2018 trade package #14: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

It's been almost a month since I put up a non-football gameday post, but thankfully (see what I did there?) in addition to the trade package I showed off on TMV this evening, I've got a healthy heaping of seconds courtesy of Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store, a generous guy who's never sent me a turkey in his life.

While I eagerly await tomorrow's edition of The Game I can post a nine-spot of Wolverines Doug sent over the border:

As it turns out the seasons of all three sports he sent me this time are active!  We'll start with basketball, and first up is a Score Hoops RC of C Mo Wagner, the outstanding native of Germany who brought Michigan back to the NCAA title game this past year, then was drafted in the first round by the Lakers.  Sweet!

Joining him is another former Wolverine star, albeit one who's out of the league (which definitely makes him easier, or at least cheaper, to collect!):  Mitch McGary.  His card, a 2014-15 Panini Threads Rookie Threads Prime jersey (#18/25) features a very nice jersey swatch.  It's a classy addition and hit #6 of McGary in my basketball PC.

Sticking with basketball rules but switching sports we have another one-and-one.  Eagles DE/LB Brandon Graham, the man who sealed up Philly's Super Bowl victory earlier this year, appears on a base card from Panini's Prizm product this year.  I'll admit I had to check the back to confirm that because the styles kind of blend together.

On the relic front it's one of my many football PC guys, Braylon Edwards.  The former star WR has said a lot of stupid stuff about his alma mater since he left but everyone was sending good thoughts toward his family last week after one of multiple cheap shots by Indiana left his brother, transfer Berkley, motionless on the field for several minutes.  Fortunately the younger Edwards appears to be recovering well so far.  As for the older of Stan's sons to play in Ann Arbor, here he is on a very cool dual relic picturing him with two of his four teams, the ones with with he spent the most time over his career.  This 2011 Timeless Treasures Changing Stripes dual jersey, which includes a nice dual-color swatch from his Jets days, is card #273 in his collection and hit #74.

Doug will be proud to find out that hockey-crazy Wolverines fans now sing "Oh, Canada" a capella before each Michigan game, and why not?  They've sent us many great people and traditions, not to mention lots of very talented icers.  None of the guys in this post hail from our very friendly neighbor (neighbour?) but that's ok because my favorite trade partner keeps the canuck pipeline flowing himself.  Just check out this quartet of base cards!

Plus there's my biggest get on the day in this sweet high-end hit of talented Jet Jacob Trouba out of Panini's top-notch National Treasures product.  It's a Newfound Treasures Materials Autograph jersey auto (#44/50) comprising a super thick card, large jersey swatch covered by a clear plastic window, and a signature as the cherry on top.  Doug's sent me more Trouba cards than I can count right now but this one pretty much has to be the best of the bunch (though others were quite nice as well so that's saying a lot!).  I'm already at nine hits of Mr. T thanks to my Canadian friend/buddy/guy/pal Mr. C.

As always Doug, thanks so much for the cardboard generosity, which I'm hoping to pay back in spades with a package large enough to go under your Christmas tree!

2018 trade package #2: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

Death, taxes, and trade packages from Doug at Sports Cards From the Dollar Store--you can set your watch by all of these things, just like Johnny Unitas' haircut:

As Doug nears a remarkable milestone of 50 trade packages posted on this here blog, I'm happy to show one he sent me in January, making it three straight months with cards from my Canadian friend buddy pal guy.  What it lacked in quantity (and, to Doug's chagrin, surprise), it made up for in quality by a long shot.  I'm talking Ohio State fans acting like human beings long shot.  It's some good stuff.  Check it out:

Basketball begins and ends quickly with the (relatively) old and the new:  a 2004-05 Topps Total base of Fab Fiver Jalen Rose alongside a crazy shiny 2017-18 Totally Certified of D.J. Wilson, a three-year Wolverine who went to Milwaukee in the first round last year.  Believe me, the scan does not do the latter justice.

Football is represented by this trio of Blue parallels from Doug's 2015 Topps Field Access case.  GOAT QB and Super Bowl LII runner-up Tom Brady is joined by that year's pair of Devins, Funchess and Gardner.  I really need to track down their base RCs from this set but can't seem to find them for a reasonable price.

And our last sport, hockey, begins with this appetizer of base cards of Andrew Copp of the Jets and former NHLer David Moss (who I might have mentioned is from my hometown of Livonia, a fairly good producer of icer talent).

