I Got The Golden Ticket

Remember in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, when Charlie got a Golden Ticket which allowed him access to the factory?

A few days ago was kind of like that

I just picked up two numbered parallels for $10 that I have needed for half a decade.

That my friends is a Golden Ticket on the right

Nice score?

Well it's numbered to only 10, so I would say yes

Has there been any parallels you have been on the look for half a decade?

It's finally here!!!!

To us baseball fans, there are few better phrases than "pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training".  Of course hearing Opening Day, Home Run Derby, Postseason, and World Series Champions are pretty good too.

But for me, I get so happy when Spring Training starts.  The Pirates amongst many other teams are expecting pitchers and catchers to report today.

Everything is officially reset.

Someone who I have really enjoyed watching the past few years is Nolan Arenado.  I have considered going after a Nolan PC.  This card was part of a lot with the Cutch you see above.  Maybe it was destiny as this manurelic represents my first "hit" of the reigning 3B Silver Slugger and 3B gold glove winner.

The card backs are featured below.

If anyone wants to send me some Nolan Arenado cards I will gladly accept them.

Please don't forget about my contest.
It will run until Opening Day 2017

Something Big is Coming

I hinted at having acquired a few big Ginter cards when I showed off the SP 2016 Ginter Relic.

Well, here's the lesser of the BIG cards I got.

I am such a sucker for Oversized Relic cards.

This /25 Relic Box Topper was a must have.

I will show off one of my favorite cards in my entire collection in the next few days.

Name this Segment Contest

Hey guys. In order to generate some extra awareness of this blog I need your help. Here's the concept.

Back of baseball cards have a lot of neat stats, BUT they also provide some very interesting facts.  Sometimes they mention other players career achievements on the back. I would like to make a segment (not sure if it will be monthly or weekly or random) where I highlight the player in question.

In a way I see these segments becoming similar to a Spider-Man Team Up comic book.  It's still a Spider-Man comic, but each month a new "guest" will appear.

Today's card is a 2013 New Age Performers card (#NAP-AM) from Topps Heritage.  It compares Andrew's near MVP performance in 2012 to Tony Oliva's 1964 season.

Being a baseball fan, obviously I am aware of Tony's accomplishments in short recognition.  It wasn't until I read this card though that I decided to research all that Tony accomplished in his brief injury ridden career.

In reviewing his accomplishments, I think that Tony Oliva belongs in the Hall of Fame.  He missed getting voted in by the Golden Era Committee by 1 vote in 2014.

Let's look at what Tony accomplished during his career.
8x All-Star Games (1964-1971)
3x Batting Titles (1964, 1965, 1971)
Gold Glove Award (1966)
Rookie of Year (1964)
Twins Retired #6

Tony suffered many injuries which lead to him becoming a full time DH.  His first eight seasons lead to him being an All-Star which at the time was a record previously held by Joe Dimaggio. He had 1,917 career hits and 220 Home Runs. At his career peak 8 seasons, his Hall of Fame worthy career reached 42.3 Wins Above Replacement.

Do you think Tony belongs in the Hall of Fame OR the Hall of Very Good?

So here's the contest
1) Leave a comment with a suggestion name for these "Team-Ups"
This will automatically give you entry for the contest

2)Pimp the contest by sharing on your blog, twitter, or other social media and provide a link in addition to suggesting a title for this segment
This will earn you some free cards

3)The name I find to be most clever will earn the Andrew McCutchen Triple Threads card you see below.

This contest will end on Opening Day 2017. If I find the suggested name to be offensive, you will not be qualified to receive cards.

Stop me if you've heard this one

Knock Knock

Who's there?

1987

1987 Who

Knock Knock

Who's there?

1987

1987 Who?

Knock Knock

Who's there?

Orange

Orange Who?

Orange you glad there's more 1987 parallels to chase

Continuing where I left off yesterday, I present to you more of my 2017 Cutch cards in addition to some of my retro inspired cards from yesteryear.

I already have the orange, blue , and green parallels in hand and am awaiting on the gold.  I still need the base if anyone wants to send that to me.

Throwback Thursday: My First 2017 Cutch

2017  Topps has been out for a lil over a week now. I have kept quiet showing off any thoughts about the flagship release because I needed a Thursday to reveal this card first.

I bought a blaster at Target last Friday.  Unlike many others, I showed resistance (for a few extra days) of not buying 2017 Topps because I knew Cutch didn't have a base card in Series 1.

Cutch has a bunch of inserts and parallels though.
Jackie Robinson patch and insert
Spring Training Pin
5 Tools Insert
1987 Retro
1987 Color Refractors

Like everyone else I love the 5 Tool Talents and enjoy the 1987 cards.  I actually already bought a bunch of the color parallels from eBay.

Here's some other cards I got in my blaster.

Nothing really exciting in the blaster so I am just showing off a few of my favorites from the packs I opened.

This was my first pack and my first card of 2017 was Lucas Duda. Yuck!  The rest of pack was so bad I didn't even want to show it.

Wil Myers had a great year last year. The Steve Avery rediscover Topps card reminds me how much I hate the Braves

Jose Fernandez R.I.P.
The Beltran is gold /2017
The Chris Davis card is really neat looking.  I miss those subtle moments from the game being on cardboard.
Victoria Justice? Yes Please!!!

I like the inserts a lot this year, but the rookie class is really good for series one. I hear that Gary Sanchez guy is supposed to be good.

The team celebration cards are awesome as are the 5 Tool Talents.  The D'arnaud is rainbow foil.  It's amazing how Zach Duke has turned his career around to be a dominant lefty out of the pen.

My Jackie Robinson patch was Miguel Sano

Here's the other Pirates I got

Researching the Relic: 1/1 Bat Knob

I love alliteration.  It's fun for making catching titles.

A few weeks ago I showed a bunch of manufactured bat knobs, bat barrels, and fielding gloves.  I said that it was a sneak peek of something big to come.

So here's the thing.  This card was listed with an eBay reserve and 9 day auction.  That time felt like forever to end.

I love this card!  Even without logos, it's still one of my favorites in my impressive collection of over 1,400 unique cards of Cutch.

You may notice that the bat knob has a PSA/DNA sticker on it.  This makes it easy to research the relic.

Here is the PSA link authenticating the bat.  If you don't want to view the link, here is the image of the bat authenticated by PSA.

I wonder if a bat barrel nameplate will be made in the future.