Scripture Sunday - Proverbs 17:22

With my Breast Cancer Awareness month long pink card event beginning tomorrow I chose to use a verse that is encouraging to those battling cancers.

Proverbs 17:22
A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

For the month of October I will be skipping the Scripture Sunday segments of the blog so that I can provide 31 pink cards and show what we are trying to save.

Scripture Sunday segments will resume in November.

Return of The King: Save The Boobies Event Begins Monday

My annual Save The Boobies Event begins Monday October 1st.  There is still time to enter my contest, which can be found here.  I have been buying cards and drafting posts for this month for almost a year.

With 1 of every 8 women being expected to get breast cancer, it is important that we fund a cure and remember what we are looking to save.

I had shown Hunter King last year so I can't show a card I own and reference her this year.

While I am still not too familar with her, I have become familar with her younger sister, Joey King who I will show off in the future.

Joey is the shorter darker hair younger sister who has appeared in several tv shows including the Flash and also appeared in the teen comedy The Kissing Booth.

I promise Joey King will make an appearance later.
For now, lets enjoy the elder hotter King

She was a total bitch in the documentary style movie, A Girl Like Her (currently available on Netflix).

That looked like a fun show, but I have no idea what it is from.

That looked fun too.

Oh and so does this Diamond KING

Much like Hunter King, I can't seem to get my hands on this King though.  The 2018 Donruss Diamond King #24 pink Mother's Day ribbon /25 has gotten away from me too many times.

The $1.25 losing bid is the one that hurt the most.  I rember putting in a "feeler bid" but completely forgot to watch it when it was ending and needless to say I was VERY frustrated to see I lost. I will be posting a recap of all the wants for pink cards I still have after the month is over.

Don't forget though to leave comments on which pop culture women you want to get posted this year.  I have about a dozen posts ready to go, but always am looking for more inspiration.

And most importantly don't forget to leave a comment who you think will hit the first double in this year's World Series for a chance to win some great prizes.  Rules and entry for the contest can be found here.

Something Small Before Something Big

My big Breast Cancer Awareness month long event begins in just a few days. 

Before we get deep and involved in that big event, I wanted to show off a card I bought last month.

2013 Heritage Mini hand numbered to 100 copies.

I think I now have all the mini versions of Cutch's Heritage cards now.

They've Arrived!!!

Three more 1/1 on card autographs from 2018 Archives Signature Current Player Edition arrived.

While I am slightly disappointed that between 7 redemptions I received ZERO Heritage cards, I am grateful I got a few parallels with the latest batch.

Here Is the latest offerings that Topps sent my way.

2016 Bowman's Best
2017 Topps Chrome Prism Refractor
2011 Bowman Gold parallel

I doubt I will go after anymore redemptions, but if I see any Heritage or Flagship already redeemed I will likely try to acquire them.

The Chronic What....

Panini's Chronicles set has so many different offerings that as a baseball fan you may look at it and say "WTF is this set?" 

Well as someone who doesn't collect much football or basketball it is kind of fun to see what collectors of those sports get full fledged out sets of.  Baseball fans can't get Spectra, Prizm, Contenders, or Noir.  Chronicles solved that by releasing those sets as inserts.

AND

THEY

LOOK

AWESOME!!!!!

LOOK at this green Spectra insert from 2018 Chronicles I grabbed for a winning bid of only 99 cents.

89 cents > $54

I haven't been picking up Cutch cards anywhere close to the way I was getting them for the past 3 years.  I used to average a card a day in the mail.

The lack of physical cards ending up in my mailbox hasn't stopped me from continuously looking for great deals though.

For some reason there seems to be unknown short print cards of Cutch each year.

2016 Allen & Ginter relics come to mind as does this Target exclusive 2018 Heritage High Number insert.

Being a retail exclusive definitely makes it tougher to get, but the difference between what some people who know how rare this card is compared to those that don't is mind blowing.

On one scale you have one being sold for $54.

On the other scale you have one that finished at $0.89

So how did I do for my 89 cent winning bid?

Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame, Hall of Fame....

In my recent desire to look at my cardboard more than just buy more and more I have rediscovered why I love to read the backs of baseball cards.

Let's get this out of the way first, I loved the unique facts that Topps60 inserts provided on the backs of the cards in 2011.  They had some really unique stats to get players pictured on the fronts.  Cutch was coming off his second season and arguably a borderline All-Star year in 2010 as he was transitioning the young Pirates team into a pre All-Star break contender.

This 2011 Topps60 insert shows us how the young Pirates center fielder impacted the Pirates franchise the moment he stepped on the field.  In his first 2 seasons as a Pirate, Cutch had the 5th best On Base Percentage for a team that was celebrating 125 years of rich history.

