Holiday Tribute

As I was looking through my binders for green and red parallels to show off I discovered a few things:

1) Topps and Panini make a lot of products each year

2) There are quite a few green and red parallels I still need to complete rainbows (2018 Bowman Platinum Green, I'm looking at you)

A pair of high end parallels stood out in my 2018 binder.

Topps Tribute dropped the typical bold parallels from year's past and introduced a version of Topps Tribute we have never seen before.

Enter wood borders made famous from the 1962 and 1987 designs.

This time the cards were given an acetate finish and the bold color parallels were less obvious.

I like this design, but it looks more like an insert set than low numbered parallels from a high end set.

What do you think of the above set design for 2018 Topps Tribute?

Game Used Base

Andrew McCutchen hit his 250th career HR on May 19th, 2021.  Topps, the next day honored McCutchen's HR as one of it's Topps Now moments.

They created a base card available for purchase at $9.99 each along with autograph versions.

The autograph versions have not shipped yet and they also contain a part of a base used from that game.

The relic versions containing a part of the base limited to 99 copies were made available for purchase at the Majestic store in Citizens Bank Park.

I purchased what I believe to be one of the better looking relics available as it contains part of the Citizens Bank Park logo.

The back contains a write up about Cutch's HR.

Above is a closer Look at the relic and identification sticker.

Closing out 4th of July Weekend

Above is a 2010 Topps Manufactured Hat Relic commemorating the 4th of July.  

Of all the manufactured cards Topps has produced over the years, I think this set of cards is the best looking ones produced even a decade later.  

World Series rings, pins, bat knobs, bat barrels all look cool, but they all look nearly identical to each other.  The unique team logos help set each player apart to make a great looking set.  

Do you have any of these relics from 2010 Topps?

Showing some brotherly (g)love

Today is my brother's birthday.  He is my best friend and I just wanted to take a moment to wish him a very Happy Birthday.

I am fairly certain that he got this card for me almost 10 years ago as a Christmas present as it was staged away with a bunch of vintage Pirates cards I know he got me for Christmas back in 2011 or 2012.

At the time I didn't have anywhere close to the Cutch collection I have now.  That was mostly due to the fact that Topps wasn't creating parallels of parallels in the early 2010s and they weren't having a new release every other week like the company does now. 

Whether or not he actually got me this card, there were a pair of 1/1s that he won for me from 2005 Bowman Heritage.  I wrote about them back in January 2018. 

Happy Birthday Kevin!!!

Above is a picture from almost a decade ago (July 2012) when I took him to his first trip to PNC Park (he has since gone back a few times on his own).  

He roots for all Florida teams (Jaguars, Magic, Rays/Marlins, Lightning) like I root for all Pittsburgh teams.  Neither of us are from Florida or Pittsburgh.  We are a strange pair of local oddballs. 

Collecting Mistakes

I recently watched a video on YouTube where an adult toy collector discusses some mistakes he has made over his 20 years of collecting action figures.  He prefaced the video by saying it was about his experiences with toy collecting, but can (and should) relate to any form of collection (sports cards, stamps, comic books, physical media, etc).

It was a fun video and he went on to discuss how buying Star Wars cereal didn't make much sense looking back, but at the time he was trying to be a completionist and collect everything relating to Star Wars Episode 2.  If you want to watch the video by Nerdzoic you can click here.

I related to the video, not because I bought Star Wars cereal and party cups, but I had made some of the same collector mistakes.

This collection of the above 3 cards describes many of the mistakes made.

It is a 2018 Panini Chronicles Classics partial rainbow.  As you can see this parallel has very subtle color differences.  The Classics logo is a different color and there is a foil stamp with a serial number.  The gold is limited to 99 copies.

The purple is limited to 10 copies.

The base isn't numbered.

This card, in it's base form, brings me joy as it is a nice design and shows Cutch in his San Francisco uniform.

The back is nice as well.

The problem is with the color parallels.

The gold does nothing to quickly identify itself as a parallel despite being limited to only 99 copies.  

It is almost like those old Highlights magazines with the "Spot the difference" feature.

The purple parallel is just as bad as the gold, but with the added pressure of being limited to only 10 copies and costing significant more than the base.  For the very subtle difference of a purple Classics logo instead of the standard, fans can expect to pay 10x or more the base price.  A Ronald Acuna /10 PSA9  is currently listed for nearly $700, but the base PSA10 recently sold for $70-$110.

I'll admit that I was lucky in that I didnt have to pay for the gold as I got it in a group break, but I did seek out the purple and paid just over $10 for the card.  

And it doesn't bring me anymore joy to the collection than the base.  

I have really cut back on adding new cards to the collection over the past month and it feels awesome to go through my binders and enjoy what I have instead of constantly focusing on what I don't have.  

