2026 trade package #16: Bump and Run Football Card Blog

I'm back to show off an August trade package on a day I knew would be bittersweet, but unfortunately ended with mostly a bitter note. Justin Verlander made his final MLB start in what ended up being a walk-off homer win for the good guys. Then Michigan Football left Iowa in the game too long and suffered their own last-second loss after the (correctly called) season-opener against Western Michigan. It always sucks to lose, but it happens and I'll move on. I mean, the Tigers lost more than they won this season and it didn't kill my year.

And anyway, I still have this fantastic hobby to enjoy. Tonight that means I get to celebrate a trade package from Trevor of the Bump and Run Football Card Blog. Trevor has some things going on that I know make blogging, trading, and doing other things difficult for him, so when I say that I appreciate him sending these cards my way, I really do mean it. I'm grateful that he found the time and energy to do so, plus what he picked out for me turned out great:

On the baseball side of things we open with this year's starting catcher, Dillon Dingler, and a 1B/DH of yesteryear in Cecil Fielder. Both hail from Topps Chrome Platinum and Big Daddy's card is Prizm Refractor. It's nice to see fan favorites like Cecil in newer products.

Former Tiger Skubal gets to head back to the playoffs, this time with the usual favorites, the Dodgers, and believe me when I say I'm not rooting against him, just for a different team to win. You see him down the middle there on a Chrome-ified trio from Bowman Chrome and Finest, including a Mojo Refractor.

Speaking of Refractors, IF Trey Sweeney stars on that parallel from Topps Chrome, whereas he hasn't starred or even played in the Majors since a poor '25 season and shoulder injury.

The man of the day, JV, joins Skubal from that Finest release, and he truly was the finest Tigers pitcher of this century, good for 183 wins, ROY and Cy Young/MVP seasons, five playoff appearances, and two Pennants. I'm sure I'll put together some sort of career and collecting retrospective given the name of this here blog!

Last up from baseball is one of the offense's few top performers, OF Riley Greene, in relic form. The Topps Heritage Clubhouse Collection jersey of the young star who made his third straight All-Star team in '26. It wasn't a career season for the former first-rounder, as he had fewer hits and HR than last year (in fewer games), but did cut down on strikeouts big time and increased his batting average and OBP. At least we should get to enjoy him a bit longer before he hits free agency in a few seasons. For now that's my second relic of Riley and fourth hit overall.

Like I said, my favorite football team lost, but that's happened to each of the guys in this scan, and they were actually the ones playing, so I'll live with it. First, the shiny Collector's Edge card of HOF DB Ty Law--who won three Super Bowls--is numbered to 3000 on the back, and is a nice addition to one of my football PCs that's over 100+. McCarthy's had little time to find success in the NFL, and hasn't done enough when given a chance, but he did go and win a National Title, so he's got that going for him. You see him above on a Score Throwback insert in his Maize & Blue uni along with a Score-a-Treat issue that would fit right in in a post a week from today when it's October.

Joining him from that set is Charles Woodson, another HOF DB and one who won BOTH college and NFL titles. I have 401 cards of one of the greatest to play for Michigan and in the NFL. And last up is a very cool Press Pass Big Numbers die-cut of one of my college favorites, possession WR Jason Avant, who wore #8 (like one of my MLB favorites, Cal Ripken Jr.). He missed out on the Eagles' success by a bit but was fun to watch, and I love this card combining a jersey number I love with an awesome die-cut design.

Trevor, thanks again for thinking of me with these great new cards! I may actually be able to send you a decent return before long. Until then, please be well and take care of yourself, and enjoy the hobby however you can.

I'll try to be back before the calendar flips to another month with more. Until then here's hoping for Michigan Football to pick itself back up, and for the Dodgers, Yankees, and Red Sox to flame out in the MLB playoffs!

2026 trade package #15: the Collector

It's a Friday, it's a beautiful day, and even better yet, it's celebration time! One of my oldest blogging/collecting friends is marking a couple big anniversaries, and in typical fashion he decided to put a generous spin on it and send out cards to a lucky few.

By now you've probably seen a few posts that open up with this image, and I'm proud to have been included in Chris's (the Collector) Anniversary Celebration Extravaganza! 40 years of collecting and 10 of blogging are big deals for sure, and the hobby and blogosphere are much better places for having Chris be part of them.

Of course I also love his incorporation of Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons in the logo, and if I had the power, I'd nominate Chris for the second annual Montgomery Burns Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Excellence. Anybody that agrees is one of the suckiest bunch of sucks that ever sucked.

