2014 trade package #19: Milestones (or Kilometrestones?) from the Dollar Store

First of all I want to say a quick thanks to Jeff for showing off some cool Michigan pickups on Sunday while I was too lazy/busy to post.

So a couple weeks ago toward the end of November I received yet another amazing trade package from Doug over at Sports Cards From the Dollar Store.  The repack king sent me some Detroit stuff you can check out over at TMV, but as usual the real gems can be seen here.  No point in hyping it up further--I'll let what may be Doug's best envelope to date speak for itself:

First up is some Michigan baseball guys.  The Pinnacle Abbott, Focus Larkin, and both Morris cards are all new.  Abbott and Morris are both approaching the 100-card mark while Larkin has already lapped each more than twice (you can see those and more here).

Here's a few basketball additions, including Jamal Crawford, legend Glen Rice, and career Mav Roy Tarpley.

Glenn Robinson III 2014-15 NBA Hoops Hot Signatures auto

Speaking of basketball, here's our first hit, and it happens to be my first of GRIII.  Glenn was very good in his two years in Ann Arbor, then was a second round pick by the T-Wolves last year, so I hope he adds to the legacy of Michigan draftees in the NBA!  Also, his signature looks very cool thanks to the Roman numeral aspect, no?  Also also, this first is also our first milestone of the day in the form of my 30th basketball hit (and 14th player overall).

Moving on to football it's all offense this time with two cards of QBs, six of WRs, a RB, and two OL.  There's some fun stuff here, including AC in his heyday, a trio of Jets Braylons, Jake Long pictured with both of his teams, and of course my favorite, a Michigan uni Denard!

Lastly as usual (but also usually best!) is hockey.  I ended up with 14 cards representing nine players, which I even almost put in alphabetical order--"J" before "K" except after "H"?  There's a lot to enjoy here, but I'll go with the trio of goalie cards of Shields and blog favorite Turco.

And now for the hockey hits extravaganza!

Chris Brown 2013-14 Playbook Printing Plates Magenta (1/1)

First up is A FREAKING PRINTING PLATE of Flower Mound, TX native Chris Brown.  I love plates and this one is great!  This is my 31st 1/1 of any type and was a bigtime surprise for me to pull out of the mailer.  It's funny to me that just my fourth hit of Brown is a 1/1.

Carl Hagelin 2013-14 Upper Deck Game Jerseys jersey

Not quite as rare yet extremely nice to look at is this "Bork" jersey from last year's UD.  As far as Rangers jersey swatches go, you just can't get better than the good ol' red, white, and blue.  These colors don't run, but Carl sure can fly down that ice.  This is just my second hit of his.

Jon Merrill 2013-14 Panini Contenders auto RC

Merrill, a Devils second-rounder in 2010, is holding his own in the pros, tallying 11 points in 52 games last year and totaling six in just 16 contests this season.  This quality example of a Contenders auto RC is just my second hit of the young defender.

Al Montoya 2005-06 ITG Ultimate Memorabilia Future Stars Autographs Silver auto (#27/40)

I had no idea what to think when this behemoth came out of the envelope, and I've gotta hand it to Doug for coming up with something I hadn't seen before!  It's nice to see going outside the box didn't just apply to baseball products in the 90s.  Al's beautiful signature highlights my second auto of the former stud netminder.

Al Montoya 2007-08 Between The Pipes First Round Goalies Jerseys Toronto Expo jersey (1/1)

There was another Montoya in the package, yes, and at first it appears to be an innocuous (if jumbo) jersey relic.  But have a look at that stamp that starts around Al's midsection; this hit got a significant upgrade in the form of a "1/1" stamp at the 2008 Spring Expo in Toronto.  I can't say I saw THAT coming!  This is just my fifth Montoya (and now 32nd 1/1!), and along with the auto above Doug clearly went for the "wow" factor.

Speaking of "wow," I'm happy to report two more milestones:  first, Mr. C gets the (appropriate) honor of having sent me my 150th hockey hit, having put me over with a new total of 154.  Secondly, he managed to roll over the overall PC odometer past 1400 to a grand total of 1403 hits!  I now have more fun milestones (I just can't get used to kilometrestones, sorry, Canucks reading this) to look forward to in 2015.

Doug, I can't thank you enough for a fantastic year of trading, including another exemplary package this time.  It's been about a year since I first posted a trade from you and I'm amazed that I can say this is the 21st time I've shown off cards you sent me!  Well at least I have a pretty good response already on the way across the border to you, so enjoy that when it arrives.  Readers, get your repack on over at Sports Cards From the Dollar Store.