X(Fractor) gon give it to ya.

The number of rap songs I like can probably be counted on one hand.  That's not a knock to anyone who listens to wrap.  It's just not my thing.

If I had to pick a favorite rap song it would be one of two songs.
Coolio-Gangsta's Paradise
DMX - X Gon' Give it to ya

I forgot how much I liked the latter until I was rewatching Deadpool again the other night and remembered that song was on the soundtrack.

Not to be outdone, this XFractor gon give to me massive savings.

I snagged it for half the going rate price.

The First of Many....

Andrew McCutchen autographs once were pretty tough to find in new releases.  2014 to 2016 saw only 10 unique cards get released featuring the autograph of the former MVP.

2017 saw a lot of Panini products bare Cutch's autograph.

Nothing from Topps though.

Then 2018 Archives came out with lots of redemptions that lead to 1/1 buybacks.

The 2018 Update Series showed an on card autograph of Cutch in it's initial preview.  Little did I know there would be lots more options available.

Fret not though True Believers, I am back on the quest to add as many as possible to the collection.

So without further ado, I present the 2018 Chrome Update 1983 Insert red parallel numbered 2/5.  It is a sticker autograph, but who cares?

WOW!!!  What a cool looking image!  The 1983 design, red chrome, American flag in the background.  Great photo choice on that one Topps!!!!

Trust me when I say a lot more have already been delivered.  I will show them off over time.  Oddly enough the less rare versions I don't have yet.

2 months late...

There's a lot of cards I have acquired in the past year that haven't been shown off yet.  The number of cards numbered to /10 copies or less and not featured here are probably close to 50.  There is even a few Superfractors that I didn't show yet.

Oh...and then there is this.

Topps Heritage Gold Refractors numbered to 5 copies are some of my favorite cards to seek out each year.

I love Heritage.

I love Chrome.

I love Gold.

Makes sense, right?

Not a Bullfighter!

Aficionado
əˌfiSHəˈnädō,əˌfisyəˈnädō
Noun
a person who is very knowledgeable and enthusiastic about an activity, subject, or pastime

The original definition in the 19th century referred to bullfighters as aficionados.

This 2015 Diamond Kings Aficionado insert is the blue foil/sapphire parallel numbered to only 25 copies.

There were no animals harmed in the production of this post.

And that's no bull.

Cyber Monday

Last year Panini created a set of cards that were exclusively available for Cyber Monday.  The promotion didn't seem to fare to well as it seems like many base cards didnt surface.

Fortunately for me shortly after release someone listed a McCutchen for $2 with free shipping.

SOLD!!!

I doubt Cutch will appear in this year's release.

What are some Cyber Monday sales you are aware of?

Scripture Sunday - Proverbs 15:18

With the holiday season fully upon us, it is important to remember to stay patient as the lack of patience and understanding can lead to a lack of trust and faith.

Proverbs 15:18
Hot tempers cause arguments, but patience brings peace.

To those that may feel I forgot about them for winning the #SaveTheBoobies #SaveSecondBase contest, I certainly did not.  Thank you for your patience as I have been working insane amounts of hours for the month of November and haven't had the chance to get to the post office.  Cards will ship next Monday.

Today's card may look familar and that is because I recently showed off the SSP Throwback Thursday version of it.

This however is the 5x7 gold version numbered to only 10 copies (see the bottom left corner).

If there is one area of my collection that is missing A LOT of cards, it is the 5x7 online exclusives.

Gonna have to quote Ice Cube for this one

White Whales
Bigfoot
Unicorns

Whatever you call those legendary items that you have only read about and have only seen blurry glimpses of, I am here to tell you they most likely do exist.

I know because I ****ing caught one and am so jacked up about it!

Last year in December I mentioned I had gotten the Cyan Printing Plate from 2015 Bowman Best.  You can see the post here.

The previous year I showed the black printing plate. You can read about it here.

The Magenta has been shown off a few times. Here is 80 of my printing plates (May 2017 edition). Here is 200 of my favorite Cutch hits. (September 2017 edition).  I also recently showed it (along with Julie Benson) during my Save The Boobies event in October here.

Now if you're keeping track, that is the black, cyan, and magenta plates of the same card.

Well....I finally got the yellow to complete my first true rainbow of all four 1/1 printing plates for the same card.

This card didn't come without it's challenges in acquiring it though.  Once it popped up on eBay I immediately hit the buy it now option leaving NO chance for anyone else to get it.

However....

My 1/1 printing plate was sent to the wrong person.

In return I received a redemption card for a certain Kansas City Chiefs player that would have gotten me A LOT more money had I kept that card.

The seller made arrangements with us to ship the cards back and refund us the cost of shipping back to him and the original shipping fees.

So for only $20 I completed my printing plate rainbow.  There are still a few more series that I have 3 out of 4 printing plates for, but Damn does it feel good to pop this cherry.

In addition to having those 4 1/1 printing plates, I also have this 1/1 buyback autograph of the same card.

I plan on getting a custom case to house all four printing plates.  Once I do you can be sure I will show it off here.

The Archer's Quest

I am starting a PC for Chris Archer.

Anyone got any cards of his?