Anyway, if you haven't for some reason, do yourself a favor and go check out his anniversary-related posts, including the box breaks of Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary he included in his generous (I'm gonna use that word a lot today) giveaway packages.

I mean, what other word can you use to describe a big-ass envelope stuffed with free cards that cost him $13 to mail?

Here's an overview of the contents: a note, three unopened packs, some penny sleeves, and a bunch of cards. I opened the top two packs (which you'll see shortly) but since I have a complete '86 Topps set, I decided to leave that rack pack sealed, one he included thoughtfully as Tigers HOFer Jack Morris appears on the front.

I tend to think of including a note in a trade package as a classy thing to do, even if it's just a brief "thanks for trading and I hope you enjoy these!" So I thought this "thank you" from Chris was very, very nice, and it just continues to prove that he deserves all the love for being a fantastic writer and trader, not to mention going through a tough time the past few years. I'm grateful he stuck with it and hope he does keep the urge to write more even if he's collecting less. His blog has been the home of some very well researched and written series, and the Collector remains one of my all-time favorites among long-timers like Night Owl and Fuji.

Ok, now that I've gone overboard in expressing my appreciation, here's the loot, starting with my pack of '92 Topps:

Nothing too crazy here, but plenty of names that I know, with Hrbek and Bernie being the two best names if you ask me.

And 2026 Bowman is certainly the newest product I've opened in a long time. Matt Holiday's kid and Roman Anthony are solid pulls, and I also got an Electric Sluggers insert of Aiva Arquette of Miami. The latter is a 2025 first-rounder out of Oregon State via his birthplace of Hawaii (cool!), and a pre-2026 consensus top-50 prospect.

Now that we're done with the packs, here are the cards Chris "curated" for me, and as always (and I do mean always), he did an excellent job:

A pair of Cronenworths is a great place to start! You'll see a solid amount of the aforementioned Topps Chrome Platinum throughout my post as well as those of others who received these packages thanks to Chris breaking a few boxes. That includes guys like Greene and Kell. He also sent me a good number of '25 Topps Tigers, plus a cool '26 Diamante Foil of OF Parker Meadows.

Oddly enough this scan opens and closes with the two biggest names the Tigers traded (correctly, I'd say) at this year's deadline. That Ripken is one of three Chris sent, and at 99 copies made is one of a pair that were numbered too! Future HOFer Scherzer continues to be very welcome in trade packages like this, especially when it's on an "ace" playing card-themed item.

And lots of shiny in the last baseball scan. The whole top row plus the Ripken at the bottom comprises Refractors, most of which are from TCPA. While blog namesake guy Verlander is much appreciated, the Cal is especially cool, and it was fun seeing Chris pull that from his box and note it in his break video. Speaking of Ripken the younger, that three-player Orioles card is numbered to just 50! And going back to Mr. Kate Upton, the Heritage insert as another very nice item as it's a holofoil version. Then, finally, we go back to Cronenworth with what's hit #6 (third relic), an Absolute jersey that pairs him up with erstwhile Tiger Isaac Paredes, a very cool piece for this here blog.

I'll just spoil now that Chris hit all four major sports. The Penny/Shaq/Webber insert is very cool and I was happy to get an insert of recent Wolverines basketballer Danny Wolf.

He delivered even more high quality stuff when it came to football. The Holo parallel of RB Blake Corum, one of my absolute favorite recent guys, is one of three you'll see if that player. I think Will Johnson's going to have a very good NFL career, and I'm happy to see him on some nice color such as the Prizm/Chrome pair above. That Bowman Chrome U insert of brief UM transfer QB Mikey Keene is my first card of his from a major manufacturer (the other are ONIT) so that was a fun inclusion). No matter whether or not he starts again in the NFL, I love seeing new cards of McCarthy, especially in college action. Sainristil and Schoonmaker are two more recent guys that join the rainbow here. And the Woodson pairing is quite nice: a Select parallel numbered /149 and an acetate-type insert that looks very cool in-hand.

Cleaning up the football items, we get the other two Corum cards: yet another eye-popping color parallel plus a Pink parallel of a blue Rams jersey swatch, giving "the Great" five hits in my collection. And those are joined by the card that was covered up by a note in the picture above that shows everything. Chris says he found that IP/TTM auto of five-time Pro Bowl OT Mike Kenn in a dollar box and knew it was worth it regardless of its legitimacy. Good call!

