2018 trade package #15: the Collector

I got a very nice surprise in my mailbox last week when I went through my mail and came up with an unexpected PWE from Chris, a.k.a. "The Collector" (though I'll probably always associate him with his original name, "The Pedestrian Collector").  I've swapped cards with him a number of times and always enjoy doing so, plus it doesn't hurt that I love that something I sent his way made it into his blog banner! (that Mo Vaughn Starting Lineup up front.)

Chris even bucked tradition by sending me an all-Michigan trade package for the first time.  I previously received a nice group of Wolverines football and hockey stuff from him as part of a larger bunch of cards way back in February of 2017, but this time it's 100% alma mater matters, baby!

Here's what he sent along this time:

1988 Big Ten Player of the Year Gary Grant kicks things off with a '93-'94 Topps Gold parallel.  His four years in Ann Arbor led to a nice 13-year pro career.

Next up is a great pair from the basketball version of probably my favorite Fleer product, the '97-'98 flagship set.  Fab-Fiver Juwan Howard is surely well known by anyone reading this, and Terry "Sugar" Mills was a fun guy to watch during his six seasons with the Pistons (way back when I paid attention to basketball).

Last up is Howard's old teammate Jalen Rose on a college photo card from Classic's 1994 Four Sport product.  His Michigan uniform presages good things ahead.

Namely the five such cards in this football bunch, meaning 6/11 cards in this envelope fell into that category.  Extra credit to Chris!

Up top we have a trio of football alumni from last year's typically solid Score product, including RCs of draftees DL Taco Charlton and WR Jehu Chesson, plus a base of WR Devin Funchess, who I bet would be fun to watch if he had a consistently good QB throwing to him.

Joining those is a trio of cards from college-focused sets.  Chris sent over the base and Gold parallels of DL Mo Hurst from this year's Leaf Draft, and that's fantastic since Hurst is the only Wolverine in the product and I didn't feel like chasing the set this year.  They look great alongside a '95 Classic Five Sport of all-time great CB Ty Law.  These look so good to a college collector like me that I chased a number of similar products in my latest Sportlots haul.

Closing things out today is one more recent guy in PC guy Denard Robinson.  Card #91 in his collection is an interesting insert from 2013 Prestige called NFL Passport.  I'm actually familiar with the set because I have the autographed version of this card, though oddly enough that one is oriented in vertical fashion:

Thanks again for the surprise PWE, Chris!  I'm happy to be able to send something back your way soon, possibly in time for Christmas.  For now I suppose you can continue to bask in the glow of yet another World Series victory!

2017 trade package #4: the (Pedestrian) Collector

I recently received my second trade package courtesy of Chris who runs the (Pedestrian) Collector, and this time I was happy to find some Wolverines to go with the rest of the contents.  If you read my TMV post from this evening you saw that I showed off a pair of cards relevant to that blog, but those make up a tiny fraction of the contents.  In fact, I like to think Chris was doing his best impression of Doug with this package based on the attention to detail he put into finding some Michigan stuff for me (and that's high praise!).

Here's a look at what Chris sent:

The five-card football portion starts with a QB club of three cards.  First is a '98 Topps Chrome of Elvis Grbac, a former Niner/Chief/Raven who had a nice Michigan career from '89-'92.  Next is a nice pair of cards featuring current Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh.  These hail from '95 Playoff Contenders and '97 Finest.  Shiny and higher-end seems to be the theme of the day!

The fourth card represents two of my football collections:  rookies and vintage.  It's an '81 Topps first-year of 17-year Atlanta Falcon T Mike Kenn, one of the school's most successful NFL products.  This one doesn't fit in with the shiny theme but is high quality for sure!

The fifth and final card gets us back on track with the others, and it's also from about the same time period:  a 2001 Topps Chrome base of Tai Streets, a WR who played for the '97 national champs and went on to a brief NFL career with San Fran and Detroit.

Now that's some good football content!  On to hockey:

It's a Mike Comrie hot page!  The first five cards represent the former Michigan C who's pictured with his original team, Edmonton, for whom he skated from 2001-2003.  The former Mr. Hilary Duff appears on cards from

• 2002-03 Pacific Heads Up
• 2002-03 Private Stock Titanium
• 2003-04 Upper Deck High Gloss Parallel (#24/25)
• 2001-02 and 2002-03 Atomic

This is a really nice bunch, especially thanks to the pair of die-cut atomic cards, not to mention the low-numbered UD parallel, which may be my best Comrie that isn't a hit to-date!

Two other players came long for the ride, and one is this '94-'95 Electric Ice parallel of LW (and Kitchener, Ontario native) Cam Stewart's Upper Deck second-year card.  It goes to show that Upper Deck's penchant for quality design goes way back.

Finally, Chris included a pair of cards of blog favorite goalie Marty Turco, both showing him with the Stars, the team that originally drafted him.  These come from 2002-03 Private Stock Titanium and 2007-08 O-Pee-Chee (which was being handled by Upper Deck at the time).  They give me a nice pair of action shots with Turco in both away and home unis.

Once again, thanks a lot for a great package of Wolverines, Chris!  I'll work on sending you a nice response as soon as I can acquire stuff I know you'll like.