All about that base, bout that base

Only 1 new Andrew McCutchen card has come in this week.  I told you I was slowing down with the Cutch pickups.

It's the base card from 2021 Topps Big League. I got it for less than $2 delivered.  

Last week I got a big lot of Troy Polamalu careds that pushed me near the 100 unique card lot.  I want to concentrate on only the great insert cards like the Kaboom and Downtown cards I showed off in my last post. I want to focus on unique images before I start venturing down the path of chasing parallels with Troy.  Prizm has included Troy in recent years as a legend player and there are over 30 different parallels to chase of that one image.  Some are great looking. Some aren't.  

Here are a few of my recent favorite base cards of Troy I have gotten including a 2003 UD Standing Ovation rookie. 

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.

Superstitions?

The Steelers are now a surprising 10-0 to start the season.  Amidst all this chaos that COVID-19 has caused this world, one thing this year has been consistent.  I have worn my black Troy Polamalu every Steelers game day this year.  It's a jersey I've had for about 10 years, but only wore it to in person game viewing.  With no in game attendance for much of the country, I subconsciously wore it in hopes that "things could get back to normal".  Then the Steelers won, so I wore it the next week and they won again.  Rinse and repeat 10 times and that brings us to the current state.

Is it superstitious?

Absolutely!

Am I going to change my wardrobe this Thanksgiving when the Steelers face off against their division rivals, the Baltimore Ravens?

Absolutely not!

I have a very small collection of Troy (only about 40 cards), which is sad because he is my 2nd favorite football player ever behind only Jerome Bettis (about 300 cards).

Here are a few of my favorites.

This on card silver ink framed card is from Topps last year of Museum football. It's weird that football fans miss Topps products and baseball fans want Panini to get an MLB license.  This is by far and away my best card of Troy, the others are just base and parallels.

Above are the 9 best other cards of Troy I own.  I chose them either for their imagery, uniform, or being a parallel.  Maybe I can use the 2 pink parallels for a future Save Second Base.

This red parallel Topps Triple Threads is numbered to 50 copies and features a very neat fact on the back.

Troy batted .550 as All-State baseball player in his senior year.  What an athlete!!!

And here is an Andrew McCutchen card with name cameo of Troy Polamalu on the back.  

It is the Stars of Summer insert from 2014 Classics.

That is a cool looking insert!

Do you have any superstitions relating to watch sport events?