I'll get to the larger hockey stack featuring my Wolverines in a moment, but first there was this OPC Platinum Wings pair: Swedish wingers Jonatan Berggren and Lucas Ryamond. The latter's still with the team and has been a quality player since being selected #4 overall in 2020.

Hockey scan 1/2 includes some very good names in Beniers, Blankenburg, Connor, Hughes, Johnson, and Larkin, and of course Larkin and Patch are two of my favorite icers to collect. The Pacioretty minor league card from '08-'09 is especially cool as I have so few of those when it comes to collecting hockey. Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, I'm still happily collecting Larkin despite the ongoing saga of his trade demands.

And lastly, Greg Pateryn, Owen Power, and Zach Werenski join the party along with an encore from Hughes. The Hughes/Werenski defensive pairing here is a very impressive one, given they both are Norris Trophy winners who are two-time All-Stars that were also named to their All-Rookie teams during their debuts. That UD Bustle insert of Zach is definitely one of these nicest cards in the whole envelope.

Chris, once again, thanks so much for this huge, generous, and hugely generous package of cards that you sent to celebrate two big personal anniversaries of your own. I can't say enough how glad I am that there's still a good number of bloggers like you who keep that practice alive, and that we've been able to continue trading cards through ups and downs. No matter what your collecting and blogging future look like, you've earned some rest to go along with all the respect you deserve. And I'm enjoying reading all of the other posts by folks who received these packages. Be well, and be ready for the next time I can send cards back your way!

I'll try to be back relatively soon with more posts covering my pickups from the past few months, but today's took priority over everything else. I've still got tons of scans covering eBay, shows, Facebook, and TCDb trading to get to and look forward to sharing those soon!

2026 trade package #14: My Sports Obsession

It sure does make your day that much nicer when you're already excited to go to a card show and then you get to meet up with a bunch of friends too! I'll cover more about the show in particular in an upcoming post, but today I'm covering cards that were gifted to me by one of those very cool people.

Here's a look at all of us at the 6/20 show in Kalamazoo. I'm on the left, followed by John, Jeff, and Samantha, who's now married to Jason from TCDb (congrats to them!), followed by the Army/Reds fan himself.

Jeff, whom I think everyone reading this knows from My Sports Obsession, brought me a box packed with stuff he knew I'd love, and as always, he was correct. My fellow all things Michigan/Barry Larkin/Cal Ripken Jr. collector does an amazing job of sorting through cards for a local shop, getting to keep some as payment, and sending me some of the spoils, because he's cool like that.

Here's a look at all the goodies he brought with him:

Lots of good Tigers, especially Miggy, Cobb, and 2026 All-Star Riley Greene. Once again I'm reminded that Topps' Flagship cards look quite nice compared to their actual flagship output. Elliott is one of a few Michigan Baseball PCs Jeff and I have in common, and thanks to him I now have six cards of the 2022 A's second-rounder who's still in their system. Oh, and Riley with just the 'stache looks hilarious!

This scan is a nice one for my Mr. Padre collection. Pacific Prism Invincible remains undefeated thanks to cards like that, and of course I love 90s stuff like Pinnacle Mint. The more recent cards from Topps Gold Label, Platinum Anniversary, and Archives look quite nice too. And I don't get to add to my collection of UM guy Tommy Henry (the pride of Portage Northern!) as much as I'd like, so I appreciate Jeff sending me the Bowman Draft Chrome card above.

Rich Hill may be retired but thankfully I get to enjoy a card of his final MLB team, the Royals, who were #14 for Dick Mountain. I love seeing Kaline and Kell together again. I think Barry Larkin would have to be the player with the second largest combined total between our collections, second only to Ripken. Yep, I just looked, and by about 700 cards! Barry's the fifth player I've gotten over the 1K mark, along with the Griffey/Gwynn/Maddux/Ripken big four. Verlander's next with 730+, and Miggy hasn't even hit 600 yet, so I would imagine my blog's namesake will be next to hit the mark. Anyway, this is a great assortment of cards of the former UM/Reds SS.

And Maddux has just a five-card lead on Larkin, with 1020 as of this post. The 90s SPx card plus a recent Stadium Club are very nice highlights of great additions to his PC. A Topps High Tek of former Tiger J.D. Martinez was a fun throw-in here. As for the Iron Man, Jeff hit me with a Leaf base from 40 years ago (wait, '86 was that long ago?!) and last year's Stadium Club. Stewart didn't work out, but Skubal sure did!

