Custom 1/1 Team USA

I have no artistic bones in my body. 
This leads me to sometimes overpay for things I consider are innovative and artistic.

Such was this case with this triple custom card featuring autographs of Adam Jomes, Christian Yelich, and Andrew McCutchen. 

I have a few Adam Jones autographs as he is a great role model and a very consistent ball player.  I have almost 150 certified autographs of Cutch, but didn't have an autograph of Christian Yelich.

One of my dream cards would be to have a booklet containing all the autographs of the 2017 WBC Championship Team USA.  Autographs of Cutch, Buster Posey, Nolan Arenado, Christian Yelich, Giancarlo Stanton, Adam Jones, Eric Hosmer, Paul Goldschmidt, Alex Bregman, Ian Kinsler, Chris Archer, Andrew Miller, Brandon Crawford, Marcus Stroman, and the list goes on and on would be incredible for the collection.

The concept for this card was greater than the execution and had it not been so cheap after eBay bucks I wouldn't have even thought about it. 

From a distance it looks cool.  Up close....not so much.

Cardboard Cameos #9: Murcia!!!

Some supercollectors collect cardboard that features their player mentioned somewhere on the card.  Checklists, mentions on the back, a fan sign in the stands, etc.

Well, I am not that far into super collecting yet, but I did notice that one of my favorite current Pirates players, Felipe Rivero, now Felipe Vazquez, got an Andrew McCutchen quote on the back of his 2018 Topps card.

No heartbeat!

Have a safe Memorial Day weekend everyone!

Murcia!!!!

TEAM USA RELICS!

It's Memorial Day weekend and to celebrate I will be showing off some cards that represent the holiday in my eyes.

Up first is a blue parallel from 2017 Triple Threads numbered 3/3 (eBay 1/1)

I have previously shown off some of the other parallels on this blog, but the blue (sapphire) parallel really brings home the Americana feel to the cardboard.

Gold numbered 2/9

Emerald numbered 4/18


I still need the ruby 1/1 along with the /27 and /36 parallels for this particular rainbow.

Card #2,222: A New Milestone

Andrew McCutchen has over 4,000 cards produced including 1/1s and a bunch of Just Minors sticker autographs.  While I have been knocking out a few of the Just Minors, I am still very far away from collecting all those 1/1s.  There's just waaaaaaay too many printing plates to chase.  On top of it, Topps has wisely begun producimg cards of different sizes for the player collectors to try and chase down.  It's no longer about having the standard size cards.  Beckett has checklisted all the 5x7s, 10x16s, and mini size cards that Topps offers through their online shop.

To put into perspective how insane the sheer amount of parallels has gotten in recent years, 24 year old Tyler Glasnow has nearly 1,700 cards produced.  He has pitched 109 innings with a 6.52 ERA.

I will never collect 100% of all the Cutch cards, but when I can look at multiple pages on eBay or COMC that aren't 1/1s and say I have them I feel I have done a good job of Collecting Cutch.

Since arriving to the majors in June 2009, Cutch has worn #22 so I am proud to show off my 2,222nd unique card of Cutch.

I am a big fan of the 2017 Definitive release.  Every card has an MLB authentication sticker so you can research the game the jersey was used.

In addition, the design is just beautifully crafted.  The textured layers of purple background on this particular card numbered 2/5 really make the card pop.

Big Patch!!!

What's this?

Just another 1/1 colossal patch of the 2013 NL MVP

No big deal

1984 Produced One Of The Greatest Year of Movies

I picked up a 2018 Donruss printing plate of the 1984 design and was looking for something to link my random baseball card to pop culture.

I definitely was too young to remember these movies in the theatre, but there was some amazing movies that came out that year.  They were so good they have inspired sequels and even TV series.

Let's run through the list....

Gremlins

Karate Kid

Ghostbusters

The Terminator

With so many great franchises created in 1984, it's hard to pick a favorite.  I would have to go with Ghostbusters as I loved both the original two movies, the cartoon (both versions), and even the all female led recent movie.

That being said, if you haven't watched the first two episodes for free on youtube of the Cobra Kai series, shame on you.  What an awesome concept for a TV show and it is beautifully done.  I just can't commit to YouTube Red to watch the rest of series.


By the way I am at 196 different Cutch 1/1s.

Welcome BACK JHay

Last week I got in another new addition to the ever expanding Andrew McCutchen collection.  For a mere $30 I added an extremely rare (ONLY 10 PRODUCED) 2015 Topps Heritage Blue Back League Leaders card.

The card looks identical on the front

But the back features a blue back

Compared to the standard base color

With so many Heritage completists out there and the fact this card features 3 players, I wasn't sure if I would have to wait another 3 years or more before one resurfaced again.

It's good to have JHay back in the lineup.