Well, it's been a busy day so I had to post this card in the final minutes (posted 11:45pm) to get the Mini Monday streak started again.
Today's mini is a 2014 Bowman Chrome mini die cut Refractor
Numbered to only 150 copies
The back of the card mentions Cutch's attempt to get a third straight OPS over .900. Cutch would not only be successful in hitting that mark, but he would actually lead the majors with a .952 OPS and again finish 3rd in MVP voting behind Clayton Kershaw and Giancarlo Stanton.
Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there reading this!!!
Today's card is the 2011 Bowman Chrome blue parallel.
I chose this card because it features an image of Cutch wearing the blue wristbands from a Father's Day game played in 2010 against the Cleveland Indians.
Coincidently Father's Day in 2010 was also on June 20th.
The Pirates defeated the Cleveland Indians 5-3 at PNC Park. Cutch scored the go ahead run in the 8th inning when he walked to lead off the inning and came around to score on a Pedro Alvarez sacrifice fly.
At the plate, Cutch went 0 for 3 with a walk, run scored, and RBI.
He finished the day with his triple slash line being .315/.392/.479. It's a shame that Evan Meek was the Pirates lone representative at the 2010 All Star Game and that Cutch was snubbed from the game.
It was a week ago that Andrew McCutchen hit his 250th career homer. I've shown off a few of my cards limited to 250 copies in celebration of this event.
Today I will look at my 2014 cards limited to 250 copies.
2014 was the last year of Cutch having dreadlocks during a season and it would also be the last year before things were getting purply by Topps.
2014 Bowman Orange
2014 Triple Threads Emerald
2014 Bowman Chrome Blue refractor
I love that Homerun chart above. I wish more cards had unique backs like that on a regular basis.
I have been dropping some trivia while looking at Cutch's career homeruns, but I think this next bit of trivia is awesome and really shows the power/speed combination that Cutch has shown over his 13 year career.
Since Cutch's 2009 debut there has only been 1 player in Baseball with 250 homeruns and 200 stolen bases. His name is Mike Trout. Cutch currently sits on 194 career stolen bases and 250 homers. It is likely Cutch joins this generation's greatest player before the season is up. Granted Trout did all that before his 30th birthday, but who's keeping track of that?
With it being Easter Sunday, I thought it was appropriate to show off some cards of Cutch that show him wearing his cross armband over the years while playing for 4 teams.
John 11:25
Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.
I thought I would do something a little different today using a serial number on a baseball card to come up with today's bible verse.
First up the card
This is the 2019 Bowman Chrome National Exclusive gold parallel.
Cutch is wearing his famous armband with the cross on it as he connects with his swing.
The serial number is 44/50
Today's verse
John 12 44:50
44 Then Jesus cried out, “Whoever believes in me does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45 The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.
47 “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. 48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day.49 For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken.50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”
2020 has been a brutal year. I don't even have to talk about pandemics or political agendas (from either party) or racial injustice to say that this year has sucked.
One thing that hasn't sucked is the BOOM! in the card industry. While there have been plenty of abnormal prices with many other players, Cutch's older cards have actually remained very cheap.
I may have over 3K unique cards of Cutch, but there are still plenty more for me to collect (especially cards from his post Pirates career).
This is my latest card that I got really excited about.
This is a 2012 Topps Triple Threads sapphire parallel numbered to only 25 copies. These older Triple Threads parallels are getting really tough to come by, especially these sapphire cards.
The back features a pretty cool fact about Cutch. In only his second full season, he was able to become the 8th player in Pirates history to have a 20/20 season. He would go and repeat that feat for four seasons. The third fact about his mother, is the really cool one. I knew she could sing as she sang the National Anthem at a few Pirates games, but I never knew that she was a top volleyball player.
I am really happy I was able to get this card for my collection.
I was able to get this card (and 3 others) for only $7.99
Here are the other cards in the collection including an amazing die cut refractor from Topps Chrome.
Here are the other two cards in the lot.
I have both of these chrome base cards, but never showed off the back of either.
Check out that spray chart for Cutch's homeruns in 2013:
A lot of players tend to hit the ball pullside and very few connect for all fields.
News broke over the weekend that SDCC (San Diego Comic Con) was cancelled this year. I am not sure how many comic or pop culture fans also read this blog, but this is major news.
For the first time in it's 50+ year history, the most famous pop culture convention in the world won't be happening.
There are already rumors that Disney & Marvel may stream a panel available to fans that would have typically been one of the main events at the con.
