Punk Rock Princess

Each year during the month of October, I show off only pink (and shades of pink like magenta, peach, etc) to help raise awareness of Breast Cancer, a leading cause of death for females in the United States.  

Due to my own financial situation this year I will not be able to make a donation for each (meaningful, non spam) comment left by those that follow the blog.  Once things settle down on the home front though I will be looking to make a donation in 2022 based on the comments left during this year's event.  Hopefully together we can help at least one woman get a much needed mammogram.  Early detection is key!!!

If you want to make your own private donation please visit the National Breast Cancer Foundation.  There is a donate button on the main page and it only takes a minute of your time.  Every little bit helps.

I have focused primarily on cards that only feature Andrew McCutchen on the card, but in recent years have also featured cards with a cameo appearance (either being seen on the card or as a name cameo on the back of the card).  In 2019, I created Falco Files which discussed players that replaced (Shane Falco Replacements movie reference) on an active roster, number worn, or trade.  I will also be showing some Cutch's Crew cards that show pink cards of players that have played with Cutch on multiple teams. I will continue to utilize these styles of posts as we celebrate the 5th Collecting Cutch Save Second Base event (I am no longer counting my first run on the Pirates Treasure Room I did back in 2014).

I am always looking for new ways to incorporate new celebrities into the event so today I am presenting

Yesterday John had suggested the Punk Rock Princess, Avril Lavigne, so I thought I would honor his request.

One of my favorite YouTube channels, PunkRockMBA, recently did a video about Avril where he looked at why the scene hates on Avril.  The channel's host, Finn McKenty, goes into a deep dive discussing her hustle and the amount of shows she did at a young age to become the star that she is today and how he absolutely respects her for that.

In the video he discussed how she helped influence an entire generation of young women with her look and attitude.

Lavigne had appeared on stage with country music artist Shania Twain when she was only 15 years old.  This lead to a 2 album recording contract. 

Some of her hit singles include Sk8er Boi, Complicated, and Girlfriend.

It looks like she may have gotten some plastic surgery.

Lavigne was born in 1984 and celebrated her birthday just a few weeks ago.

This 2019 Topps Mini pink parallel is based on the 1984 design and limited to only 25 copies, with this one being numbered 7/25.

Do you have a favorite punk band?

Have you ever tried skateboarding?

Another sTEAL

Yesterday I posted about getting a card that was a steal of a price.  A $1 purchase with $4 s&h for a prime patch 2021 Diamond Kings card numbered to only 5 copies.  

Well my friends, I have gotten a few cards over the past month that have been extremely affordable that are helping to fill holes in the Cutch PC.

This 2018 Donruss Retro 1984 teal card is limited to a healthy 199 copies, but I never pulled the trigger to add it to my collection.

Oddly enough I have 3 (yes THREE!!!!) copies of the pink Mother's Day Breast Cancer ribbon parallel that are limited to only 25 copies. 

That math just doesn't make sense

But....what does make sense?

Snagging another card I need for under $3 shipped.

$3 back in 1984 could buy a lot more than now, that's for sure.  

A pack of 1984 Donruss Baseball at release would have cost only 30 cents.  By today's inflation that would equal 77 cents of buying power. 

A price of a blaster box containing 6 packs of 2021 Prizm basketball sold for $150 on eBay recently.  That's $25 a pack....for 4 cards!!!!

This math just isn't adding up!!!

Where's another meme of bad math?

Good ol' Albert.

What are some of your favorite TV shows or movies based on school? 

#tbt other designs

Topps has been digging into their old designs on cards for many many decades.  In 1975 collectors got images of cards featuring MVP winners from previous seasons using the cards from their MVP season.  In 1987 Topps used the Turn Back the Clock design to highlight some more older designed cards from their vault of designs.  

With that it shouldn't be a surprise that Topps has used some of their non baseball card designs to highlight baseball players in their online exclusive sets #TBT Throwback Thursday releases.

Unfortunately despite appearing in three of these #TBT sets, Cutch has only gotten the treatment of 1 non baseball card set design.  

I will look at each of these 3 #TBT sets over the course of the next three Thursdays and evaluate what could have been done differently based on the previous set homage and following set homage.

Today we are looking at

2017 #TBT card #112

This set was based on the Player Nickname Weekend event and included The Machine (Albert Pujols), All Rise (Aaron Judge), Cutch, Buster (Posey), Chuck Nasty (Charlie Blackmon), and Mookie (Betts)

The set used the 1984 Topps design which has been produced in several other reprint themed sets over the years.  The players nickname is featured going down the side of the card where the traditional team name would go.  The images used all feature the Player Weekend jerseys shown.

