You're The Best Around

When you think of Karate Kid, there are likely a few things that come to mind

A crane kick to the face

"Wax on, wax off"

Or the soundtrack with the hit song "You're the best around"

Travel with me back to 2017 when I showed off a post talking about my love for the Karate Kid soundtrack.

Over 3 years later and I am still talking about "Being The Best Around"

Bowman Best, that is!

All 4 of the 1/1 printing plates from 2015 Bowman Best

Because it is a chrome based product, all plates are printed with a negative reverse.

Black, Magenta, Cyan, Yellow.

Enter, the Hawk

One of my favorite characters in Cobra Kai is the character, Hawk

 Originally introduced in the show as one of the nerdy loser kids of the school, Eli was often bullied because of his cleft lip.

He joined Cobra Kai as a way to learn to fight back against the bullies and Johnny Lawrence, the sensei of Cobra Kai, teases Eli about it by saying "so it looked worse before the surgery" and suggested to Eli that unless he wants to be called Lip for the rest of life to find a way to distract others from looking at his birth defect.

Eli, entered the dojo later sporting a blue mohawk, and got the respect of his sensei, dubbing him Hawk.

Hawk became the second best student of Cobra Kai after Miguel.

Over the course of the two seasons that followed we have seen a lot of personal development of the character as he has struggled with ethics, friendships, and relationships.

Hawk is my second favorite character of the series after Johnny Lawrence.  His screen time and struggles make me a Fan of the show.

There was also a baseball player who was known as Hawk.

According to baseball reference, Andrew McCutchen's age 31 season was most similar to Hall of Famer, Andre Dawson the Hawk.

Andre Dawson's age 31 season fell in 1986, his final year in Montreal.

The 1986 season saw the Hawk hit 20HR in 130 games a few years removed from a serious knee injury. He stole 18 bags and had an .815 OPS with 65 Runs scored and 78RBI.  

Cutch's age 31 season was in 2018, his first year away from Pittsburgh where he split time on both coasts in San Francisco and New York.  

Cutch hit 20HR with 65RBI and 83 Runs scored with 14 stolen bases and a .792 OPS.

2020 Donruss saw a throwback to the 1986 design with a few players getting the autograph treatment.  

The fronts featured a chrome like design in an obvious throwback to the 1986 design.

The back features a 1986 Donruss inspired back to compliment the front.

Fun side note, Karate Kid 2 came out in 1986 and Andrew McCutchen was born in 1986.

What memories do you have of 1986?

Cobra Origins

I missed a post yesterday because I was just too exhausted from work and chose to go on hiatus for 24 hours and just recover.  

We are back with another installment in the 1st (and likely only) Karate Kid/Cobra Kai theme week on Collecting Cutch.

I finished Season 3 yesterday and the Cobra Kai season 3 is the best yet.  There is a fantastically filmed scene that looks to have been mostly shot all in one shot. 

I won't go into too many spoilers, but the most intriguing character development is the backstory of Sensei John Kreese. 

Kreese is the original sensei of Cobra Kai and we learn the origins of Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy.  The former Vietnam soldier had one hell of a origin.

Since I am not only looking at the Karate Kid trilogy, but also Cobra Kai I am a bit surprised it took me until Thursday to discuss someone named after a cobra because of how hard he struck a baseball and the serpent like motion he threw a baseball from the outfield.  I am of course talking about The Cobra, Dave Parker.  

I mentioned the amazing artwork that Daniel Horine is doing on his popflyshop where he sells prints of his comic book cover inspired baseball prints.  He is planning on releasing them as a 5x7 print set, but after the 7 day order window is up for the 8x10prints, no more will be printed.  It is very important to visit his shop at least once a week to see what the new art is.

There are so many easter eggs in each print he creates.  

For The Cobra print seen above here are some of the eggs I saw.

The price of the comic (79 cents) is a nod to the 1979 World Series Champions, Pittsburgh Pirates.  

The issue number (39) is Parker's Pirates jersey number.  

In the "floating head" box we see a hockey mask, a nod to when Parker wore a hockey mask due to a broken nose.

The image of Parker smoking in the dugout is a fairly famous image for the Two Time Batting Champ (which is mentioned on the cover)

The smoke from the cigarette forms a cobra, his nickname.

The text references a famous saying he wore on a t-shirt, which is also shown in upper corner. 

As both a comic fan and baseball fan, Daniel's art blows me away with every new print he puts out. 

He currently has a Babe Ruth print available (seen below),  Check his website often for more updates.

Here is the only licensed card of Cobra and Cutch I own.

