A Wicked Mood

I received an unexpected package from one Wicked Ortega of My Pastime, I Love It fame. I'll get to that in a minute.

I was on vacation last week, but for the two or three weeks prior to that and continuing to today, I've been in a hobby funk. It's not a lack of products. I've bought a little Bowman, a little Chicle and a little Topps Series 2. It's not a lack of Box Breaks. I've been in a few.

It's partly money. There are other box breaks, even a case break, that would be nice to get into, but that's out of the question. Right now, I'm planning on getting in on Gint-A-Cuffs II and that's about it.

It's partly trades. I just haven't been in the mood to trade. I know, that's sick and twisted, but it's true. I've had plenty of people contact me about cards and I'm trying to follow through, but I've just had zero energy to put into searching for cards. I still owe Kerry his June prize pack (I am working on that one Kerry!).

It's mostly life. Issues with parents, the thought of maybe moving to another city, my idiotic work schedule not to mention some of the people I work with. Typing it makes it worse, not better like I thought it would. I know there are people and even great big bodies of water (Gulf of Mexico) with bigger problems than me, but sometimes it's hard to see past your own issues.

In the midst of my big old pity party, I get an out of the blue package from Wicked Ortega. It was a nice reprieve from an otherwise crappy day.

We'll start out with some black parallels. I don't think I got any "black" Rangers in the couple of 2010 Topps Blasters I bought. As a matter of fact, I don't remember getting any of these black cards at all. Alfredo was kind enough to send along 4 for my collection. I didn't scan Andruw Jones, but here are the other three.

That's Neftali Feliz, Ian Kinsler and Elvis Andrus if you can't tell.

Here we have a nice shiny 2009 Heritage Chrome Derek Holland #1307/1960. The hair on the top right of the scan wasn't part of the package and has made an appearance on more than one scan. I need to clean that thing.

I'm not sure, but that may be a copper refractor of Josh Hamilton from 2008 Topps. It's #505/599. Has anyone noticed Josh Hamilton is on fire of late. I heard Rangers hitting coach Clint Hurdle on the pre-game radio show the other day and he said Hamilton saw the success Michael Young was having with an altered approach at the plate so he's doing the same thing and it's working.

Last, but not least, Alfredo sent a 2004 Fleer National Pastime Hank Blalock auto # 2/109. It's not a sticker, but more like on paper and inserted into the window a cut auto. Very nice.

If you're not familiar with Alfredo and his blog (not likely) then you need to get that way and quick. He was voted best blog trader last year and is a genuinely good guy. He's one of the few guys who actively buys stuff he knows OTHER people will want.