The Most Elite

Each year during the month of October, I show off only pink (and shades of pink like magenta, peach, etc) to help raise awareness of Breast Cancer, a leading cause of death for females in the United States.  

Due to my own financial situation this year I will not be able to make a donation for each (meaningful, non spam) comment left by those that follow the blog.  Once things settle down on the home front though I will be looking to make a donation in 2022 based on the comments left during this year's event.  Hopefully together we can help at least one woman get a much needed mammogram.  Early detection is key!!!

If you want to make your own private donation please visit the National Breast Cancer Foundation.  There is a donate button on the main page and it only takes a minute of your time.  Every little bit helps.

I have focused primarily on cards that only feature Andrew McCutchen on the card, but in recent years have also featured cards with a cameo appearance (either being seen on the card or as a name cameo on the back of the card).  In 2019, I created Falco Files which discussed players that replaced (Shane Falco Replacements movie reference) on an active roster, number worn, or trade.  I will also be showing some Cutch's Crew cards that show pink cards of players that have played with Cutch on multiple teams. I will continue to utilize these styles of posts as we celebrate the 5th Collecting Cutch Save Second Base event (I am no longer counting my first run on the Pirates Treasure Room I did back in 2014).

I am always looking for new ways to incorporate new celebrities into the event so today I am presenting

Zoe Saldana

She was born in New Jersey in 1978 and got her first acting role in 2000. 

By 2003 she was beginning one of the most impressive runs at landing in movies with huge ticket sales when she played the role of Anamaria, from Pirates of Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl

She has been a huge part of many sci-fi movies over the past decade. 

In 2009 she starred in James Cameron's Avatar which was the highest grossing movie of all time.  Zoe helped to bring the world of Avatar to life by her stunning performance of Neytiri.

Avatar remained atop the highest selling movie of all time until a new Disney entry occurred in 2019.

That movie was Avengers:Endgame and thanks to a second release during the holiday season, it topped Avatar.

Zoe retained her role from the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, playing the role of Thanos' step daughter, Gamorra.

If you want a top selling Sci-Fi movie in the 21st century go to Zoe Saladena.  She has been the most elite actress of the past decade.  By the end of 2019 she was the 2nd highest grossing actress of all time.

Above is a magenta printing white whale from 2020 Triple Threads.  It features an autograph and patch relics and bat relics.  The card spells out Decade Elite

The back discusses how elite Cutch was offensively during the 2010s. 

What was the last movie you saw in theatres?

Do you plan to see any movies in the near future?

Dr. Seuss Day (a day late)

Yesterday was Dr. Seuss Day and I had a post planned, but completely forgot about it until moments after I posted about Daniel McCutchen.  I didn't want to do two posts in one day so you're getting my Dr Seuss post today.

When I was really young, my dad would read me Dr Seuss books, my favorite being Fox in Socks.  I loved the whimsical universe all the Dr Seuss characters lived in and my favorite theme parks to visit is Universal Island of Adventure because of the mini Dr Seuss part of the park (the Marvel portion is sweet too). 

The characters of Cat in the Hat and Grinch are very famous and I would guess 90% of the American population would recognize them.  There are other great stories though that Seuss created that can be turned into life lessons.  

Stories like The Lorax talk about pollution and it's effects while stories like The Sneetches talk about equality regardless of what you look like. The Seuss universe is filled with much more impactful stories than silly drawings and sayings.

Take Green Eggs and Ham for example, you can repeatedly refuse to try something new assuming you won't like it.  But once you try something new you may find that it works better for you and you really enjoy it. 

We are currently going through some changes at my job which is putting added pressure on myself and my team.  Rather than say "I do not like them Sam I am" I am willing to give it a try.  We shall see how successful this new method works.

Above is a 2010 Topps Triple Threads Rising Stars black printing plate autograph patch card.

The back has the same card back as the standard Rising Stars auto relic cards have, but it states it is a white whale in the top right corner and a 1/1 in top left corner.  You will see that this card recognized Dr Seuss Green Eggs and Ham as Cutch's favorite book he ever read. 

Do you have a favorite Dr. Seuss book?

What are your thoughts on six Seuss books recently being banned over racial concerns?

Another Classic

A few days ago I mentioned that I had a full box of Andrew McCutchen autograph cards that I hadn't shown off yet.  

Here is just another example of what can be expected when I finally show them all off.

This is a 2014 Panini Classics Significant Signatures card with a nice patch.  The autograph is a sticker auto, but the patch makes this card a very limited print run with only 10 copies produced. 

The back of the card discusses how pitchers began pitching around Cutch in 2014 following his 2013 MVP season.  I like that it gives details of a 3 walk performance, but also discusses how Cutch had dreadlocks and feared pitchers.

Tomorrow is a Hallmark inspired holiday and I will try to come up with some inspiring for it.

This Hobby Has Lost It's Mind

Today I got a card in the mail that has a really sweet prime patch with three colors showing (blue, white, red).  

The card is from 2020 Topps Museum and is numbered to only 10 copies.

Sweet card!

It cost me $21 and change to win.