It is from 2013 Topps Archives and is a Fan Favorites insert card.

I also have an unlicensed card featuring 1/1 patches and sticker autos of Cobra and Cutch from Hits Memorabilia.

What is your fondest memory of Dave "The Cobra" Parker?

What are your thoughts on Daniel's popflypopshop art prints combining comics and baseball?

Have you watched Season 3 of Cobra Kai and did you like the backstory for Sensei Kreese?

Sweep The Leg Johnny

Yesterday, reader Eliptical Man made a comment with "Sweep The Leg".  This is an obvious reference that Sensei Kreese said to Johnny Lawrence in the original Karate Kid.

Sensei Kreese of the original Cobra Kai dojo in the Karate Kid film wanted to win at all costs and demanded no mercy from his students.  Johnny Lawrence, who isn't the villain of the Karate Kid by the way, did agree to sweep the leg to give his team a chance at victory in the All Valley 18U Karate Tournament.

Before Cobra Kai was streaming on YouTube or Netflix, the actors got together for a music video called Sweep The Leg.

You can visit the music video on YouTube here.

The band No More Kings made a song called Sweep The Leg, Johnny and it features many of the original cast of Karate Kid in the music video.  Even the referee from the 1984 film appeared in this music video. 

In the hobby world, when you hear the word King, you are likely to think of Donruss Diamond Kings, a constant staple since their 1981 inaugural release.  

In 2018, Donruss paid tribute to their 1984 design, but they have never used the same design format for their Diamond Kings as they originally appeared.  

Panini Diamond Kings is also a regular release and features a matte cardstock design that incorporates computer technology to give the cards a canvas appeal.  

This 2018 version strikes hard with the bold red color choice framed around the card.  Eagle Fang Dojo would be proud of this color frame. 

The back of the card gives a quote from the Giants dynasty "sensei", Bruce Bochy.  The former manager of the Giants talks about how McCutchen is not only a great ball player, but also a great teammate.  

How much influence do you think a manager has on a baseball team?  

The Other Karate Kid

As many of you know, I used to be a huge comic book nerd during the early 2000s.  One day soon, I may tell the true origin of Collecting Cutch and how it relates to a superhero story.  Time will tell.

In my time of collecting comic books there were three collections that I "super collected" and had near complete runs for: Daredevil, Gambit/X-Men, and The Flash.  The collection that I was closest to being complete was Daredevil.  I had every issue created except for 1-5, 8, and 10.  Nearly an entire run dating back to the Silver Age of comic books.  

I sold the entire collection when Daredevil had hit movie theatres and doubled my money, but had I held onto many of those books in today's market I would probably be looking at close to $10K for the collection with the grades they were in.  

The reason I liked Daredevil so much was that he was fearless.  

Like most things in the printing world, there are the writers and editors that bring these fabled stories to life.  

Long before Ralph Macchio was a known actor and star of the Karate Kid franchise, there was another Ralph Macchio that was editing for Marvel Comics.  This Ralph Macchio would be nicknamed by comic writers and artists Karate Kid, a play on his name.

Ralph Macchio, the Marvel Comics editor, was known for his extended run on Daredevil and Spider-Man that began in the 80s and went through the early 2000s.  The editor also helped launched The Ultimates comic line which helped to inspire the entire MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe).  The Marvel Movies owe a great deal of homage to Ralph Macchio, especially Spider-Man.  Even the Netflix Daredevil show would not have been possible without Macchio's editing and pushing through some stories.

So today I am showing my own homage to The Other Karate Kid by showcasing some recent McCutchen cards.  These cards all highlight Cutch catching flies like Spider-Man catches thieves.  (There's a sing that could be written along them lines, I just know it.)

Above are the 2020 Topps Stadium Club Chrome 

red logo parallel (5/5), refractor

xfractor, wave refractor

Continuing the theme of catching flies is my near complete rainbow of the 2020 Topps Gold Label Class 1 (fielding photo).  I have the Gold (1/1), base, black, and red (/75)

I still need the blue which is numbered to 150 copies.

Much like karate lessons (or class) there are different colors to strive for (Topps parallels).  

Go watch Karate Kid then watch Cobra Kai!!! 

Cobra Kai is currently streaming on Netflix.  It directly follows up where the 1984 movie Karate Kid left off.  The series shows a Johnny Lawrence (blonde kid and defending champ in Karate Kid) down on his luck and struggling to,get through life.  It plays up how that crane kick (which may have been an illegal move) by Daniel Larusso (played by Ralph Macchio) changed both their lives forever.  Larusso now owns one of the most recognizable car dealerships in California and they kick the competition prices, while Lawrence can barely make rent.