Now we'll look at the hits from worst to first, with "worst" being very much a relative term here, like how Batman Begins is the worst of the Nolan trilogy because something has to come in last, but that doesn't mean it can't be awesome.  Case in point:  this 2013-14 Panini Prime quad jersey featuring another young Jets star, Jacob Trouba (joined by former Winnipeg teammate Anthony Peluso who's now with Washington).  I of course like how the swatch windows spell out "J-E-T-S" because it's nice to see a professional team with that nickname not be a dumpster fire.  Anyway, this enjoyable relic #d /200 is my 8th of Trouba, and it's a nice start.

...because how the hell can it compete with THIS?  WolverWings in the house, baby!

When Doug pulled and posted this Dylan Larkin autograph from his 2015-16 Champ's case break my jaw dropped, especially after he explained that it was 1:639 pull, good enough to be a case hit.  Yes, please!  If you wanna know why I keep up the high end dealing with Doug, his decision to send this to me instead of recouping the price of his case is a prime reason.  It's just my second signature of the future Red Wings captain and a beauty at that.

Huh, there's still one more card, how could you possibly top that last one?

Oh cool, a Marty Turco autograph I didn't have, pairing him up with Jack Campbell, a one-time top prospect who I believe almost played for Michigan.  I've heard that Turco was also a bit of an idol of Campbell's, so that's cool.  This one comes from the same 2013-14 Panini Rookie Anthology product as the Trouba above, which you might call a a favourite of Doug's (and mine) and--

Is that--

I think it's--

No way!

That's totally a 1/1 (#95 overall)!  Ok, so I knew this was coming, but that doesn't make me any less excited for my first 1/1 of my favorite all-time Michigan goalie and top hockey PC guy.  I don't care who you are, that's a potential card of the year right there!

Doug, thanks for the two enormous hockey additions and another exciting monthly package (though don't worry if you can't keep up that pace, I know I can't!).  Fortunately I have the start of a return for you that I'll make sure to fill out so it's worth of this greatness.  You're my buddy, guy!

2017 trade package #7: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

Welcome to those of you excited to check out the rest of the goods from my 45th (I think that number's right this time) trade package from cool Canadian Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store!  Oddly enough (or not at all, statistically speaking), the last time I posted cards from a trade, it was from that same happy hoser.  Well I'm glad to report that he was back at it in June, hitting the three major sports--all my baseball stuff goes on TMV--that I like to show off here.  Let's have a look, shall we?

Basketball base:  I kind of hoped Crawford would jump at a chance to join the superteam Warriors, but we'll see how things go for him in Minnesota.  Meanwhile, GRIII and Sauce Castillo appear on a very Pacific-like design from 2014-15 Panini Court Kings.

The trippy design of this 2014-15 Hoops Rise and Shine Memorabilia jersey is very apropos of former big man Mitch McGary, a guy who was more Mary Jane than Michael Jordan.  The solid blue swatch is my fifth hit of a guy I hope (but doubt) will make it back into the league.

I definitely enjoyed Doug's posts covering busting a box of 1989 Panini stickers (start here), and I even got to benefit personally by getting this pair.  AC is quite well known, but Harden is surely more obscure to younger readers as a DB for the Broncos and Raiders in the 80s.

I could be wrong but I think this may be my first full-on Michigan uni card for a player in the 2017 class.  SAGE killed it here with a great photo of Darboh on a pretty good design that looks nothing like what they've put out lately.

I do have to ding them quite a bit here, though.  Although I'm thrilled to get my first autograph of the inspiring and talented WR from Sierra Leone, I'm quite displeased that they really butchered his name here.  "Dobrah"?  Well, there'll be other signature cards, and I'm happy to already have a collection started.

Speaking of autographs and Michigan unis, I was also excited to land this shiny Leaf Metal signature of Devin Gardner (hit #8, autograph #5).  I'm pretty sure I had it on my COMC watch list for a while, and I was actually under the impression I already had it when I pulled it out of the mailer, so it was doubly a pleasant surprise!  I'll take any and all cards you've got of the big dude that's currently living large in Japan.

The hockey content--the largest contingent as is often the case--starts with a trio of hockey Mike Mike Cammalleri, including one with a cameo of former Red Wing D Kyle Quincey.  The present meets the not-so-present with Cogliano on a fun looking OPC offering and former Hobey should-have-won Hensick on a fantastically designed UD base.  The scan finishes with a guy the talent to be the best of the bunch, Wolverwing Dylan Larkin on a UD insert that really brings to mind Fleer Ultra chase cards (anyone else?).

