2018 trade package #9: Sports Cards From the Dollar Store

This time of year is my favorite for many reasons:  my birthday's in May, the weather heats up, and baseball gets a monopoly for a bit, to name a few.  It's also one of those times I can expect a super generous package from Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store after his yearly visit to Toronto's Sports Card Expo.  He previously sent me some cards in May before that event, then managed to stuff another mailer with some very nice goodies not long after.

Here's the damage--prepare to be impressed!

Of course I'm excited that my least favorite sport is over with for a few more months, but that doesn't mean I wasn't happy to get some new additions for my basketball collection.  On the left is a Trey Burke from a 2013 set produced, I believe, for that year's National Convention.  The first half of the multi-sport offering is filled with vets while the second includes that year's rookies, numbered to 499 like the one you see above.

Joining him is THJ's base from 2013-14 SP Authentic.  Of course I love the college shot used on one of UD's typically solid designs.

Along for the ride came this sweet pair of Cazzie Russell autographs from a couple Panini brands.  2012-13's Past and Present Elusive Ink is seen on the left while the right one is from 2014-15 Totally Certified Competitor Autographs and is numbered 46/99.  Those of you who are signature purists will likely prefer the difficult-to-scan foil card on your right with its on-card auto while the P&P card carries a sticker.  As for me I think they're both extremely cool (despite obviously using the same photo!) since they star one of the most important cagers to come out of Ann Arbor.  I also enjoy that Cazzie is once again in the lead in my basketball PC with 13 hits, eclipsing former #1 Darius Morris by one.

Football makes a cameo appearance thanks to Doug breaking one of my favorite yearly products from that sport, 2018 Score.  The low price, clean design, and college photos make the Wolverine cards a must-have for me even if I no longer tend to build the set myself.

In addition to vets Devin Funchess (who set career highs in pretty much every stat last season) and second-year guy Jabrill Peppers, he managed to hit one of my player collections in Tom Brady and help my football RC project with my first of big man Mo Hurst's first-years.  The first-round talent DT fell all the way down to the fifth thanks to fear of a heart condition that seemed to have been assuaged by multiple doctors.  Oh well, Oakland's gain, I guess!

When it came to the sport on the ice it was another "Hockey Mikes" kind of day, even if this first scan doesn't give you that impression.  It does lead off with sniper Cammalleri on a beautiful OPC Platinum Rainbow parallel at least.  Plenty of other friendly faces follow, plus Doug threw in a new-to-me base of young star Zach Werenski, which is exciting since he's not exactly cheap to collect right now!

The rest of the base/inserts hit three of my hockey player collections, two of which I recently scanned.  Up first is Wolverwing Dylan Larkin on a super shiny Upper Deck/Tim Horton's joint venture from 2016-17.  It looks as great as their Timbits are tasty!  Next is former Hobey-winner and national champ Brendan Morrison taking us all the way back to 2001-02 Upper Deck MVP and my freshman year in Ann Arbor.  Finally there's a nice pair of superstar college goalie Marty Turco on cards from 2009-10 UD/McDonald's and 2010-11 Between The Pipes (with the Blackhawks!).  We'll see him again before this post is done....

And now it's time for a plethora of hockey hits!:

Hockey Mike hit numbers one and two are this pair of Cammalleris, jerseys from 2007-08 Fleer Hot Prospects Hot Materials and 2016-17 Upper Deck Game Jerseys.  It's amazing to me how long he's been playing, as the stretch between when these were produced proves.  I now have 15 different hits of the winger who was most recently with the Oilers.

I didn't post these in this order on purpose--you all know I'm very strict about going straight alphabetical--but yeah, here's your other two hockey Mikes!  Former Red Wing Knuble is on the left out of a product you could tell was Zenith without needing a closer look.  Throwing it back to one of my all-time favorite baseball inserts it's from the 2010-11 and called Mozaics Materials, and features cameos from his former Caps teammates Eric Fehr and Alex Ovechkin, who I was happy to see finally get his Cup the other day.  That's just my fifth hit of Knuble, by the way.

