2015 trade package #10 and 11: good things come in small packages from Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

As I was preparing to write this post I thought I was finally going to be caught up on all the fantastic packages I received in the last few weeks.  I was wrong.  Another great envelope hit my mailbox the other day.  But as luck would have it, the sender was the same one who'd sent me the cards I was going to show off in this very post.  Therefore, I present to you a rare double trade post from the same person--Doug from Sports Cards From the Dollar Store!

Not only were these envelopes great, they also both included a very reasonable number of cards, making the scanning and posting process much easier on me.  But I certainly don't want to imply that there was a lack of quantity or quality--as always, Doug hit all the high notes.

Package the first:

Jim Abbott 1992 Topps Dairy Queen Team USA

This one took me a second to figure out until I flipped it over:

Hey, it's a Jim Abbott card!  And an oddball-ish one at that, though it was produced by Topps for Dairy Queen.  Since the '88 Olympics baseball gold is one of Jim's finer accomplishments I like cards that celebrate the occasion.  I also hadn't realized that Tino Martinez was so instrumental in that victory.  This is a fun addition to my Abbott collection for sure.

Jamal Crawford 2013-14 Totally Certified Materials jersey

Next up is a solid Clippers jersey relic of basketballer Jamal Crawford, who's in his 15th(!) NBA season.  Unfortunately it sounds like he's still hurt, so get well soon, Jamal!  This is my fourth hit (all relics) of the guard, and all can be viewed in my Michigan Basketball collection.

Doug wouldn't short shrift football when sending a package to a Michigan fan, an so he included this cool 2013 Prizm base of Chad Henne.  If you can still knock the design of this product when it's licensed well, then, more power to you, but I still think it looks good.

Trezelle Jenkins 1995 Superior Pix Autographs auto (#2274/5000)

Oh yeah, and there was a football autograph too.  A Michigan uniform football autograph.  Of a guy who's new to the collection!  I spoke briefly about Trezelle (awesome name) a couple years ago in this GSNHoF trade post, so I'll just quickly remind y'all that he was a highly-regarded OT that went in the first round to the Chiefs in '95 and then appeared in just nine career games.  Jake Long has since worn the #77 jersey in Ann Arbor and gone onto better things in the pros.  I'd been meaning to pick up a Jenkins signature but somehow never did, so fortunately Doug has my back and sent me one of the 189th member of my football collection!

And now for the hockey, a.k.a. Canadian cocaine.  Or is that poutine...or Tim Horton's?  Anyway, Doug is probably the sole source of my entire Myles O'Connor collection, few cards though it may be.  His card is easily overshadowed by a gorgeous 2008-09 insert of goalie Marty Turco.  Honestly, "Spectacular Saves" is an excellent concept and it's executed extremely well by Upper Deck here on a perfectly-designed horizontal card.

Package #2:

Ted Sizemore 1971 O-Pee-Chee

A Canadian trader sends me a Canadian card!  This is a card I asked Doug to buy for me because the Canadian seller was a bit vague about shipping outside of America's hat.  The king of the dollar store card scene obliged because he's awesome, and how here it is, the final card I needed for Sizemore's PC!  That's 23 cards, and this one took the longest because the higher numbers from that year are harder to find, and therefore infinitely more expensive.  Thankfully I finally found a price I could live with and happily completed another PC, my 9th so far.  Hooray completed projects!

Cazzie Russell 2012-13 Flawless Patches Autographs Printing Plate Magenta (1/1)

Now on to the unexpected cards in this bubble mailer, and this one easily takes the cake--I definitely wasn't planning on getting a Cazzie plate!  Russell is the king of my basketball collection right now and the only player to reach double digits in his sport as I now own 10 of his hits.  This one trumps them all and takes his collection to a whole new level for me.

For anyone confused by the front, this was a patch/auto card so the bottom was purposely set aside for a large patch and signature.  The back, however, is a bit more confusing thanks to what I think is a new practice by Panini:  inserting older plates into newer products.  This plate is for a 2012-13 Flawless card but was inserted into a 2014 National Treasures product; I'll be showing off something similar in an upcoming post.  Anyway, it's an entirely unexpected and completely ridiculous hit, and my 33rd 1/1 card overall.

Yep, the first two cards were the highlights of this envelope, but Doug dutifully hit the other two sports again, giving him a clean sweep of the four major ones in both packages!  For football this time he included a 2008 UD Rookie Exclusives base of Shawn Crable, one of the less heralded Michigan picks from the '08 draft.  As usual, UD's borderless design and college action photo are flawless.

And finally here's a 2014-15 base card of Max Pacioretty to fill the hockey quota.  Patch is having the best season of any former Wolverine, and as of this writing he's tied for fourth in the league in goals with 35, is leading all comers in +/- at +40, and is second in game-winning goals with nine.

Doug, thanks a ton for not just one but two excellent envelopes filled with Wolverine wonders!  As for me, while you're posting the rest of the hauls I sent you, it'll be back to the drawing board and starting a new package to send your way.

Now that I'm (ostensibly) caught up on trade packages for a minute, I should be back to posting the remainder of my new PC guys, a bunch of Larkins, and a small pile of eBay pickups!