"Just do it!"

For the entire time since I got back into collecting, Majestic was the clothing manufacturer for MLB uniforms and thus were the logos that card collectors would hope to get their hands on.  

I've shown off some of my Majestic logo cards in the past.

For those that may forget what some of those Majestic logo cards looked like, here is a recap.

2012 National Treasures autograph 

Nike bought the exclusive right to manufacture MLB uniforms for the 2020 season, which meant eventually we would start to see some Nike swoosh logos pop up on cards. 

Earlier this year I picked up this 2021 Five Star 1/1 Nike Swoosh logo with on card autograph.  

If you follow me on Twitter you've seen this with my MLB Logoman of the same design.  The laundry tag is available on eBay, but it seems the seller isn't willing to budge on his $500 asking price. 

I haven't bought any of the new Nike jerseys that debuted in 2020.  All mine that I wear around are still the Majestic jerseys.

Have you have bought any jerseys with the Nike logo yet?  If so, do they feel different than the Majestic ones produced?

Besides Michael Jordan, who else do you associate with the Nike brand?

I need ideas....

I used to post on here almost daily for a few years (300+ posts).  Last year I strayed away from that as I had my card collection in 3 different locations at any given time due to moving.  I still managed to post over 200 times though, which is better than every other day.

This year is a totally different situation. Through the middle of June I have posted only 29 times.  That's a far cry from my usual love of the hobby. To put into perspective annually in the month of October I post more than what I have done through the first five months. 

I'm certainly not as busy as I used to be as I am still recovering from a foot injury that has had me unable to work since the last week in February.  I've been to the doctor more in 3 months than I had from 2000 to 2021 combined.  

I just don't have much to say.  

I've been frustrated with the hobby.  

I'm frustrated with my collection.

When Topps Series 2 was announced and Andrew McCutchen wasn't listed on the Brewers checklist and all the Opening Day rookies weren't included, I strongly considered quitting the hobby because I had it with Topps holding players back.  

Now as we know some of the top hobby rookies were included as SP in Series 2 (Bobby Witt Jr, Julio Rodriguez, Spencer Torkleson).  This is a redemption that makes me consider staying.  The fact that Cutch is getting a SP Brewers card in Series 2 is a redemption too. 

So many people were saying that due to the increased production runs Topps couldn't feature guys who debuted in April into a product in June.  I say that's nonsense.  

Many players debuted in June/July 2011 and were featured in 2011 Topps Update.  

In addition all mid July All Star Game cards are featured in Topps Update.  That's only a two month turnaround.

The biggest counter I have to all this though is 2018 Topps  was released October 22nd 2018.  Andrew McCutchen had a SP Yankees photo variant in the set and made his debut September 1st.  Less than a 52 day turnaround from debut to mass retail release (remember when you could buy cards at retail before the hobby release?)

So I thought it was absolute nonsense that guys who debuted April 7th couldn't be included in a mid June release.  

Topps has gone the Vlad Jr Short Print route for all these opening day roster rookies which is nice to see.  They also offered a McCutchen card in a Brewers uniform.  I guess I will continue to collect cards, but part of the joy is sharing the hobby with others.

I need some fresh ideas on things to post.  What do you do for writer's block? 

Will theme weeks be a fun idea?  (Color parallels, throwback uniforms, cameo appearances, etc)

Would it be fun to do some Getty image research on photos used?

I'm looking for some ideas on things to write about. Please leave your comments below.

Man! What, a logo...man

Yesterday I promised I would show off one of my recent 1/1s I have acquired over the past few months.  

Well here it is, my first Logoman of Cutch in a pinstripe Phillies uniform.

Pretty stoked to add this to the collection as it looks much different than all my other Logoman cards.

Wow

The back is typical for what you'd see from a 2021 Topps Museum card.

If MLB was to update the MLB Logoman with a silhouette of a baseball player who should it be?

The Future is Now!

The 2019 All-Star Futures Game is happening today.  The future of the MLB will be showcased for the fans of today to see who is coming up through the minors.

Andrew McCutchen appeared in the 2008 All-Star Game at Yankees Stadium.

A year later he would be called up to the majors and in a few seasons he would become the face of the franchise, be an MVP, gold glove winner, Roberto Clemente award winner, 4 silver sluggers, and make 5 All-Star appearances.

These are all the Futures Game related cards of Cutch I have.