Moving on to an even rarer player to find in my hockey PC we have Mike #3, former Leaf/Canadien Komisarek on the very cool multi-swatch 2009-10 Black Diamond Jerseys Quad.  The two-year Wolverine is pictured with Montreal but listed with Toronto, his second-to-last NHL destination (a stint in Carolina marked the end of his career).  I really like getting multiple jersey pieces like this, especially with a bit of variety thanks to the Canadiens red.  I mentioned that Komisarek was relatively hard to find in my collection, and the fact that this is just my third hit of his is proof!

This foursome is also great.  Doug is largely, if not entirely, responsible for my collection of seven very nice hits of Vegas D-man Jon Merrill, five of which are now of the auto/relic variety.  The other two are a plain ol' autograph and a plate, so it's one of the stronger collections in the group!  This 2013-14 Select jersey auto RC (#195/199) obviously fits in very nicely.

I decided to make it a point to get some nice cards of recent Michigan stars like former Blackhawks draftee Tyler Motte--who had a fantastic junior year in Ann Arbor--and then Doug went ahead and chipped in an autograph (my first) and jersey in this very package.  The former is from 2016-17 SP Game Used and is a Blue parallel of his auto/RC.  I like his signature which includes his jersey number here.  The jersey, from 2016-17 Upper Deck's Rookie Materials, is my second such card and it looks great as well, giving me three cool hits of Motte all of a sudden!

Last up is probably my favorite Michigan hockey player to collect, the previously-seen Turco.  Doug's been my main accomplice as I've accumulated 36 hits of the two-time college champ goalie who's in no danger of losing his crown as king of my hockey collection.  Even so he still managed to surprise me with a new type of relic card; while I have something like 22 jerseys and even a stick piece, this is the first time I've owned a piece of a goalie's trapper glove.  It's a fun first and great way to close out the hockey portion.

That covers all the sports but we're not quite done yet because Doug wasn't quite done with the surprises.  Among the piles of great new additions was the first lady to join one of my hit collections, in this case "Other Sports, etc.":

Janet Guthrie is 80 years old this year and can look back fondly on a solid auto racing career highlighted by being the first female to drive in both the Indy and Daytona 500 races, plus being inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.  So what's her relevance here?  Doug was keen enough to realize that she's also a Michigan alum, in fact an aerospace engineer, if you already weren't impressed.  So naturally he nabbed this 2007 Press Pass Legends Blue autograph (#376/385), making her just the fourth member of the "Etc. Club" and first woman on a hit in my collection.  I hope to be able to add to that number, especially with multiple softball and ice skating stars to hail from my school, not to mention those from other sports.

Once again, Doug, I'm not worthy of such a crazy great bunch of stuff that I really enjoyed, but I'm hard at work putting together some cards to thank you for the great effort you always put in!

2017 eBay purchases: coal in my stocking, and more!

While my purchasing has definitely gone down this year, at least in terms of money spent, I've still managed to turn up a few gems on eBay, and today we'll look at what I bought from sellers there in the final third of 2017:

Now that's a big Shoelace!  This 2015 Topps 5x7 Red (#13/25, almost a Christmas card!) of Denard came as a freebie from my favorite eBay seller after I snagged the two Rich Hill oversized issues you can see over on TMV today.  It was a fun throw-in to get and to add to my grown collection of the out-of-the-league RB.

Moving on and up, I added one new signature to my football hits collection, Devin Funchess 2015 Leaf Trinity Pure Autographs Charcoal auto.  Yep, there's the coal I mentioned despite the fact that I was so good this year!  Well, at least I got a break on the price (under $4.50 delivered back in mid-October).  You can find some very cool looking cards in Leaf's Trinity product, including ones with great jersey swatches and patches and some with fun autograph inscriptions.  Then there's these Pure Autographs, which totally merit a front/back scan for maximum effect.  Of course I love the college uniform aspect as well, making this an excellent card overall, and my second autograph (seventh hit) of the supremely talented WR.

