Fish Are Friends, Not Food

Today is the last day of Shark Week programming.  I'm saddened by this as I always enjoy learning more about sharks each year.

I will FINish up the week of celebrating this Jawsome event by highlighting some more former sharks that are teammates with Cutch.

After all... fish are friends, not food

I have shown off a few of my former Jupiter Hammerhead, JT Realmuto, and a few Clearwater Threshers too.  

Today I am going to look at another former Clearwater Thresher who is a current teammate of Cutch.  

I am talking about Rhys Hoskins

Now before I go showing off a pair of Rhys & Cutch combos I wanted to talk about Rhys' 2015 season in Clearwater A+ ball.  

In 67 games with the Threshers, Rhys hit at a .317/.394/.510 slash line good for a .904 OPS.  He also collected 39 RBI, 29 BB, and clubbed 8 homers in those 67 games.

Pretty good numbers for the former Clearwater "ninja shark".

Now for the cards...

Above is a dual autograph from the Target exclusive Topps Fire product.  

It is limited to only 25 copies.

Above is the on card autographs of Cutch and Rhys from 2019 Topps Five Star.  It is limited to only 10 copies.

🔥I Am On Fire🔥

I have been on fire adding new Cutch cards from his Pirates playing days (2005 to 2017) over the past month having acquired nearly a dozen cards in 1 month.  This makes up for a slower February that I had.

Above is the 2017 Topps Fire Gold Minted parallel.  These are available only in blaster boxes.

I snagged this blaster box exclusive card for under $5 delivered after taxes and shipping

Have you picked up any cards on your want list for under $5 shipped recently? What did you get?

Twitter Hookups in Red & Gold

I got tagged in a few Twitter posts over the past month and it resulted in 4 new cards added to the collection all seen below, all either red or gold cards.

These cards were awesome to add to the collection with half of them being limited to less than 10 copies

Let's take a look at each one and I will thank them each

First up is a card I received PWE from our very own blogger Daniel of It's Like Having My Own Card Shop.  This is the red foil 2020 Topps Fire card.

This is the gold foil 2020 Topps Triple Threads numbered 7/9 and features Bat relics and road grey jerseys. Brandon sent me this for an incredible price. Check him out   @bfcoach22 on Twitter.

I will always have a soft spot for gold parallels of Cutch in a Pirates uniform. ALWAYS!  Getting this limited print run (50 copies produced) gold border 1983 design of Cutch from 2018 Topps for $3 via PWE seemed too good to pass up.  Huge thanks to John for the awesome deal and hookup.  Check him out @ _JjOoHhNnZz_ on Twitter.

Topps Chrome is pretty cool.

😎Topps Chrome red parallels of Cutch in a Phillies uniform are cooler. 😎

John aka JohnnyBones aka Dr.Booo hooked me up with this red parallel /5

His twitter is @JohnnXf

*********BONUS CONTENT*********

I received a PWE yesterday after I had already scanned the above 4 cards.

One of my favorite player super collectors is JT aka TripleCrown24.  He has a huge Miguel Cabrera supercollection (over 2500 unique Miggys).  His YouTube channel and good presence on Twitter @itstriplecrown make him a fun follow.

He sent me the above 2013 Bowman Platinum Sapphire parallel.

The back shows how ****ing good Cutch was in his prime.

So there's a few cards I got over the past few weeks all through Twitter.

Thank you to everyone involved.

🔥 I Need The Fire 🔥

For the past few years Topps has been offering an exclusive product at Target called Topps Fire.  Some years have been better than others and their initial online set still ranks among my favorite insert cards to feature Cutch.  You can click here to see it.  

As for this years Topps Fire design, it is pure 🔥 fire 🔥!

I LOVE the look of this year's Topps Fire design.  It has a retro 80s style lettering (it looks just like Transformers or Thundercats if you ask me) along with fun futuristic backgrounds.

The backs have a border that mirrors what you see on the front along with some trivia about the player with no stats.

So far I have accumulated 3 of the parallels and am torn for which parallel I like the most.  The green numbered to 199 copies pops with the retro uniform that Cutch is wearing.

The purple looks really good too and is numbered to only 99 copies.

Keep me in mind for all parallels you may come across.

This is the Gold Mint parallel.  I wish the lettering was left alone and not modified.

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.

🔥 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.

Star Wars Day: A New Hope

Today is Star Wars Day, May the Forth (be with you).  I am not a HUGE Star Wars fan, but will be watching the all day marathon on TBS today.

I will display everything I remember about the 1st Star Wars released in 1977 using Andrew McCutchen baseball cards.  The first Star Wars released was called A New Hope

This is my Saphire Hope parallel from 2013 Topps.  It is New to my collection, thus "A New Hope"

The first Hope parallels were inserted in the now famous 2011 Topps Update Series.  The Hope parallels were numbered to 60 copies.

Mine is 40/60.

I'm glad I grabbed this one forever long ago as trying to get the Hope parallels now are almost impossible to find thanks to the rookies of Mike Trout, Jose Altuve, and Paul Goldschmidt.

 Darth Vader learns that the rebels have gotten plans to destroy his Death Star.

