My 1st 2020 Sketch Card

As you all are probably aware, I enjoy getting different artists to draw Andrew McCutchen.

I hit up Phil Hassewer on Twitter and asked him to draw Cutch on an official 2020 Sketch Card.

I am very happy with how it turned out.

This is the 1st card I have received utilizing the 2020 Topps Card Stock for a sketch card. 

You can follow Phil's art
On Twitter @mantis923
On Instagram Instagram.com/mantis923

Is there really gold at the end of a rainbow?

The amount of parallels in today's collecting world is insane.  I don't use TCDB, but the site lists that Andrew McCutchen has 5,902 cards to collect.  That is a lot of baseball cards to collect for a guy with just barely over a decade of service time in the majors.

I only have about half those cards. 

While I do like to chase after many many rainbows, there are a few that I focus on more than others.  Prizm and Bowman Chrome have traditionally been my favorites to go after because of the amount of shine and refracting looks.

I have been looking at Topps Fire 2018 as another set I would like to eventually chase the entire rainbow for.  I feel like Fire has improved every year since it's initial release. 

2018 Gold Label is a release that I am getting very close to completing as well.

 Gold Label is a set that I see improvements for each year as well. 

There are 4 different colors to collect in addition to the base (pictured above).  As you can see in the picture above for the base version there are 3 different pictures to the left.  These help to distinguish, yet another parallel besides the color of the card.

In addition to the different colors, there are different classes.  Three to be exact. 

Class 1 is your traditional easy to find class.  Class 2 is the next tier up (think of it as a SP).
Class 3 is the top tier and the hardest to chase after (a SSP)

The 4 different color borders to chase for each Class have unique numbering and rarity.

All the Gold Label Golds are 1/1s, regardless of Class.

The Reds are the next rarest of the color parallels.  They are numbered to 75 (Class 1), 50 (Class 2), and 25 (Class 3) respectively.

The blacks, like base cards, aren't numbered but follow the same form of rarity in terms of Class 3 being the rarest.

The blues are fairly common parallel and oddly enough the easiest one to complete and yet the only non 1/1s I havent completed.  They are numbered to 150 (Class 1), 99 (Class 2), and 50 (Class 3).

As you can see from my page that I scanned in I still need the blue Class 1 numbered to 150.  It's on my wishlist for Santa this year.  I feel confident in saying that 2 years after release I will be able to knock out all the cards that aren't 1/1s to complete most of this rainbow.

However....
I also still need all 3 of the different classes Golds that are all numbered to 1/1.

I thought this particular set would show how crazy supercollecting a star player is in today's collecting market.  So even though I still have 11 cards of one player from one release, I still only have 73% (11 of the 15) for this particular release.

A Big Addition

I recently came across a seller who had really good discounts on 5x7 Topps products.  I don't buy all the releases of McCutchen for their 5x7 products, but do like the idea of any vintage designs in the 5x7 format with McCutchen.

My plan is to one day get them all individually framed and put on a wall.

Does anyone have any oversized cards framed in their card caves?

The Collector Sends

Chris from The Collector offered up some free cards for people who followed his All-Time Teams.

The only card I asked Chris for was for this bashing card of John Jaso and Andrew McCutchen.  It is a base card that I don't have so I'm happy Chris was able to send it to me.

 Forearm Bash!!!

 I also asked for a pair of former Marlins cards.

JT is becoming a favorite player of mine and I have liked the way Yelich plays since the 2017 WBC.

Thanks for the cards Chris!!!
I hope you're staying safe.

Falco Files: Small World Afterall

I purchased this Bryan Reynolds 2020 Utz card from someone in Virginia because I kept striking out on finding packages with the baseball cards locally in my hometown.

It arrived safely a few days later.

It also came with a note about Red Bank (the town I live in) and saying how he lived his whole life there before moving to Virginia.  He mentioned how he would visit the Stamp and Coin store, which is literally 2 blocks from my apartment.

It really is a small world after all.

Purple Rain is 🔥

Weasy aka @CollectingCardz on Twitter sent me a parallel from 2018 Topps Fire that I didn't have.