Not a bad price, albeit a little more than I would like to pay for a patch like this for a team that isn't the Pirates, but if I were to buy a random blaster at Target and pulled a 3 color patch numbered to 10 copies of a 5 time All-Star and MVP winner, I would be pretty happy.

Oddly enough a similar card (with a higher print run) sold yesterday for $86!!!!

$86!!!!????

Why?????  I was trying to win it for about $12.  The patch is nearly identical, but it features a print run of 15 more copies.

The day before that, I missed out on an autograph numbered to 10 copies that sold for less than $16 because I never set a sniper on it.

This card is probably in the $50+ range, but the lucky winner got a steal for this card for under $20.  

A few months ago we saw the hype of the Cutch Swag SP reach heights of $350+ and consistently sell in the $200 range for a week.  Now it can be had for under $30 regularly.

What do you think is causing all these crazy highs and lows with the card market and specific players?  

Why would the /10 version sell for only a quarter of the price of the /25 version for the 2020 Museum Patch I bought?  

An Offer That Can't Be Refused

When it comes to CollectingCutch there are a few boxes I like to check off with each purchase.

Andrew McCutchen ✔
Shiny ✔
Pirates uniform ✔
Dreadlocks era Cutch ✔
Die-cut or unique design ✔
Game worn patch relic ✔
Autograph

I love shiny die cut Pirates cards of Andrew McCutchen sporting dreadlocks with patches.

This crosses off all the boxes of Cutch Collecting except the autograph.

I mentioned wanting this card back in December when I created my New Want List.  You can revisit some of those cards here.

I previously lost a version of this card over 9 months ago when it sold for a ridiculously silly price of under $5. 

Recently another one became available for sale so I messaged the seller about my collection and offered the above screen shot as a reference point for pricing.

He obviously wanted to get maximum value and didn't think the $5 price was a fair price to sell his copy at.

I refused to let this card get by me again (knowing that there is less and less of these existing on the secondary market) and offered a price he couldn't refuse.

I paid 5x what it would have cost me last September, but this is one of those cards that I really needed to add to my collection.

We are nearing the halfway point of the year and I have picked up a few additional cards off that most wanted list.

First up is probably going to win my card pickup of the year

2019 Museum Collection 1/1 Jackie Robinson Patch Autograph
This card crosses off the "any autograph I don't have" category and also the "unique game used patches" category.


Another pair of cards I have picked up, but haven't shown off yet relate to the winter holidays.  You'll have to wait another 6 months to see those.  Sorry.

I have gotten a pair of unique memorabilia items in over the past few months as well.  The lineup card from Cutch's 1st HR and the foul ball hit right before an epic 12 pitch walkoff HR from 2018 highlight the memorabilia front.

Stay tuned as there is more cool things coming in as well.

Falco Files: Happy Belated Birthday Sergio

During the off-season heading into the 2018 season, the Pirates made a bold move by trading theface of the franchise, Andrew McCutchen, to the San Francisco Giants along with salary for Bryan Reynolds, Kyle Crick, and some international spending money.

While details of every dollar will never be made public for how the Pirates used that international money, there are records of who the Pirates did sign using international spending money available from that off-season.

One such player the Pirates pursuaded was Sergio Campana.  Sergio just celebrated his 18th birthday a few days ago.  He is not ranked as one of the Pirates top 50 prospects heading into the 2020 season.

Campana spent his first year in professional ball last year as a 17 year old.  He plays centerfield and projects to be a toolsy outfielder.

In his first professional season at Gulf Coast League, Campana swiped 24 bags while batting .281/.362/.374.  Again he did that as a 17 year old.

Cutch played in 45 games as an 18 year old in the Gulf Coast League where he batted .297/.411/.430 while swiping 13 bags.

The numbers are comparable, but it is a small sample size for teenage ballplayers.  Cutch went on to finish in the top 5 NL MVP votes four years in a row, collected 4 silver sluggers, won a gold glove, and played in 5 consecutive All-Star Games.  Campana has a long way to go to match that.

Sergio does have autograph and jersey relic cards available in 2018 Elite Extra Edition.  They are extremely cheap at this moment (usually under $10).

Personally the signature isn't very aesthetic looking and the lack of team information makes it unappealing too.

But for $14, I took the chance on this future outfielder.

Details of the Pirates signing the toolsy teenage outfielder can be found here.

At what level do you start paying attention to the prospects in your favorite team's farm system?

Harpooned

With eBay items not popping up as often as they used to and COMC being in a hotbed of community spread of the virus, I made my 3rd Twitter purchase in a year and it just so happens to be another 1/1.

Before things got really crazy with dozens of new cases on a daily basis, I approached @nenunenu about a White Whale printing plate autograph/triple patch relic of Andrew McCutchen from 2011 Triple Threads.

The front of the plate features a sticker autograph og Cutch along with some road game used jersey swatches.

The Back features the white whale mark, but also discusses how good Cutch was when he first debuted for the Bucs.  To be in all time hostory in his first year is pretty remarkable.

Cutch is the last Giant to wear #22

It was announced Sunday that the San Francisco Giants are retiring #22 for Will Clark.

