching the title game in '18, losing to Villanova. I'm not the biggest basketball fan but this is a really nice bunch!

The football side of things was less voluminous but no less effective. On the left is LB and #60 overall selection by the Pats last year, Josh Uche. Doug's responsible for sending me my first card of the four-year Wolverine who put up 14.5 sacks his last couple years in Ann Arbor. That would be his RC from last year's Rookies & Stars product. I've never been a fan of that product's design but will definitely overlook its faults since it used a college photo!

The other is my 12th relic (and 35th hit overall) of former UM WR Amara Darboh, and it also hails from Panini's R&S. While he didn't turn into much in the NFL he was lots of fun to watch in college and I continue to enjoy collecting him. Darboh's no longer with Seattle, the team that drafted him, but since pretty much all of his cards were made during his rookie year of 2017, that's who he's pictured with here, and it comes with a nice Seahawks blue swatch.

And now we get to the usual main event: Michigan Hockey. Compher, Hughes, Hyman, and Trouba are all from the previously mentioned '20-'21 Upper Deck product that I'm already in love with, though Trouba's card features one of the funniest miscuts I've ever seen! I only have three cards of former RW David Oliver, but then he doesn't have many to chase, so this 1995-96 O-Pee-Chee card is great. And Patch makes yet another SCFtDS trade appearance out of '19-'20 UD Overtime, with the Vegas winger responsible for three goals in just six games this season.

Hockey hits? Hockey hits! The Ebbett (auto #6, hit #8 overall) is an ITG stickergraph, but the designers did a nice job of hiding that fact by placing it on an image of a rink. Andrew has an outstanding signature and even includes his jersey number, which is always cool. He played four full years in Ann Arbor starting my sophomore year so I believe I got to see every one of his home games and I'm glad to collect cool stuff of his like this auto.

Werenski's a much more recent guy, and the young d-man is fun to watch even if he plays for Columbus. He hit the 20-goal mark last year in his fourth season, and that was in fewer games than the others! This UD Game Jersey includes a very nice royal blue swatch from a Blue Jackets sweater, and I can't think of a better color for the former Wolverine's first hit in my hockey collection!

Last up here is a card Doug teased me with, and for once the scan may actually do it justice. Found in an Upper Deck product called Chronology, it's a gorgeous Jacob Trouba patch auto done up in the style of UD's Masterpieces, with a beautiful red border tying it all together. That goes especially well with his patriotic jersey colors now that he's with the Rangers. Oh, and the gold pen auto isn't bad either. I've got some nice cards of the young star defensemen in my collection, but nothing approaches the sheer brilliance of this one, probably my favorite card in the whole package!

But we're not quite done. He had to send these latest traders in a larger than usual envelope to accommodate one more item he teased, plus another that I believe was a surprise:

Upper Deck's Be a Player product offered a set called Portraits in 2006-07, and the titular items could be found signed by one to four players. One of my favorite PC guys, Brendan Morrison, made the cut for the checklist, and the result is this beautiful 8x10 that features a nice action photo and a dedicated space for a nice, large signature. What a cool item, one that's begging to be put up on the wall in a place of prominence in my card room. Fellow favorite dude Marty Turco can also be found here so his has gone on my wantlist, and I was disappointed to discover that the Frozen Four-winning pair didn't get a dual card to themselves. Anyway, very cool of Doug to both acquire this for me and deal with the logistics of shipping it.

And if he was already doing that, well, in for a penny, in for a pound, right? I was totally surprised to see this awesome signed 8x10 of another guy who starred at Yost Ice Arena for a couple years I had tickets, 2005-06 and '06-'07: Jack Johnson. Jack was a blast to watch during his college days, a major force on the ice, even if he sometimes took stupid penalties. It was no surprise when the #3 overall pick from the '05 draft went pro after a pair of seasons, and he's enjoyed some ups and downs over a long NHL career.

This photo is signed in blue (naturally!) sharpie and is from game action against the Lake Superior State Lakers of the former CCHA, Michigan's longtime pre-Big Ten league.

This information from the back wasn't as helpful as I'd hoped so I'm not sure if it came from one of two '06-'-07 games (2/16/07 @ LSSU, 2/18/07 in Detroit) or a pair of away games in Sault Ste. Marie in November of 2007 the following season. Either way, it's a very cool piece and a nice addition to my collection of Michigan autographed memorabilia!

Doug, thanks again for an extremely cool package of stuff--you always manage to surprise me with some amazing cards, and sometimes other items too! I hope the envelope I just sent you gets there safely and quickly and that you're just as geeked about your latest haul from our ongoing deals!

With all my incoming trades covered for now I think next time you'll be seeing my first eBay pickup of 2021 before I get back to the rest of my 2020 COMC haul.