Mail Day 2026-01: eBay and TCDB Trade

 Well, it's been something of a minute since I last posted hasn't it? Life has a way of derailing the best laid plans, but you know that as well as I do so there's no sense taking up your precious time with lengthy explanations. I'll just summarize by saying cancer = bad, survival = good, collecting cards again = the best.

So with the elephant in the room placed firmly in the corner where it belongs, let's move on to the goods that arrived via the USPS yesterday!

First up was a small trade with a youngster on TCDB. He offered these two 2023 Topps Heritage cards for an equal number of 2026 Topps. I dig the overall aesthetic of these cards, and especially enjoy the busy backs - lots of stats, an auto facsimile, and a few nuggets of trivia.

The addition of these two cards cuts my 2023 Topps Heritage needs down to 14 - including the probably-impossible-to-find Riley Greene and Javier Baez image variants.

The other PWE that arrived was an eBay purchase of Colt Keith's 2024 Bowman Chrome #34. This one completes my base card needs for that set (sure, there were only three Tigers but a win's a win) though I still have a number of blank pages waiting for various insert cards.

And there you have it - short and sweet. Catch ya next time!

TTM Success 2019-01 - Matt Mieske

My first TTM request of 2019 is, probably not coincidentally, also my first return. To begin my MLB Born in Michigan collection, I sent out this Matt Mieske 1997 Topps #168 on February 2nd to his home address. On Valentine’s Day I received the card back with a brief note written on my original letter. How cool is that!

Born in Midland, Matt was a stand-out player at Bay City Western high school (three-time all-state) before playing ball for the Western Michigan Broncos, where he earned All-American honors three times and set 11 school records (a handful of which stand to this day!).

He was selected by Oakland in the 20th round of the 1989 draft, but chose not to sign and was chosen a year later by the Padres in the 17th round. Matt toiled at the Single-A level in the Padres system until being traded (along with Ricky Bones and Jose Valentin) to Milwaukee in 1992 for Geoff Kellogg and Gary Sheffield. A year later, Matt broke into the Bigs and spent the next four years with the Brewers.

From there came stints with the Cubs, Seattle, Houston and Arizona before Matt hung up his cleats following the 2000 season. In his 8-year, 663-game career, Mieske played exclusively as an outfielder and hit .262/.318/.434 with 56 home runs and 226 RBI.

In an interview a few years ago, Matt recalled his most memorable moment – which occurred during his one season in Chicago. At the end of the 1998 season, the Cubs found themselves tied with the Giants for the final playoff spot. In the sixth inning of the tie-breaking game, with the bases loaded, Matt came in to pinch-hit for Henry Rodriguez. He came through with a two-run single, putting the Cubs ahead 4-0, and that hit would ultimately be the deciding factor in sending the Cubs to the playoffs because the Giants fought back to score three runs in the top of the ninth.

Although never a Tiger, Matt is nevertheless one of Michigan’s baseball heroes. Thanks for signing, Matt!

Sent: 2 February 2019
Received: 14 February 2019
Time: 12 days

2019 TTM Stats
Sent: 3
Received: 1
Success Rate: 33%

My Second Zistle Trade

Not long after completing my first ever trade on the card collecting website/community Zistle, I received another trade proposal from north of the border (Ontario, to be specific). Similar in scope to the previous exchange, for a handful of baseball cards I received a a few hockey singles to plug some gaps in my Wings / Jackets collections.

First up was this nice action shot of Nick Lidstrom on 2007-08 Upper Deck #1.

The design of this set, and for that matter many of the UD main sets, isn't necessarily mind-blowing but they do have a penchant for some great photography.

Even less appealing, aesthetically, are the Victory main sets. This Dominik Hasek #122 from the 2008-09 set illustrates this blah-ness perfectly. Being a budget card, the lack of bells & whistles is more than understandable.

Same goes for this #48 Rick Nash from the 2010-11 set.

Again with a great action shot, this time featuring both of my teams on the ice, is this 2009-10 Upper Deck #115 R.J. Umberger. Awesome photo.

