It's Time To Party!!! A New 1/1

I was never much of a party person. I prefered keeping a small group of very close friends and spending time with them just hanging out.  I never got into the whole drugs and alcohol thing.  It just wasn't for me.

Topps released 65 cases of Topps Transcendent this year. They retailed for $25,000.

Again, I never partied like that.

If you have $25K for a box of cards good for you. That wasn't for me.

I didn't attend the Topps Party on 1-18-17.  Fortunately one of the people who did attend got an Andrew McCutchen 65th anniversary 1/1 Topps Sapphire Gold originally numbered 1/5.

Notice the 65th Anniversary with the Topps Party date?

And the 1/1 on it (my 119th 1/1)

Well, the card was originally a 1/5.

I've read a few reviews of the party and it sounds like it was actually pretty amazing. You got a box of high end cards (Dynasty, Tribute, etc), an assortment of 1/1 stamped cards that were "buybacks" of precious low numbered cards, rookie reprint autos of some of the greatest to ever play the game (Koufax, Mays, Aaron, Bench, etc) and your picture taken with 2016 NL MVP along with an exclusive Topps Now card commemorating the event with you and Bryant.

For those that love cardboard, that's a hell of a cool party.

Brett Farr Autograph

I am a sucker for random low numbered cards of Cutch

This is such an example

Numbered to only 10, this 2010 National Chicle features an on card autograph of the artist Brett Farr.

These cards don't pop up often and are generally fairly cheap (under $20).  This particular card was a throw in for a large lot of rare Cutch cards I got from another collector.

Cross off another from the list

I had already stopped collecting when the original Gold Label cards came out in the early 2000s.  That's probably a gold thing though because I would have probably over paid for Jason Kendall and Jason Schmidt cards from that time.

When the 2016 Gold Label checklist was released I saw that Cutch was listed which meant I would have to add and track down 9-12 cards if I was lucky to find the Gold 1/1s.

Well after a few months I have completed all 3 classes for the base, blue, and red.

The base and reds were easy to track down even though the reds are supposed to be the rarest (golds excluded).

The hardest one for me to find?

Class 3 Blue.

Why? I don't know.  Since release only a few have hit the market, but nearly a dozen of the Class 3 Reds (/25) have shown up for sale.  Weird, right?

The back of the card talks about Cutch's 3 consective 20/20 seasons from 2011 to 2013.  He was on track in 2014 too, but suffered an injury in retaliation for Ernesto Frieri ending Paul Goldschmidt's season.  The injury landed Cutch out of the lineup for nearly 2 weeks and limited his base stealing during the final month of the season.  He would finish two bases shy.

Majestic Logo 1/1

In my endless pursuit to add as many Andrew McCutchen cards to my collection as possible, I have been adding some really nice high end 1/1s lately.

National Treasures always seems to have some ridiculous cards in their set each year.  Picking up a 1/1 Majestic Logo was necessary as beginning in 2020 we will see Under Armour on the jerseys.

The back of the card features information about his second career 3 Homer night. I will talk about that game more in the future.

Katy Perry presents...The Letter N

Remember a few years ago when Katy Perry appeared on SNL wearing a lowcut Elmo shirt and her big boobs were bouncing A LOT?
That was a glorious thing to watch.

Well as is customary on Sesame Street, I present to you the
Letter "N"

This 2013 Topps Chasing History relic features the letter "N" from McCutchen.

I had seen a bunch of these sell after the set's release, but very few have shown up since. Fortunately for me an ebay seller (VottoCollector) had one to sell.

When I first saw it hit ebay I thought
Nice!!!!  
Need one of these.
None have shown up for over a year.

After quickly paying for the item, I received a notification from the seller that it had shipped.  I looked at the tracking history
Notoriously on my lunch break.

Then one day, it stopped updating.
That proceeded to another day of a lack of updates
Then another
And another
And another

I was getting Nervous
I contacted the seller and filed a claim with the post office.

Two days later, the updates were active and my card was out for delivery.

I finally have it in my possession.
Did you read the back of the card? Did you think Marco Scutaro's name would be mentioned on a Chasing History card?

Neither did I

Team USA Autos

Andrew is going to be a member of Team USA at this year's WBC

In past years, Topps has produced autograph and relic cards commemorating the event.

I am hoping this year we will see the same.

It was announced that Giancarlo Stanton will be joining Team USA with his recent tweet.  I wonder if that will limit Cutch's playing time at all.