Now it's time to get into the plates I mentioned on TMV.  Up first is one I didn't really expect to win:  a Yellow version of DL Taco Charlton from Panini's XR product this year.  The Dallas first-rounder was very productive at Michigan and has done some good things as a rookie for the Cowboys, so while I bid for fun, I was surprised to nab it for a bit over $10 shipped.  It's certainly a fun first hit of @TheSupremeTaco to add to my collection.

Sticking with 2017 Panini football products, this one was also a surprise, not because of the price--under $6 delivered--but because I didn't realize Ty Law was going to be appearing in any recent products.  When I saw this pop up in the results of my usual 1/1 search I did a double-take before confirming that it featured the former Michigan and Patriots star DB.  I'm still lacking an autograph of the future HOFer but it's nice to have a plate handy for a potential trifecta (or better)!

The plate fun spilled over into my hockey collection as well.  This Andrew Cogliano Cyan version from 2007-08 The Cup set me back a reasonable $7 on the first day of October, and it's another example of the "framed" style I like that UD has done in the past.  Cogliano is shown here with his original team, Edmonton, but has been with the Ducks for the past six-plus seasons.  I now count 11 hits of him in my collection with this being my first 1/1.

If Michigan Hockey alum Chris Brown's hometown of Flower Mound, Texas, seems strange for a hockey player, Jon Merrill's birthplace of Oklahoma City is up there as well.  A solid defenseman formerly with the Devils (don't tell Herm Edwards), he was selected by and plays for the upstart Vegas Golden Knights, the expansion team that's shocked the league by being the opposite of terrible this year.  He's shown here with the team that drafted him on a 2013-14 Dominion Cyan plate, a 1/1 I nabbed in mid-November for under $4.50 shipped.  As with everyone else here it's the first plate in his collection, plus it puts me at six hits of Merrill overall.

In general I'd say I had a productive last four months of the year on eBay.  Even though I didn't add a large quantity of cards the quality was very nice if I do say so myself.  And between both of today's posts I added five new 1/1s to my collection for a grand total of 94.  I now have surpassing the century mark in my sights in 2018!

That's it for eBay, but thanks to my laziness I still have plenty of 2017 purchases left to show off into next year.

2016 trade package #4: Sit down before opening!

Welcome, TMV readers who actually wandered over here today because I pumped up the awesomeness of the contents of my February trade package from Doug at SCFtDS!  This will be the 36th time I've shown off cards from him on this here blog, so I don't think I need to reiterate how considerate and generous of a trader Doug is--wait, I just did--so let's get down to the loot!:

Denard Robinson 2013 Topps Museum Collection RC

This higher-end Shoelace RC is the "worst" card I'll be showing off today, so set your expectations accordingly.  I'll give it a grade of "not bad for Topps" while rejoicing over another card getting knocked off for my football RC project.  I haven't posted everything I landed of him from last year yet but I now own 22 of Denard's 27 rookies from 2013.  Not bad!

Jon Merrill 2013-14 Totally Certified Rookie Autograph Jerseys jersey auto

The NHL is in full swing with the playoffs looming, so let's get down to some hockey content.  Kicking things off alphabetically is my fifth hit of Devils D-man Jonny Merrill, a guy who actually just celebrated his 24th birthday last month.  This shiny Panini auto/jersey is my second such card of him I own, and the other three include signatures as well.

Brendan Morrison 2007-08 Artifacts Frozen Artifacts Silver jersey (#060/100)

Next up is a solid jersey swatch of blog favorite and NCAA champ Brendan Morrison.  As a Silver parallel this one is numbered to 100, and Morrison had exactly 60 penalty minutes the year before this card was made, so that's an eBay 1/1, y'all.  Brendan's 24 hits in the hockey collection trail only Marty Turco's 31.

There was one last hockey hit in the package (one of the aforementioned "doozy" cards), and I want to give it the proper introduction.  Here's how it came packaged:

*turns the thing over*

*tries to sit down, realizes he's already sitting down, continues to sit, undoes stickiest tape known to man, gets tired, takes a nap...*

Shawn Hunwick 2012-13 Panini Prime Prime Time Rookies Jerseys Patch patch (#08/10)

WOW.