Will Clark played 8 seasons and was a 5 time All-Star with the club.  During that time he won a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger and was a top 5 MVP vote getter four times.

He finished his 15 year career with a triple slash line of  .303/.384/.497.  He collected 2,176 hits and 284 homers among the four teams he played with (San Francisco, Texas, Baltimore, St. Louis). Clark is definitely a member of the Hall of Very Good, but could he one day be elected to the Hall of Fame?

With it likely that the Giants won't issue #22 to any Giants player over the next six weeks it appears that Andrew McCutchen will be the last San Francisco Giants player to wear #22 before it is retired.

Next year when #22 is officially retired by the Giants I will highlight my 22 favorite Giants cards of Cutch.

In the meantime though here are a few cards that show the full 22 on Cutch's Giants cards.

Cutch has two different photo variations to,chase in 2019 Topps Museum Meaningful Materials.  Each of those photo variants are believed to have 5 different color parallels to chase.

This is my only Triple Threads Wood 1/1 of Cutch I own.  I always wanted a Pirates one, but they were going for $200+ and only featured relics when Cutch was in his prime.  I am pleased that I was able to get an autographed one (albeit a sticker) for under that mark.

 Cutch became an instant fan favorite in SF when he got 2 walk off hits in his first 10 games.

This walk off was one of the most memorable moments of the 2018 season. Cutch collected 6 hits in the game then launched a 3 run walk off homer in extra innings to seal the victory against long time rivals, Dodgers.

Here is a cameo card of Cutch running towards Nick Huntley after another walk off victory.

No airbrushing on this triple relic with two other San Francisco ball players. 

 Bad airbrushing on Panini's end for this San Francisco card of Cutch.  The yellow gloves and jersey number indicate that minimum effort was put into making this a card that resembles what Cutch wore in his brief time at the bay.

 Here are six different parallels from 2018 Stadium Club

 Here are four chrome versions

 Including the 1/1 Superfractor

Here is just a boring relic from Tier 1.

It's tough to see with the nice on card signature, but this Dynasty card features a great swatch of patch.

Two former MVPs congratulating each other...or practicing how to line dance.

The Debut of Patches Malone

The 2015 Diamond King set reminds me of the posters for Dark Knight Rises.

For proof see below...

Here is the poster not super cropped

Batman created an alter ego called Matches Malone when he was investigating the criminal underground.

Maybe unlicensed cardboard of Cutch will be looked at by Patches Malone.

Captain Marvel and Captain Cutch

Yesterday I treated myself to seeing Captain Marvel while the Miss was at work and I was enjoying a day off.

For those unfamiliar, Captain Marvel is the 21st movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  The bulk of the movie takes place during the mid 90s (1995 to be specific).  While I won't reveal any specific details or spoilers, but there is a major event in the film that takes place in 1989.

Coincidently, the film's star actress, Brie Larson, was born in the year 1989.  She was perfectly cast by the way in case you haven't seen it.

Last year I spotlighted Brie when I was showing off the pink designed backs of a 1989 style insert I own of Cutch.  You can revisit that post here to see Brie Larson in all her hotness.

In addition to the Chrome Superfractor 1/1 I showed off in that post with Captain Marvel's Brie Larson, I have another pretty awesome card using the 1989 design.

This 2014 Die Cut Mini has a nice patch from an away game Pirates uniform.  The card is numbered to only 25 copies on the front and shows Cutch posing like a Steel City Superhero.

The back of the card features the traditional look of a 1989 Topps card.  Black borders and a pink/magenta back taking up the majority of the card.  The only year showing is Cutch's MVP 2013 SEASON accompanied with his career totals through his 2013 season.  There is a writeup about how Cutch tried out for the varsity team as a 13 year old because the middle school he attended was so small it combined with the neighboring high school.  At such a young age, Cutch became his own Captain Marvel as he was the team's starting shortstop and lead the county in hitting.


As promised I am digging deep into my collection to find some cards that I haven't shown off yet featuring Cutch in his Pirates gear.

Another Dynasty?

The Giants had a mini Dynasty from 2010 to 2014 winning 3 World Series in 5 years.

With news that the Giants are still in on Bryce Harper, could they try to revitalize another mini Dynasty?

Andrew McCutchen hasn't been part of a Dynasty, but he will forever be linked to helping reinvigorate a love for baseball in the Steel City after TWO DECADES of irrelevance.

It's only fitting Topps used him in his Giants uniform for a product called Dynasty.

Dynasty is one of the best products puts out each year.  It features big bold on card signatures of living players along with big bold patches.  All cards are in one touch cases and sealed for protection.

When I heard that Cutch was going to be in a product like Dynasty I was EXTREMELY excited.  I have seen other player collectors load up on getting as many copies as possible.  With this addition I now know that there are 5 variations of Cutch.  This particular card discusses the rare heir that Cutch is in by hitting a trio of three homer games over his career.  Only Albert Pujols and Joey Votto have done that with him during his time in the league.

In case you missed my other two Dynasty cards I showed off already I have posted them below.  I still have a few more to reveal also.