A New 1/1 For the PC

In the past month, I have added close to a dozen new 1/1s of Cutch to the PC. Some are high end patch cards.  Others, like this one, are parallels of unlicensed products that can be had for under $40.

 The black Artist Proof might not be one of the most exciting 1/1s but it does bring my 1/1 total of Cutch to 118 cards.

2016 Diamond Kings was a beautiful designed set (minus the logos) with lots of parallels to chase and some really nice hits.  Having Clemente as the cover athlete might make me a bit more biased.

I am still in search of some other parallels, but here are all the regular sized editions I have now.

The frame parallels are just awesome looking.  The base (obviously) and copper frame versions are not numbered. All others are.

I didn't set any goals for 2017, but I think increasing my 1/1 collection would be a good goal. What should I set it for?

The rarest card numbered to 2013 you'll find

I wrote about this card on my old blog last January.  It's believed that only about 100 of these made it into packs after it was discovered so many were off center.

I currently have 8 different variations of US213

They include base, emerald,Wal Mart Blue, Target Red
Photo Variant, Camo, Gold, Hope.

I'm still looking for any of the 1/1s and the black.

A Sneak Peak

Today I received a card in the mail which is one of the coolest cards in my Cutch PC.  I don't want to show it off just yet.

Instead I will merely show you some Topps manurelics I have acquired over the years.

Topps has produced bat barrells, bat knobs, fielding gloves, hat logos, etc over the years.  I hope they one day make some batting gloves.  I think that would be awesome.

Anyway here's some knobs

And here is a knob and barrel

Not very tough to come by, but the card I will show off in the future is incredibly hard to come by.

And here is another manurelic of the equipment kind

Scripture Sunday: Romans 8:28

Andrew McCutchen is an outspoken Christian athlete.

A few weeks ago, I made a commitment to the Lord that I will help to get his message out.  This blog seems like a good opportunity.

Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those that love him, who have been called upon for his purpose.

The above player issued arm band was purchased for a mere price of a blaster. Both Cutch and Josh Harrison have been seen wearing these style bands at games.

I showed off a card that shows JHay wearing his band earlier in year when I first made my blog.

Ginter Fans: Need Your Help

Shortly after Allen & Ginter 2016 was released I started to seek out all the Cutch cards I could get my hands on. I obtained rip cards, glossy 1/1s, and a lot of the rarer versions of the minis.

I didn't see many relics pop up though. There was the box topper relic (which I will show off in a future post) numbered to 25, but I never saw the standard framed relics pop up.

Then one hit the market.

I bid on it. Then it went to
$30
$40
$50
$60
$70
$78 (based on my memory) WTF!!!!!

I couldn't understand why a base relic with a plain grey swatch went for so much.  I haven't seen many others pop up for sale.

However, I did manage to grab one for a Buy-It-Now for under $15. I couldn't buy it fast enough after seeing what the others went for.

For all you Ginter collectors out there, do you know if this is a Short Print? Anyone have a Worthpoint account that can look up all the other 2016 Allen & Ginter jersey relics of Cutch?

Above is the back of the card.  Please if you see anything that would signify this being a SP please inform me.

Serve Proudly

On this Inauguration day it's important for our country to remember what history has brought us and how it has lead to our current state.

I feel energized and proud of our country.
Many others may not feel the same way.

What is important for our country to not only survive, but to strive to grow and prosper is a Nation Under One serving proudly.

That's where todays card comes into play.

In 2009, Topps released an insert set based on 1940s war propaganda posters. It's a nice little insert set.  Pirates 2nd Year Centerfielder was on of the subjects.


I have looked into buying the original art, but it appears 6 years later it is no longer available.

Thats disappointing

Throwback Thursday: 100 Years in Making

Since my collection has changed direction to only focus on Andrew McCutchen going forward, I need to come up with some interesting ways how to show off my over 1,400 unique cards of Cutch.

One method I think I will utilize is showing off a segment called Throwback Thursdays. 

Is it an original idea? Nope

Will it be fun to see Cutch wearing uniforms from the 1909, 1971, and 1979 World Series Championship Pirates teams? Yup

So to kickstart this new monthly series I present to you Cutch's 2010 Topps Triple Threads card featuring a uniform worn by the likes of Hall of Famers Honus Wagner and Fred Clarke.

The Pirates wore this uniform in 2009 shortly after Cutch made his MLB debut to celebrate the Pirates 100 Year Anniversary of their 1st World Series Championship.

Anyone ever look at their favorite player to see how many cards you have of him wearing a Throwback uniform?