You'll notice that four of the first five names are Hall of Famers.

The Waner Brothers would patrol the outfield for the Pirates for many years and currently have the most sibling career hits with 5,611 cumulative hits between the pair of Hall of Famers known as Big Poison (Paul) and Little Poison (Lloyd).

Ralph Kiner had a short baseball career, but it was a dominant one.  He is the only player in baseball history to win the HR crown 7 years in a row.  In an age when the ball wasn't jumping off the bat he managed to hit homeruns at a historical rate.

Jason Kendall is an obvious choice for the Hall of Very Good.  He is one of only a handful of catchers to collect 2,000 hits at the catcher position.  Character issues and injuries will likely forever keep Kendall out of the HOF, but no one can deny that the unique catcher was a true talent on the field.

Arky Vaughan had the rather difficult task of following the greatest shortstop ever Honus Wagner (sorry Derek Jeter).  He did just fine though collecting 2,103 career hits in his 16 year career.  He passed away at the early age of 40 years old in 1952.

Scripture Sunday - Isaiah 55:11

"so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish to what I desire and achieve for which the purpose I sent it"

Bust(in)er Posey

Maybe I am the only one that does this, but each year I like to use a player's name and make a fun interesting name out of it for my fantasy sports team.

This year my two fantasy football team names are BoswellThatEndsWell and WhatJuJuTalkinBout.  So far my teams are 1-1.

My best team I ever assembled though was a team for my ESPN fantasy league where my team lost only 1 week the entire season.  1 week! That was it.  My team name that year was Bust(in)er Posey.   To this day, my girlfriend still calls him that because of how well my team did and how I always talked about my ridiculous record that year.

I recently made a fairly cheap purchase considering the low numbering, product, players, and design of card.

Buster Posey and Andrew McCutchen were team mates on the Giants for a short time, but they also were team mates in their youth too.  You can read the article about they traveled to Taiwan together in high school here.

What will likely be my only pairing of Cutch with Buster Posey both in a Giants uniform was acquired for the very fair price of $26 delivered.  There aren't any nice patches on the card, but that is what Topps Diamond Icons generally has.

Here are all the pros for the card
1)booklet from high end set
2)$26 delivered
3)both players in Giants uniform
4)numbered to only 10 copies
5)different color swatches

Here are the cons
1)remimder that Cutch isn't on Pirates anymore
2)back is very boring
3)Jersey swatches have no patches for a high end set

Another 1/1 With 3 More Coming

When I got home from vacation I had a FedEx package awaiting for me from Topps. Inside was another 1/1 from 2018 Topps Archives Active Player Edition.

I wish the card subject was better than this 2013 Bowman Chrome, but for another 1/1 who am I to complain?

I'm still hoping to get a Heritage or early release of Cutch from these buyback redemptions.  I have 3 more coming in and based upon everything else I have seen these are all 1/1s that Cutch signed.

Save The Boobies Contest 2.0

It's almost my favorite month of the year.
October!!!!

The leaves will be changing.
Postseason baseball will be in full effect.
The NFL is a month into their season.
The NHL season has started.
And my blog will be covered in nothing but pink cards and beautiful women.

Last year I ran a fun contest for my month long pink baseball cards Save The Boobies contest.  This year it will be very similar.

The rules are simple.
It's 2 rules as we are trying to bring awareness to 2nd Base.

1)Must Be A Follower (or regular commenter) of the Blog

2)Must Leave a Comment On This Post Who Will Hit the FIRST Double in the 2018 World Series (entry must be made prior to October 5th)
2a (Only the first person to guess correctly gets the featured prize)
2b (Only 1 entry per blogger)
2c (Any edits to comments are immediately disqualified)

Simple, right?
Yeah I thought so too.

So in order to save Second Base let's offer up a card commemorating a card featuring a great pair (and it's pink!!!).

Now if you feel that you want to take a chance and win a different prize, I am offering up this Carl Yastrzemski Heritage Clubhouse Collection card.  The card references second base so it continues the theme.

Again Two Simple Rules For This Entry Too....cause you know we are trying to save 2nd Base

1)Enter in the Main Contest using rules above

2)Leave a comment here showing a link that you pimped this Contest On Your Blog Prior to October 5th and show off some of your favorite ladies


Now for the not so fine print
If the first double in the 2018 World Series is hit by a player not commented on, I will keep the Judge/Stanton card.

If no one shares this contest on their blog or doesn't leave a comment here that they pimped it, I will keep the Yaz card.

I realize we won't know who is going to be in the World Series by October 5th, but that is where the fun comes from in hearing people's predictions.