When the online exclusive set was first released I enjoyed it as it gave me a Cutch card using the 1984 design, but now that Topps has used the 1984 set in Archives, #TBT, an insert set, and Project 2020 and Project 70 I am kind of over seeing this set.

The next set began with card number #116 and was based on the 1984 football design

It was meant to look at players who may have excelled on the gridiron had they not chosen baseball as their career choice.  Cutch was originally a high school star wide receiver before injuring his ACL which made him focus on baseball.  He is a Steelers fan and has been seen attending the Steelers games at Heinz Field.  

The set preceding the Player Nicknames #TBT based on the 1984 design was the 1991 Beverly Hills 90210 set

The set featured the hottest hitters of the summer

This would have been a fun set for player's weekend.  Similar to what was done with the Arenado card above Topps could have used the player's nickname instead of their first name on the cards.  

Are there any Topps designs you want to see get used?

I'm holding out hope that Topps produces a #TBT set based on the Dick Tracy stickers at the trade deadline based on the criminals of the film.  

Keep the WANTED poster idea

Replace the villain with a player like Trevor Story (or any other trade candidate)

Replace the crime with what they could provide to the new team (Home Runs, Stolen Bases, Strikeouts, Leadership, etc etc etc)

And last you can replace the sticker number with either the player's number or position abbreviation

Cheating on my goals?

Last week I showed off a COMC mailday featuring some of my Pirates uniform cards I acquired in 2021 of Cutch.  I set a goal to acquire 50 new Cutch cards from his Pirates playing days (2005-2017) this year.  I wasn't going to count the COMC cards purchased as going towards the goal because I had technically bought all those cards last year, but it was COMCs slow processing that forced the cards to arrive several months after being ordered.  I never logged these cards into my spreadsheet and obviously didn't have a physical copy in hand to cross reference.

Above is just a sampling of some of the cards I got in that COMC package.

Getting 50 new Cutch Pirates cards this year is the goal.

That is basically 1 new card a week all year long.  

It doesn't sound like a lot to add 50 new cards of 1 player in a year, but keep in mind I have over 2,300 unique cards of Cutch in a Pirates uniform already.

Now before I get into today's post, I want to share with you some comments made on that COMC purchase post.

Both Chris and Brett Alan stated (and I will paraphrase) they believe a card produced in 2018 with a team designation of Pittsburgh should count as a Pirates playing days card because at the time of production of the product, Cutch was a member of the Pirates.  

I think with this interpretation, I should count my 2018 Donruss 1984 retro Artist Proof /10 card as a Pirates playing days card acquired in 2021.

The problem is that I already stated I'm not going to count any of those COMC cards delivered this year towards my total because they were purchased in 2020.

Well...as luck (or rather the lack of organization) would have it I can say that I acquired a 2018 Donruss 1984 retro Artist Proof in 2021.

This is may look very similar to the card I already showed in my COMC purchase 

And you would be correct

I got a 2nd copy (by accident) for a ridiculously cheap price.

I won it for under $2, which is a great price for a card limited to only 10 copies.

By my processing despite what others are suggesting, I don't know if I can qualify this as part of my Pirates playing days card goal.

He has a few releases in 2018 (and beyond) that feature him in a Pirates uniform, but I am only looking to add cards of Cutch from 2005-2017 in a Pirates uniform or Pittsburgh noted city affiliate. 

So is this cheating?

Should I count all cards I get in 2021 of Cutch in a Pirates uniform towards my 50 card goal?

If so, I could probably get half of that with just crossing off the 2020 Topps Update cards I need as he appeared in an insert card (with many parallels), a base card (with many more parallels), a retail exclusive Chrome card (with many parallels), and a Topps Update Chrome Sapphire (with more parallels).

I recently added the blue border Decades Best insert from 2020 Topps Update to my collection.

I also added a 2020 Topps Update Chrome Gold /50 and a 2020 Topps Update Walgreens Yellow Foil to the collection.

Both feature him in a Pirates uniform, but Cutch played the entire 2020 season with the Philadelphia Phillies. 

This post contains quite a few Cutch cards in a Pirates uniform that I received in 2021, but ZERO of which I think should count towards my 50 card goal because the product wasn't released during his Pirates playing years. 