Have you made any collecting mistakes that you really regret?

Do you watch any YouTube videos or listen to any podcasts about collecting?  If so, please recommend some channels to me. 

#TBT: Topps Unique

It has been a few months since I showed off Cutch wearing some Throwback Uniforms from his Pirates days.  

I am going to show off a pretty unique (pun intended) and short lived release by Topps.

Today I am looking at the gold parallel from 2009 Topps Unique

Cutch is wearing a uniform reminiscent of the Honus Wagner days celebrating the 100 year anniversary of the World Series winners

As you can see the back of the card discusses when the unique throwback uniform was worn and what the occassions was for the throwback uniform.  

Cutch made his MLB debut just a week and half earlier and was starting to make people aware that he may be a Rookie of the Year despite such a late start to the year.  The Pirates hosted the Detroit Tigers on June 14, 2009 to honor the 100 Year World Series that saw the Honus Wagner Pirates defeat the The Cobb lead Detroit Tigers.  

I wish the back of the card also mentioned Cutch's stats for the game.  He went 2 for 3 with two walks, a stolen base, and 2 runs scored in the 6-3 Pirates victory.

This card is Frameous - Episode 2

I have been fortunate over the years of collecting my favorite athlete that Topps has produced some really nice metal framed cards.  

One of the first of these appeared in 2014 as an insert set available in Topps Series 2.  They were made to look like the original designs from Topps Gold Label 2000, but were limited to only 99 copies and had a gold metal frame around the card.  

They were EXTREMELY difficult to pull and landed on average 1 per case and the checklist consisted of 25 players (current and retired)

You may recognize this type of card from my first Frameous post which you can revisit here.

The back captures the original look of the 2000 Gold Label set and has the Class 1 designation.  (There were no other classes produced).  

If you're interested in seeing who else was part of the 25 player insert set, visit here.

I think that the success of this insert ultimately lead to the reintroduction of Gold Label as a yearly product.  

The product is produced now using traditional card stock with holofoil designs and the Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 rarities along with a few color parallels (black, blue, red) per class.  

The current production of Topps Gold Label uses frames for their autograph cards, which come on average 1 per box.  

Would you be interested in seeing framed cards shown once a month on this blog? 

This Card is Frame-ous, episode 1

I have been fortunate over the years of collecting my favorite athlete that Topps has produced some really nice metal framed cards.  

The first of these appeared in 2014 as an insert set available in Topps Series 2.  They were made to look like the original designs from Topps Gold Label 2000, but were limited to only 99 copies and had a gold metal frame around the card.  

They were EXTREMELY difficult to pull and landed on average 1 per case and the checklist consisted of 25 players (current and retired). 

Andrew McCutchen was coming off his MVP season and the Pittsburgh Pirates future looked extremely bright.  

The images on the front of this card were also used for other 2014 cards, but the combination of the sliding catch and the batting pose really look quite dynamic together.  You can tell that Cutch is at his Gold Glove defense level and is getting ready to run out a double in the gap. 

The back captures the original look of the 2000 Gold Label set and has the Class 1 designation.  (There were no other classes produced).  

If you're interested in seeing who else was part of the 25 player insert set, visit here.

I think that the success of this insert ultimately lead to the reintroduction of Gold Label as a yearly product.  

The product is produced now using traditional card stock with holofoil designs and the Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 rarities along with a few color parallels (black, blue, red) per class.  

The current production of Topps Gold Label uses frames for their autograph cards, which come on average 1 per box.  

Would you be interested in seeing framed cards once a month on a Friday? 

Do you have any metal framed cards?

Optimism Among Optics

Donruss Optic came out for the first time in 2016.  It was basically a chrome version of Donruss similar to Topps Chrome compared to Topps Flagship.  

The basic Donruss set contained 150 cards, while the Optic set contained only 100 cards.  

Similar to other chromium technology products, this release has a dozen color parallels to chase after.  

The most interesting thing that Donruss did was reverse the color numbering for this chrome product compared to what Topps utilizes.  Topps Chrome traditionally will use a red parallel as a /5 card and a green parallel as a /99 card.

Panini/Donruss/Optic took that and said F it.  Meaning flip it.

The reds for this product are /99 and the greens are /5. 

This puts a different way to look at things in terms of rare parallels go.

I needed a different way to look at things over the past few weeks with the holiday stress at an all time high.

Personally, my favorite Christmas movie to reflect on looking at things in a different view (or optics if you will) is the film, It's A Wonderful Life.

This Jimmy Stewart lead film really looks at a person's life and makes you reflect on your own life.  The fact that it was a film from the 1940s and addressed such a controversial theme of suicide in it's day speaks for why this film has become such a classic.  

While the technology and some of the terms and politics from the film's era are dated now, it still has a strong core that can resonate with anyone.

