More Upper Deck = More Halo Excitement

For my birthday, the wife found a few more packs of 2009 Upper Deck for me and luckily they were loaded with Angels.

First up: Team Checklist Gone Away-Rod

I realize that Frankie had a historic season, but Upper Deck had to know during production that he was leaving, would it be so hard to put someone else on the Checklist? Same with C.C. Sabathia on Brewers checklists. I'm sure the fans in Milwaukee are enjoying that reminder.

Torii "My Topps Cards Are Cooler" Hunter

Running out of the dugout cards never make for exciting cards, but at least we get the bonus of Macier Izturis and Reggie Willits in the background. The Angels desperately need Torii to have a strong season if they're gonna get to the playoffs.

Joe Saunders

Saunders made a huge jump last season, throwing almost 200 innings, grabbing 17 wins, making the All-Star team, but it seems like a lot of Angel fans are expecting the bubble to pop this season. I really like the lefty and hope he can keep the ball in the ballpark this year.

Black Magic

Santana's '07 was dreadful and his '08 was wonderful, as for '09...we'll see. I love the way this guy pitches and I'm really hoping for big things from Black Magic. You always roots for the guys on "your" team, but Ervin has a special place in my rooting heart.

HK 47

I love Howie. This guy was an absolute hitting machine in the minors, unfortunately while Howie has been pretty good in the majors, he just hasn't been able to stay healthy. On top of that, there are always the persistent rumors that he'll be traded for someone like a Jake Peavy. While I'd love to have Peavy, I hope it's not at the expense of my boy Howie.

As for this card, one of the better action shots I've seen and easily the best Halo action shot in the series so far. The odd part though is the back. While most of the pictures on the back are just a cropped version of the picture on the front, Howie's card has a whole new picture on the back.

I hate when companies just crop the front pic for the back pic, so this is a nice surprise, just not sure why they did it. The Saunders card also has a new picture, but not the Hunter or Santana.

Oh well, so there we are. More Upper Deck packs ripped into and more Halos to show for it. Hopefully my box of Topps will finally arrive tomorrow and I can start enjoying those.

Go Halos!

My Stadium Club Experiment

When Stadium Club made its return, I was excited like many others, but found the price point to be ridiculous. I realize that there are many collectors who can shell out the money, but I'm just not that guy. So, with packs going for 25 bucks a piece, I decided to see what I could pick up on eBay for roughly the price of 2 packs. I was lucky to find a seller that had a ton of cards up and combined shipping. Because of it, I came away with a haul that I'm happy with.

Obviously my pickups were going to be skewered towards Angel players, but one Dodger did slip in. Obviously an A's fan wouldn't be too thrilled if this is what showed up in their packs, but it's a gold mine to me. For just barely under $40 delivered, here's what I came away with.


Clayton Kershaw #176 Autograph

I've sort of always been a closet Dodger fan. Growing up in Texas and only going to games when I came out to visit my grandpa in California, meant I saw a lot of Angel games and a couple of Dodger games. So while many of the diehards up in Orange County may not like it, I've always followed the Dodgers, at a bit of a distance. Kershaw is a young guy that has the potential to be a stud, plus he's a fellow one-time Texan.


Nick Adenhart #164 Photographer's Proof Autograph /99

Here's the guy I hope becomes the Angels young stud, but his ERA of 9.00 in a short stint last year, combined with numbers that haven't exactly lit the Minor Leagues on fire lately, have me a bit worried. Not sure what the point of the "Photographer's Proof" cards is. An annoying strip of blue foil combined with blue foil lettering...what an amazing upgrade, we should give it a serial number!



Chone Figgins and John Lackey Beam Team Autographs

These really are pretty cards. When my wife actually takes the time to look at a card and admire it, you know the company has done something right. I hadn't realized there were variations of these cards until I pulled an Adrian Gonzalez Gold version out of a blaster. I had seen the colorful "base" autos and I was sort of underwhelmed by the scarcer Gold. The card just doesn't pop like these two do. Very cool cards.


Torii Hunter Triumvirate Autograph with 2 Jersey pieces (All-Star Game) and a Bat piece.

I was shocked at how cheaply I was able to procure this card. I could do without the Orange of the All-Star festivities jersey, but I can just tell myself it's a really faded example of the Angels new red jerseys. These triple relic cut outs combined with autographs seem to have become somewhat common place, but for a guy who doesn't have very many in his collection, it's a pretty slick piece. I love Torii's signature on the card and it was definitely a pretty nice cap on the haul.

Although I'm still a sucker for cracking open boxes whenever I get the chance, there's no doubt that picking up the hits you want is such a better way to go.

Go Halos!