New Theme Week: Karate Kid/Cobra Kai

I have discussed my love for 2 specific 1980s movies (and their soundtracks) on this blog in the past.  In case you're just joining me, two of my favorite movies from the 80s are the animated Transformers (1986) and Karate Kid (1984).

Both films feature uplifting and rocking soundtracks.  

I am not the huge fan of Transformers that I was when younger, but the scene of Optimus Prime dying still gets me misty.

Karate Kid however is a different story.  Thanks to the Netflix series, Cobra Kai, I have fallen completely obsessed with every detail from the original movie and it's sequels, reboots, and current TV series.

This week I will be looking at my Andrew McCutchen collection and connecting items to this kicking franchise.

Much like some of my other themed weeks or the month long SaveSecondBase event, every item will tie into the theme in some way.  

To kick it off here is a 2017 Topps Throwback Set commemorating the 1984 design in honor of players' weekend.

As I mentioned above, Karate Kid was released in theatres in 1984.  I was only three years old at the time so obviously it would be years later on a VHS rental before I finally saw it (and fell in love with it).  

Everything about Danny's ability to overcome a new setting and bullies appealed to me when I finally saw it in grade school. 

I chose this card, because it was the last Topps Throwback online set that featured Cutch in a Pirates uniform.  Much like Daniel Larusso's character moving from a familar East Coast setting in Newark, New Jersey, following the 2017 season Cutch was on the move out west to California.

The colors of black and yellow match the colors for Cobra Kai.

I fricking love that show....

I'll talk a little about that show tomorrow.

Wonder Woman Weekend

Each year during the month of October, I show off only pink (and shades of pink like magenta, peach, etc) to help raise awareness of Breast Cancer, a leading cause of death for females in the United States.  For each (meaningful, non spam) comment left by those that follow the blog I donate a dollar to hopefully help at least one woman get a much needed mammogram.  Early detection is key!!!

If you want to make your own private donation please visit the National Breast Cancer Foundation.  There is a donate button on the main page and it only takes a minute of your time.  Every little bit helps.

I have focused primarily on cards that only feature Andrew McCutchen on the card, but in recent years have also featured cards with a cameo appearance (either being seen on the card or as a name cameo on the back of the card).  Last year I created Falco Files which discussed players that replaced (Shane Falco Replacements movie reference) on an active roster, number worn, or trade.  I will continue to utilize these styles of posts as we celebrate the 4th Collecting Cutch Save Second Base event (I am no longer counting my first run on the Pirates Treasure Room I did back in 2014.)

Please be sure to click here for a Babe Ruth relic card I am offering as a contest prize to one lucky person who posts their own pink cards for the month.  I am matching the $1 per comment on YOUR BLOGS too if you show off pink cards. 

You ready to get started?

Well, let's talk about...
The most famous fictional female of all

Wonder Woman!!!

Gal Gadot is the current face of Wonder Woman

The Israel born actress is now one of the most popular actresses in the world.

She began as a  model and was Miss Israel 2004.

At age 18 she began to train the Israel Defense Forces as a fitness instructor.

She began gaining fame in the United States when she appeared in the Fast and Furious movie franchise as Gisele.

Wonder Woman: 1984 has been delayed twice due to the Coronavirus pandemic.  It's most recent delay had the movie pushed back from this past weekend to Christmas 2020.  

1984 and Christmas, yup I got a card that covers both

This 2018 Donruss retro card looks like the 1984 design, the same design made famous by the Don Mattingly rookie card.

It is also serially numbered 12/25.

(Gavin would be so proud)

For some comment chatter below please discuss any of the following subjects: Gal Gadot, 1984 Donruss, or any female fictional heroes you or your children like.

I Love The 80s: A Real Kick to the Head Regarding 1984

Last year I celebrated most of the week leading into my birthday on this blog with a look back at the 1980s.  I was born in the 80s and had a lot of fun with those posts.  You can revisit any "80s week" post here.

While my most influential years of my life were the 90s, I actually prefer all things 80s compared to the 90s.

Give me Thundercats over Ren & Stumpy

Give me Motley Crue over Foo Fighters

And give me Karate Kid over Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Karate Kid is a top 10 movie of mine.  I always viewed Daniel Larusso as the film's hero and Mr Miyagi as a spiritual instructor who looks to bring inner peace. 

A video and article made 5 years ago could make you rethink that logic.