Sure, Tarik's likely to be traded in the next few weeks, and that's probably the right move given that his free agent asking price was going to be exorbitant and the cheap-ass owners wouldn't have paid him half that anyway. It was nice when the team was able to keep a home-grown superstar ace like Verlander for longer, but those days are good and done. At least I have some really nice cards of Skubal's to enjoy, like the bunch Jeff sent here that give me a solid 82 of the repeat Cy Young-winner. And speaking of Verlander, he ends this scan...

...and ends the vertical orientation baseball stuff with another six-pack. The soon-to-be-retired legend adds eight to his collection thanks to Jeff, and those made a good dent towards the 750 mark. I really can't have too many cards of his, and I enjoy a good number of the brands/designs you see here, especially Stadium Club and Archives.

And finally for baseball, some horizontals plus an oddball. 2000 has to be the classiest look for Pacific's Aurora brand. Mad Dog goes back for one more appearance thanks to '23 Archives. Then we have a couple Tigers team cards: '79 Topps, the year before Sparky would take over, plus 2006 Heritage, showing off the team a year before they'd shock everyone by racing to the World Series. Lastly, the lenticular card is from '87 Sportflics, and the back of this one lists the team's leaders in average, HRs, and RBI each year from 1977-86.

Now we have a few basketball scans, mostly thanks to Jeff's ONIT Timeless subscription. Also, this is apparently when scanning went off the rails for me, but to be fair, I did have a cold at the time and probably just didn't check to see how these came out. No disrespect intended to the pictured athletes!

Anyway, this first group puts me at 10 of the 14 cards in the Timeless set covering the 2025-26 women's team. Jeff also included a Compass insert of Te'Yala Delfosse.

Additionally he gifted me more of the men's team set. There are 16 cards of the eventual champs, and I now lay claim to 13 of them, needing star first-rounder Aday Mara along with Malick Kordel and Ricky Liburd. The other big names are here and in the next scan, including Most Outstanding tournament player Elliot Cadeau, #9 overall pick Morez Johnson Jr., and #11 selection Yaxel Lendeborg. It was pretty cool seeing Johnson, Lendeborg, and Mara go #9, 11, and 12 overall a few weeks ago!

Besides the base cards, he included a Johnson insert called Stained Glass, plus a Classic Game Card of Juwan Howard from 1994, and a Bowman Chrome U of star women's player Syla Swords.

Jeff has given me a whole bunch of basketball and football ONIT Timeless cards so I'm glad I was able to give the '25 ONIT team set I bought for him on Facebook when I saw him at this show. Just like that set, the Timeless version is 79 cards in size, and he's given me 27 of them, including a rare-ish appearance of Justice Haynes with the Wolverines (he's since moved on to Georgia Tech after his brilliant '25 campaign was shortened due to injury). Also included: a Black Compass insert of DB Rod Moore, numbered to just 25. There are apparently 10 in this set so it's crazy he pulled two of one card limited to 25 copies!

The final ONIT card was a regular Compass insert of this year's QB with limitless potential (if he can put it all together), Bryce Underwood. That's just my third of the true sophomore who could show leaps in development thanks to a new head coach and an actual QB coach. Joining him in the top row is a great pair of shiny inserts of two recent UM stars in Nico Collins and Blake Corum. 

Johnson is a quality CB who did make an instant impact for the Cardinals, and also shouldn't have green anywhere near his cards! My 9th card of TE Sean McKeon is his Crown Royale entry from 2020 Panini Chronicles. Mullings' card hails from the college-friendly Bowman Chrome U, which happily didn't have to edit out uniforms. And my latest Michigan card of GOAT DB Charles Woodson is a 2025 Panini Prizm Draft Silver Prizm, which looks fantastic and puts him just 5 cards away from the 400 mark.

And last but not least is a surprising hockey item, since Jeff and I don't usually deal in that sport. I certainly do appreciate it, though, since I'm working on a project to track down certain cards of Michigan alumni across sports and non-sports. That makes the '93-'94 Upper Deck RC of Kevin Hilton extra valuable to me, as it knocks one guy off the list. The Trenton, MI born C put up some very good offensive numbers in four seasons in Ann Arbor (1992-93 through 95-96) and was on the under-20 World Junior Championship roster as well for the last two of those seasons.

Again, I want to extend a huge thanks to Jeff for making the trip all the way up to Kalamazoo from his Indiana home, hanging around and talking cards for a bit, and of course, for bringing me this big stack of great new stuff! He's one of my oldest blogging buddies (not literally, Jeff!) and I'm thankful to know people like him in this hobby, not to mention live near enough to get to meet up once in a while!

