At a loss for words

The blogosphere sure is a fantastic place to be.

I've previously chronicled how it has changed me. Everything from forcing me to take a closer look at often-overlooked cards to reevaluating the way I look at trading.

However, there is one other way the blogosphere has affected me. It's a bit of a selfish reason, but I bet it's one that almost all of us share.

Simply put, the blogosphere has made my collection better.

I've received stacks upon stacks of utterly fantastic cards ever since I started this blog. Up until today, I'd say the greatest one of them all was the awesome 1950 Bowman Enos Slaughter from Dhoff.

That card is one of the cornerstones of my collection, and I never though it could be topped. But the package I received from another blogger this afternoon had an even better surprise inside, something I didn't think could be done.

William over at "Foul Bunt" is the most generous blogger I've come across in my time here thus far. He's already sent me a ton of great cards, everything from a stack of Topps inserts to an overproduction era card I'd wanted for years.

He outdid himself this time, though.

While the package he sent contained some other fantastic cards (including another Jehri-curled Pascual Perez), I dropped everything when I saw the last card in the mailer.

The stack of cards he sent were sandwiched in between two toploaders. The one on the front contained a card I'd just posted about. The fact that William sent it right when I wrote about it was an odd coincidence.

I could see that there was something waiting for me in the toploader at the bottom of the stack, but I couldn't quite make out what it was.

My eyes widened as I shuffled aside the cards that revealed that final, unbelievable one.

Few cards have ever excited me more than this...

...a 1962 Post Hoyt Wilhelm!

It's been a long time since I added a new vintage Hoyt card to my collection of his. At least a year or so.

Not to mention that there's only two or three other Post cards in my collection right now. For whatever reason, they've been tough to come by at local card shows. I always liked the fact that everything is on the front of the card. Picture, bio, stats, card number, all of it.

I don't really have any words that could describe just how much I love this card. I really don't have anything that could describe my appreciation to William for sending it to me, much less in a "surprise" package where I didn't know what was coming.

I definitely have to find some cards for William at this weekend's card show. Although I don't know that I could ever fully repay him for how much I enjoy this card.

"Thank you" doesn't sufficiently tell how grateful I am, but it's about all I can get out right now.

So thank you, William.

I'm still in shock.