This analysis of the movie directly leads into the newest incarnation of the franchise, Cobra Kai.  

Cobra Kai was initially a YouTube streaming show, but has since moved to Netflix where it was just revealed a 3rd season will be released next year.  In the meantime you can get caught up on the original movie and the first two seasons that directly follows up on the first movie 30+ years later.

Cobra Kai is amazing and I plan to binge watch the second season this week!  

Here is the scan of a card that ties the original Karate Kid released in 1984 to the latest season of Cobra Kai released in 2019.

I have had this card forawhile but just got around to scanning it this week.  The shine and design really pop with all the primary colors on it.

The back design features the same context all other 1984 cards have from the 2019 Silver Packs, but this also has the fine print about the signing of all Topps products.

I put it in a one touch and what a beauty

What is your favorite movie from the 80s that has seen an extension to the mythos in recent years? There's been lots like Terminator, Rambo, all the toy selling cartoons (TMNT, Transformers, Ghostbusters, GI Joe), or maybe something?

Reflecting on a large decision

I made mention of my grandfather suffering a stroke on New Year's Day and how it impacted my first few days of blogging.

He is still struggling and in the hospital and will likely not get any feeling back on the left side of his body.  It is a terrible sight seeing someone who was such an influence on me and my work ethic growing up. 

Prior to his stroke I was challenged with making a career decision that was weighing on me heavily.  I travel an hour to work every day and closer to an hour and half from work each day.  I do this six days a week, 48 weeks a year.  It wears on me mentally and physically. 

I had an opportunity a few weeks prior to Thanksgiving to stay with the same company (it is a co-operative), but work for a new management team and owner so that I could work closer to home.  I have known the management team since I was in high school and I have known the owner basically since I was born since he is a high school classmate of my uncle's and has been a friend of the family for over 40 years.

After my grandfather suffered the stroke that may ultimately take his life, I was over whelmed by the thoughts, prayers, and caring nature that the owner of the company sent my family.  I ultimately made the decision to continue to drive nearly 2.5 hours daily to work for that owner.  It may not be as financially rewarding with car costs, but spiritually it is more important for me to stay loyal to his company than to try something new so that I may cut my commute down.

There aren't many Derek Jeter or Chipper Jones or Barry Larkins anymore.  I decided I was going to join that pantheon of legends in the supermarket business. 

It is a large commitment and I am happy I did it.

The above cards may look familiar as I showed them off as one of my final posts of 2019.  Today I was gifted with the largest of the group, the 5x7 online exclusive.  It joins the mini, base, and box topper. 

The world often shows us signs that what we are doing is right or wrong.  By getting a large card like this on a day I made a big decision I feel like it was the right move to keep moving forward, just as the card depicts Cutch continuing to run towards home smiling and winning.

Growth as a collector

What defines someone Supercollecting a player? 

Is it a percentage of total cards produced?
In this overproduced era of parallel options it is nearly impossible to collect ALL the cards of a modern player.  Prior to 2015, I was pretty successful with supercollecting Charlie Morton.  I had 1 of every card produced (including parallels) except 1/1 printing plates.  Of course the number of releases (and thus the parallels) that Charlie has appeared in since 2015 has basically tripled. 

Is it having a certain number of cards of a player?  It is far easier to amass 500 unique cards of Ken Griffey Jr than it is Ken Griffey Sr. based solely on the number of unique cards produced of Griffey Jr vs Sr.

I still consider myself a supercollector of Andrew McCutchen and yet I only have half of the cards produced due to all the parallels and printing plates out there. 

I never considered myself a supercollector of Gerrit Cole, but I do have 300 unique cards of the former Pirates ace.

I still consider myself a supercollector of Charlie Morton and yet I have only sought out base cards since his departure from Pittsburgh.

With the 2019 year coming to a close and 2020 quickly approaching I have decided that I am NOT going after every parallel produced of Cutch.  Similar to my stance I took with Charlie Morton, I will always like cards of Cutch and Ground Chuck more in Pirates uniforms, but not put premiums on seeking out cards of my 2 favorite modern athletes in Astros, Rays, Phillies, Giants, or Yankees uniforms. 

This will hopefully allow others to help out with needs for my PC too as very often I hear "don't you have every McCutchen card?" or "what are your needs?"

I am growing as a collector and in doing so I am shrinking my immediate mindset upon a new release of "get them all immediately".

I chose to show off this trio of 2019 1984 cards to show my transition.
Pictured are the box topper, base, and mini.