I have never gotten that close to have wanted to commit suicide, but the thought has crossed my mind, more so in recent years.  I had lost my great grandfather on my dad's side of family to suicide before I was even a teenager.  I was only 10 years old when he passed away from the suicide and none of us saw it coming.  He was a pillar in the community.  He always gave the biggest hugs and was a giant teddy bear and usually would smile a lot.  I still think about the hoagie my mom and I gave him the night before he shot himself that summer and how happy he lead us to think he was for us visiting him that night.  The next day my mom, brother, and I went over and he was laying outside.  My mom didn't know at the time that he had shot himself and told me to run over and wake up Grampop. I won't go into every detail, but it is something I remember nearly every detail to this day almost 30 years later.  I have seen the devastation it can cause on a family and I don't want to put anyone else through that.  

With the holidays, stress can be at an all time high.  It's important to keep finding things that make one happy.  

Stay positive and share positive thoughts with others.  You never know the impact you may be having on someone.  Pay attention to any signs and most importantly listen to those that may be struggling.  

It truly is A Wonderful Life

Live it and love it!

Don't take a life, including your own

Exodus 20:13

You shall not murder

Bows, Bows, Bows

One thing that Christmas traditions have developed over the past century is more presents including bows on them.

I like the look of a bow being on a Christmas present, but I neither have the talent or patience to make an actual bow on a present.  

I have bought those cheap bags at a Dollar General type store to peel off the adhesive and stick the bow on it.

Continuing the theme of red and green parallels for the days leading up to Christmas are a pair of 2016 Bowman cards.

The red is numbered to 5 and the green to 99 copies.

The reason Christmas colors are red and green is the reason we celebrate the holiday in the first place.  

It is because of Jesus Christ that we "deck the halls" with red and green.

The green represents Christ's eternal life just as the evergreen trees remain green all winter long.  The red represents his blood shed during the crucifixion

The Finest Christmas

Topps Finest created the modern day refractor.  The 1993 set helped revolutionize the card industry using a new set of technology and the hobby reacted in a way that 27 years later we are still in love "with the shine".

2016 Topps Finest really pushed the colors forward in a bold direction.  The color parallels were bold and shined beautifully.

Matthew 5:16

Even so, let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Christmas is closer than you think...

It's official, Christmas is only a week away. 

Let's begin with the bible verse.

Luke 2:10

But the Angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people."

Christmas is often associated with the colors red and green.  The theory of these two colors representing Christmas are because of the reason we celebrate the holiday in the first place.  

It is because of Jesus Christ that we "deck the halls" with red and green.

The green represents Christ's eternal life just as the evergreen trees remain green all winter long.  The red represents his blood shed during the crucifixion

Now I will show off the green and red cards:

Today I am looking at the 2018 Bowman Holiday release.

I think I have shown them before, but if you are unfamilar with the set here is some quick information about it.

The 2018 Bowman Holiday cards were a hobby shop exclusive release.  Begining on November 16, 2018 collectors could go to their local shop and purchase $10 of Topps products to receive 1 pack of 2018 Bowman Holiday.  Not all hobby shops participated and those that did likely had extra packs left over that they ripped after the holiday to sell as singles.

Each pack contained 3 cards and a chance to get a Fall/Winter parallel inside.

There were Turkey (/35), Green Festive (/99), White Snow (/50), Red Festive (/10), and Gold Festive (1/1) parallels for the 100 card base set.  

Above you can see the Red and Green parallels respectively. 

The backs of the cards were numbered TH (Topps Holiday) along with the Player's initials.  

Similar to many other Bowman "flagship" releases there are resumes, skills, and up close snapshots of the player.  

The resume talks about how the player came to the team, awards, and personal accomplishments.

The skills is basically a scouting report.

The up close talks more about the personal side of the athlete.

Here are the cards perched in the tree.

Have you ever been fortunate to get these types of hobby shop exclusive card promotions at your local card shop?  

USA Looking to the UK

Coronavirus has changed the way the entire world has operated in 2020.

Many of us know someone that has been impacted by it.  Some of us may even know someone who may have passed away from it.

The United States is mere days away from a vaccine and I don't want this to get political, but the United States will continue to monitor the United Kingdom very closely to see the reactions caused by the COVID-19 vaccine.

I mentioned a few days ago that I didn't understand why Topps needed to make the Topps UK product.

That didn't stop me from adding 3 cards to my collection though.  I already showed the base and the blue parallels.  

Because I didn't need to get all of the parallels I focused on just adding the one that really stood out to me as a unique parallel.  The Big Ben parallel is the most unique of all the Topps UK product.  It is based on the Elizabeth Tower, formerly known as Big Ben.  The tower was officially completed in 1859 and is one of the most iconic buildings in the world.