The 1/1 Futures Game Logoman autograph has catapulted into one of my top 10 favorite cards.  Topps Sterling was a beautiful product when it was first released despite the sticker autographs.

2008 Bowman Draft featured a bunch of different parallels to chase.

In terms of paper, I have the base, gold, and blue parallels. The red 1/1 has eluded me.

The Chrome parallels are the nicer of the bunch. Above are the X-Tractor, Blue, Base, and Refractor.

The Red is a stunning parallel which is numbered to 5 copies.

The Gold Parallel is equally stunning and is numbered to 50 copies.

Above you can see the "scouting report" of a young McCutchen.

I also have a 1/1 magenta printing plate from the paper release.

This commemorative "pin" manurelic was inserted in packs of 2016 Topps.

Is anyone going to watch the game?

Here are Cutch's 2 plate appearances at the Futures Game in Yankee Stadium including a just missed homerun shot.

This Day in Cutchstory: Quality Control?

Where the heck is the quality control at Topps?

They release a high end set with a suggested retail price of roughly $300 per box and said box contains only 1 card.

The design is awesome.

The box it comes in is equally awesome.

The information about dynastic deeds is awesome.

IF ONLY IT WERE TRUE THOUGH!!!

Look up the boxscore for  April 20th, 2017.  The Diamondbacks played the San Diego Padres and lost easily 4-1.

Was Cutch a member of the Padres then?
Nope!

Ugh....

9 1/1:Another Contest Response

Dan at It's Like Having My Own Card Shop is currently running a contest to celebrate his 9th year blogging.  9 YEARS!!!  That's incredible.

The theme of the contest can be anything, but to show off 9 cards.

I was stewing with this for a bit.  9 cards?

Hmmmm....

Well I did a favorite 10 cards of your favorite player contest last year so that is out.  The list has changed slightly, but not enough to warrant an entry in a contest.

Let's see....there is 9 letters in McCutchen and I have at least one card for each letter.  Maybe I show them off by letter for how many I have?

But then I started thinking about technicalities and are the two cards below considered to be Ns? The full letter isn't there.  And what exactly do I do with the A&G cabinet card that is my favorite card of all time.  How many Cs does that account for?

Clearly the letter thing wasn't going to work for me.

I thought I could show my favorite pairings at each position with Cutch.  There is 9 positions in baseball.  That would be kind of cool...but wait....we just did a blog bat around very similar to that.  I didn't have any catcher autos to show off with Cutch and honestly how many more times do I have to post this 9 patch relic of Cutch with Buster Posey, Clayton Kershaw, Mike Trout, Giancarlo Stanton, Robinson Cano, Miguel Cabrera, Jose Abreu, and Troy Tulowitzki.  Hasn't enough been shown already?

9 cards.  I needed to come up with 9 cards to highlight...
9 unique cards that I haven't shown off a bajillion times before.
9 cards of my favorite player.

Damn this is hard.

Then it hit me.

I will show off the 9 cards I have posted about that got ZERO comments on them prior to this post and rank them.

We can call it....in case you missed it.

So here they are my favorite 9 cards you may have missed from this blog.

Teach me how to APBA

Bazooka!

Cinco de Mayo

Dated Material 5-7-15

English indy Rock Tunes in my Head

Getting Ridiculous

Wait....I don't have 9 worthy posts that people didn't leave comments on?  You guys are super awesome on my blog.  Fricking super awesome!!!!

How about if I just show off 9 cards that feature the MLB Logoman?  Is that a cop out? To just show off 9 ridiculously sick patches in one post?

We all love baseball, right?
The MLB Logoman has been an iconic fixture in the sport since 1969.

This card has leaped it's way into my Top 10 favorite cards as it is a 1/1 with a logoman and autograph.  It is the only signed card with a logoman that Topps has produced of Cutch over the years.

Having the laundry tag from a workout jersey for Cutch's 1st All Star Game is pretty cool.

Having the sleeve patch from his first start at an All Star Game is equally cool.

The laundry tag from the same game? Sure...why not?

I love 2015 Strata.  I have almost 40 patches from the release of Cutch, but none are better than this one of one.

This next card is coming soon as there was a delay with my package from Probstein.  The Strata goes nicely with the rest of the collection and the card you saw above.

These 3 logomen below I have shown a few times in the past so I won't go into great detail about them.

So there is 9 1/1s containing a Logoman.
Thanks for the contest Daniel.  I had fun with yesterday's post and today's.