I recently picked up this pristine orange Bowman chrome rookie card numbered to 25 copies.

I am looking for all base, parallels, relics, autographs, and oddballs of Archer that I can get my hands on.

Hook me up and I will return the favor.

The Gobbler Cometh

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I just found out that Cutch is in the Bowman Holiday set.  He didn't appear in it last year during the inaugural release.

I like the concept of the Holiday Bowman set, but it is just that many more parallels to track down. Turkeys, ugly sweater designs, snowflakes, and candy canes.  Ugggghhhhh!

$o many parallel$

I grabbed a Turkey parallel autograph of the guy who was traded for Andrew McCutchen during last year's offseason.

Bryan Reynolds at the time was ranked as the Giants 4th best prospect at the time. The Giants said that they secured a first round talent in Reynolds when they selected him in the 2nd round of the 2016 draft.

Currently Reynolds ranks as the 8th best prospect in the Pirates organization.  He will likely move up in the rankings by midseason as the Seinfeld Kevins (Newman and Kramer) graduate to the Major League level next season.

He has a career minor league OPS of .832 and projects to be an above average defender with a toolset of 50 for all aspects of his game.

Future Hall of Famers, A Look Back From the Future

Back in 2013, CBS wrote a story about several players under the age of 26 and their likelihood of achieving baseball immortality in Cooperstown.

The link can be found HERE.

Many appear to still be borderline candidates, but it is crazy to look back at how much has changed in only 5 years.

Names like Mike Trout and Clayton Kershaw will have done enough once they meet the 10 year minimum to be first ballot consideration.

According to them names like Jason Heyward and Starlin Castro were already on the right path.

As Adrian Beltre recently proved though, you may not appreciate how great a player was until their career is over.

Maybe Justin Upton, Andrew McCutchen, and Matt Kemp will go on to play until theyre 40 and 10 years from now we will look back and realize "these guys were always pretty good."

But is "pretty good" over 20 years worthy enough to get you in the Hall of Fame?

Adrian Beltre may prove that longevity and consistency is more important than having 10 great years and that is basically it. 

Only 17 3rd Baseman have been enshrined in Cooperstown for the Hall of Fame.  And yet here we sit on the week of Beltre announcing his retirement and it seems almost unanimously that most talk radio shows, sports writers, and the like think he will make it to the Hall of Fame.  At any point though was he the best 3rd baseman in the game?  Would you rather have had Beltre or a guy named Wright, Rodriguez, Rolen, Machado, Donaldson manning the hot corner if you starting a franchise?  Most wouldn't say Beltre is my guess. 

I am in no way saying Beltre doesn't belong in the Hall. I am merely pointing out that we should recognize greatness as it is happening and not after it is gone.

Good luck to Mr. Beltre on his post baseball career.  You were fun to watch.

Getting Ready For My COMC Plunderings

I noticed a few cards on eBay that COMC had recently listed and added them to my cart for Black Friday.

While in the process of browsing on my lunch break I noticed that I could make a GIF of Cutch using all the cards I have. 

I quickly threw this together and think that with a little bit of work and some actual scans of the cards instead of the screenshots that I could put an entire At Bat together including his running of the bases.

Leave comments below what you think.

Help Me Chase Gold!

I have been incredibly lazy about trying to find 2018 cards of Cutch in Giants uniform.

Gold Label was released a few months ago, but so far I have only gotten 3 cards.

Gold Label has loads of parallels.

Each card has three different "Classes" which are stated on the front of the card. 

For each class there are also a handful of color parallels: base, black, blue, red, and gold.  These all vary in terms of production numbers, but the gold are all numbered 1/1.

So far all I have is Class 1 base and red to go with Class 2 base.

If anyone comes across any of the other class cards I need, send them my way.

Scripture Sunday - Jeremiah 17:14

I have been battling a nasty cold for almost a week now as I approach my 3rd consecutive week of 70 hour work weeks with no days off.  Gotta love the holidays in the supermarket industry.

I'm looking for some help in healing so that I may enjoy these final days leading up to Thanksgiving a little bit more.

Jeremiah 17:14
Heal me, LORD, and I will be healed; save me LORD, and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise.

Upper Deck, I miss you

Andrew McCutchen had a very brief appearance in Upper Deck products before they lost their license to produce MLB official cards in 2010. 

That brief window produced a very rare short print Signature Sensations autograph though that despite it's simplistic design still ranks as one of my favorite autograph cards of Cutch in my collection.

And with over 150 unique autographs of Cutch, thats saying something.

I think I like the relaxed spring training game photo used more than a regular season game photo.

Upper Deck was always known for their innovative photography on cards.  It ultimately lead to brands like Topps Stadium Club and Fleer Ultra. 

Stadium Club has been a let down for Cutch cards over the years since the brand came back and I wish that there would be more fun entertaining cards of Cutch like a few of my favorite players I collected growing up.

Some of my favorite players from my youth included

Barry Bonds

Gary Sheffield (one of the greatest under appreciated hitters of all time)

Andy Van Slyke

Ken Caminiti

Nolan Ryan

Frank Thomas

And Kenny Lofton

I will show off a few of my other Cutch Upper Deck cards in the future, but I definitely miss the candid photos of Upper Deck.