Here's a very talented duo to close out the base/inserts.  Max appears on a UD Canvas card just in time for Ann Arbor's annual Art Fair, a huge event for the city that I enjoy every summer.  His other appearance comes courtesy of the super high-end Ultimate Collection, in this case the 2014-15 version (#d 057/299).  Joining him is Jets D Jacob Trouba, who we'll see again shortly...

...as in now!  One of my pair of hockey hits was this UD Artifacts jersey, featuring a nice swatch of Jets blue.  Man, seeing this much Upper Deck stuff makes me resent the Topps baseball monopoly even more!  What I do appreciate though, is that this is my seventh Trouba hit, and I believe Doug is responsible for ::searches blog for "Jacob Trouba":: yep, all of them!

He's also the one who sent me my only other hit of this guy, so I give Doug 100% credit for my two-card Travis Turnbull hit collection.  When did he send me the last one?  Try four years ago, way back in package #14!  The one he originally sent was quite nice, a dual jersey/auto, but this 2012-13 Dominion RC ups the ante big time with a huge Buffalo Sabres patch to go with his signature.  That's quite a pair!

Hey, wait, the hockey content is done, but there's still something left to show off?  Huh, that's weird, we covered the three major sports so what could it b--

BAH GAWD, KING, THAT'S THE DOG FACED GREMLIN'S MUSIC!

Also way back in 2013, Doug sent me an autograph of former Michigan wrestler (as in "real" wrestling, not "sports entertainment" wrestling) Scott Steiner.  Don't ask me why I never thought to add a signature of his brother Rick, like this one from 2012 Leaf Originals Wrestling, to my Michigan Other Sports, Etc. collection, I just never did.  Here's the image I used in that old post for more Wolverine wrestling goodness:

What a cool way to end another outstanding SCFtDS package!

Thanks again, Doug, and now that I've finally posted this loot maybe I'll get around to reloading for our next trade!

2016 trade package #16: Canadian Thanksgiving Wolverines from SCFtDS

In this case, the Thanksgiving actually refers to the act of giving thanks to a Canadian, Doug from Sports Cards From the Dollar Store.  We here south of America's Hat may have celebrated turkey and football day a couple weeks ago, but our Canuckian neighbors enjoyed--what, poutine and hockey?  That can't be right, unless every day is Thanksgiving in Canada--back in October.

Anyway, I'm always thankful for the effort folks like Doug put into their trade packages.  This one was completely lacking in turkeys, but if it helps, I do feel like taking a nap after scanning and posting everything.  And there's football.

And now, here's the goods:

Cazzie Russell 2013-14 Totally Certified Materials Blue jersey (#23/25)

Well hey there, brand new Cazzie hit!  This low-numbered jersey swatch hails from his days as a Laker, which would have been 1974-77, the latter being his penultimate NBA season.  It's actually my first relic of the legendary Wolverine cager (to go with an autograph, plate, and eight-card manu-letter auto nameplate), plus it gives Russell sole possession of first place in my basketball collection, breaking a tie with Darius Morris.

Here's the football content, which goes heavy on the QBs (five cards if you count Denard, which I do) and 2016 Donruss, which I think is a fantastic looking set.  Brady, who's about to overtake Peyton Manning in career wins, is represented twice, including that Donruss set.  Criminally-ignored (by Cam Newton) WR Devin Funchess is another example from that product.  We go back a few years--1998--for a thick Elvis Grbac insert from Collector's Edge.  Tackling machine David Harris joins the 2016 Donruss club.  And then the last three cards are Michigan Football rookies:  new PC album guy and blog namesake Manningham from 2008 UD Masterpieces, Denard from 2013 Topps Prime, and a totally brand new guy:  "Jim Harbaugh: QB whisperer" product Jake Rudock, who went from being stuck in Iowa--Iowa--to an NFL draft pick.  That's my first of his seven current RCs for that collection.

