Gettin' Rich

Everyone wants to get rich with this hobby, right?  Well I literally did get Rich.

Rich Molinelli, that is. 

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that my profile pic/avatar is a sketch card of Andrew McCutchen.  That card was drawn by Rich Molinelli almost a decade ago.  

I wanted an updated version and requested Rich draw him in a Yankees uniform because quite frankly I just don't have enough Cutch Yankees cards.

This is the result of what Rich came up with.

It rocks!!!!  I love the #26 pinstripe jersey, the clean shaved Cutch, and the unique design he threw into the background.

Best of all, it was done on a 2021 sketch card, making this my first of the new season.

If you want to follow Rich here are some of his links

Twitter @RichMolinelli

Website www.richmolinelli.com

Now for some "get rich" puns

I am always looking to add gold border 2005 Update cards to the collection

I currently have 7.  I've gotten them as cheap as $5 and have paid as much as $20 over my collecting career.

I am shocked at how much these are going for in this crazy hobby world we live in today

$46-$56 is an insane price for these if you ask me, but I guess with a Trout base rookie selling for $600+ regularly now it only makes sense.

A Blogger Had Me Targeted

My Andrew McCutchen collection is pretty familar around the card blogs.  Unfortunately I tend to not be too involved with checking email very often.

Evidently I missed an opportunity to add an Andrew McCutchen card to the collection by not checking email. 

Instead I noticed it when I checked eBay for new McCutchen cards and noticed the Target exclusive 2020 Update red parallel was listed.

It had a very reasonable buy-it-now price and the seller had immaculate feedback.

So I bought it.

A few days later it was in my mail box with a note from Jim of the blogger profile GCRL and current author of Cards As I See Them

Have you ever made a purchase with another blogger, not knowing it was them?

The Hunt(er) For Reds This December

Quick!

What is the most famous baseball set of the past 10 years?

If you said, 2011 Topps Update you likely have been paying attention to the set that has some very expensive rookie cards like Mike Trout, Paul Goldschmidt, Jose Altuve, DJ LeMahieu, and many more.

I'm not interested in those though.  I am interested in one card in particular.

A Jay Bruce All-Star card?

As a Pirates fan, don't I hate the Reds?

Yup!!!

But this card not only has Hunter Pence, one of my favorite baseball personalities of the past decade, it also has an Andrew McCutchen cameo on the right.  

So if you thought that you're boxes of 2011 Topps Update couldn't yield anymore goodness, please take them out and look at them.  If you have any parallels of this card I am very interested.

I am looking for all parallels of this card.  Cognac, Silver Anniversary, Black, WalMart Blues, printing plates, Hope Diamonds, and most importantly Target Reds.  

Did you ever discover a card nearly a decade after it's printing that had a cameo on it of a favorite player of yours? 

Where's that haystack?

2020 Topps Update has been out for a bit over a week now and I have to admit, I am shocked by how few parallels have hit the market for 2020 U-266

That's Andrew McCutchen's 2020 Topps Update card which looks back on his 2013 All-Star Game.

So far I have only received the gold foil parallel.

These fall roughly 1 in every 2 Hobby Jumbo packs and are exclusive to Hobby Jumbo packs.  I will be looking for all the other parallels to build towards a rainbow.

I like the look of this card and really want to add any of these dreadlock, Pirates, perennial MVP contender era McCutchen cards to my PC.  Keep your eyes out because as of now they feel like a needle in a haystack trying to locate.

Only 1 of the 50 pink parallels has hit eBay with a Buy-It-Now of $50.  Hmmmm HELL NO!!!

0 of the 99 Vintage Stocks have appeared on eBay

0 of the 25 Camo have appeared on eBay

0 of the 1/1 printing plates have appeared on eBay.

Where are all the breakers pulling these cards? What the heck is going on here?

Walking Without the Dead

Katelyn Nacon

You may not be too familiar with this young actress, so let me introduce you to more about her.

Katelyn Nacon was born June 11th 1999 in Atlanta, Georgia.

She is best known for appearing as the character Enid on The Walking Dead

I won't give away too many spoilers, but her character is no longer on the show.

She appeared in 5 seasons and was a love interest for Carl.

She continued to make appearances at various convention circuits due to her role on the show.

She has become a fan favorite at such events.

I actually have an on card autograph of Katelyn from the Walking Dead series.  These can usually be found for under $20.


Her most recent role was on the TV series, Light as a Feather

She also appeared in the Hulu series T@gged

where she plays the character Elisia Brown

Its available for streaming on Hulu and tells the story of some high school students that were all tagged in a terrible social media post that ripples down to many conspiracies from when they were younger.

