A trade... contest winnings... and a MAJOR MOJO birthday surprise!

Hey everyone... thanks to those who have e-mailed or facebook'ed me with birthday wishes, much appreciated it.

I have a few packages in the mail today... first of all a contest win from Ryan G from This Card Is Cool. I had won a contest over there, and had also admired this card that he picked up at a card show... so he sent it to me for my winnings:

SWEET bright orange swatches always put a big smile on my face, and I wasn't even aware Cedano had any GU cards out there! I should always check before I assume such things!

Next up, I bought a card from Trey from Rants, Reviews and Fandom. He was selling off his Hunter Pence collection after Hunter was traded to Philly. So I snagged this manu-plate:

This is my first Astros leather nameplate. They are cool, but I really don't think they should count as a "hit". They should be inserted into blasters like the manu-patches. Just my 2 cents...

Next up is my side of a trade with Dennis over at Too Many Grandersons not only did he hook me up with a fat stack of Astros goodies, but he also sent me these nice cards:

This is my first Billy Wags auto and a sweet one it is at that! The Eddie Matthews manu-patch will go nicely with the jersey swatch of his that I have. For some reason, I have started collecting any Matthews cards I come across. I think the Astros had him for one throw away season towards the end of his career, but he of course is known for greater feats. Finally there is the Castro "O". I now have 3 letters towards the CASTRO, but I have an "S" from Jordan Lyles and I'm considering just building "ASTROS" instead of "CASTRO" and putting into a binder or frame in a cool way. We'll see... these were all in exchange for the Verlander auto that I pulled from UD Black last week...

Oh, you wanted sick mojo? Well... I will deliver... but first you have to put up with some very non-sick mojo. My wife bought me two more boxes of UD Black for my birthday. The first box was very "meh" and if this was the first box I had opened I might be a bit disappointed in the product, but you take the good with the bad on this product:

Jeremy Hermida and Kei Igawa. Not everyone at once now... one trade request at a time... haha... I'm assuming BA Benny will jump on the Igawa, if just for the chance to be the one to light it on fire... haha!

Next we have the first card of box two... not a great card, a common in it's insert set, but I like the design and the silver sharpie signature is nice as well:

Any Fred Lewis super collectors out there?!?!?!? Does anyone else hear crickets?

Alright, so here's the super sick awesome mojo... I'll let it's awesomeness speak for itself:

TIMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, the most expensive BV base card in the set... drool... drool... drool... I apparently have a propensity to pull this guy's awesome cards, having also pulled his cabinet loader 1/1 from A&G last year... Hopefully this will fetch me $300 or so... or three more boxes of UD Black at BigHits (yes, Nathan, I'm talking to you... haha!)...

Have a great rest of your week everyone!