This got me thinking about The National Sports Card Convention. I have never been to The National and was hoping to go this year since it is happening in my home state. Yay! New Jersey!
As I was busy updating my checklist I came across a few cards that were NSCC exclusives and thought I should finally show them off.
Up first is 2019 Bowman Chrome National Wrapper Redemption.
This "Christmas numbered parallel" is the orange prism refractor found only in the special NSCC packs.
The logo for the convention is seen to the left corner, just above the name of Andrew McCutchen.
In order to receive a pack of these, attendants would need to buy a box of Topps products from a partnered dealer and bring the box along with a special sticker to the Topps booth where they would be rewarded with a pack of these exclusive Bowman Chrome cards. The set contains 50 cards and offers color parallels and autographs randomly inserted into the 4 card packs. I will show off some other 2019 Bowman Chrome National Exclusives in another post, sometime in the future.
I also have a pair of Panini product buybacks that are stamped on the front with The National logo
This is a 2016 Diamond King card from the 2016 National.
The Back is stamped directly in the center of the card and is numbered to only 5 copies.
I also have an Industry Summit card buyback.
Dealers, card companies, and others directly involved with the hobby who attended the 4 day event in Las Vegas received a bunch of swag from card companies.
This "Buyback" is actually a 2013 Prizm base card with The Summit 2014 stamp to the left ofthe card, just under Cutch's jersey number.
The card is numbered on the back to the left of the Panini centered logo. It is numbered to only 5 copies.
I've been reading everyone's "Things I like that you don't" blog bat around posts and I continue to see conflicting interests in the subject of graded cards.
Some people like them.
Some people don't.
I used to only like base vintage cards graded because it gave a sense of security for the validation of a card's authentic grade. However with all the new card doctor reports surgically adjusting their cards and sending them in for consignment, I even question that now.
I no longer have an interest in graded cards.
Now that doesn't mean I won't buy a graded card.
As a matter of fact I have picked up two major additions to the collection because they were graded. The cards both received grades below 9.0 which made them less desirable.
The best part to me is that they are both 1 of 1s.
Despite a low grading from Beckett, no one else could claim to have this type of card.
Back before all the crazy parallels made in today's current hobby, 2005 Bowman Chrome Draft had only a handful of parallels to chase.
Refractor (not numbered)
X-Fractor /250
Blue /150
Gold /50
Red 1/1
Superfractor 1/1
That means that there is only 456 cards that were numbered and only 1 of them has the red borders like the 7.5 BGS I now own.
Compare that to 2019 Bowman Chrome which has added the colors purple, green, and orange to the numbered parallels. The reds have been increased from 1 to 5 copies and the refractors are now numbered to 499 copies. The 2019 Bowman Chrome has 1,079 numbered parallels compared to 456 numbered parallels from 2005.
This 1/1 red Refractor is super rare. It (along with the traditional 1/1 Superfractor) fell 1:6,609 hobby packs.
You may remember a few years ago that my brother got me a graded 1/1 from Cutch's draft year (see this post here about the graded 1/1 2005 Bowman Heritage Draft my brother got me).
He was able to get it for a big discount due to the 8.5 grade, despite being a 1/1.
In addition to the 2005 Bowman Chrome Red Refractor 1/1 I picked up in the past few months, I have also picked up the below laundry tag booklet.
The workout jersey cards for the All-Star games are used in various products following the All-Star game. Topps Update is where you can typically find the small swatches (with very little patches available) and the following year's Triple Threads product often has laundry tags, sleeve patches, and huge patches from the All-Star Game.
This 2013 Triple Threads booklet features the laundry tag from Cutch's workout jersey he wore during the Home Run Derby in the 2012 All-StarGame.
All 3 of the above cards were picked up for steep discounts compared to similar players mainly because of the lower grade, despite all being 1/1s. Had the cards remained in raw form, the seller probably could have gotten twice the price.
Would you buy a 1/1 card for a discount if the grade is below average for a modern card?
Today will be another Serial History card breakdown. 2014 Bowman Chrome featured a great simple design and awesome color parallels that really popped with the borders. The black parallel depicted below is numbered to only 35 copies.
The back of the card features unique numbering as it represents 2 of my favorite black athletes' numbers of all time.
Andrew McCutchen is obviously my favorite active player and he has been since he made his debut back in 2009.
Prior to 2009 one of my favorites was Frank Thomas. As my family and I were going across some old pictures of our family after my Grandfather's passing I was amazed at how many different hats I wore as a kid.
While trying to show a sense of style I noticed I wore a Chicago White Sox hat in quite a few pictures. The reason for it was simple, The Big Hurt.