These days she posts a lot on Social Media and is an influencer and model.

She seems to embrace the nerdy pop culture.

Hopefully she continues to influence Hollywood so she isn't only remembered for The Walking Dead.

For me she will always be Enid from The Walking Dead though.  When dealing with zombies it is best not to show fear or blink and run like hell!

DON'T BLINK!

This is the red parallel numbered to 10 copies from 2018 Topps Dont Blink insert.  It certainly has pink shades throughout it though.

Let's celebrate for landing this extremely difficult "red" parallel that has more pink shades than red.  It is numbered to only 10 copies.

We can also celebrate for this on card auto.

Have you watched Walking Dead?

What is your favorite zombie film or tv show?

Be sure to check on the blog early tomorrow for a contest that will only be available for 12 hours

Photo Variant Autograph

Yesterday I showed the two different photo variants that Cutch received in 2018 Topps Update. 

Over the years Topps has produced a VERY limited number of photo variant autographs that traditionally have been limited to only 5 copies.

I have the 2014 version which I wrote about here.

Since release I have only seen 2 copies of this SP auto appear.

The back has the same base set numbering, but in very fine print has the standard all autographs...blah blah blah on the bottom.

The First of Many....

Andrew McCutchen autographs once were pretty tough to find in new releases.  2014 to 2016 saw only 10 unique cards get released featuring the autograph of the former MVP.

2017 saw a lot of Panini products bare Cutch's autograph.

Nothing from Topps though.

Then 2018 Archives came out with lots of redemptions that lead to 1/1 buybacks.

The 2018 Update Series showed an on card autograph of Cutch in it's initial preview.  Little did I know there would be lots more options available.

Fret not though True Believers, I am back on the quest to add as many as possible to the collection.

So without further ado, I present the 2018 Chrome Update 1983 Insert red parallel numbered 2/5.  It is a sticker autograph, but who cares?

WOW!!!  What a cool looking image!  The 1983 design, red chrome, American flag in the background.  Great photo choice on that one Topps!!!!

Trust me when I say a lot more have already been delivered.  I will show them off over time.  Oddly enough the less rare versions I don't have yet.

Why Topps? Why?

You may recall back in May that I showed off an early preview of 2018 Topps Update.  You can see it here.

I was excited to collect all the parallels of Cutch in his new Giants uniform.  I have checked off a few of the parallels, but still need the base.

The initial preview showed a gold parallel of Cutch on a horizontal design.  I really liked how it looked as I don't have many cards of the former Pirate in a horizontal look.

The card however was produced vertically using a closer cropping of the same image.  You can see the gold parallel below to,compare them both.

Which version do you like more?

(Mark "The ) Shark" Week

Jason Grilli might have started the shark tank, but no one understood what it was like to be a shark more than Mark "The Shark" Melancon.

Mark fully embraced the Shark Tank and his nickname by even swimming with the sharks in New Zealand which you can read about here.

Continuing with Shark Week is a card of Mark "The Shark" Melancon featured on an AJ Burnett card with Cutch.

It's the black parallel numbered to 64 copies. I am still looking for all other parallels of this card besides the black and pink.  If you come across any please send them my way.  This includes the base.

All Star Game Thoughts

It is the 8th inning of the 2018 All Star Game and here are some things I am coming away with.

I miss seeing Cutch appear in all star games.

Charlie Morton, born in my hometown, is in line for the win. 

I still don't like the Brewers players.  Yelich loses ball in lights allowing a hit off Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez.  Then Yelich redeems himself by homering off my other PC player Charlie Morton.  National League is losing to the American League because of a Brewers pitcher giving up a 3 run homer to a former Brewers player.

It is good to see Shin Soo Choo continue his on base streak in an exhibition game.

Mannywood2.0?

Trout is a freak when on the national spotlight.


The card pictured above is my only autographed card of Cutch in an All Star uniform.  It is from 2015 Update and is numbered 5/6.  It has a massive patch containing the "L" in National. 

If Cutch doesn't appear in another ASG, his last at bat was a Homerun. 

2018 Topps Update First Look

An early preview of 2018 Topps Update was revealed yesterday.  As a Cutch collector, I suspect that there will be lots of goodies to chase in that upcoming release.

Early previews show the gold parallel of Cutch's Giants flagship debut in addition to a 1983 autograph, the first time Cutch has signed for Topps in several years.

I will definitely be chasing as many of these parallels as I can get my hands on.

For more info on the 2018 Topps Update release click here.