I've been showing off a bunch of Allen & Ginter cards lately and this will be my last A&G post for awhile.
I thought it would be fun to show off all my metal cards from Allen & Ginter
This is the only non Pirates metal mini I have. It's from 2019 and features him in a Phillies uniform. Strangely enough the 2019 versions didn't have the standard hand numbering that others have.
Above is the 2015 version. The 2015 Rip Cards weren't coated inside with the proper wax sealant which caused all the metal and art cards to get EXTREMELY scratched up.
This is the 2016 extended SP mini metal
And here is the base of which I own all 3 of the print run.
I've talked about being a metalhead on here a few times sighting bands like Vision of Disorder (V.O.D.) and Pantera being two of my favorite bands of all time.
I am not up with bands post 2005 though. I don't really have the time now to listen to music other than driving home from work on occasion.
Having been in a teenage metal band, I think the sounds of guitars shredding, double bass pedal drumming, and deep bass lines will always be in my blood.
Saint Patrick's Day is here so I wanted to run a contest perfect for a celebration of green.
Here is one of my favorite "green" cards of Cutch.
It is from 2017 Flawless and is the green emerald parallel which features an on card autograph numbered to only 3 copies (!!!!) And encapsulated in a nice one touch case complete with a Flawless sticker.
From 2016 Flawless I have a giant patch of the Jolly Roger sleeve logo on an Emerald card numbered 2/5.
Flawless Victory
Speaking of Flawless Victory
Above is a video of the Pirates clinching their playoff spot back in 2014.
I have a bottle that was used in the champagne showers that evening and it is signed by Andrew McCutchen.
Here is another image of the bottle. I shrink wrapped around the signature so it won't fade over time.
Here is the authentication for the bottle
The Pirates 2014 team was a fun one to root for despite them not advancing very far in the Postseason. They, like everyone else in the 2014 Postseason, got Bumgarnered. There are a few other reasons though why I can't label it my favorite team roster.
That distinction belongs to the predecessor year, 2013.
2013 was a magical year for Pirates fans. It marked the end of the 20 year losing streak. More important though there was a group of men that I watched develop into one of the best teams in baseball.
2013 was loaded with many individuals getting hardware and personal accomplishments.
Andrew Mccutchen was MVP, Player's Choice MVP, silver slugger
Clint Hurdle was Manager of Year
Pedro Alvarez was a silver slugger and HR champ
Francisco Liriano was Comeback Player of Year
Jason Grilli won Reliever of Month twice and was featured on Sports Illustrated
Pirates All Stars included Cutch, Alvarez, Grilli, Jeff Locke, and Mark Melancon.
The team had veterans like Garrett Jones, Russell Martin, and AJ Burnett built around a young core coming into their prime.
We saw flashes of brillaince from rookie "future ace" Gerrit Cole as he won his first 6 games and beat former Cy Young Winners: Tim Lincecum, Clayton Kershaw, and Zack Greinke in his first three games. My brother got married in 2013 and I made a bet with him that if the Pirates made the postseason in 2013, he would name his first son Cole because of Gerrit Cole. I love my niece, but am still hoping I get a nephew one day and my brother lives up to that bet.
Even the bench and role players were fun to root for. Travis Snyder may have been a top prospect a long time ago, but his career never blossomed into superstar. Still, Lunchbox as he was known was an everyday guy who fans could root for. The same can be said for guys like Mike "The Fort" McHenry and Clint "Journey" Barmes. I suspect Pittsburgh is the only city that gave Clint a standing ovation as a visiting player in his career.
So here is the contest.
Make a post about a year your favorite team DIDN'T win the World Series. Be sure to include why that year's roster stood out to you. Who were your favorite players that aren't superstars? Did any members of that team go on to Hall of Fame careers? Tell as much as you can about that team and any many memories you may have about that year in general.
After you make the post, leave a comment here with a link to your post. (Please reference my contest in your post)
On April 2nd, 2019 I will hit the randomizer 3 times. The person at the top of the randomizer will receive...
2004 Topps Tribute Carl Yastrzemski Green Wall Relic card.
I thought with it being St. Patrick's Day, a green wall relic of one of the most historically trophyless franchises (prior to 2004 at least) seemed appropriate.
Well after watching the 2021 Mortal Kombat film on HBO Max last night, it's time to bring back the Flawless Victory!!!
Here are some of my favorite Panini Flawless cards in my collection
Team USA is represented from Cutch's 18U days. These Flawless cards feature either on card signatures or actual gems (diamond, ruby, sapphire) inside.
Another pair of on card signatures, both limited to under 10 copies
A nice patch and on card autograph from his Pirates days
How about that sleeve patch of the Jolly Roger?!!!!
And these team up????
Starling and Cutch made for one of the best offensive/defensive outfields in baseball from 2012-2015.
No spoilers on the movie here, but the fact it was an R rated film really made this Mortal Kombat movie 10x better than the others. I loved the introduction of so many familar Mortal Kombat faces.
The battle of Scorpion and Sub Zero is epic.
Sonya Blade is a badass and hot!!!