As a 10 year old pulling a card of the biggest power hitter giving me the middle finger was awesome.
1990 Leaf was a ground breaking set in the way that 1989 Upper Deck gave fans a look into collecting for the future. I never had one as a kid because prices were often in the $70 range. Today a PSA9 can be had for about $25 or less.
The no name variant is a grail of hobby collectors, but as a young kid I was happy getting one of these for $5. The other player depicted on the card remains a mystery due to the airbrushing to remove his face.
This was my favorite insert I pulled as a kid of the Big Hurt. Today it can be had for under $2.
I can't begin to tell you how many hours I spent playing this as a preteen.
Frank Thomas was a first ballot Hall of Famer. He slugged 521 homeruns in his 19 year career. 16 of those years were spent playing for the Chicago White Sox before he spent a year and half each with Oakland and Toronto.
He finished with 2,468 hits and 73.9WAR while collecting 1,704 RBI and being one of the most popular and feared hitters of the 1990s.
Who were some of your favorite black athletes from the 1990s?
A few days ago I showed a trio of 1/1 printing plates from the 2012 Archives Cloth Sticker insert. While sorting through my 99 printing plates I realized I had a few other partial rainbows that I have never shown off before.
I only have one true complete printing plate rainbow where I have all 4 plates used to create the card. I also 4 sets where I have 3 of the plates.
Today would have been Prince's birthday. I was never a fan of his music with the lone exception being the soundtrack to the 1989 "Michael Keaton/Tim Burton" Batman. That soundtrack was Prince's 11th studio album and is celebrating the 30th anniversary this year.
Prince is mostly remembered for Purple Rain and as such is commonly associated with the color purple.
I wanted to show off only my 22 favorite purple parallels, but I realized many of these have never appeared on this blog.
So with that being said here are (more than) my 22 favorite Cutch cards in the shade of purple. Besides the first one I am going to show off, they are not ranked by preference.
Let's begin with the centerpiece of my Andrew McCutchen as a member of the Phillies collection. I mentioned a few weeks ago that I preordered a /99 or less autograph from Twinsjake the day he listed this Road To Opening Day. I received the lowest number he had.
Now for some others...
This gets some more high preference too because it is jersey numbered (22/xx).
The final Opening Day card of Cutch in a Pirates uniform (even though he actually appeared on the Giants Opening Day roster).
The patch on this card is awesome. The fact that it has a sticker to research what game it's from is awesome. My only problem with the card is Topps says this is a purple parallel, but it looks more blue than purple.
2015 Topps Tek was a lot of fun to collect. I can't imagine what it must have been like collecting the original set with over 90 patterns and two different parallels.
Cutch purple parallel Toys R Us exclusive from his MVP season? Yes, please.
Toys R Us purple exclusive parallels will surely be missed in my collection going forward. I know that there is another retailer taking over the purple exclusives, but I don't have any Meijer near me.
Anyone else like Heritage? I fricking love the set!
I am going to group all three of these Prizm together. I love the Prizm color parallels.
Another Panini logoless product, but the triple parallel for batters is a pretty tough pull despite not being numbered. The left side of the card is made of acetate, hence the Clear Vision name for this insert set.
I showed this die cut off when discussing the unique numbering of these cards by Elite. The purple cards are all numbered to the players jersey number.
The following year, the purple diecut represented the other side to make 100 (100-jersey number) when the Inspirations Purple was changed to 78 for Andrew.
Chris from The Collector hooked me up with this purple parallel from 2017 Triple Threads.
Here is another trio of high end purple parallels.
2015 Tribute (/10!!!), 2015 Triple Threads, 2014 Triple Threads
Topps Chrome 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2015. I am missing the 2014 Purple Chrome, but do have the Toys R Us exclusive from the Series 1 Flagship
These two are pretty neat from 2015 Bowman. The purple ice on left is produced at only 20% of the base purple on right.
Another TRU exclusive, featuring the batting leaders for the 2014 season. It contains all former Pirates. Just a personal opinion, but how nice are purple parallels featuring Rockies players?
A trio of Bowman Chrome with decreasing print run numbers.
Let's finish with a bang!
Not that kind of bang. I'm talking about the kind that leads to parties.
As in Transcendent parties with Topps. The highest priced box of all time for baseball can get you a chance at a purple Transcendent frame auto. Every box granted the purchaser an invitation to attend the Topps Transcendent party with past special guests being Mike Trout, Kris Bryant, Hank Aaron, and Shohei Otaku.