This purple parallel was a very welcomed addition to an otherwise gloomy rainy day yesterday.

 Thank you so much for the card.

Need a Forest to Finish the Rainbow

To follow up on my Earth Day post, I am once again looking for help.

This time I am not asking you to save the forests, rather I am asking you to help me find one.

I am extremely close to completing the rainbow for the 2017 Chronicles Triple Threat relic set.

I recently added the 1 of 1 Nebula parallel.

I am not sure where this parallel got it's name, but it looks nothing like Nebula from Guardians of the Galaxy.

Then again maybe the color scheme is comparable.  There's purple hues and teal hues in the Nebula parallel to match the daughter of the Mad Titan, Thanos.

By the way, if you don't like the Avengers movies or the Marvel Cinematic Universe there is a good chance you have no idea what I am talking about.

It's ok.....

Let's get back on track just from a baseball card standpoint.

With my recent addition of the 1 of 1 Nebula parallel

I now have 6 of the (possible) 7 parallels.

Top Row: Nebula, Gold, Neon Green
Bottom Row: Pink, Neon Blue, Base

They are numbered to the following quantities:
Top Row: 1, 10, 25
Bottom Row: 49, 99, 149

Here are scans of each of the other cards individually

The one card I am missing to complete the rainbow?

There is a forest green numbered to 3 or 5 for certain players.  However according to the information I have found not all players received a green.  According to Worthpoint, none have sold on eBay so I am stuck wondering if this card actually exists.

Help Groot Save The Earth

Yesterday was Earth Day and I completely forgot to post an earth related post.

Last March I showed off three of my 1/1 wood parallels of Cutch.  You can revisit that post here.  I also posted them on Twitter yesterday @CollectingCutch

I called the post "I Am Groot" to reference the tree like Guardian of the Galaxy famous in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Since that post I have added a few more to the collection, but wanted to show off this 2013 Gypsy Queen mini as part of a timetable I want to establish regarding our planet.

Many people have been stuck in doors for several weeks now and while I am certain that many are not watching Earth saving documentaries, I hope that someone that reads this may feel inclined to watch the documentary Guardians of the Amazon, now streaming on Hulu.

From 2014-2018 the world saw 120 million hectares of tree cover get lost, while only 30 million hectares are under restoration at this time.  An article found on the World Resource Institute provides details of the deforestation of the world and the impact it will have on weather, economics, and the ecology of many species in the world if things don't get better.

The equivalent of three soccer fields are deforested EVERY MINUTE in the Amazon.

Please ♻ and reuse any items you can.  The Earth needs you.

Well, here's a strange cardboard cameo

Here is a base card of 2019 Topps Yankees Stadium.

The back has Andrew McCutchen still listed as playing left field for the Yankees on the back.

I wanted to grab a copy for the cameo page.

It's a strange card to put in there, but it is in fact a name cameo.

You know it's sad but true.

Club Dread

We are probably all aware of some of the sayings found on the front of Triple Threads cards.

This page here shows off some of the more memorable Triple Threads cards produced over the years.  Some of them reference player nicknames like "Muddy Chicken" (Dustin Pedroia), or "Don't ya know" (Robinson Cano).  Others may reference pop culture songs like "Its Hamel Time" (a pun for Cole Hamels referencing MC Hammer).  One of my favorite combos I saw was Fausto Carmona and Grady Sizemore of the Indians with Joba Chamberlain of the Yankees.  The relics spelled out "Bug Off" referencing the postseason game when a bunch of midges attacked Joba's face.  There's a bunch of good ones out and a simple google search can help you find them.  I will reveal the worse placing of relics near the end of this post (pun intended)

One of my favorite sayings on an Andrew McCutchen is "Club Dread"

I showed this 2012 Triple Threads green parallel back in 2017.

In the past six months I was able to add the "base" parallel numbered to 36 copies.

I will continue to seek out the 1/1, /3, /9, and /27 copies. 

The Back of the card discusses how Cutch began growing his dreadlocks back in 2007 before he ultimately cut them off in 2015 for charity (of which I own one of them).

Here is an article (written back in 2015) looking back at all the tweets made for Cutch cutting his hair.