Luke Skywalker, who we later find out is Vader's son and Princess Leia's brother, is seen on Tattooine, a desolate planet with lots of sand.

I have 10 total parallels of Cutch looking like he is swinging a bat on Tatoine including
 black and white, Members Only
Red Foil, Rainbow Foil
Sepia, Photographer's Proof

Chrome Mint Good, Chrome Refractor
Chrome Superfractor (1/1), Chrome

Luke meets a legendary Jedi named Obi-Wan Kenobi

The Pirates have had a lot of legendary players over the years, but it all started with Honus Wagner.

Kenobi teaches Skywalker how to yield a lightsaber, the weapon of choice for all Jedi.

This 5x7 Topps Fire Gold card (/10) is one of my favorite designed cards ever to feature Cutch.

Luke becomes a Jedi and begins to wear the same wardrobe as his mentor.

In 2010 Topps Unique and Heritage Rookie Performers, Cutch is wearing a 1909 uniform made famous by Honus Wagner.

Other things happen and at the end, Skywalker gets in an X-wing Figher to perfectly shoot down the Death Star's only vulnerable spot, by using the Force.

I remember Skywalker getting a medal at the end of one of the movies, so if this ribbon looking card doesn't match up with how New Hope ended, let's just use a lot of imagination and pretend it's an aerial silhoutte view of an X-Wing fighter.

With your powers combined...

Anyone remember Captain Planet?

I was watching a YouTube video about 90s cartoon intros and really dug  the intro for Captain Planet.  Granted it was mainly produced by TBS as a way to educate young people about ecological sustainability, but it had some cool characters and memorable moments.

The premise of it wasn't too far removed from another of my favorite cartoons, Voltron, that I would watch growing up.  Instead of 5 space pilots learning to work together through teamwork and form a giant mechanized super robot, there was 5 teenage activists from across the globe that had to use their "powers" gifted from a magical ring to work together to form a blue bodied mullet bearing superhero called Captain Planet.

Captain Planet literally brought about a hero that could only appear when everyone worked together to stop pollution.  The teenagers that summoned him were empowered through magical rings gifted from Gaia (Mother Earth).  Each ring possesed a different element to control and allowed the user to use it to prevent further damage from occurring.  The 4 natural elements (earth, wind, fire, water) were also used in association with heart to give the Planeteers abilities to overcome the over top villainy of Dr. Blight, Sly Sludge, Duke Nukem, Looten Plunder, Hoggish Greedly, and Verminous Skumm.

Let's take a look at some Cutch cardboard and how it can relate to the Earth Saving rings used by the Planeteers.

Earth

I chose a Gypsy Queen Sliding Stars mini card because it features dirt flying.  Seems appropriate for a ring that can cause the ground to literally come up from under you.

Fire

This card was a no brainer.  Topps has been producing a line of cards called Fire for a few years.  The one represented here is a metal card available only via there website in 2014.

Wind

I love this card. It ranks as one of my favorite images of Cutch on cardboard.  It looks like Cutch is taking some flying lessons with the wind lifting him up at Wrigley Field.

Water

This 2018 Legends in the Making blue parallel is a bit of a stretch for water, but something about the design of the card mixed with it being a blue parallel reminds me of a beach landscape.

Heart

This short print features a pair of 2013 Pirates All-Stars.  Pedro Alvarez and Andrew McCutchen look like they are great friends.



What are you doing today to celebrate Earth Day and help save our planet?

So hot, it's fire 🔥 🔥 🔥

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month.  Visit the official site here.

Breast Cancer will be detected in one of eight women in the US each year.

It is the second leading cause of cancer death among women each year.

On average every 2 minutes a woman will be diagnosed with breast cancer and every 13 minutes one person will die from breast cancer.
There are currently 33 million breast cancer survivors in the USA.

It's important to support the research for cancer.  Breast Cancer is often associated with the color pink so I will be showing off some pink Cutch cards.

In addition, you can expect to see some boobs with each post.  Who doesn't love boobs?

So let's start with what we're hoping to save!

Rosario Dawson

I first became aware of Dawson for her role in Men in Black 2 opposite of Will Smith.

She has gone in to star in many movies and TV shows.

Right now she is a HUGE part of the Marvel Netflix Universe where her character is the only character to appear in all seasons of Daredevil, Cage, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, Defenders, and The Punisher.

Being a NJ guy and living just a few minutes from Kevin Smith's comic shop, I of course have it in my blood to love all the View Askew films including Clerks 2.  Her jiggly personality as Rebecca helped save that film.

Over the years Dawson has also lended her voice to comic and princess type stories like Wonder Woman, Lego Batman, and Tinkerbelle.

This of course in addition to movies like Sin City 2 where she stole the spotlight.

For an actress who's first role was a movie called Kids she is living out every kids fantasy of being super popular and appearing in movies, tv, film, and music videos.

She has starred across action stars like Bruce Willis in the film Fire with Fire.

This 2017 Fire Magenta is numbered to 25 copies.

It is a card I grabbed last year for the Black,Friday special they were doing on COMC.

DONT SET FIRES ON DEVIL'S NIGHT!!!