*looks at it again*

Still WOW.  That is a damn fine patch of hockey PC guy Shawn Hunwick.  What I want to know is how Doug managed to undersell this as an "insanely great patch" when it's obvious that it's more the speed of "super sick mojo patchtastic extreeeemze WOW."  See that you can be more accurate next time, my friend.

This is simply a wonderful addition to my collection overall, plus it fills a big need from Hunwick's checklist, the 21st card of his 71 I've landed to-date, and also my 10th hit of the goaltender (milestone time!).  I wasn't looking forward to trying to land one of these suckers which are numbered to just 10, but with Friends like Doug, who needs money?

I think that patch alone was worth the price of admission, but I saved this card for last as it shows just how much effort he's willing to put into finding and acquiring cards to send your way:

Karl Kauffmann 2015 Leaf Perfect Game All-American Classic Game-Day Printing Plate Yellow (1/1)

A printing plate--pretty sweet, right?  I was certainly geeked, I mean that's my 48th 1/1 of any type, which is very exciting.  But who exactly is Karl Kauffmann?  I'll admit the name didn't exactly ring any bells for me, so off to Google I went...only to find out that the pitcher is a Michigan native who recently signed on to join the Wolverines baseball team this fall!  If I'm doing the math correctly, that probably means that Doug has been the quickest to help me add a new Michigan guy to my collection by doing so BEFORE HE EVEN MADE IT TO ANN ARBOR.  What a very cool piece to own as I can now watch Kauffmann's college career with even more interest.  Oh yeah, and KK just happens to be the 25th member of my baseball PC.

Thanks once again for finding new ways to go above and beyond, Doug!  I look forward to your reaction to the response I'll be sending your way this weekend.

2016 trade package #1: happy blue year from Doug

Before this month Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store had never sent me my first trade package of the year.  Of course, after he closed out 2015 by sending me four envelopes in a row from August to September and six of the final nine I received, I don't think I should be shocked.  I mean, we've been trading since December of 2012 and this is the 35th time I've posted cards from him, meaning he averages about an envelope per month, so he's truly earned the title of my most prolific trade partner.

I showed off some Tigers and Wings from him over on TMV this evening, and now I've got some Wolverines to up the ante (and prove how hard Doug works towards finding things specific to your PCs):

This Purple Prizm parallel from last year's Prizm product is the lone football entrant, and along with the Anibal Sanchez from my TMV post, I think the theme of the envelope may have been "Purple Rain."  I'll happily take anything new of the retiring all-time great, whose collection I plan to scan and post very soon!

The obligatory hockey content starts off with four hockey Mike cards:  Cammalleri, a pair of Comries, and Komisarek.  Those guys bookend newly-minted Penguin Carl Hagelin and a pair of Jack Johnsons--lots of red, white, and blue in those images!  Wrapping things up are blog favorite Brendan Morrison (and another patriotic uniform) and another Michigan hockey Mike--Modano is a native of the state--who shares his card with another blog favorite, goalie Marty Turco.

And now for hitsville, U.S.A.:

Chris Brown 2013-14 Artifacts Jerseys Patch Emerald patch-jersey (#36/75)

The pride of Flower Mound, Texas, Brown has bounced between the Caps and the AHL's Hershey Bears the last few years, but boy was he fun to watch for his three years in Ann Arbor.  Here he is on a jersey/patch combo (which seems like an uncommon duo to me), including a very nice dual-colored patch.  Brown has sneakily found his way to seven hits in my hockey PC.

Jon Merrill 2013-14 Dominion Patches Autographs patch auto (#57/99)

Brown's teammate for two years, Merrill found his way to the Devils in 2013 and hasn't looked back.  This beautiful patch/auto combo gives me four Merrill hits, all featuring signatures, and three including at least one relic--and I think more than one of those others came from Doug as well!  Here's hoping that Jon and fellow Wolverine Mike Cammalleri put up some big numbers in New Jersey this season.

