can't you read?

I am so sick and tired of Topps lack of quality control and fact checking on the back of their baseball cards.

If it's for a low end, print on demand product where they have to create the card and get it to the presses within 24 hours, I can almost understand it.

But when you're talking about a product line like Topps Dynasty where the cards are produced with big chunky patches and a nearly $600 per card price tag attached, I expect higher quality control.

Topps Dynasty is a beautiful set with 1 card per box release.  Andrew had only appeared in the 2018 release prior to the most recent 2021 release.  

His 2021 release features cards of him in the four uniforms he had played with this far into his career: Pirates, Phillies, Yankees, and Giants.

I set out to get one example of each variation and have gotten the 1/1 for his Yankees card along with images for Phillies and Giants.

I was EXTREMELY disappointed to learn that one of Cutch's most defining moments in his career was being mislead on the back of the card.

The front of the card features a great image of Cutch in his Giants gear, on card autograph, and a large chunky S from the Giants sleeve patch.  It of course is housed inside a One Touch magnetic with the Topps Dynasty sticker holding the case together.

The back, while a nice design, is riddled with errors.

Cutch's "Dynastic Deed" occurred on April 7th, 2018 NOT April 8th.  I know this very well because I have the foul ball that was hit just before his epic walkoff blast.

It makes no mention that the walkoff was a home run.

While still early into his Giants career, it was the 7th game that Cutch wore the black and orange NOT the 3rd.  

Do you ever notice inaccurate statements on the backs of baseball cards?  What are some that you've noticed of your favorite players?

Elf Week: Throne of Lies

All week long I will be showing off Andrew McCutchen baseball cards based on some of the best quotes from the Christmas comedy, Elf.

JediJeff got the ball rolling by using the line "You Sit On a Throne of Lies" when he recommended the quote yesterday.

That is certainly a funny quote and there have been some other really good ones suggested too.

Just before an epic fight between Buddy the Elf and a mall Santa, Buddy calls out the imposter Santa.

Topps has made a few errors in their production of cards over the years.

We know that Topps has made intentional errors in their Topps Heritage release to mimic the original year's errors.  Some of these include the "Pittsburfh" spelling and "playing multiple infield positions".  I have shown them off here.

Today though I want to look at the unintentional errors that are created because after all, they are sitting on a throne of lies.

Let's take a look at a few of them

This 2019 Archives release is supposed to be based off the the 1958 design.  All appears ok on the front.

However on the back it makes mention of Cutch receiving a fielding award in 2013.  Cutch won his only Gold Glove in 2012.
This was an unknown error and there are no corrected versions.


Topps made a mistake in 2012 Finest when they thought they would be releasing an autographed version of Andrew McCutchen's Franchise Finest card.  I wrote about it here.

This die cut chrome Refractor would have looked awesome as an autograph subject.

Unfortunately Topps forgot to put the sticker auto on it and the card was printed and released

The back even states the standard autograph signing statement that appears on the back of all Topps autograph cards.
To my knowledge this is the only KNOWN copy in existence, but it can be assumed based on actual production numbers from other players in the set that 15 copies were supposed to be produced with the auto. 

 Here are screenshots of Justin Verlander from a current $200 eBay auction.

Topps made another error when creating their 1983 inspired insert set last year in Series 1.

 The front has all the bells and whistles that the original had.  The blue is slightly brighter than the original used for the Pirates.

The back is where the lie is hidden yet again.  It states that on July 24 2017 Cutch led the Pirates over the Giants with a Grand Slam.  While Cutch was a key reason for the victory, it was his 3 run homer that helped push the Pirates over the Giants.  Cutch wouldn't hit a grand slam until September 2017.
There are no corrected versions.


By far the biggest lie I detected among Topps cards was when I showed a green parallel from when I showed a Frankenstein card and discussed Valerie Hobson who played the Bride of Frankenstein.  The card in question was a 2017 Topps Tribute jersey relic

 Most fans are eager to go online and verify their sticker to find out what game the relic is from

 Upon entering it, you get another code that was authenticated as game used from MLB.

But ultimately that code doesnt match up with the style of relic contained in the card.
I am unaware if Topps and MLB Authentication made more cards with mismatched authentication stickers and origins.


