Not only is it my birth year, but it also represents the first year for Donruss and Fleer to produce licensed baseball cards.
In 2014 Panini revitalized the Donruss brand and the following year (2015) they were creating a retro design similar to the 1981 design found as a subset of the base set. They would recreate a "heritage style" design for each subsequent year (2016-1982, 2017-1983, etc).
The 2015 Donruss retro design came with a limited number of parallels to chase after.
Pictured above are the base (left) and bronze press proof /299 (right).
I still need the Hot off the Press (unnumbered) case hits and blue press proof /199.
The backs of the card have the same kind of retro look as the original design.
I'm not sure what today will bring to celebrate my 40th, but I know I will search all the traditional sites I frequent to see if I can add one of the 2 missing parallels I need for this Cutch rainbow.
Time is running out to post your favorite player born in the 1980s. All week I have been showing off my Andrew McCutchen 80s related cardboard and making references to the 80s all week.
Today I am going to do a 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon style post by taking an unlicensed Donruss baseball card and trying to connect it to Samuel L. Jackson because I have been on a Marvel Cinematic Universe binge.
Here is the card
This 2015 Donruss Press Proof is numbered to 299 copies and is inspired by Donruss' inaugural release from 1981.
The back of the card features exactly the same design as the first release in 1981. This is a nice touch by Panini as it is almost like Topps Heritage.
Cutch's card is 198 which in the 1981 Donruss set belonged to Andre Thornton (images borrowed by COMC.com)
Thornton was a power hitting first baseman/designated hitter. He finished his career with 253 Home Runs. He was a two time All-Star during his age 32 and 34 seasons. He also won the Roberto Clemente Award in 1979.
As you can see in 1976 he was traded from the Expos to the Indians for Jackie Brown.
Jackie Brown was also a 1997 Crime Film that Pam Grier starred in with one Samuel L Jackson.
As a child of the 80s I grew up in an era with big hair, great cartoons, great toys, and collector's craze of sports cards.
I have seen others post their decade favorites and wanted to join in. After I am done breaking down all my favorites I will show off my Andrew McCutchen retro designed baseball cards.
It should be obvious that he is my favorite player born in the 80s. Don't forget to enter my contest of favorite player born in the 80s here.
So let's get started...
Here are 5 categories
At the end are the 80s inspired cards to show off
Favorite cartoon:
Thundercats
I absolutely loved the animation of the original Thundercats opening. As a kid I only had 2 Thundercats action figures (Slythe and Tygra with a tiny Wilykat PVC figure that came with Tygra). I had hundreds of G.I. Joes, Transformers, Masters of the Universe, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles though. Still, I was glued to the TV each day for the adventures of Lion-O and his Thunderian friends as he battled the forces of the Evil Mutants and Mumm-Ra, the Ever Living.
Later In life as an early twentysomething I bought all those Thundercats toys I wanted as a kid and had a complete set of every figure made except the ultra rare European exclusive Stinger and The Mad Bubbler. I had a few Thundertanks, Cats Lair, and about a dozen sealed figures. Unfortunately I sold them all prior to the AFA grading system (similar to PSA or BGS for baseball cards) took off and made my loose complete mint figures worth thousands.
Oh well...
Favorite TV Show (not animated)
Knight Rider
I am still amazed that my parents let me watch Knight Rider at such a young age considering some of the underlying themes of the show. However all I cared about was that cool car known as K.I.T.T. and wanting to be Michael Knight.
My dad being the awesome person he is took me to the Philadelphia car show when I was just 4 years old to meet David Hasselhoff.
There's the proof.
Favorite Song:
Survivor- Eye of the Tiger
To this day, this is my go to song to get pumped up. 'Nuff Said
As an adult there are lots of songs I like from the 80s and they revolve around the Beastie Boys, Motley Crue, and AC/DC.
This list gets very complicated in the 90s.
Favorite Comic Book:
I didn't read many comics until the 90s, but I definitely remembering having comic books of the Inhumanoids.
When I do the 90s favorites, this list is going to be very extensive.
Favorite Baseball Card Set:
1987 Topps
I collected the entire set of 1987 Topps with my dad. I was 6 years old and had a lot of fun putting it together. The wood grain borders, the all capital letters for players names, the circular team logo. This set was absolutely beautiful. I chose to show the Will Clark card because I remember having a large stack of these in toploaders.
Now to show off some of my Cutch cards using designs from the 80s.
A few years ago I showed off a bunch of these, but my collection has grown quite a bit since then and Topps/Panini has introduced even more retro designed parallels to chase.
A few years ago I had ZERO Chrome Superfractors with a design from the 80s.
Now I have 3.
A few years ago I had ZERO relic cards based on a design from the 1980s. Now I have TWO.
This 2014 Topps 89 Relic is one of my favorite patch cards.
Cutch didn't have a base card in the 2019 Donruss set, but he did have a relic in the 1985 inspired retro set.
There is also a bat relic numbered to 10 copies, but the design is identical.
Throughout the rest of this week I will show more 80s inspired cards and reveal more of my favorite things from the 80s. Please don't forget about my contest and share who some of your favorite players born in the 80s are.
Many of us have fond vivid memories of our childhood. For me when I think of my childhood, it's canvas photo albums filled with pages full of 1987 Topps, Fleer, and Donruss baseball cards watching Thundercats and running around with a towel wrapped around my neck saying "I'm Batman." Sometimes these events happened seperately, but as I remember it, they all happened simultaneously often on a daily basis.
Now, nearly 30 years later I still think I am Batman and love to collect those retro designed baseball cards.
The cardboard from the 80s and early 90s, like many of us, is what got me into collecting baseball cards.
Here are all the Andrew McCutchen cards I own based on original card designs from my birth year
1981 Donruss (2015 Donruss)
1982 Donruss (2016 Donruss)
1983 Topps (2015 Archives)
1983 Topps All-Star (2013 Archives)
1985 Topps (2013 Archives)
1986 Topps (2014 Archives)
1987 Topps (2011 mini and two versions of 5x7s from 2015 Topps)
1989 Bowman (2014 Bowman is Back diamond refractor)
1989 Topps (2014 Chrome Refractor)
1989 Topps (2014 Topps Diecuts)
1991 Donruss Studio (2013 Black Friday Studio '13)
1991 Topps (2016 Archives)
1992 Bowman (2010 Bowman Throwbacks)
1993 Topps Finest All Stars (2013 Finest)
1994 Topps Finest (2014 Finest)
I didn't include cards produced from 1997-2009 because I wasn't collecting during that time. So even though there have been retro style cards of Gold Class and Topps Tek featuring Cutch I won't be highlighting them in this post.
How many cards do you own of your favorite player representing styles of cardboard originally produced after your birthyear?