Now I promised at the top that I would reveal the worse placement of relics for their triple threads card.

Rhonda Rousey "In Her Ass"?

The 1st and Cl are tough to see, right?



Do you have any Triple Threads cards with fun sayings? What are some of your favorites you've seen?

🔥 A Dual Auto Hit From Retail? 🔥 -or- Why Rhys is calling Cole Tucker, Daddy?

For the past few years Topps has been issuing a retail exclusive set to both Target and Wal-Mart.  Wal-Mart has gotten the hand drawn set known as Topps Gallery.  My favorite though is Target's exclusive release, Topps Fire.

Finding the hits from these products has been incredibly tough to come across.

I remember having a discussion with Brad from Brad's Blog while we were waiting in line for the September 2019 McCutchen signing at the Philly Show about hoping to add one of the McCutchen/Hoskins dual autos.

Well, right around the New Year, I was able to finally secure one.

With both Hoskins and Cutch being involved with viral videos over the weekend I thought it was time to finally show this card off.

Here is the card.  It is a dual auto of Rhys Hoskins and Andrew McCutchen.  The card features sticker autos, but with all the flashy vibrant colors it isn't that distracting.

The card is limited to only 20 copies, mine being 12/20.

From MLB.com here is the link that introduced fans to Uncle Larry, Andrew McCutchen's new alter ego.

I can't wait to see more of Uncle Larry in the future.


Speaking of future, Cole Tucker was playing Rhys Hoskins in The Show and made a bold statement that if Rhys hit a HR off Cole, he would name his first born after...(BOOM! HR!)

To see the home run and read more about the future Rhys Tucker click here.

What Will Become Of The National?

News broke over the weekend that SDCC (San Diego Comic Con) was cancelled this year.  I am not sure how many comic or pop culture fans also read this blog, but this is major news.

For the first time in it's 50+ year history, the most famous pop culture convention in the world won't be happening.

There are already rumors that Disney & Marvel may stream a panel available to fans that would have typically been one of the main events at the con.

This got me thinking about The National Sports Card Convention.  I have never been to The National and was hoping to go this year since it is happening in my home state.  Yay! New Jersey!

As I was busy updating my checklist I came across a few cards that were NSCC exclusives and thought I should finally show them off.


Up first is 2019 Bowman Chrome National Wrapper Redemption.

This "Christmas numbered parallel" is the orange prism refractor found only in the special NSCC packs.

The logo for the convention is seen to the left corner, just above the name of Andrew McCutchen.

In order to receive a pack of these, attendants would need to buy a box of Topps products from a partnered dealer and bring the box along with a special sticker to the Topps booth where they would be rewarded with a pack of these exclusive Bowman Chrome cards.  The set contains 50 cards and offers color parallels and autographs randomly inserted into the 4 card packs.  I will show off some other 2019 Bowman Chrome National Exclusives in another post, sometime in the future.



I also have a pair of Panini product buybacks that are stamped on the front with The National logo

This is a 2016 Diamond King card from the 2016 National.

The Back is stamped directly in the center of the card and is numbered to only 5 copies.



I also have an Industry Summit card buyback.

Dealers, card companies, and others directly involved with the hobby who attended the 4 day event in Las Vegas received a bunch of swag from card companies.

This "Buyback" is actually a 2013 Prizm base card with The Summit 2014 stamp to the left ofthe card, just under Cutch's jersey number.

The card is numbered on the back to the left of the Panini centered logo.  It is numbered to only 5 copies.

Why bother grading a 1/1?

I've been reading everyone's "Things I like that you don't" blog bat around posts and I continue to see conflicting interests in the subject of graded cards.

Some people like them.

Some people don't.

I used to only like base vintage cards graded because it gave a sense of security for the validation of a card's authentic grade.  However with all the new card doctor reports surgically adjusting their cards and sending them in for consignment, I even question that now.

I no longer have an interest in graded cards.

Now that doesn't mean I won't buy a graded card.

As a matter of fact I have picked up two major additions to the collection because they were graded.  The cards both received grades below 9.0 which made them less desirable.