I had to add it to the collection, because unlike the gold, blue, or purple parallels actually has a connection to the United Kingdom.

It features a red and white colored design to go with the iconic building.  

It is very similar to the Independence Day parallels that Topps Flagship has been doing since 2018.

What do you think of these two parallels?

Should the Big Ben have had a numbering relevant to the tower? Maybe 12 to mark the name change to Elizabeth Tower or 59 to recognize the year the tower was completed.

Texansfan Hookup

I recently made another Twitter purchase for a card that had escaped me for two years.

This 2018 Topps Gallery Masterpiece is the blue parallel.  These cards are limited to only 99 copies which you can see serially numbered on the back of the card.

I was able to acquire this card from @Kenneth60368818 who goes by the moniker Texansfan4Life on Twitter for $4 delivered.  

The artwork is by Evan Shoman who has worked with UFC and WWE a lot which you can see on his webpage shomanart.com

Christmas Pairings

On Friday I received a 2020 Topps Gallery green parallel card (/99) of Cutch from a Mike Moustakas supercollector.  You can follow him on Twitter @d_moose8 

Because it was a green parallel and we just got done decorating our Christmas Tree, I thought it would be funny to tape it to the tree.

This got me thinking though.

What would a Christmas Tree look like with trading cards hanging from the branches?  

I think it would look rather unique and I may get a small tree for just myself to display such things.

I have already hung up a few Starting Lineups like this Mario Lemieux SLU.

Do you put any sports related collectables on your tree? 

Hoping for a New Era of Fun

Pirates have been bad this year.  

That may be an understatement actually.  They're 21 games under .500 through 51 games.  With a record of 15-36 they have a winning percentage of .294.  Extend that winning percentage out to a 162 game season and the team would lose 115 games.

Losing isn't fun, but if some key pieces are in place in the farm system, you can almost accept it.  

The problem is, there's not a lot already in place and the personalities on this team aren't even fun.  Besides Trevor Williams and Cole Tucker, many of the members seem to be introverts and not very outgoing. 

I'm exvited for the new era of Pirates baseball to start and hope that names like Hayes, O'Neil, Gonzalez, Reynolds, Cederlind, and Priester can match the names and excitement that McCutchen, Walker, Alvarez, Cole, Morton, and Burnett brought. 

Maybe Mason Martin becomes the next Pete Alonso and maybe O'Neil Cruz becomes Corey Seager.

I just want some fun again!!!!

This 2017 Lids exclusive Topps card was available for purchasing a New Era hat at Lids.  The card captures a jovial image of Cutch coming out of the dugout.  

The only logo indicating it is a New Era Lids exclusive is at the bottom right of the card under the stats

Oddballs like these and the Utz cards of 2019 and 2020 are fun.  

I wish there were more fun cards like this today like at McDonald's or Wendy's or Buffalo Wild Wings.

At least we have a few sets from Lids and Utz though.

There was also a 2016 New Era relic that Cutch appeared on and these are EXTREMELY DIFFICULT to find.

These cards have New Era listed more boldly on the card are are numbered to only 99 copies.  

The back of the card also talks about how they are found exclusively at Lids stores and made courtesy by Topps and New Era teaming up.  A quick search of eBay shows not only are there no McCutchen relics, but NO relics of any players found on the checklist.

Building a Rainbow: 2016 Panini The National Exclusives

I was challenged yesterday to come up with posts about either butterscotch pudding OR superhero origins.  I am kind of short on time today, but will work on something for the weekend.  

Butterscotch pudding?  Really Fuji????  What the heck!!!!

It has been awhile since I did a post showing off some rainbows in progress.  I thought I would show off my 2016 Panini The National Exclusives rainbow in progress because there is a good chance many of you aren't familar with this release.

Details of the set can be found here.

Collectors would get special foil packs from Panini by purchasing their products at the National Sports Card Convention.  

The set focused on multiple stars and rookies across MLB, NBA, NFL, and international soccer.  Like previous sets, Andrew McCutchen was part of the MLB players featured in the set as he was coming off his 4th consecutive year as a top 5 MVP candidate. 

Base cards were produced with traditional stock, but also produced using a thick stock.  Parallels for both thickness include hyper plaid, hyper foil,  and infinite.  

Above is the infinite parallel.  It looks like circuits on a computer grid and is numbered to only 10 copies.

Above are all the standard thickness cards I have of Cutch.  As you can see I have completed the rainbow for those.  Oddly enough, the serial number for the hyper plaid isn't listed on the back of the card.

You may notice that the serial numbering for this card appears on the top right corner, which is different than all other standard thickness parallels placement of the serial numbering.

The thick stock version has the numbering on the back

Here are the 5 cards I have in my collection for this potential rainbow

I still need:

The Thick Stock versions of the base, hyperfoil, and infinite parallels.