From the 2008-09 Upper Deck set comes this #16 Rookie Class card of Adam Pineault. Of course, by the time this card was issued Adam was no longer a Blue Jacket but was instead in the Blackhawk's farm system. Taken by the Jackets in the 2nd round of the 2004 draft, the Massachusetts native would ultimately appear in only three NHL games - all with Columbus, including his debut against the Wings - before toiling away in the minors and Europe until retirement beckoned after the 2013-14 season.

And finally we have this Steve Yzerman #24 from the 1997-98 Pinnacle Inside set. Does anyone remember this set? The "first-ever hockey cards in a can" set? What a gimmick. I believe this particular card is the only one that I have ever owned from this set. They're cheap, so completing the Wings shouldn't be too much of a burden - so why not?

And there you have it - my second trade on Zistle. I can't say enough how easy trading has been, so far, on this site. If you're not a part of it yet, get on there and let's get trading!

My First Zistle Trade

For those collectors who are in the know, Zistle is a gem of an online collection manager / trading forum. Zistle isn't exactly new to me (I've been a member for nearly 4 years) but until very recently I didn't use for much more than cataloging my collection. Over the past couple of months I've made a conscious effort to get my extraneous singles/inserts posted to my trade list while doing what I could to flesh out my want list. The result - a trade offer from the one and only Captain Canuck (his blogs Waxaholic and Just A Bit Offside are on hiatus, but make sure to keep tabs on 'em). The lesson - make sure your want list is just as fully populated as your trade list! So on to the goods...

Very much a common to get the post going is this 2014-15 Upper Deck David Savard...

A couple of 2014-15 O-Pee-Chee commons to fill in the Wings gaps...

And from the same set, this Mitch Callahan Marquee Rookie...

Besides one NHL game (against the Jackets), Mitch has been a career AHL-er since being drafted in 2009. His physical play attracted the Wings' attention, but over time he's settled in to be more of a goal scorer than tough guy. Unfortunately he's likely to remain a fixture in Grand Rapids unless he moves organizations.

And the prize of the lot... a 2014-15 OPC Rainbow Foil Jack Johnson...

So yeah, this was by no means a blockbuster trade. BUT, it marks my first foray into the trading beauty of Zistle that I am hopeful will continue to bring needed cards to my collection. Now, if only everyone had their trade lists populated!

Random Snipes From Beckett

In my last post I mentioned the three new additions to my 1970-71 Topps Red Wings set that I recently picked up from Beckett Marketplace. Well, in order to ensure that the cost of shipping did not eclipse the cost of the cards, I added a couple of quarter-bin cards to round out the purchase.

2006-07 Upper Deck No. 73 Chris Osgood

Yeah, not a whole lot special about this card. Ozzie had returned to the Wings for the 2005-06 season after a couple of seasons away with the Islanders and Blues, but an injury early on sidelined him for most of the year. Even still, he posted a 20-6-0 record.

1990-91 Topps No. 34 Daniel Shank RC

Daniel who? Yeah, pretty much. A promising winger, Shank scored 11 goals for the Adirondack Red Wings in the 1989 Calder Cup playoffs to earn a spot with the parent club for the 1989-90 campaign. He had a decent run - 11-13-24 in 57 games - but, after just 7 games with the Wings in the 1990-91 season, Daniel was traded off to the Whalers for Chris Tancill. After one season in Hartford, Shank would spend the reast of his career in the minor leagues. Have a look at the blurb on the back of his card. Man, somebody didn't have a very high opinion of this guy.

2001-02 Upper Deck No. 54 Rostislav Klesla

I actually kinda dig the design of this set. The colors work well, with just enough contrast, and a lot of space is devoted to the front photo and back text. It would have been nice for the back photo to be more than just a cropped headshot of the front, but whatever. A nice card of Rusty early in his career.

More '70s Topps Goodness

And so I returned to the Beckett Marketplace the other day to continue work on my 1970 Red Wings team sets. How I would love to head down to my LCS to find these gems, but the state of hockey card collecting in the state that I live in is, well, literally non-existent. There are a grand total of two brick-and-mortar card shops within 50 miles of me, and neither stock hockey cards. At all. No packs. No singles. It's tragic. Thus, cherry-picking sites like Beckett is, by necessity, my only means of feeding this addiction.

So on to the cards...