And now, let's honor our Canadian friends, as is tradition

It's a great day for the NHL, and therefore the world

with hockey content:

Pretty standard fare here with hockey Mikes Cammalleri and Knuble to go with stalwarts Andrew Cogliano and Jack Johnson.  But do you see that trio card at the bottom?  Hurricane Phil Di Giuseppe (hey, a paisan'!) is my focus here.  The three-year Wolverine was a solid forward in Ann Arbor and managed to pot seven goals last year for Carolina (though he's yet to score in 14 games this season).  Another good catch by Doug.

These guys are fairly familiar as well:  former Devil John Madden, who won't try to sell you Tinactin or anything from Ace Hardware;  goalie Alvarooooooo Montoya;  older-school D-man Myles O'Connor ("O'Connor RULES!"); Max "Patch" Pacioretty out of the shiny funtime of OPC Platinum, and Jacob Trooooooouba, who we'll see again in just a moment.  This is a standard excellent assortment of icers from Mr. Corti.

And now, some hits:

Andrew Ebbett 2009-10 Artifacts Autofacts auto

Matt Hunwick 2010-11 Zenith Yours Truly Autographs auto

Aaron Palushaj 2011-12 Crown Royale Heirs To The Throne Materials jersey

Jacob Trouba 2013-14 Select Prizms jersey auto (#99/99)

Ebbett's autograph--my sixth hit of the center currently playing in a Swiss league--hails from an Upper Deck product from a few years ago, and I think UD did a nice job of making it not so obvious that the signature's on a sticker.  Maple Leaf Hunwick--Matt this time, not Shawn--appears on a Zenith issue that brings to mind a letter or greeting card for his second hit and first autograph.  AHLer (and fellow Livonia, Michigan native) A-A-Ron Palushaj (you didn't mess up, Doug!) gets in the game with a very cool die-cut Crown Royale jersey relic (my first, and ninth hit overall) from his first NHL squad.  And then there's probably my favorite card in the whole package, a gorgeous Prizm (call it a Refractor if you want, doesn't matter to me) version of a jersey/auto of young star D-man Jacob Trouba--I'm sorry, Trooooooouba!  That's my sixth hit of a guy who's probably hoping it's not true that when you're a Jet, you're a Jet for life.

This is another outstanding bunch of Wolverines to add to my PCs, so once again I offer thanks to one of my top trade partners in Doug.  Rest assured I'll be stuffing an envelope full of stuff I know he'll gobble right up.

2016 trade package #9: I Doug these Expo cards from SCFtDS

Buddy of the blog and #1 trade partner Doug from Sports Cards From the Dollar Store was at it again in April, sending me another awesome Wolverines-centric trade package.  Seriously, if you're a college fan and you're not trading with my Canadian neighbor, you're missing out.

I believe some of the cards in this post made their way to me via the yearly Expo Doug so expertly takes advantage of, especially the hockey content.  Here's four sports worth of an Expo explosion of cards!

Baseball is represented today by Abbott and Larkin.  Don't ask me how I didn't have the '91 Donruss Abbott as I really don't know, though I never collected that set otherwise.  The Hometown Heroes card from 2013 is very cool as well, and it makes me long for the days when the Angels simply went by "California."  Bonilla and Larkin make a nice pair of '90 NLCS foes, and of course Barry's team won it all that year.

From Basketball it's another pair of players, in this case NCAA and NBA title-winner Glen Rice plus Chris Webber.  Rice's RC hails from the notable 1990-91 Hoops set, which is about as ubiquitous as any junk wax-era set.  The Classic card Webber appears on is interesting not just because it's a college action card, but because of this:

It's a promo from the 1993 National!  That's one way to one-up the standard promo card.

Michigan is best represented as a football school despite the success of the school's other sports, and here's one of the program's all-time greats, Anthony Carter, on a '91 Score card.  He wasn't the only gridiron alum in the package, though:

Zeno Karcz 1963 Topps CFL

Leave it to Doug to once again hit me up with a CFL card starring a former Wolverine.  It's a bit trick to find much about Karcz, a Toronto native, as it appears he only played one varsity season in Ann Arbor before moving on to junior football and the CFL.  This poorly-spelled CFL profile of Zeno is a bit more informative and lists his stats as a LB and RB, the latter of which is his position of record on the card's back.  Karcz played 10 seasons for the very successful Hamilton Tiger-Cats and won three Grey Cups with that team before returning to his junior team as a coach.  Here he is on a very cool vintage issue courtesy of Topps, who was actually producing CFL sets back then!