Kano is a d**kbag just as you would expect.
The whole movie was great. It was a perfect video game movie. There, I said it!
Did you ever play Mortal Kombat? What were some of your favorite characters to play as?
They say hindsight is 20/20 and all I can say is I am so glad 2020 is in the rearview.
I thought it would be fun to look back at my favorite 20 cards released of Cutch in 2020.
Now let me first state that it's a little disappointing that Cutch wasn't included in sets like Topps Chrome (and the Ben Baller variant), Allen & Ginter (Allen & Ginter X and Allen & Ginter Chrome were exclusions also), Gypsy Queen, and Topps Archives, along with every Bowman product.
These were all upsetting exclusions for different reasons.
Topps Chrome is king of licensed Chrome parallels.
Allen & Ginter is my favorite release each year and I really wanted to see a Chrome version.
Gypsy Queen has been stale the past few years, but including Nick Williams over Cutch as part of the Phillies team set is a headscratcher for sure.
Topps Archives is a fun retro designed inspire set and all the designs this year would have allowed me to add a bew Cutch on a vintage design....if only he was included.
So here are my favorite cards released in packs that I personally own in my collection from the year 2020.
It should be noted that a lot of these cards have not appeared on the blog yet so you are seeing them for the first time today.
Call it biased, but Andrew McCutchen still looks best in a Pirates hat. From the moment he made his MLB debut in 2009 he became my favorite athlete. With the COVID shortened season, Topps had to modify their Update release since there weren't many Rookies to release in the set and there was obviously no All Star Game. Topps promoted the Update Series by featuring recent fan favorites in their All Star Game uniforms of years past. There was also an autograph/patch release similar to the All-Star Stitches we have seen in the past. I have the /25 version, but that card just features a basic jersey swatch. This /10 version has a nice chunky patch.
Did I mention I like Andrew McCutchen cards in a Pittsburgh uniform? Well I do. I also like autographs. And 1 of 1s. And laundry tags. This card covers a lot of my favorite things from a Cutch card. Only thing missing is dreadlocks and an on card signature.
Chunky patches and autographs are pretty awesome. They're less awesome in a Phillies jersey, but I can't complain about adding another Andrew McCutchen autograph to the PC.
This card is cool. The laundry tag patch says so. The patch is colossal and it features yet another autograph. Serially numbered to only 3 copies is fantastic!
I have a weird fascination for Topps Gold Label. I lovethe different classes with the different images used for each class. Often times in traditional cards of Cutch he is in a posed batting stance, not even an action shot. I really like fielding cards of Cutch. Gold Label Gold parallels are all numbered 1/1. I try to get at least one of these each year. The Bret "The Hitman" Hart glasses he's wearing are a nice added touch of his on field swag.
Speaking of swag? This card made a lot of top 10 lists for best sports card in 2020. Do I need to talk about this anymore?
Cutch received another SSP in Series 2 featuring him tipping his cap to his wife after a Home Run, but the 2020 Update SP features him at his Phillies press conference. There was a clear version available numbered to only 10 copies. I took a picture instead of a scan so you can hopefully see the legs of the bobblehead behind it.
The Topps UK release was produced with plans to only distribute it in the United Kingdom, but many of them were sold to US buyers. The set in general is kind of boring as it just features the Union Jack under the Topps logo. Of course there were parallels to chase, because well...it's 2020 and it's Topps. My favorite parallel is the Big Ben parallel because it brings the concept of the UK together.
2020 Stadium Club had a really nice design this year. The base card had an image of Cutch running home, but the 2020 Stadium Club Chrome release had an action shot of Cutch diving to catch a fly ball. Cutch has been criticized for his defense in recent years, but if you watch the games you can tell he still goes maximum effort on all plays. There were many parallels for this set as well as my favorite is the wave refractor.
Giant patch ✔
Limited print run ✔
Topps Museum ✔
There's a lot to like about this card
Red and Phillies go so well together so getting a 1/1 from Topps Triple Threads has been on the want list since he signed with the Phillies.
Bryce Harper is either the most overrated or underrated player in the game depending who you ask. Personally I think he gets a bad rap because he openly speaks his mind and in his first decade of playing in the majors hasn't broken every offensive and defensive record in the history books. The amount of hype he got as a 16 year old is something the aport had never seen. He may not be Mike Trout, but he is still one heck of a ballplayer and likely a future Hall of Famer. The Cutch patch on this /9 Gold Triple Threads card is a nice touch.
Seeing Cutch back in a Pirates uniform in a 2020 release made me so happy. I've picked up a few of the parallels and AJ sent me the base, but I'm going with the vintage logo/card stock parallel as my choice because Cutch in 2013 All-Star Game was vintage Cutch. He won the MVP award and helped the Pirates to their first post season in 20 years.
Red border parallels on cards with Phillies make for excellent pieces of cardboard, but that is not the reason I chose this card. The United States was going through some rough racial times during the summer and tensions were at peak levels. Baseball came through to properly honor the Negro Leagues and support Black Lives Matter. Andrew McCutchen was at the forefront of it on Opening Day and on the day the MLB honored Negro Leagues by wearing patches or vintage uniforms, Cutch hit a homer. This Topps Now card recognizes it.