Marty Turco 2010-11 Donruss Boys of Winter Threads Prime patch (#060/100)

And finally, Doug gives me a fantastic way to close things out with this beautiful Donruss hit, my first patch of Michigan goalie legend Marty Turco.  The white/green combo makes me think it's probably from a Stars jersey (his final season in Dallas came the year before), and what a nice patch it is with lots of stitching to make it stand out.  I really enjoy this colorful, horizontal design and I'm happily adding this as my 31st hit of Turco, who continues to lead the hockey collection.

Doug, I'd like to thank you once again for some great cards that hit a bunch of my PCs (not that I'd expect anything less at this point!).  I've got a few things set aside for you and I might just be hitting you back before you know it.

2015 trade package #5: a February TPTP from SCFtDS (Wolverines)

Doug from at Sports Cards From the Dollar Store is one of a few guys I love to trade with since he so consistently puts in the effort to send great trade items that hit PCs for both of my blogs.  That was once again the case this month as Mr. Corti is responsible for a two-part trade package (TPTP) featuring cards here as well as others that can be viewed on this evening's Too Many Verlanders post.

Here's some Wolverines that legally crossed the border this month:

As usual I start with anything baseball he sends my way, and this time Doug was able to add to my Larkin PC (248 cards strong!) with this '93 Pinnacle base card, along with a Jim Abbott from 1992 UD.

Next up is some basketballers.  THJ has done pretty solidly for the Knicks this year, carrying on a fine Michigan tradition in the NBA.  The other two Prizm cards make me wonder if I should start a new PC called "Michigan relatives" since Doug sent me one each of Shane Larkin (Barry's son, obviously), Hardaway's fellow 2013 first-rounder and teammate, and Glen Rice Jr., a Washington prospect currently in the D-League and whose bloodlines are similarly obvious.  Very cool!

Moving on to football it's a QB controversy!  The 2014 Contenders of Henne is one I know I didn't have before for sure, and that Absolute Brady may be new as well.  I hope to see all three of these guys make some noise next season, especially Shoelace.

Highlighting the package as usually is Canada's national sport, starting out with some base cards.  I'm pretty sure Doug's responsible for every single Jeff Norton (not that many, though!) in my collection; Nystrom's pictured with Dallas here but has scored a few goals for the league-leading Preds; and my favorite of the bunch is the quartet of Patch cards as he's simply torn up the 2014-15 campaign with 30 goals, 53 points, and a league-leading +34 +/-, PLUS he's tied for the league high in game-winning goals with three others--including fellow alum Mike Cammalleri--with eight.  So I say, keep the Paciorettys coming, friends!

And lastly there's the hockey hits:

Andrew Cogliano 2007-08 ITG O Canada auto

A very young Cogs signed this card picturing him with Team Canada some eight years ago!  I have a surprising nine hits of him now.

Carl Hagelin 2012-13 Panini Titanium Metallic Marks auto

Bork!  Hagelin signed a sticker for this card in which he's pictured in dire need of a haircut.  He's had a bit of a down year offensively, but he's plenty talented to turn things around next season as far as I'm concerned.  I really have to thank Doug for sending what's just my second autograph of the talented Swede (and third hit overall).

Jon Merrill 2013-14 Panini Titanium Rookie Gear Autographs jersey auto (#020/100)

Here's what I definitely consider the WOW card of the package.  Merrill is an up-and-coming defenseman for the Devils and so far in my experience his stuff isn't cheap, so I was definitely impressed to pull this auto/jersey from the envelope.  It's my third hit of Jon and amazingly all of them include an autograph!

Jacob Trouba 2013-14 Upper Deck Rookie Materials jersey

Speaking of talented defensemen, how about a jersey of young Jets star Jacob Trouba?  The second-year former Wolverine is on track to repeat his 10 goals from last year and he looks to have a bright future.  May he have a career the likes of predecessor Aaron Ward, or better!  This is my second relic and third hit overall of the Rochester, MI native.

Thanks for bolstering my Wolverines PCs once again, Doug, and as I said in the TMV post, I hope you like what I sent you once it shows up.  Readers, please get to reading the posts of and trading with Canada's finest at Sports Cards From the Dollar Store.

2014 trade package #13: This SCFtDS trade post is brought to you by the letter "J" eh?

