First, the annoyed bit. Let's get that out of the way first.

I'm going through my jumbo box of 2013 Series 1, and I've opened four packs so far. That said, pack #4 was a complete bust. Every single base card that I pulled was a duplicate of one of the cards in the first three packs, with I'd say 70% of them being from pack #3 (that is, the pack that was lying right next to it in the box). That's just really, really poor collation.

Okay, not every single base card was a duplicate. There was one (one!) different card, and here it is.

I was hoping I would get one of the Out of Bounds short prints, because now I have something to put in the glaring hole on the first page of the binder where card #7 is supposed to be. And Albert Pujols is a nice one to have. That said, he is available for trade if you have a Jay Bruce, Paul Konerko or Todd Frazier OoB short print to trade.

Now for the good part. I mentioned a big eBay purchase the other day. Well, it arrived, quicker that expected:



This is one of the printing plates for 2009 Spectrum, aka the "Four Rainbows" that I've been chasing since, well, 2009. Three years ago, I let a Lincecum printing plate slip through my fingers because I was on school camp and got my times confused (and missed the ending by an hour). I wasn't going to let Felix get away.

The goal for me is not to get all the printing plates, but at least one from each of the four rainbows. One down, three to go.

...they ain't kidding.

First, some background. I made some eBay purchases in late October. My mom mailed them, along with some other stuff, in early November. Here's the postmark:

The package arrived in my mailbox...today.

I had pretty much given up hope. Usually, when a package takes a long time, it's because Customs and Quarantine has it, they saw something on the X-ray they didn't like, and they opened it up and inspected further. I've had that happen a couple of time (usually with food involved) and when they do that, they seal the package back up and include a little card explaining what they did and a number to call if you want to complain (not that it would do any good).

No card in this package. So who knows why it was delayed. And for so long.

I'm just glad that Australia Post (or possibly the USPS, there's no way of knowing on which side of the Pacific it got lost on) found it. Because one of the cards was the one on the top row, in the middle.


As you can see, that card completes my Griffey Spectrum rainbow. That's two rainbows down, two more (Ichiro and Felix) to go.

A package arrived from the States, from my parents. Inside were two pillow speakers (the things that you plug into your clock radio and then put under your pillow so you can listen to the radio at night without disturbing your partner), a complete 1989 Upper Deck set (more on that later), and a Felix Hernandez bobblehead doll. In some ways, that was the best gift because on the customs form, my poor confused mom listed it as a "H. Fernandez bobble head doll". So I guess I'm now the proud owner of a Helix Fernandez stadium giveaway.

But also in the package were some cards. And enough of those card fit into a certain binder page to give me this:

That's 2009 Spectrum card #82, otherwise known as The Freak, Tim Lincecum. And that, my friends, is my first complete rainbow. Strangely enough, the #/25 turquoise card was not in the package - I already had that one. But the blue, green and black cards give me the complete set. I also stuck the two Spectrum Swatches cards (blue and light blue) to fill the gaps and create a nice nine-card spread.

I'm also collecting the Griffey, Ichiro and Helix Fernandez rainbows. I've got the six Ichiro non-relic cards (although some of them are in my COMC account), both of the Griffey Spectrum Swatches (but not the gold relic or some of the parallels) and a couple of King Felixes. In fact, the red King Felix was my first Spectrum parallel - you can read about its misfiling on this page.

But for now, I'm basking in the glory of my first rainbow. I showed my wife, and while she feigned an appropriate level of enthusiasm, I could tell her heart wasn't really in it. So I'm sharing with you, dear reader. I know you're happy for me.

My first purchase from Check Out My Cards involved some rainbow chasing. Now I have three Felix Hernandez cards from the Spectrum - base (purple), red and gold, thanks to this jersey card numbered 21/99. Turquoise (#/25) could still be a bit of trouble, but we'll see. I am persistent.

By the way, I'm collecting the rainbow for Felix, Ichiro, Griffey and Lincecum in this set. I have the base cards for all of them but still need plenty of parallels.