I think the two June show recaps will follow this post but we'll see what I feel like. Until then, I'm going to enjoy putting away a whole bunch of new stuff!

2026 trade package #13: Baseball Cards Come to Life

How about some late evening Independence Day posting to catch up a bit?

One of my favorite combo bloggers/TCDbers is Bo of Baseball Cards Come to Life. I especially enjoy his posts on the '85 Wendy's/Coke and '88 Domino's Tigers cards, for obvious reasons. Well, after I sent him a '67 Topps Poster he asked about after I made it and others available in a show recap, in June he was nice enough to surprise me with a PWE of needs that just so happens to include one of those Wendy's cards, plus others I was excited to get. Check 'em out:

I seriously can never have too many Grandersons, and when one of my next few TCDb trades arrives, I'll hit the 300-card mark, which is pretty cool. For that I can thank many kind traders like Bo, who sent me the 2008 UD StarQuest insert you see above. Next, Mr. Padre is from the 1989 Score 100 Superstars boxed set, one of many such fun items from that decade. And then we have the aforementioned Wendy's/Coke card, which stars Tigers OF and '84 champ Chet Lemon. That's just my second from the 22-card set (to go with the header/checklist), and there are 12 more cards of players I actively collect among the 20 I'm missing if I don't decide to chase the set.

HOF P Greg Maddux gets the second row to himself thanks to a very nice trio. I was a very active collector in the mid-to-late 90s so I'm very familiar with the designs of the first two sets: 1997 Leaf and Score. While I don't own complete sets of either, I have quite a few cards from both, and I really appreciate their designs, Leaf in particular. And then the third card is Mad Dog's entry in 2002 Fleer Hot Prospects, a product that I believe ran from its debut that year until 2004's Draft Edition. It's another design that I'm cool with, but that's pretty typical for me when it comes to Fleer from that era.

Speaking of Fleer and HOFers, the last baseball item is a gorgeous Ripken from 2003 Flair Greats. This is another flat-out beautiful design in my eyes, plus I love the 80s photo of young Cal surrounded by a very classy look.

Bo didn't stop at baseball and instead included a Michigan Football pair. Hailing from 2020 Leaf Draft's Red parallel are QB Shea Patterson and one of his best WRs, Donovan Peoples-Jones. The enshittified current Leaf iteration has its faults, but I do love seeing my college's football team represented on cards (even if they have to Photoshop the uniforms) and adding new items to my collection, so I really appreciate Bo including these as well.

Bo, thanks again for this fun surprise envelope of some PC needs! Please keep up the great Domino's and "Burgers or Gum?" series as well as the rest of your excellent blog writing, and I'll keep working on finding stuff you can use in your own collections.

Next up should be the other trade package I received in June, one that was a bit bigger but at least required zero postage for the person who gave it to me.

2026 trade package #12: Sport Card Collectors

I've got a second June show to get to tomorrow, which will be another fun blogger/TCDb meetup, so before then why don't I catch up on my mail from May?

The other blogger trade package I received last month was another gem from PWE specialist Matt of Sport Card Collectors. He sent me an envelope filled with quality Tigers during a month where the team was anything but. They went 6-22 including losing streaks of five and eight games with a single winning streak of two. Fortunately things have been a bit better in June with some returns from injuries and better play overall, and they've gone 8-6 plus they have a small lead as I write this.

Anyway, as always, I appreciate receiving cards of my Tigers PC guys no matter how the team is playing. So let's have a look at what Matt sent this time:

Miggy's a great way to start and most certainly always welcome in any envelopes that find their way to my mailbox from generous traders. The '25 Panini Select Orange Flash Prizm is an excellent looking color match of the future HOFer, and the '26 Heritage TBtC subset issue is a fun reminder of Cabrera hitting his 500th homer five years ago. Carp's Silver Portrait from last year's Ginter is a good reminder of how much the team's missed his presence in the lineup and usual production this season. Prince's Select parallel is a great looking insert of the younger Fielder during his time in Detroit. Riley indeed made history last season against the Angels on May 2 when he hit a leadoff solo shot and then three-run bomb in the 9th to become the first player to homer twice in the 9th inning.

Switching over to the mound, Melton, seen on a Rainbow Foil parallel from this year's Topps, has been a stabilizing force for the rotation in four starts: three wins and what should have been a fourth blown by the 'pen. Olson (Heritage Red Border parallel) is still on the shelf for this season but will hopefully come back healthy next year. And of course Skubal's the name on everyone's radar with the Tigers floundering and the trade deadline a few weeks away. Those two Topps inserts will remain with his collection that I'll be keeping whether or not he gets traded. It's funny to me that the '91 Topps design the first card honors came out five years before the ace was born.