1970-71 Topps No. 21 - Roy Edwards

Ontario native Roy Edwards made the leap from the minors to the Red Wings in the 1967-68 season, where he amassed a 15-15-8 record in 41 games. He had a solid year in 1969-70, posting 24-15-6, but by the 1970-71 campaign Roy's time in net had dwindled a bit and he finished the year at 11-19-7. After spending the following season with the Penguins, Roy would be back with the Wings for two more years before hanging up his skates for good.

1970-71 Topps No. 23 - Ron Harris

After a couple of short call-ups with the Wings in the mid-'60s, defenseman Harris played his first full NHL season with the newly-minted Oakland Seals in the 1967-68 campaign. In one of hockey's most unfortunate moments, Ron was directly involved in a play that sent North Stars forward Bill Masterton hard to the ice, causing massive trauma and, not long after, death. Ron returned to the Wings the following season, where he would stay until being claimed by the Atlanta Flames in the 1972 expansion draft.

1970-71 Topps No. 26 - Gary Unger

Gary may be best known as "Iron Man" Unger, having set the record for most consecutive games played at 914 between 1968 and 1979 (a record long since surpassed). Hitting the big league with the Maple Leafs in 1967, the year in which he was traded to the WIngs, Gary scored a career high 42 goals during the 1969-70 season. His time in Detroit would be brief, however, as he would head to St. Louis late in the 1970-71 campaign.

So there you have 'em. I also picked up a few odds and ends in this same order, but those will have to wait for another post.

Hiatus Over. Maybe.

Sure, I've said it before. After disappearing from this blog, I've come roaring back with high hopes and good intentions. Only to disappear once again. And there are reasons for this, of course, not least of which is the generic "life" that so many of us cite as the cause of our absenteeism. In this most recent disappearing act, not only was "life" to blame but so too was still the lingering sting of a lockout coupled with a new hobby that became a passion - vinyl record collecting. Yeah, so I won't go much into that other than to say the vinyl collection continues to grow, weekly, but I've managed to find both the time and the resources to jump back in to the wonderful world of hockey card collecting.

So on to what you're here for. Instead of the random sniping of cards that was my last re-entry to the hobby, I decided to start again with a little more purpose this time. Heading to the Beckett Marketplace (while being sure to comparison shop on The Bay), I snagged the following 1970-71 Red Wings:

1970-71 Topps No. 27 - Bruce MacGregor

Yeah, I'm not a huge fan of the aesthetics of this series (and that of the mirror O-Pee-Chee set), but I wanted to get my Red Wings collection in order by starting with a significant year. Unfortunately, from a collecting standpoint, this particular line-up includes the likes of Gordie Howe and Alex Delvecchio. So starting at the opposite end of the price-point bench is forward Bruce MacGregor. Bruce was in his 11th and final season with the Wings in 1970-71, ultimately being traded to the Rangers with Larry Brown for Tom Miller, Arnie Brown, and Mike Robitaille.

1970-71 O-Pee-Chee No. 154 - Gary Bergman

Bergman was quietly one of the Wings' staunchest blue-liners throughout the '60s and early '70s. He wasn't necessarily known for "rough" play or offensive output, but he certainly held his own against opposing skaters. The 1970-71 season was the Ontario native's 7th campaign with the Red Wings.  We lost Gary in December of 2000.

1970-71 O-Pee-Chee No. 158 - Nick Libett

Nick Libett was a rising star in the Red Wings organization during the 1970-71 season, his 4th with the parent team. Having scored 20 goals and 40 points in the previous campaign, Libett's production dropped a bit to 16-13-29 but he would ramp it up to 31 goals during the following season. Nick would spend 12 seasons in Detroit before finishing up his career after two years in Pittsburgh.

TTM Success: Craig Smith

Sent: 21 February 2013
Received: 13 March 2013
Transit Time: 20 days

Here's a nice, relatively quick return from one of Nashville's youngsters. Centerman Craig Smith was drafted by the Predators in the 4th round of the 2009 draft and spent a couple of years with the University of Wisconsin Badgers before joining the NHL club last season. The Wisconsin native put together 36 points (14 goals and 22 assists) in the 72 games of his rookie season. This year has been a bit of a sophomore slump for Craig, however. I sent this 2012-13 OPC base card to the team address just after Craig scored his first goal of the season - against my beloved Red Wings, no less.