Oh look, it's July 18, and what better day to post my 18th(!) trade package from Doug of Sports Cards From the Dollar Store?  My Canadian neighbor across the Detroit River sent me another sizzling envelope full of Michigan stuff (no one does it better!), plus a couple cards you can check out over on TMV this evening:

Leading off is this fun promotional card from Panini's USA baseball set (I'm guessing 2013) that includes blog favorite Jim Abbott.  Zych, by the way, is a Cubs pitching prospect, and completes the "A to Z" pun here.  It's a fun item to add to my Abbott stuff for sure.

Chris Sabo 1990 Topps Stickers

Slightly less oddball is this Chris Sabo sticker from a set Topps produced in 1990.  Sabo was very well known as an up-an-comer then, having won the '88 NL Rookie of the Year.  I've happily added it as the 46th item in my Sabo PC!

Next up is a pair for my basketball collection.  The THJ comes courtesy of a group break in which Doug participated that included some Father's Day packs.  Check out his big prize from that break!  Riley, seen dunking here on Iowa, was a 1993 second-rounder who played five seasons with five different teams.

In the football base department is this five pack of Wolverines, including well-known pros Brady, Griese, and Jones.  The Lewan is a first for me, and is his (heavily airbrushed) 2014 Bowman RC.  I haven't decided if I want to collect him as his assault case from a 2013 incident with an Ohio State fan is pending.  Meanwhile, the Action Packed (ACTION PACKED!) Wheatley is also a RC, and it's close enough for me to label it as a Michigan uni card despite the airbrushing.  Both of those are headed to the Michigan Football RC album.

Chris Perry 2004 SPx Rookie Swatch Supremacy dual jersey

Doug sent over my 36th hit of former star RB Chris Perry in the form of this dual-swatch jersey from 2004 SPx.  It's black and orange.  The jerseys are orange.  Cincy's colors are black and orange.  We have achieved 100% swatch/design synchronicity!

Amani Toomer 2006 Playoff Prestige Prestigious Pros Jerseys Bronze jersey (#037/174)

Along with the Perry came a jersey of Amani "It's Not a" Toomer.  My 11th of the Giants WR stalwart, this one comes with a beautiful blue swatch and numbering out of 174.  Why 174?  That's the number of chicken wings he ate during the 2005 season (I may or may not have made that up).  These are two nice additions to my football PC.

Well of COURSE there had to be hockey in this package, and of course I saved it for last since, as is often the case, it was the BEST, as you'll see in a second.  Cogliano and Hagelin were never teammates because the former bolted for the NHL after his sophomore season a year before the latter headed to Ann Arbor, and that's a shame because they would have flat out dominated things!

Jacob Trouba 2013-14 Crown Royale Heirs to the Throne Materials jersey

Hockey hit #1 is a gorgeous blue Winnipeg Jets (they're back!) swatch representing young star Jacob Trouba, who sadly played just one season with the Wolverines before jumping to the Jets in 2013-14, although he looked ready as he tallied 10 goals and 19 assists in 65 games.  Trouba is new to my collection and I'm thrilled to start with something this nice.

Jon Merrill 2013-14 Panini Rookie Anthology Rookie Prime Autographs dual patch auto (#09/50)

I really did save the best for last here.  I've expressed my fandom of Panini's Rookie Anthology product before, and cards like this certainly help its cause.  I usually prefer autographs over relics, but the beautiful (and very thick) patches clearly take center stage in this prime version of my first Merrill in my hockey collection (up to 35 players!).  A 2D picture just can't give you an idea of how great those patches are, it really can't, so I hope you guys get to see one of these of a player you collect!  Merrill, by the way, was a three-year defenseman for the Maize and Blue, and he made it up with the Devils in 2013-14, potting two goals (both game-winners!) and nine assists in 52 games.  Hopefully those numbers grow next season.

Needless to say, I'm very pleased once again with my haul, Doug, and I look forward to doing it again soon!  Fellow hockey fans and those who enjoy the many fine qualities of maple syrup should head across the Detroit River and up the 401 to Sports Cards From the Dollar Store now!