Denard Robinson 2013 Panini Contenders auto RC (#206A)

Denard Robinson 2013 Prestige Prestigious Picks Materials Gold jersey (#166/399)

The post's first two hits are both of recent college QB sensation Denard Robinson.  Doug let me know that the Contenders rookie auto was coming because he pulled it himself from a hobby box of that product back in March.  I don't really open boxes and packs like I used to, but if you can't pull a PC player, there's still some excitement in landing a guy someone you trade with collects, so that must have been fun.  As usual, the set's design looks very cool, and I love the signature.

Meanwhile, the Prestige jersey was a nice surprise.  These days sometimes all you get is a plain white jersey swatch smaller than a postage stamp, so I like the above-average Jags teal(?) piece of fabric here.  The scan makes it a bit difficult to tell that this is the gold version, but the rectangle that includes almost all the text and the swatch is that color while the rest of the card is a foily silver.

This pair gives me a very nice total of 24 hits of Shoelace for my football PC, and I can't wait to continue adding to that total. 

And at last we come to the hockey content--and why not, considering the crazy number of players the program has sent to the NHL.  Scan #1 includes five of them:  hockey Mikes Cammalleri and Knuble, talented rookie center Andrew Copp of the Jets, a hat trick of Carl Hagelins (Bork!), and D-man Jack Johnson.  Hagelin's had a nice playoffs for the Penguins, whom I'm sort of reluctantly rooting for with the Wings already out.

And here's five more players:  Johnny Madden, Jeff Norton, Max Pacioretty, blog favorite Marty Turco, and a mini of enforcer Mike Brown (which I opted to include at the end to make the scans look better).  I don't have a ton of cards of Turco with the Hawks since he wasn't with the team very long, so that was a fun addition.  If I can get more bunches of his cards I may scan them all someday.

Chris Brown 2013-14 Panini Prime quad jersey auto RC (#056/199)

And now for the hits, starting with this outstanding quad Coyotes jersey/auto of Flower Mound, Texas' own Chris Brown, which is my eighth hit of the young center.  Now I'm not saying Doug is entirely responsible for my collection of Brown hits, I'm jus--hey wait, he is responsible for all eight of them!  Yep, sometimes it's just not a SCFtDS package without this player.  Here's the trades that contained the other seven:

• May, 2014:  jersey and auto
• August, 2014:  auto
• December, 2014:  plate
• May, 2015:  jersey auto and auto
• January, 2016:  jersey/patch

Nice job, Doug--keep 'em coming, please!

Carl Hagelin 2013-14 Fleer Showcase Uniformity dual jersey (with J.T. Miller)

Hagelin's fourth appearance in today's post is thanks to this dual jersey card from a few years ago, back when he was still with the Rangers.  I don't know much about Miller, who seems to have had a good year for New York, but Carl and his beautiful blue swatch (did you think I was gonna say "eyes"?) are the headliners here.  I now have six hits of the Pens winger.

Jacob Trouba 2013-14 Panini Playbook First Drafts Signatures auto and 2015-16 Upper Deck Game Jerseys jersey (#GJJT1)

I wasn't booing, I was saying "Troooooooubaaaa!"  The talented young defender's prices must have come down a bit because I wasn't within sniffing distance of Trouba's autograph after his top-10 draft selection and jump to the pros.  Thankfully my Canadian buddy/friend/guy sent me my first signature of Trouba along with a new quarter-sized Jets jersey swatch from this year's UD.  I'm thankful for both and definitely glad to have an auto of Trouba while I can; this pair gives me five hits of him.

Marty Turco 2009-10 Between The Pipes Autographs auto

And last but definitely not least, oh hi again, Mr. Turco!  I'm wondering if Doug found one of these for himself since the goalie mask/auto combo is right up his alley.  Fortunately for me, anyway, he sent this one to me, and I'll be happy to admire it for the same reasons.  I'm grateful for the Be-a-Player and In the Game products for giving me plenty of hits to chase of the unsung guys I like to collect, like Turco and his fantastic signature--with jersey number inscription!  Marty leads my hockey PC with 32 hits, and I have a feeling Doug's not done adding to it.

And while we're on the subject of hockey hits, I'm just one card shy of the 200-card milestone.  Do I have anything in-hand to get over that hump?  Stay tuned!

Mr. Corti, thanks again for hitting many of my PCs as you're always able to do.  I don't have much on hand for you right now, but I do have the beginnings of another epic response.  SOON.