Speaking of Tigers aces and injured guys, JV's return to Detroit's rotation continues to get pushed back, and given his age it's hard to say how much he'll be able to offer if and when he's healthy enough to pitch. That said, it's still very cool to have him back in a Tigers uniform. It just looks weird seeing him as a Giant on cards like the '25 Chrome Prizm Refractor and Ginter Mini A&G Back above, so I'll be glad when Topps makes a couple of him wearing the Olde English "D."

Then we have promising prospect Jackson Jobe, and really, how many guys in this post aren't injured right now? The '25 Stadium Club Concentration insert you see above is actually my 24th card of the former #3 overall pick, and it's funny how your collection of a top prospect can grow quickly without you realizing it!

Last up is another '26 Heritage parallel, a Dark Green, with quite the pairing. Skubal and fellow star Skenes led their leagues in ERA in 2025, with Paul's minuscule 1.97 topping Tarik's still excellent 2.21. Both won their league's Cy Young Award (Skubal's second) despite the Tigers' ace winning just 13 games and the young Pirates ace going 10-10, proving that that's not the only category voters consider. It's great that the game has a couple young arms like theirs to match up with some explosive bats in this era.

And as I finish writing this, the Tigers held on to beat the White Sox 4-3. Sorry, Jeff, but don't worry, I won't gloat about it when I see you tomorrow since your team's record is still much better.

I'll give Matt credit for bringing the team luck tonight while I was writing up his trade recap. Thanks again as always, my northeastern friend, and I'll keep piling up some stuff to send back your way whenever it makes sense!

I'll be back soon, though surely not tomorrow with a long drive to and from the show. My next post will likely cover the May show, and then I have a single June trade package to get to before what will be two more show recaps, along with one eBay pickup and a whole bunch of TCDb deals whenever I feel like getting to those.

2026 trade package #11: njwv

I don't do much collecting-related stuff on social media these days, and I'd say most of the little activity there I have is posting links to my latest posts here. That said, I do follow a number of collecting buddies and others in the hobby on Bluesky. After all, it's fun to see what other folks collect and think about cards, their favorite players, and other subjects, whether or not they also blog.

One account I follow who posts quite often is Nick Vossbrink, who also blogs over at njwv. He doesn't limit his subjects to collecting at all, choosing to write about sports in general (mainly baseball and soccer), photography, and museums, so there's a nice mix there.

I happened to catch a Bluesky post or reply where he expressed interest in the 1990 Score baseball set, possibly due to the famous Bo Jackson card therein, but it was a few months ago, so I can't remember. Anyway, I let him know that I had an extra--I've long had at least two hand-built sets in my collection, and I might have had more way back--and would be happy to try to make a deal with him for it.

We took our time going back and forth but were able to figure out something we were both happy with. In the end he sent me this as my first May trade:

A Riley Greene 2023 Topps Oversized Box Topper. These Costco-exclusive giants are 5 3/4" x 8" and of course this one parallels Greene's '23 Topps RC. I wasn't looking to nickel and dime Nick for value in return for shipping a junk wax set that included a couple notable cards, so I felt like this was a fair offer from him. Riley has followed up his All-Star campaigns in 2024-25 with what has the makings of another very nice season. In a year marred by some bats playing below expectations and others beset by injuries, Greene joins catcher Dillon Dingler and rookie IF Kevin McGonigle as the leaders of the offense. So I'll happily slot this into my album with similar oversized items.

But that wasn't all! Nick asked if I'd be interested in receiving any of his customs, and of course I said "sure!" I love seeing what the creatively inclined can do when it comes to producing their own cards.

The first two in this group borrow from the '81 Topps design and celebrate Miguel Cabrera during his 2023 swan song where he enjoyed retirement ceremonies from the Tigers' opponents. He received a Packers-style cheese hat from the Brewers and a cowboy hat from the Astros, and I love what Nick did with both the photos and design elements, especially incorporating the hats.

As for the second design, I believe that's an existing one I've seen but can't place (but should know), but I'd love for anyone to enlighten/correct me in the comments. Regardless, it looks very nice in its simplicity, and the player choice was outstanding too. The horizontal shots of Fidrych's iconic pairing with Big Bird, Kaline at the plate, and McLain staring down another batter are all well executed, paired with outlined inset images of the subjects.