The best part to me is that they are both 1 of 1s.

Despite a low grading from Beckett, no one else could claim to have this type of card.

Back before all the crazy parallels made in today's current hobby, 2005 Bowman Chrome Draft had only a handful of parallels to chase.
Refractor (not numbered)
X-Fractor /250
Blue /150
Gold /50
Red 1/1
Superfractor 1/1
That means that there is only 456 cards that were numbered and only 1 of them has the red borders like the 7.5 BGS I now own.

Compare that to 2019 Bowman Chrome which has added the colors purple, green, and orange to the numbered parallels.  The reds have been increased from 1 to 5 copies and the refractors are now numbered to 499 copies.  The 2019 Bowman Chrome has 1,079 numbered parallels compared to 456 numbered parallels from 2005.

This 1/1 red Refractor is super rare.  It (along with the traditional 1/1 Superfractor) fell 1:6,609 hobby packs.


You may remember a few years ago that my brother got me a graded 1/1 from Cutch's draft year (see this post here about the graded 1/1 2005 Bowman Heritage Draft my brother got me).

He was able to get it for a big discount due to the 8.5 grade, despite being a 1/1.




In addition to the 2005 Bowman Chrome Red Refractor 1/1 I picked up in the past few months, I have also picked up the below laundry tag booklet.

The workout jersey cards for the All-Star games are used in various products following the All-Star game.  Topps Update is where you can typically find the small swatches (with very little patches available) and the following year's Triple Threads product often has laundry tags, sleeve patches, and huge patches from the All-Star Game.

This 2013 Triple Threads booklet features the laundry tag from Cutch's workout jersey he wore during the Home Run Derby in the 2012 All-StarGame.



All 3 of the above cards were picked up for steep discounts compared to similar players mainly because of the lower grade, despite all being 1/1s.  Had the cards remained in raw form, the seller probably could have gotten twice the price.


Would you buy a 1/1 card for a discount if the grade is below average for a modern card?

Trying to organize, but failing

I have been trying to get my Google Sheets document up to date, spending about an hour on it for the past week each night.  It is a daunting task as I have 6 boxes of cards to sort by year and catalog.  While going through them last night on Twitter, Topps posted the cardboard dictionary of a 1/1 and asked fans to show off some of their 1/1s.

I only grabbed some of my Topps 1/1s of Cutch.  I grabbed some of my favorites and sprinkled them in with some of the cards I was trying to update into my PC catalog of cards.

No Panini, Tristar, Just Minors, Leaf, or Upper Deck cards were posted in the shot.

Just Topps.

Yeah, I have a few, I guess.

It was impossible to fit all my printing plates and Topps Vault and assorted parallel 1/1s on the table.

I couldn't even get all the extra 1/1 letters so I used them as props to hold up my favorite card.

2018 Archives Active Player Signature had a lot of buyback 1/1 autographs of Cutch.  I ised them as part of the back drop but also wanted to show off some Ginter Woods, auto printing plates from Cutch's rookie season, and a Transcendent Superfractor in the picture too.  There's at least a dozen cards in this shot that I never showed off before.

This shot shows off SOME of the Superfractors.  These are the more colorful ones.  In 2018 Topps made a chrome version of their Stadium Club cards which in turn also included Superfractors.  I have both the 2018 & 2019 Superfractor from Stadium Club Chrome, but they don't pop the way other Supers do.  Some of these are being shown for the first time ever.

I have a few of the original arts used to produce the Topps Gallery products.  By far my favorite is by Mayumi Seto.  It's not because it's my favorite take on Cutch (that distinction actually belongs to Louise Draper).  I chose to show off the Seto because I fear that I will never see a Topps Living Set card produced of Cutch.  

Here is a pile of 1/1 parallels from various Topps releases ranging from Archives to Tribute to Topps Minis.  

This is a stack of just my magenta plates behind the 2011 Diamond Embedded card and laundry tag card.  Some of these will be shown off during my October event.

Behind Cutch's laundry tag jersey card from his 1st All-Star Game is a stack of random Cutch printing plates.

There's a few nice ones in here that I haven't shown off yet.  

One day....

One day I will....