Lawrence sees a young teenager get assaulted by a bunch of bullies and comes to his aid by doing karate on them.  He eventually opens up his own karate studio named after his former training dojo, Cobra Kai.  

Over the course of the first three seasons many familar faces (including the beautiful Elizabeth Shue) eventually make guest appearances and there are many similarities to the way Lawrence trains Miguel to the way Larusso learned under Mr. Miyagi.  

The cast is fun and the storyline, while simple, is entertaining.  I highly suggest for anyone with access to a Netflix account to watch it. 

Hopefully it brings back some 80s nostalgia along the way.

New Theme Week: Karate Kid/Cobra Kai

I have discussed my love for 2 specific 1980s movies (and their soundtracks) on this blog in the past.  In case you're just joining me, two of my favorite movies from the 80s are the animated Transformers (1986) and Karate Kid (1984).

Both films feature uplifting and rocking soundtracks.  

I am not the huge fan of Transformers that I was when younger, but the scene of Optimus Prime dying still gets me misty.

Karate Kid however is a different story.  Thanks to the Netflix series, Cobra Kai, I have fallen completely obsessed with every detail from the original movie and it's sequels, reboots, and current TV series.

This week I will be looking at my Andrew McCutchen collection and connecting items to this kicking franchise.

Much like some of my other themed weeks or the month long SaveSecondBase event, every item will tie into the theme in some way.  

To kick it off here is a 2017 Topps Throwback Set commemorating the 1984 design in honor of players' weekend.

As I mentioned above, Karate Kid was released in theatres in 1984.  I was only three years old at the time so obviously it would be years later on a VHS rental before I finally saw it (and fell in love with it).  

Everything about Danny's ability to overcome a new setting and bullies appealed to me when I finally saw it in grade school. 

I chose this card, because it was the last Topps Throwback online set that featured Cutch in a Pirates uniform.  Much like Daniel Larusso's character moving from a familar East Coast setting in Newark, New Jersey, following the 2017 season Cutch was on the move out west to California.

The colors of black and yellow match the colors for Cobra Kai.

I fricking love that show....

I'll talk a little about that show tomorrow.

I Love The 80s: A Real Kick to the Head Regarding 1984

Last year I celebrated most of the week leading into my birthday on this blog with a look back at the 1980s.  I was born in the 80s and had a lot of fun with those posts.  You can revisit any "80s week" post here.

While my most influential years of my life were the 90s, I actually prefer all things 80s compared to the 90s.

Give me Thundercats over Ren & Stumpy

Give me Motley Crue over Foo Fighters

And give me Karate Kid over Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Karate Kid is a top 10 movie of mine.  I always viewed Daniel Larusso as the film's hero and Mr Miyagi as a spiritual instructor who looks to bring inner peace. 

A video and article made 5 years ago could make you rethink that logic.

This analysis of the movie directly leads into the newest incarnation of the franchise, Cobra Kai.  

Cobra Kai was initially a YouTube streaming show, but has since moved to Netflix where it was just revealed a 3rd season will be released next year.  In the meantime you can get caught up on the original movie and the first two seasons that directly follows up on the first movie 30+ years later.

Cobra Kai is amazing and I plan to binge watch the second season this week!  

Here is the scan of a card that ties the original Karate Kid released in 1984 to the latest season of Cobra Kai released in 2019.

I have had this card forawhile but just got around to scanning it this week.  The shine and design really pop with all the primary colors on it.

The back design features the same context all other 1984 cards have from the 2019 Silver Packs, but this also has the fine print about the signing of all Topps products.

I put it in a one touch and what a beauty

What is your favorite movie from the 80s that has seen an extension to the mythos in recent years? There's been lots like Terminator, Rambo, all the toy selling cartoons (TMNT, Transformers, Ghostbusters, GI Joe), or maybe something?

You're the best around... nothing's ever gonna keep me down

Does anyone else still listen to movie soundtracks from 80s movies?

I'm not ashamed to say that the Transformers cartoon movie soundtrack along with the Karate Kid Soundtrack are two of my favorite albums ever made.

How about the Rocky soundtrack?  Anyone listen to that?

The 80s had great soundtracks, but this post is all about the Karate Kid.

Those songs get me jacked up!!!

You're the best
 around...
Nothing ever gonna keep you down

Ho Hum, it's another 1/1.

This cyan plate is from 2015 Bowman's Best.

It is my 3rd plate from 2015 Bowman Best.
All I need is the yellow.