Above is the back of the emerald version of the 2010 Triple Threads card.

The Hall of Fame Debate

In a very short time, we will know who will be next to get enshrined at Cooperstown. Last year brought us one of the greatest to ever play the game, Ken Griffey Jr.

Without starting a PED debate, here's who I would like to see enshrined based on their performance on the diamond.
Tim Raines
Jeff Bagwell
Ivan Rodriguez
Trevor Hoffman
Vlad Guerrero
Barry Bonds
Roger Clemens

I suspect Raines and Bagwell make it in. Rodriguez I think will just miss it as will Hoffman and Vlad.

As the game continues to evolve to younger players and cardboard hobbyists switch from established stars to prospects it will be interesting to see who from this generation will one day be forever immortalized in Cooperstown.

On average 1-2 players who debut each year eventually move on to have a Hall of Fame career.

Looking at the players who debuted in 2009, Cutch is clearly the best of that lot.

This card may one day feature relics of 4 Hall of Famers. Trout seems like a sure thing based on his counting stats, hardware, and age.

Harper has youth still on his side.

Griffey is already there.

Cutch, if he has an 18 year career and returns to 2012-2015 form will definitely be a Hall of Famer one day. If 2016 is what we can expect of him, well....Hall of Very Good will be awaiting him.

The card, like most of Hits Memorabilia cards gives you an exclusive code to verify the authenticity of the products used to produce the card.

Even without a license, I still think these are beautiful cards.

Here are the items from which they were dissected from

A batting practice jersey of Griffey, Spring Training Jersey of Cutch (shown here in a previous post), batting gloves from Trout, and a St Patrick's day Spring Training cap by Harper.

Another 1/1 Triple Threads

It's been a few days since I last posted.

The reason is simple. I was enjoying Football Sunday. The Steelers somehow managed to win without scoring a touchdown, but giving up 2.  Chris Boswell set a post season record for kicking 6 field goals.

Last night I got caught up watching a handful of tv shows and then rewatched two amazing specials on the MLB Network. If you haven't watched Forever Brothers, the story of the 1971 Pirates the first team to field all minorities or School of Rickey, the Rickey Henderson documentary I strongly suggest you watch them next time they air.

One of my first posts here on Collecting Cutch was my favorite card of 2016. It featured Jolly Roger sleeve patches of  Cole and Kang along with a nice patch for Cutch.

Triple Threads is notorious for producing some really nice cards and some $6 triple relics. I try to avoid the latter.

In doing so, I went for the former.

Boom!
Jolly Roger sleeve patch of Gerrit Cole.
Letter patch of Cutch
Post Season patch of Josh Harrison

This red 1/1 cost as much as the emerald /3 which I unfortunately lost.

I will continue to seek out the other parallels now that I own the 1/1.

Club Membership

I have been wanting this card for several years. It has elluded me for far too long.

When I was in my punk rock band in 1998, I considered trading in my spiked mohawk for a headful of dreads. Looking at John Jaso this year, makes me realize I couldn't be a member of Club Dread.

In addition to the emerald card above I recently snagged the McClutch the same day.

I am super happy to finally add this to the collection.

Speaking of Clubs, I am going to ask everyone to please follow this blog and if you wouldn't mind show it some love by letting others know about it. If you post something pimping the blog and leave a comment below, I will send you something in the mail.

How much do you know about Tek?

I used to consider myself always at the forefront of wanting the newest technology when I was a teenager and into my early 20s. Now though, I get up to 3 years out of my cellphone before I trade in, have bought a video game system since PlayStation 2, and only last year got myself a tablet (mainly to help catalog cards easier on the couch).

Does this seem normal?

I'm not sure if it is or isn't, but one form of Tek I love is the Topps kind.

Nice segue right?

The 2014 release of Tek somehow didn't include the reigning NL MVP except for a few insert sets.

2015 brought us the full smorgasbord of parallels you can expect from the set. I've gotten many of the different variations and hopefully one day will be able to add more. Cutch was part of Group A and all the various styles that group could be found on.

 The Red /5 are stunning! Check out the backs below to see how bold the colors are.

Much like 2015, Cutch was featured in a lot of the parallels but this time as a Group B player.

I am still working on a lot of these. If anyone sees some of the less common designs (the SSP triangles should be arriving any day), please let me know. I also need the green maze parallel.

The back of this year's design looks like this

I hope you all enjoyed my look at all the Tek cards I have (minus printing plates)