For anyone that may want a logoman, but don't have the money to lay down for a 1/1 I suggest looking into the 2011 Topps manufactured patch.  The cards look like the one you can see below.

The manufactured relic set features 100 of the game's greatest stars from the past along with the game's futire stars.  They are serially numbered to 50 so quantities can be limited, but the design is great.

Lot Of Great Things To Come

On Sunday night I faced the impossible task of trying to win 14 Probstein auctions that were all ending within 40 seconds of one another.

It appears that another high end Cutch collector is giving up as they have begun consigning their collection to the eBay powerhouse Probstein.

While I didn't win as many as I wanted I won enough to officially pass on trying to add more cards to the collection for a few weeks. There are going to be some monster cards coming to my collection in the next week.

I received this card in the mail late last week and it will go very nicely with one of the incoming cards from my eBay victory.

It is from 2015 Strata, a set that I fell in love with and currently have over 25 of the patches from.

By plugging the code into the MLB authenticator it indicates that this card was in fact from the May 2, 2012 game of the Pirates vs Cardinals.

The Pirates sent newly acquired AJ Burnett to the mound and he got absolutely lit up against the Cardinals offense, giving up 12 runs in 2.2 innings. 

Hot hitting Andrew McCutchen was given the day off so that another offseason acquisition, Nate McLouth, could get some playing time.  The former Pirate went 0 for 4 in the game.  He would be released a few weeks later having only gotten a few more plate appearances in a Pirates uniform.  Cutch wouldn't play in the game at all as he was given a full day off.

I remember this game so vividly. 

Much like the Pirates success after this game, my life got better too.  I broke up with my ex girlfriend shortly after this game after being in a toxic unstable relationship for a few years.  I got a promotion at work with a significant pay increase.  And I found someone who I enjoy being with every day of my life. 

Life got better after that game.

In a weird way, maybe my card collection will too....

Getting Ridiculous!!!

There was a three week period where I didn't purchase anything cardboard related.  That was followed by a few days of some of the most expensive cards I have ever purchased.

This 1/1 from 2009 Topps Unique leads the charge of being one of those expensive purchases.  The logoman from Cutch's Futures Game jersey along with one of his earlier, full signatures make this card move into a Top 10 of my collection. 

The only drawback I have towards the card is the sticker auto, but there aren't that many on card autographs of Cutch out there to be honest.  A few recent releases from Panini and a few Heritage releases to go along with one year of Tier 1 and Museum are about all you will find of the former NL MVP.

Number 192!!!

Yesterday I showed off my 191st 1/1 of the 2013 NO MVP.

It was slightly majestic.

Today is slightly more majestic.

Welcome number 192

Here's another example of taking advantage of eBay bucks and savings.  This one was a 20% off coupon that I used on my winning bid.

A New Contest: The Top 10 Cards in my PC

I am doing another contest.  Congrats to defgav on winning the last contest and dubbing "The Cardboard Insider" segment which I will spotlight next week.

This is going to be an easy and fun one.

Show off your 10 favorite cards of your favorite player and mention/link my blog in your post.  The contest will end May 30th.
Everyone that participates will get entered for a random.org selection.  The prizes are all very nice and will be displayed at the end of this post.  Additional rules will appear below also.

Without further ado, here's my top 10 in order.
#10 2013 Dual Relic/Dual Autograph Gerrit Cole and Andrew McCutchen
This card just doesn't pop up for sale very often although there is one on eBay right now in the $350 range.  2013 was a great season for the Pirates.  They broke the streak of 20 losing seasons and made the playoffs.  Cutch and Cole were a large part of the reason the team was so successful.  They were both going to be the future of the franchise as Cutch had just signed a very team friendly deal to stay in Pittsburgh through 2018 (if the options were picked up).  Gerrit Cole when pitching right is one of the best NL pitchers.  Together they are my favorite players of this millennium to wear a Buccos uniform.  I have other Cutch and Cole cards and some may be more expensive, but this is my favorite because of it's release date and the joys I had rooting for the Pirates during that 2013 season.

#9: 2013 Triple Threads Booklet
Ask any kid growing up in the 90s who their top 5 favorite baseball players are and Ken Griffey Jr is sure to be on that list.  No one disliked "the Kid." Cutch has stated in numerous interviews that Griffey was his favorite player growing up also.  Having 2 Hall of Famers, bats from Kemp and Bo, and 2 great looking patches for Bryce and Cutch make this booklet one of my favorites.  Only 3 exist and there are plenty of Harper, Griffey, and Bo fans that can be jealous that I own this one.

