May The 4th & Taz

I love pop culture. Not so much stuff today like Fortnite or Pokemon or whatever that Five Freddy thing is, but the stuff from the 80s and 90s I love!!!

I never considered myself a huge fan of Star Wars, but I do enjoy the original trilogy and *parts* of the prequels/sequels. 

Here is a card I have shown off many times before on Star Wars Day.

I wanted to take a moment though to discuss where my current collecting is.  I still plan to pick up as many Andrew McCutchen cards as I can, but I am really looking at streamlining what I am picking up and the prices I am willing to pay.  

5 years ago I would have just paid whatever was needed to grab new Cutch cards, but now I have certain prices in mind for what the card is (base, serial, auto, relic, patch, etc).  

It's a lot more enjoyable this way.

Plus my mailman isn't going to throw his back out with less than 5 new pickups a week opposed to dozens of cards incoming. 

Now, I say all that and have to admit...I am splurging on football cards now more than ever. 

I am looking for Jerome Bettis & Troy Polamalu cards for the collection.  I have close to 500 unique cards of the Bus and am nearing 100 unique Troy cards.

For a brief time, Troy was being called the Tasmanian Devil due to his style of play on the field.

Here are a pair of recent Taz pickups.

Oh what a Wookie...

Celebrities wear Star Wars and hang out with Star Wars characters.

Wow! Lookie lookie at what's next to the wookie

Alex Gervasi

Megan Fox has been known to support Star Wars too

She also seems to be a fan of R2D2

Kristen Wiig

She wore a Darth Vader inspired dress in 2009


Emma Stone

She wore her hair in Princess Leia buns while wearing a Yoda shirt for a Stand Up To Cancer event.

Reese Witherspoon

And of course there have been many actresses who have dressed up as Slave Leia for fantasy scenes in movies, tv shows, and photoshoots.

Celebrities like
Jennifer Aniston

Kim Kardashian

Kelly Brook

America's Top Model, Adrienne Curry

But my favorite celebrity crush to support Star Wars is Kristen Bell

Not only is she insanely adorable, she also starred in a movie called Fanboys that is literally about Star Wars fans.  Most girls look great dressed as Princess Leia, but Bell wins my heart over with the way she can wear a Wookie on her chest.

Slave Leia tho....

Even as a brunette, wow!

Star Wars day is every May the 4th which in the UK is written as 4/5, the place where Jediism become an official religion.

Here is my favorite 4/5 card I have picked up in the past year since my last 4/5 entry on Star Wars day.

That is a 2012 Topps Museum Black Frame Silver Signature autograph.  It is one of my favorite autograph cards in the collection.  

The (Evil) Empire Strikes Back

Last year on Star Wars Day, I featured A New Hope.  It was the 4th installment of the franchise series, but the first to be released.

@alexonthemic wore the movie poster on her chest quite nicely and was featured last year during my SaveSecondBase event.  You can revisit that post here if you want to be reminded about her again.

Following the 1977 release of A New Hope was my personal favorite of the franchise, The Empire Strikes Back.

This poster was designed by Ken Fitzgerald.

While it isn't an official poster design, this t-shirt worn by Meghan Fox is clearly from The Empire Strikes Back.  It features Darth Vader and has images of the frozen planet Hoth.

Meghan Fox was also featured last year as part of my SaveSecondBase Event.  You can revisit her post here.

Today's post will feature The Empire Strikes Back.

Jedi as a religion became official in the UK and like most of the rest of the world, they write their days as DD/MM/YY

Therefore every Star Wars day is celebrated in the rest of the world as 4/5.

Here is a Star Wars Day card worth celebrating.

I will begin with the 4/5 numbering.

Now I will show The (Evil) Empire known as the Yankees.

The Tier 1 autograph is on clear acetate and to wrap it all up, above is the card front

And here is the back, yet again reminding everyone that Andrew McCutchen was once part of The (Evil) Empire

Happy Star Wars Day and May The Forth (be with you)

Star Wars Day: A New Hope

Today is Star Wars Day, May the Forth (be with you).  I am not a HUGE Star Wars fan, but will be watching the all day marathon on TBS today.

I will display everything I remember about the 1st Star Wars released in 1977 using Andrew McCutchen baseball cards.  The first Star Wars released was called A New Hope

This is my Saphire Hope parallel from 2013 Topps.  It is New to my collection, thus "A New Hope"

The first Hope parallels were inserted in the now famous 2011 Topps Update Series.  The Hope parallels were numbered to 60 copies.

Mine is 40/60.

I'm glad I grabbed this one forever long ago as trying to get the Hope parallels now are almost impossible to find thanks to the rookies of Mike Trout, Jose Altuve, and Paul Goldschmidt.

 Darth Vader learns that the rebels have gotten plans to destroy his Death Star.

Luke Skywalker, who we later find out is Vader's son and Princess Leia's brother, is seen on Tattooine, a desolate planet with lots of sand.

I have 10 total parallels of Cutch looking like he is swinging a bat on Tatoine including
 black and white, Members Only
Red Foil, Rainbow Foil
Sepia, Photographer's Proof

Chrome Mint Good, Chrome Refractor
Chrome Superfractor (1/1), Chrome

Luke meets a legendary Jedi named Obi-Wan Kenobi

The Pirates have had a lot of legendary players over the years, but it all started with Honus Wagner.

Kenobi teaches Skywalker how to yield a lightsaber, the weapon of choice for all Jedi.

This 5x7 Topps Fire Gold card (/10) is one of my favorite designed cards ever to feature Cutch.

Luke becomes a Jedi and begins to wear the same wardrobe as his mentor.

In 2010 Topps Unique and Heritage Rookie Performers, Cutch is wearing a 1909 uniform made famous by Honus Wagner.

Other things happen and at the end, Skywalker gets in an X-wing Figher to perfectly shoot down the Death Star's only vulnerable spot, by using the Force.

I remember Skywalker getting a medal at the end of one of the movies, so if this ribbon looking card doesn't match up with how New Hope ended, let's just use a lot of imagination and pretend it's an aerial silhoutte view of an X-Wing fighter.

May the 4th Be With You (UK Edition) THESE CARDS ARE RIDICULOUS!!!

In the past I have shown off an oversized 2015 Topps Fire gold parallel (/10) card that reminds me of Star Wars on Star Wars Day!

This year I am going to do things a little different.

Earliest known records of Jediism were first recognized in the United Kingdom as early as 2001.

So in the tradition of The United Kingdom and their recognition of May (5) the Forth (4) day we are going to look at cards numbered 4/5 because in the UK they put the date before month in their calendar numbering ways.

Up first a 2016 Optic Green parallel

And the 2017 version

2014 Topps Photo Variant Auto SSP

2016 National Treasures Booklet Stars Signatures

2017 Heritage Chrome Gold Refractor

2017 Flawless Signature Swatches

2017 National Treasures Signature Swatches

2017 Hits Memorabilia Mint Materials Prime

2018 Donruss Press Proof

2015 Immaculate Hitters Prime Patch

2017 Immaculate

2016 Bowman Chrome Red

2016 Museum Jumbo Patches (2014 WildCard Game Jersey)

2014 Topps Mini Black

2015 Topps Mini Red