Despite not being numbered, the minis have a print run of only 13 copies.

So while I will be growing as a collector, future releases will be shrinking.

Stay tuned as I show off some of the craziness I picked up this year that has been drafted in blogging limbo for months.

My Favorite 80s Fictional Characters

I am running a contest which you can still enter here, but time is ticking away.  I am gearing up for my 4th Annual Save Second Base Event where I show off only pink (with some hues of magenta, peach, and maybe a light purple or light red shade) baseball cards relating to my favorite baseball player for an entire month.  Prior to each post about the card I give out some frightening information about a major disease that is effecting many woman in this country.  I also show off some beautiful women for why we should be looking for a cure and to Save Second Base.

The prize is this very limited (only 25 copies produced) of two players who debuted in the 1980s, Barry Larkin and Gary Sheffield. 

As someone who was born in the 1980s and because it is my birthday week, all week long I am showing off cards of Andrew McCutchen and how they relate to the 80s. 

Cutch is my favorite player born in the 80s. Who is yours? Enter the contest here.

Each post so far this week I have been talking about different things from the 80s I like, but today I am going to talk about my favorite fictional characters to debut in the 80s and show off a card relating to their debut year.

Up first is Marty Mcfly, played by Michael J. Fox.  If you haven't seen any of the Back to the Future trilogy I DEMAND you leave this blog and don't come back until you have.  This Sci-Fi comedy takes a look at how one event can cause a ripple effect that can cause the entire universe to change paths.  Had Lorraine, played by the very stunning Lea Thompson, not fallen in love with George McFly  then Marty and his siblings would never have been born which causes more chains in the universe to be broken etc. 

The character Marty Mcfly debuted in Back to the Future which premiered in 1985.

 Here is a trio of parallels of Cutch screaming as he rounds the bases, likely trying to leg out a triple or coming home to celebrate a walk off homer.  It is from 2013 Topps Archives.

Speaking of Homer, here is Homer Simpson, who made his animated debut in April of 1987.  

The Simpsons is the longest running TV show ever.  While early seasons had me liking Bart for his catch phrases like "Eat my shorts" or "Cowabunga", it wasn't until I was older that I realized Homer is the best character on the show.  

There are multiple options I could have used showing off Cutch using the 1987 cardboard design, but ultimately I went with a more plain option from the 1987 5x7 card line produced in 2015 as an online exclusive.  

Another animated favorite of mine was Bumblebee from the original Generation 1 Transformers.  He has changed his appearance A LOT since his 1984 VW Beetle days to his mid 2000s Camaro car mode, but the heart of the character remains the same.

I wish I had the other parallels of this card (gold/50, blue/150, Orange/25, red/5) to pair up with the black and green, but for now these 1984 Topps Chrome style cards will have to do.

This next character is actually a pair because quite honestly you can't discuss William S Preston (Bill) without talking about his best friend Theodore Logan (Ted).  Bill and Ted introduced a franchise that will see it's third installment finally get made this year, twenty years after the original.  AND I AM PUMPED FOR IT!!! I jist got done doing a totally gnarly wicked air guitar solo to show my enthusiasm duuuuude.  

Seriously. Tho. Bill and Ted!!!!

2 totally awesome characters that helped shape the end of the 80s in a most bodacious way. 

I have a new segment revolving around the awesomeness of Keanu Reeves which I will debut next week.  It will definitely be a fun one to show off.

The original Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventire came out in 1989.

I loved 1989 Topps. I think it gets a bad rap for being such an over produced set from the 80s.  The design lends itself so well to today's color parallels though.

These die cut minis were from 2014 and are most excellent finds in a pack of cards.

1986 marked the first time I watched a movie and thought of a girl as being pretty and not having cooties or being some stupid girl.  That girl was Sarah Williams, played by Jennifer Connely.  

My parents got me into all things Jim Henson as a kid. I wasn't a super fan and couldn't recite much of the movie, but I was drawn in by the wonderfully created bizarre world that Jareth lived in and Sarah stumbled into.  As I got older, I grew to appreciate the unique nature of this film even more.  It didn't hurt that Jennifer Connely got more beautiful as she got older.

1986 Topps was a series I had only a few packs of.  The following year my dad and I went full blown collector crazy.

The simple nature of this set is so fun.  I wonder how many of today's stars will still be playing in 16 years so they can get a Heritage design similar to this  2014 Topps Archives release.