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.