Highway To The Power Zone

Stadium Club has great insert sets.

Even the ones that resemble inserts from the 90s.

Case in point, this year's Power Zone insert.
I grabbed an orange parallel numbered 26/50.

Many people may not realize that Cutch is on the verge of 8 consecutive 20 plus homerun seasons, but with just one homerun in the final 10 games he can get 8 consecutive seasons of 20+ HR.

Another Case Break, Another Steal of Deal

Last month I entered a case break for a player of choice.  The winning bid for my 2018 Chronicles Andrew McCutchen break was only $2.25.

While I didn't hit any major hits (relics or autos), I did manage to get a parallel and all of the base cards from the multiple inserts Cutch appears in.

The base card and back for Chronicles

 The base card and back for Classics insert

 The base card and back for Spectra insert

The lone parallel was the Classics /99.

He's Still Very Good

So many hobbyists look at the "decline" of Andrew McCutchen and have basically written his career as being over.

With my recent extended stay on vacation I was browsing some sold items on eBay that I missed out on and am shocked at how cheap some of these cards had sold for.

One Prime Example is a pair of Chrome cards that sold for less than $10 combined
2008 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks Gold/50
2018 Topps Chrome Red /5
2017 Honus Bonus HomeRun Date 1/1

Back in 2013 these cards would have pulled in roughly $30 to $50 each.  Now they can be had for under $5.  While I missed out on all of these auctions I did enjoy my time in Florida and have not been as obsessive about trying to acquire every McCutchen card on the planet especially since he no longer plays for my favorite team.

That being said, when I see that black and gold (yellow) appear on cardboard I really want to add it to the collection.

Such was the case with this Immaculate Patch On Card Auto numbered to 5 that I purchased before my vacation.

On Card Autographs of Cutch are tough to find as many of his early autos with Topps were sticker autographs.  I think that is why I have been so excited about the 2018 Archives Buyback Autographs as they are all 1/1s and are all On Card and are all Pirates uniforms.

My question to those in the hobby is why is collecting Cutch getting so much cheaper?  I understand he isn't a top 5 MVP candidate anymore and doesn't have his signature dreadlocks, but he is still a star in the game.

He is still having a better batting average than Rhys Hoskins, Bryce Harper, and Kyle Schwarber for the year.  Given the choice of having to put them in a corner outfield spot, I have more confidence in Cutch making the play than the other 3 although Harper is right there with Cutch in my opinion.

With so many players hitting homeruns these days, did you know that Cutch will soon be in pretty exclusive territory of having 8 straight seasons of 20+ HR?  The only other player to hit 20+ HR in the most recent 8 seasons are Giancarlo Stanton (9 straight seasons) and Jose Bautista (with 8 more HR he will have most recent 9 seasons so it is very unlikely he gets to 9).  Other stars either don't have the length yet or have had injury plagued seasons (Pujols).  Cutch only needs to hit 1 HR in next 14 games to achieve that feat.  Seven of those games are held in New York with the remaining seven split between Tampa and Boston.

So as the market for Cutch continues to shift to cards being cheaper, it's good to know that he is still one of the game's best despite being on "the decline".

Scripture Sunday Mark 2:27

Today's verse is Mark 2:27

And he said to them "The Sabbath was made for men, not man for the Sabbath"

Make This Card Topps!

So often I see awesome designs for Topps digital app, Bunt, appear for purchase on eBay. Unfortunately I have ZERO desire to spend actual money for not actual cards.

That being said, if this card was produced I wouldn't be opposed to lay down some serious cash competing against the Yankees fans to acquire it.

I would love to get a Cutch auto in a Yankees uniform.

Save The Boobies Recap 2017 edition

October is just around the corner so you know what that means for The Collecting Cutch Blog.

Each year on my blogs I show off pink cards and great looking racks for my October Breast Cancer Awareness Posts.

Ladies such as Christina Hendricks

Kate Upton

and Sofia Vergara are just some of the ladies I have spotlighted in the past

While the women chosen are the focus of the posts, I really want to show off the pink (and shades) cards to help bring awareness to this terrible disease that continues to destroy lives.

In case you missed my Save The Boobies event from last year, here is a recap of all the pink (and magenta) cards I showed.

Just like last year I will open this up to suggestions for who you may want to make cameo appearances.

I do have some celebrities already in mind for certain posts, but am open to any suggestions.  I would like to refrain from having duplicate actresses from last year so please reference last year's posts for who appeared.

This year I will be featuring pink cards as usual, but am also including the shades of magenta, rose, and red to meet the criteria.  Also this year there will be more Cutch cameos on cards.

A contest similar to last year will be held also and it's an awesome prize!