In April 2017 I wrote a post about the below 2013 Franchise Forerunners card featuring Gerrit Cole and Andrew McCutchen.

 This card would be a great card for Pirates fans and baseball fans in general as it featured one of the top five players in the game (Andrew McCutchen) and a rookie year card of Gerrit Cole (who recently signed the largest pitching contract in history)

The back however discusses Allen Webster and Pedro Martinez.
This was an unknown error. No corrected versions were made.


With all those Topps Lies, it is amazing that they still hold the monopoly of licensed baseball products.


Panini is known to make errors as well.

There are multiple parallels to chase for this 2017 Immaculate Collection

The back states that Willie McCovey is the only other Steel City Slugger to post 20+ HomeRuns for more than six seasons.

The lie occurs with the fact that it was Willie Stargell to hit those numbers, NOT Willie McCovey. "Stretch" never played for the Pirates.
This was an unknown error. No corrections were made despite the multiple parallels produced.


Panini, like Topps, has forgotten to put stickers on their cards as well.

I wrote about them here when Cutch was returning to PNC Park for the first time since being traded in 2018.

This was an unknown error and no additional signed or unsigned cards have surfaced since my post.



I hope you all enjoyed this post as I really went head first into finding some "you sit on a throne of lies" cards.

Please be sure to give me some other quotes so I can find some quotes to match up to my 2,600 unique Andrew McCutchen cards.

#fakenews

UPDATE FROM YESTERDAY: THE BOBBY BONILLA BOBBLEHEAD IS NOT A REAL BOBBLEHEAD.  IT WAS A WHAT IF? BOBBLEHEAD ARTIST RENDITION.  #FAKENEWS

I came across this old article on Rumbunter, a Pirates site, discussing a potential trade of Cutch to the Giants.  The article talked about a package revolving around Tyler Beede (Giants only top 100 prospect on Baseball America list), Christian Arroyo (article written before the Longoria trade), and Joe Panik in exchange for Cutch's final year before becoming a free agent.

The article goes on to close with it is unlikely that the Pirates and Giants will find a match to trade the face of the Pirates franchise to the Bay.

Well....a few weeks after that article was written, not only was Cutch traded but the Pirates included money in the trade (whaaaaaaaaat??!!!!) for International Spending money, Bryan Reynolds, and Kyle Crick.

Obviously the news broke me and I was very upset to see my favorite player get traded.

Overall though getting Kyle Crick, who has been one of the Pirates better more reliable arms out of the bullpen for 5 more years along with one of the Giants top prospects, Bryan Reynolds, looks like it will be more successful for the Pirates longterm.

This article wasn't intended to provide fake news or false hopes of Cutch being traded.  It was more designed to hold out hope that the Pirates may hold onto Cutch for another year.  It was an error of judgement and assumption by the writer.

Both Topps and Panini have made errors regarding cardboard featuring Cutch and the Giants over the years.

Panini made the rather embarassing moment when they confused Pirates legend Willie Stargell with Giants legend Willie McCovey.  I wrote about that card here.  The back of the card for a memory refresher is below.

Topps made an error on their 2018 1983 inspired inserts when they claimed that Cutch hit a Grandslam against the Giants.  Cutch did hit a HR, but it was a 3 run shot not a grand slam. AJ of the Lost Collector sent me that card here.  The card back is below.

Overall I am still upset that Cutch isn't playing in the Steel City anymore, but the addition of Crick and Reynolds could help the team much more over the next 5+ years compared to what Cutch could have done for them this year.  That's not a knock on Cutch either.  That's the business side of baseball.

Going Green: Expecting Frankenstein

Valerie Hobson was an Irish born actress best known for her role in Bride of Frankenstein, as the Baroness.

She would go on to appear in 3 decades of films.

One such film she appeared in was Great Expectations.

I expected more from you Topps

You made me believe in something

Only to contradict it later on

As you can see by the authentication sticker below and the trail above, my expectations were great, but ultimately I was let down.

Topps, you've created a monster

If this jersey is actually from the 5/30/16 game against the Marlins, Cutch went 1 for 5.  Or maybe this is just a jersey formed from Angels dirt.