1971 Topps is a gorgeous set with very tough grades. Getting a modern player on such a classic design is something Topps Heritage has been doing for nearly two decades. Cutch was a SP in the set.
I wasn't around in the hobby when Sweet Spot was all the rage, but Panini captured the essence of the idea with Absolute Baseball. This Cutch ink looks like it will fade in the future, but for now I am going to enjoy it as it is just one of six copies.
How nice is that patch? 1985 Topps is an awesome design. Adding a massive patch to the card makes it pop!
This scan is terrible and I promise I will get a better scan for October when I show it off again. It's a pink hyper plaid parallel from 2020 1986 design autograph. Best of all it's number 2/2.
Year in and out, Cutch always gets a matching uniform swatch to the photo used on his Topps Definitive card releases. I doubt it's intentional as many other players don't get the same treatment, but a double red pinstripe jumbo jersey relic makes my list of favorite 20 Cutch cards added to the PC in 2020.
If Topps used spell check or proof readers, they would be a really good company that produces nice cards. The design of this 2020 Triple Threads Sapphire /3 is perfect. The triple bats for three of the Pirates All time greatest hitters is a nice touch. It's only blemish? Andrew's name has a "d" in it.
So in no particular order, those are my 20 favorite 2020 Cutch cards I picked up in 2020.
What are some of your favorite pickups of the past year?
To say I am excited for this movie is a huge understatement.
Bill & Ted debuted in 1989 in Bill & Ted: Excellent Adventure.
I have shown off some of these 1989 inspired Topps cards in the past.
In 2014, Bowman officially announced they were back (did they ever really go away?) With a "diamond refractor" card inspired by 1989 Bowman. The image used is from the 2013 All-Star game.
The insert set was officially dubbed Bowman is Back and featured a card back in a style similar to those oversized 1989 Bowman cards.
1987 Topps was the first set I ever put together with my dad, but 1989 is when I considered myself a kid who collected baseball cards. I loved that set and think that Topps should show it more love.
2014 Topps Chrome released a chrome version of Cutch using a 1989 design.
This is where things get fun.
Where there's Chrome, there's usually Superfractors.
As a kid who opened probably a case of 1989 Topps, I never thought there would be pieces of jersey or bats used by my favorite players embedded in the cards.
Look at how awesome that looks.
These rarely pop up for sale these days and are all numbered to only 25 copies or less.
And to wrap up my collecting adventure is a pair of 2014 Topps mini diecuts that were available in Series 1 and Series 2 packs.
I love these mini cards.
Kudos to Topps for actually doing a different writeup on the back.
Topps isn't the only manufacturer that recognizes that fans cling to nostalgia.
Panini released a 1989 Donruss MVP inspired subset in their 2019 Optic release. Some players had base versions and some players had autograph only versions.
Cutch got the autograph only treatment and all the different parallels feature on card signatures.
Many of these are numbered to 3 or less copies.
The set featured a pretty diverse group of signers from Keith Hernandez, Willie McGhee, Kevin Mitchell, and Jose Canseco to legendary players like Ken Griffey Jr, Brooks Robinson, Ryne Sandberg, Johnny Bench, Joe Morgan, and Frank Thomas. There are also fan favorites like Steve Garvey, Dale Murphy and Cutch. The hit king, Pete Rose, has an auto in it as well.
The sequel to Bill & Ted came in 1991 with the release of Bill & Ted: Bogus Journey.
I have a few 1991 cards featuring Cutch thanks to a 2016 Topps Archives release that used the 1991 design as one of the 3 designs that year.
The nice thing about Cutch appearing on the 1991 design for 2016 Archives is that there is an Operation Desert Shield SSP variant to go with the blue and red border parallels.
The black border 1/1 is stunning with the black alternate jersey
The back shows Cutch's impressive run as the leader in the National League in many offensive categories.
Topps began to really start pushing their 5x7 cards in 2016 and I was fortunate to grab a gold parallel numbered to 10 copies.
Panini got into the nostalgia throwback game as well when they released a 1991 Donruss Studio inspired card as part of their Father's Day release.
Above is the black and white test proof (/5 copies), Base, and Lava flow parallel.
The back discusses Cutch's enjoyment of the Discovery Chanel and dubstep music.
Getting multiple 1/1s of Cutch in 1989 and 1991 designs has been both a most excellent adventure and a totally bogus journey.
With a career heading towards a twilight and it looking more and more like there won't be a baseball season this year, it is time to Face The Music that new releases of Cutch will likely become less available.
This is the only non Pirates metal mini I have. It's from 2019 and features him in a Phillies uniform. Strangely enough the 2019 versions didn't have the standard hand numbering that others have.
Above is the 2015 version. The 2015 Rip Cards weren't coated inside with the proper wax sealant which caused all the metal and art cards to get EXTREMELY scratched up.
This is the 2016 extended SP mini metal
And here is the base of which I own all 3 of the print run.