Current TTM Stats:

32 Sent; 13 Received; 20 Pending - 41% Success Rate

TTM Success: Keith Yandle

Sent: 25 October 2011
Received: 21 February 2013
Transit Time: 485 days

Wow. This return shatters my record, by a mile, for the longest transit time. I guess this sort of thing lends credence to that whole "never give up hope" mindset that some people are always shilling. I sent out this 2010-11 Donruss card of Keith just after his two-point night on October 23rd, 2011, when he scored the game-winning goal against Anaheim.

While the photo of Keith that graces this card is a fairly decent action shot, I am dismayed by the Red Wings fan sitting against the glass in the background (just to the left of the number "3" on Keith's shoulder). Really, kid? Wearing your hat sideways? Like it's still 1994? Sad.

Current TTM Stats:

29 Sent; 12 Received; 17 Pending -  41% Success Rate

TTM Success: Nick Foligno

Sent: 24 January 2013
Received: 9 February 2013
Transit Time: 16 days

Traded from Ottawa to Columbus on July 1st of 2012 for blue-liner Marc Methot, Nick is one of several new Blue Jackets taking to the ice for the 2013 "season". Born in Buffalo (where his father Mike played for the Sabres), Nick has had a solid career over five seasons as a centerman for the Senators. So far this season his production is off his recent performances (1 goal, 4 assists), but if Monday night's puck handling exhibition was an indicator of things to come it won't be long before Nick starts racking up the goals again.

I sent this 2011-12 Score #325, the most recent card I have of Nick, just a couple of days after he scored his first goal as a Blue Jacket during the team's season opener against Nashville. Not a bad signature along with his #71 (which is a reverse of his dad's number 17).

Current TTM Stats:

24 Sent; 11 Received; 13 Pending - 46 % Success Rate

Back in Blue

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post, which seems to be a recurring theme on this blog, but to get rolling again I'd like to showcase my latest eBay wins - a couple of Blue Jacket relic cards that I picked up from a seller in Canada for less than $4.25 (including shipping).

The first is this Derick Brassard 2010-11 Upper Deck Game Jersey insert (GJ-BR) from Series 1.

The swatch isn't very exciting (but it was game-used) and the card design, particularly the font, is rather meh, but a jersey card is a jersey card. Brass, who along with Derek Dorsett and R.J. Umberger has become the face of the Blue Jackets since the departure of Rick Nash, isn't having a spectacular year so far. But then again, he's not at all an offensive powerhouse. Although he has only 2 goals this year, his goals-per-game average is actually right on the money when compared to his output from last season.

Next up is this Gilbert Brulé 2005-06 UD Ice Cool Threads insert (CT-GB).

Brulé was a big deal for Jackets fans in the mid 2000's. As the club's first-round pick (6th overall) in the 2005 draft, fans and team executives expected a lot out of the Edmonton native. Instead, Brulé turned in three forgettable and injury-plagued seasons before being shipped off to the Oilers for Raffi Torres (who is also no longer with the team, leading me to consider the G-man one of the worst of the 1st-round busts). The card isn't much more exciting, especially considering that this is a "photo shoot jersey", but as I repeatedly say when dealing with Blue Jackets relic cards - a jersey card is a jersey card.

Cincinnati Card Show - January 13th

Well, the flu has been keeping me down these past several days so I've got quite a bit of blogging to catch up on - starting with the card show I attended last Sunday. Held at the Blue Ash Crowne Plaza on the east side of Cincy, the show was a little more than an hour's drive for me so I really had my fingers crossed that there would be enough hockey-related material to make the trip worthwhile. Not only that, but I haven't been to an organized show for more than a year. My last attempt was a show in Lexington where I was quite literally laughed out of the place because of my interest in hockey. To say that Kentucky is not hockey friendly is a gross understatement. Anyway, off to Cincy....

Sadly, the show was home to only four dealers - and only one of those had any hockey cards to speak of. Even more unfortunate, for me, was that those hockey cards consisted of unopened packs of 1990-91 Upper Deck. Not wanting to leave empty handed, I coughed up $1 for six packs and slunk back to my car and got started on my 60+-minute drive home.