And it's not like he limited his effort to the fronts, as you can see on these backs filled with stats and a couple brief write-ups.

Nick, thanks again for a great first trade! I hope you enjoy your Score set and that you keep writing, no matter what topic interests you whenever you post.

I'm thinking I'll be back reasonably soon with my other may trade package before showing off some other goodies. Stay cool!

2026 trade package #10: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

At long last (my fault) it's time to take a look at the most recent package sent to me by Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store!

This one made its way to me back in April. Since then I've actually sent a response his way, only for him to have to return it because he was asked to pay something like $700 in taxes/duties. I'm still trying to figure out what category of goods to use on the customs form to avoid that ridiculousness.

Anyway, here's the mailer in all its glory. (Maybe I should try a quantity of "1" as well? I typically use a number like 50 or 100 to go along with ~$40ish in value, and only recently has it turned into a big issue.) And here's a look at all the fantastic stuff therein:

The baseball content leads off with some cards representing the much-improved Tigers, then a guy making his collection debut in style. Danny Zimmerman was primarily an OF from 2018-21 at Michigan before heading west to San Jose State (what's up, Fuji?) for 2022. He did pitch in a couple games during his freshman season and a few more during summer college ball. You see him here on a 2016 Leaf Perfect Game card, a Purple auto that's a 1/1, marking quite the first appearance in my collection!

The basketball stuff ended up containing some very nice items as well. French forward Moussa Diabate played one year in Ann Arbor before the Clippers snagged him in 2022's 2nd round. That THJ is one of the two big highlights, a 2018-19 Panini Impeccable parallel numbered to just 25! LeVert and Wagner are both trade package stalwarts that I'm glad to see here while women's star Syla Swords gets her second card in my PC and first that isn't team/NIL-issued. And lastly, Mitch McGary (who just celebrated his birthday Saturday, as noted by Jeff) gets an especially cool add to his pile: a 2013-14 Panini Signatures Draft X-Change card that features an embedded piece like a slide. Cool!

The football content was very, very high quality as you'll see over the next few scans, including a pile of serial numbered insanity that Robert would appreciate! (Apparently it's "other blogger call-out" day!) Tackling machine Devin Bush stars on another very low-numbered insert, and his Contenders chase offering is limited to just 25 copies. Former Michigan TE and current TV guy Jake Butt appears on a colorful Panini Father's Day issue numbered /499. One of my favorite recent WRs Jehu Chesson adds a 2017 Panini Phoenix Orange parallel (SN99) to his RC that I have. Similarly, I have LB Shawn Crable's 2008 Donruss Gridiron Gear RC but not the super-rare Platinum Holofoil O's version limited to just 25 copies (that's three that rare so far if you're counting!). Darboh was Chesson's teammate and another one of my favorites of that time, and up above you see the Blue Wave Prizm version of his 2017 Panini Prizm RC, numbered to 149. Lastly (from this scan, at least), you see the rarest of the bunch (not including 1/1s) in the form of RB Chris Evans' 2021 Panini Spectra Neon Orange Die Cut. The color match serves it very well and I'm a big fan of die-cuts, but the best part here is that this one is numbered to just 10 copies. Whoa!

Blog favorite RB Mike Hart is the first highlight of this group, and the Artist's Proof parallel of his 2008 Select RC is numbered to just 32, once again giving you an idea of the quantity of quality numbered cards Doug sent this time. Mo Hurst's 2018 Rookies & Stars Longevity parallel isn't that much more common at just 75 copies made. One of OSU's least favorite defenders, David Ojabo, is seen here on a 2022 Donruss Optic parallel of his RC called Wave, and that's SN300. And talented wideout DPJ's 2020 Absolute rookie parallel, a Spectrum Blue, goes to just 50 copies while LB Josh Uche feature's in the same product's Spectrum Red insert, doubly common at 100.

And then we have some especially big hits. Doug treated me to not one but TWO autographed 1/1s, which is kind of insane, but that's the kind of stuff I'm grateful we're able to send back and forth sometimes. In this case it's my first signed plate of WR Devin Funchess. The yellow plate was used to produce his 2018 Panini Luminance card, then was subsequently inserted into 2018 Plates & Patches with a sticker auto affixed. What a great card that's now the centerpiece of his collection!

Jack-of-all-trades guy Jabrill Peppers is next with his largest relic swatch in my collection yet. Relic #3 (to go with an autograph) hails from 2018 Panini XR's Maximal Materials, an insert that certainly lives up to its name. It's a huge piece of a Browns jersey from his time with that team and numbered to just 49 copies.