#8: Gypsy Queen Adam Jones and Andrew McCutchen Dual Button
I mentioned a few weeks ago that this card was easily in my top 10.  After looking at all my cool Cutch cards, I realized "I got a lot of cool Cutch cards."  Adam Jones is one of my nonPirates favorites so that definitely helps this card break the top 10.

#7: 2015 Topps Triple Threads All-Star Game Sleeve Patch 1/1
I realize this should be higher and maybe I am putting emotional significance on the top 5 higher, even though this card is just absolutely sick looking.  It's my list though and in terms of cards I would say that since each year Topps Triple Threads seem to do something like this, it doesn't hold the same WOW factor to me as it probably should.  It was Cutch's 4th All-Star Game.  He didn't win an MVP during that year (finished 3rd though).  It's a great looking card and looks incredible in the custom case I got for it, but the others mean more to me.

#6: 2009 Bowman Chrome Superfractor 1/1
There's going be nothing but 1/1s from here on.  When it comes to collecting Bowman cards, there's 2 kinds that people collect: a player's 1st Bowman Card (often found in Bowman Draft) and the player's Rookie Card.  The little RC logo adds a lot to the desirability of a player.  A 2005 Bowman Chrome Superfractor would be another Holy Grail card for me, but for now this Bowman Chrome beats all other 6 Superfractor in my collection for top parallel.

#5: 2012 Triple Threads All-Star Game Laundry Tag 1/1 booklet
Cutch's first All-Star Game was in 2011 at Arizona.  He was a replacement for Carlos Beltran.  He only got one plate appearance which was a check swing groundout to the pitcher.  Regardless of his performance in the game, this workout jersey is still from his 1st All-Star Game.

Note: I also have his laundry tag booklet card from 2015 Triple Threads for his 2014 All-Star Game (the first game he started)

#4 2005 Topps Chrome Cyan Printing Plate Autograph 1/1
I was able to grab this from someone that pulled it in 2014.  It was my 500th card of Cutch.  I am now near 1,700.  That shows how much of my collection has changed so that I could solely focus on Cutch.

#3: 2016 Immaculate Bat Knob 1/1
Unlicensed or not.  This was one of my favorite cards I got so far this year.  Featuring a bat knob that was PSA authenticated before Panini got it, it's a sense of relief to be able to verify the authenticity of the card.

#2:
It took awhile for my favorite product to get featured, but Allen & Ginter finally makes an appearance.  Combining a Cutch bat barrel nameplate and a Pedro Alvarez jersey nameplate, this 1/1 booklet was one of my first big cards I ever purchased.

#1: 2016 Allen & Ginter 1/1 Box Topper Nameplate
Quite literally one of the biggest cards I own, this massive and beautiful designed card shows the first part of McCutchen's nameplate from a home white jersey.

So there's my top 10 cards.
How do you like the way I ranked them? Would you rank them differently?

Honorable mentions (the just missed list):
Any of my 3 MLB Logoman cards

Any of my 3 Majestic Logo Cards

A pair of Autograph/Patch Booklets from Allen & Ginter that form the "P" on the alternate black uniform.

Any of these Superfractors could have earned a top spot, but the saying Chrome is King refers to Bowman, sorry random Topps products.

Triple Threads All-Star Game Patch cards /9 for each of Cutch's All-Star Games (so far)

How about this 1/1 Triple Threads Team Logo card with Jung Ho Kang and Gerrit Cole?  If it were not for Jung Ho's reckless behavior this card would have made the Top 10.  As more and more is becoming known about his character and actions, it is becoming harder for me to root for the guy.  Had this card been just Cutch and Cole it would have made the Top 10.  Need proof, go back to the top and see #10 for my reasons.

Now...onto the contest.

1)Leave a comment below with your link mentioning this contest and show off your 10 favorite cards of your favorite player.  They don't have to be mega hits.  You can like a card for it's photography, the joy of getting that card as a gift, whatever the reason...it's your list.

SHOW THEM OFF!!!!

2) All participants will receive tbeir blog entered into random.org as a result of participating.
Assuming there are at least 5 people who show off their top 10 here is the prize for the random.org result winner


1-A Craig Biggio Topps Dynasty autograph/patch card.

.
All other participants will receive one of the following cards

If less than 5 people participate, the Biggio will not be randomed off and I will just send you ONE of the above cards for participating.