The Art of Chuck Styles

Uncle Larry is Andrew McCutchen's alter ego.  He created the character when a Philadelphia reporter sited Andrew McCutchen, but called him Larry McCutcheon, the former running back from the NFL.  

Andrew did play football in high school, but he was a receiver.  During the pandemic, Andrew began posting videos and introduced the world to Uncle Larry, an old school no BS comedic personality.

Fans loved the character and Chuck Styles decided to make the first official Uncle Larry Project 70 Topps card.  

Like many of the Topps Project artists, Chuck Styles offered a limited number of autographed cards through his website for purchase.

The version I chose was the blue signature version numbered to 6 copies.  Chuck signed it right above the Uncle Larry name in a powder blue paint pen.  He also provided a new sticker atop the one touch magnetic holder replacing the traditional Project 70 sticker.

Came with an autographed box

The box was numbered in addition to the card

Mine is 2/6

Frickin Jackpot Foil Friday!!!

I did it!!!

I beat the odds!!!

Now before I reveal my amazing card, let me give you some back story on why I am so excited about this card.

Many people aren't in love with the Project 70 art cards and I completely get it.  Many of them I am scratching my head on as well.  

With such a broad range for this project I knew there would be some cards I really liked and some cards that just didn't appeal to me at all.  When the project first hit I said I would get any of the Andrew McCutchen and Roberto Clemente cards that were released.  If something struck my fancy I would pick them up as well.  If a collector committed to an artist's entire run through Topps they could qualify for a free print at the end of the project that depicted that artist's entire run.

Well, Cutch was one of the first cards to appear in the set as he was Blake Jamieson's first card of the set.  In addition to Cutch and Clemente I was also going to add any cards that Blake Jamieson produced.  

Early on in the set, Alex Pardee, another artist released a Ronald Acuna Jr card that looked like it had crossed paths with a Venom symbiote.  Being a big comic book fan I grabbed the Pardee Acuna and had to add Pardee to the list of cards I would always buy during the 70 hour ordering window.

Now my list consisted of anything Cutch, anything Clemente, anything Blake Jamieson, and anything Alex Pardee.  

At $19.99 per card this was going to get expensive.

Then Ermsy (one of my favorite artists from last year's Project 2020) created a tripped out Dock Ellis.

I'm a Pirates fan and love the no hitter that Dock threw while supposedly on LSD.  I grabbed that card as well.

Then other artists started making more cards of Dock Ellis.  At one point Dock had more cards than Mike Trout in the set.  

I hit the reset button and got back to basics.

Cutch

Clemente

Blake

Pardee

Nothing else unless it really catches my eye.

Then a funny thing happened.

Blake Jamieson, who is one of the most awesome people on this Earth, released a card of rookie Jarred Kelenic of the Seattle Mariners.

I like Blake as a person and really want to get a print of Blake at the end of the project, but do I want to spend $20 on a Jarred Kelenic card?  

I literally waited until the final hour before I pulled the trigger and ultimately got it.  One more player I don't care about and I'm not going to continue this though.

A few more Clementes were released.

Then Blake released a Randy Arozarena card.  I don't care about the Tampa Bay Rays.  I have no extra love for 1968 Topps.  As a matter of fact, I hate 1968 Topps.  Despite wanting that print because of the Cutch appearance I was dropping Blake's cards from my list.  I just didn't want to spend $20 for a guy who was potentially involved in a domestic abuse case on a team I don't care for on a set design that is easily in my personal list of top 5 worse Topps designs pre2000. 

Sorry Blake.

But then just a few days later, something amazing happened.

Andrew McCutchen was getting another card in Project70 and it was by Chuck Styles, a Philadelphia artist with strong ties to Black Lives Matter.  What a perfect match!!!!

And the card depicted Andrew's alter ego, Uncle Larry.

Perfect!!!!

And then Pardee started his mustache guys cards.

I loved the Randy Johnson with the screaming ball and the dove.  

The Dennis Eckersley and Rollie Fingers were also great.

But then there was a Polar Bear for Pete Alonso.  It's a great nickname and it actually made sense for Alex to draw Pete as a scary bear, but quite honestly....it seemed to obvious.  I loved Alex's weird interpretations he had done.  

I was out on Pardee.

I was out on Jamieson.

I was only in for Clemente and McCutchen cards again, which is what I originally set out for.

Then something crazy happened.

I picked up another batch of mail and noticed this invoice with 3 Project 70 cards inside from Topps

Ok, I knew I bought an artist proof (and discussed hoping to hit a foil when I revealed the card back on this post a month ago), but there was three cards inside this package and according to the invoice numbering it looks like I was getting something special inside.

Artist Proof with silver frame limited to 51 copies

Base

Foil!!!! Limited to 70 copies

Put on those sunglasses

😎 😎 😎

Holy foilboard Batman!!!

I am super stoked about getting this card.

Needless to say I could turn my $20 investment into $150+, but honestly I would rather keep the McCutchen in my collection than pocket the extra $130+ profit I could make.

With all the hype around sports cards in the past 18 months have you chosen to hold onto cards that you know you could flip for an easy profit, but instead chose to hold onto them because they mean more to you than some extra dollars?

Have you ever felt like you hit a cardboard lottery?

Uncle Larry debut!

Topps Project 70 had Andrew McCutchen debut with card number 10 by Blake Jamieson.  The always fan favorite and charismatic McCutchen was left without another card in the Project 70 run until yesterday.  Philadelphia artist Chuck Styles just created a card featuring Cutch's Uncle Larry persona.

Of course I had to pick one up and you should too.  Just head over to Topps.com and grab your copy.  

I of course will be on the lookout for foils when they surface, but did preorder one of the artist proof cards limited to 51 copies also.  

The card design is loosely based on the 1976 Topps design, a design that Cutch hasn't appeared on yet.  Instead of a cartoon ballplayer in the corner, we have a drinking cup (made famous by that swag dugout photo)

I love everything about this card and will be possibly picking up a 10 pack prior to the 70 hour window closing.  At the very least I have a base and artist proof coming my way.

Hopefully other artists like Alex Pardee, distortedd, efdot, and Ermsy join Blake Jamieson and Chuck Styles in making more Cutch cards.  

What are your thoughts on the Chuck Styles Uncle Larry card?