#TBT: Topps Unique

It has been a few months since I showed off Cutch wearing some Throwback Uniforms from his Pirates days.  

I am going to show off a pretty unique (pun intended) and short lived release by Topps.

Today I am looking at the gold parallel from 2009 Topps Unique

Cutch is wearing a uniform reminiscent of the Honus Wagner days celebrating the 100 year anniversary of the World Series winners

As you can see the back of the card discusses when the unique throwback uniform was worn and what the occassions was for the throwback uniform.  

Cutch made his MLB debut just a week and half earlier and was starting to make people aware that he may be a Rookie of the Year despite such a late start to the year.  The Pirates hosted the Detroit Tigers on June 14, 2009 to honor the 100 Year World Series that saw the Honus Wagner Pirates defeat the The Cobb lead Detroit Tigers.  

I wish the back of the card also mentioned Cutch's stats for the game.  He went 2 for 3 with two walks, a stolen base, and 2 runs scored in the 6-3 Pirates victory.

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.

Getting Ridiculous!!!

There was a three week period where I didn't purchase anything cardboard related.  That was followed by a few days of some of the most expensive cards I have ever purchased.

This 1/1 from 2009 Topps Unique leads the charge of being one of those expensive purchases.  The logoman from Cutch's Futures Game jersey along with one of his earlier, full signatures make this card move into a Top 10 of my collection. 

The only drawback I have towards the card is the sticker auto, but there aren't that many on card autographs of Cutch out there to be honest.  A few recent releases from Panini and a few Heritage releases to go along with one year of Tier 1 and Museum are about all you will find of the former NL MVP.

The Best 99 cent auction I ever won

I am always looking to add more Cutch cards to the collection.  Since his 2009 debut I have been focusing more and more of my collection on him.

Now that I consider myself a supercollector of him  (over 1,700 unique cards) I am having difficulty tracking down some of his older cards (2010 and earlier).  

When I saw a 2 card lot hit ebay with an incorrect title for a single card I needed I played the 99 cent gamble, hoping the card pictured was included.

It was listed in the description properly, but the title was wrong.

I'm not sure if it was the compressed auction window, the bad title, a bad picture, or the fact that Cutch was struggling to hit above .200 but for me to win this 2009 Topps Unique Gold /25 for only 99 cents!!!! is a huge victory for my ongoing Cutch quest.

Behold the beauty of this rookie card.

Pretty sweet score, huh?