At home, my pulls were less than thrilling (not that there's much about this set to be excited about in the first place). I pulled one of the terrible hologram cards, which I think is the Brett Hull solo card. They're unnumbered with no info on the backs and so poorly designed that I can't make out anything about the uniform. I won't even bother scanning it. Instead, here's the Kip Miller Young Gun from one of the packs:

Michigan native Kip comes from what, in my opinion, is a true hockey dynasty. His cousin Ryan is the Sabres' netminder while his other cousin Drew currently skates for the Red Wings. Kip's brothers Kevin and Kelly also spent a number of years in the NHL with various teams. So not a great pull from an investment perspective, but a nice addition for my "Michigan Natives" collection.

The six packs also yielded up three cards for my Red Wings collection, which is not a great ration but I'll take 'em.

2013 Hockey Card Collecting Goals

Looking back on 2012, the year after I returned to the hobby of hockey card collecting, it's pretty obvious to me that the NHL lockout had an immense impact on my motivation. As a meager show of protest against the repulsive greed shown by the Bettman Bloc I have resolved not to purchase new NHL-licensed merchandise for the foreseeable future - which includes cards. Such a stance has clearly taken a toll on my ability to grow my collection, but I have indulged in the second-hand market (eBay) from time to time in order to get my fix. As most of you know, hockey card collecting is an addicting hobby and any period of inactivity is destined to be short-lived. So as I am once again swept up in the wake of the hobby, I've decided to set out some goals for 2013 (assuming the 2012-13 NHL season will not exist).

1. Organize. My collection is in complete disarray. I made some significant progress in 2012 thanks to Zistle and SCF, but there's still an incredible amount of work to do. While most of my trade stock is sorted, cataloged, and properly stored, the cards that comprise my collections are scattered. I need to get that under control - sooner rather than later.

2. Trade. I've completed two trades on SCF thus far, and none on Zistle, so I have to work on increasing those stats. Not only do I want to get away from the often ridiculous shipping prices demanded by eBay sellers, but I have thousands of base cards and low-value inserts that I'd like to unload - preferably helping other collectors out in the process. The problem for me has been, so far, twofold - lack of cards I need on other collectors' trade lists and what seems to be a general reluctance by other collectors to actually engage in online trading.

3. Expand. Right now my active collections are Red Wings, Blue Jackets, and TTM autos of American-born active players. I want to expand to include player collections of all Michigan-born players. I've already got that underway with Keith Aldridge, but in 2013 I want that collecting focus to play a more active role in my acquisitions.

So there they are - my three hockey card collecting resolutions for 2013. I'd love to hear about some collecting resolutions from others in the hobby!

eBay Score: Jaroslav Balastik

I got this nice on-card auto for just $0.99 from a seller in in York, PA, that I've bought a couple of cards from in the past. He's definitely got some quality items at very reasonable prices (and low shipping).

The design of this Fresh Ink subset of 2005-06 Fleer Ultra is so-so.  I'm not a huge fan of the spilled ink look, but it doesn't do enough to distract away from the player photo so I can live with it. Balastik (or Balaštík) is another of the Blue Jackets' Czech draftees, being taken in the 6th round of the 2002 draft. He emerged from the Czech Extraliga in 2005, playing in 14 games for Columbus' AHL affiliate Syracuse before being elevated to the Blue Jackets for the balance of the season. In 66 games, Balastik was 12-10-22 with 26 PIM, but stood out for his sniping skills during shootouts - 6 of 9 (67% for my fellow math illiterates)! Despite numbers that weren't too terribly off from the team as a whole, the Jackets sent Balastik packing back to Europe where he remains.

The reverse of the card is really rather disappointing. The certificate of authenticity aside, there's really nothing to the back other than the mailing address of Fleer. What the hell do I need that for?

eBay Score: Jordan Pearce

My first foray into the Between the Pipes offering from In The Game comes in the form of this 2011 Jordan Pearce Goaligraph.

During his collegiate career with Notre Dame, Jordan earned the CCHA Goaltender of the Year for the 2008-09 season - after which the Red Wings signed him to a two-year contract. For the last three seasons, Jordan has bounced between the Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL) and Toledo Walleye (ECHL) as the Wings extended his contract through the 2012-13 season - which we all know will soon be completely eliminated.

I managed to acquire this nicely signed (on-card) specimen from a seller in Warrenton, Virgina for just $0.99 plus a very reasonable shipping charge.