Last up for football is one more TE (to go with Butt and Funchess, who played the position a bit in college, at least) and a guy who's moving his way up the coaching ladder in the NFL (currently coaching that position for the Falcons). Kevin Koger appeared on a solid number of autographed inserts back in 2012, and this Blue version is my second from that year's Press Pass product. I've long owned the unnumbered Silver card but this Blue one is numbered /50 up front, making it the only numbered signature card of his I own.

Next up is the hockey content, and we'll start with the Red Wings. The highlights of the base cards are franchise legends Fedorov and Yzerman (the embattled GM--more on that later), plus star D Moritz Seider. And then there's a surprise Be a Player signature of F Mike Krushelnyski. Krusher finished his career with Detroit over the '94-'95 season after signing as a FA in '94, but he's probably best known for another transaction. He joined Marty McSorley in the deal that sent their teammate Wayne Gretzky to the Kings in 1988, forever altering the futures of both franchises.

There's plenty more hockey to enjoy thanks to a pile of cards of Wolverines icers. Like the Wings, none of these guys made it to the Cup finals this year, but fortunately that's pretty rare. I love seeing the Wolverwings pop up in these packages and Copp is a good example. The Jackets continue to be a common NHL stop for drafted Michigan guys (including two different Johnsons). And that Herr was a nice inclusion here since it's just my second card of his, and this one is a '98-'99 SP Authentic Power Shift parallel numbered /500.

My favorite Wolverwing Larkin is the star of this scan, though how much longer he'll be with the team is unknown after he recently requested a trade. That divorce may be ugly due to a reported poor relationship between him and GM Steve Yzerman. The latter's tenure has unfortunately been a disaster, and I don't blame a talented guy like Larkin from moving on after 10 years of nothing. I'll continue to collect him either way, but his potential departure will be bittersweet. Meanwhile, though Larkin is in my top 10 of hockey PCs, longtime player Brendan Morrison is second (to Marty Turco), and I'm happy to see even more new stuff of the former national champ here.

Norton and Sloan join the previously seen Herr as players you don't see here too often. Meanwhile, Werenski, this year's Norris winner, is yet another Jackets guy. I really like the OPC playing card-style inserts like Zach's above. Johnson's horizontal insert with interior die-cuts is quite nice as well.

Speaking of Wolverwings and Kent Johnson, the hockey hits portion was most certainly as nice as the others. The SPx Super Scripts auto of Compher is his 4th signed card in my collection, but man does it look nice in-hand. The shiny foil background really makes it pop, plus I'm excited to have my first auto of his as a member of the Red Wings.

Meanwhile, the previously-seen Johnson joins the hit collection with a very cool auto/relic pair. The signed card hails from 2023-24 Upper Deck Credentials' Main Stage Signatures insert, and the design provides for a well integrated window for the sticker. Meanwhile, the relic sports the eponymous blue of his team's nickname in the form of a jersey swatch out of 2024-25 SP Game Used. These make for a quality ending to some top-notch hockey items.

And last but not least, these two UM other sports figures are making repeat performances, both after joining my collection thanks to this package's sender.

Rhodes (born Brandi Reed) hitched along for the trip in a January package I posted early in November, and that was on a Leaf signature card. This time she's back in relic form out of the 2021 Upper Deck Spectrum AEW product. The card doesn't specify what the swatch came from, but in any case it's a cool item to add to a collection (other and non-sports) I plan to put more effort into.

Canadian-born soccer player Shelina Zadorsky also debuted in my collection thanks to a SCFtDS trade package. In her case it was a two-fer that I posted last November: a Goudey base card plus a Goodwin Champions auto. Now I own the latter's memorabilia version, making for a perfect pair! I'm guessing she's more on Doug's radar as she played for his hometown's youth women's club (plus, you know, I don't really follow soccer).

Doug, thanks once again for another mailer stuffed with flat-out quality. As always I appreciate your generosity and how much effort you must be putting into finding this stuff. I'm looking forward to getting a package to you--one that doesn't involve almost $1000 in taxes--as soon as I can, especially once that current envelope gets returned.

As for what's next, I'm not sure if I'll take a quick break from trade packages to show off other stuff, but I have a few of those from May and June, two shows, one eBay purchase, and lots of TCDb stuff, so there's no shortage of content--just effort getting it written up and posted. Until then, I'll probably be outside enjoying some of my favorite weather!