Holiday Tribute

As I was looking through my binders for green and red parallels to show off I discovered a few things:

1) Topps and Panini make a lot of products each year

2) There are quite a few green and red parallels I still need to complete rainbows (2018 Bowman Platinum Green, I'm looking at you)

A pair of high end parallels stood out in my 2018 binder.

Topps Tribute dropped the typical bold parallels from year's past and introduced a version of Topps Tribute we have never seen before.

Enter wood borders made famous from the 1962 and 1987 designs.

This time the cards were given an acetate finish and the bold color parallels were less obvious.

I like this design, but it looks more like an insert set than low numbered parallels from a high end set.

What do you think of the above set design for 2018 Topps Tribute?

Another day, another auto

I have been seeking some of the "older" McCutchen autos not already in my collection over the past 2 months more aggressively.  

2012 Topps Tribute offered gorgeous on card autographs with foil technology designs and every card was encased in a 1 touch.  

It is my favorite year of Topps Tribute and I think it's because it's distinctive and stands out from other 2012 products in general and other Topps Tribute designs.  

Cutch had two different photos to chase after on the right of the card.  One is a running photo, the other is a smiling batting photo.  

The batting photo is numbered AM1 on the back and discusses Cutch's rookie season offensively.

Despite not debuting until June, Cutch finished 4th for the BBWA Rookie of Year Award, but did receive the (albeit less nationally acclaimed) Baseball America's NL Rookie of Year Award.  He lead all rookies in extra base hits (47) despite missing about 2.5 months of the season and lead the Pirates in Runs Scored and Stolen Bases. 

This card was purchased at the end of last year and has been in my possession for about a month.  

One of my 2021 goals was to add 50 new Pirates playing days cards to the collection this year.  This card would have qualified if I purchased it this year.  

These are the types of cards (and deals) that I am really looking for the most in 2021. 

So far I have added only 1 to the collection through the first 3+ weeks.  2 more are hopefully in transit (and one is a big one too, but the seller didn't put tracking on it so hopefully it shows up eventually).  At the current pace of 1 per week, that will keep me on track to hit this goal for the year.

How are you doing so far with your 2021 goals in the first few weeks of the new year?

Happy Jackie Robinson Day (again)

For the second time this year, MLB is celebrating Jackie Robinson Day.

Jackie Robinson Day is traditionally celebrated on April 15th each year to recognize the day he broke the color barrier, but due to the world wide pandemic the games on that day were cancelled.  The MLBPA wanted to still recognize what Jackie did even during a short 60 game season.  The date was set for today and it couldn't have come at a better time to recognize the struggles that Jackie faced as the United States are once again having lines drawn for racism.  

Let's take a moment today and remember we are all people, regardless of skin tone.

Jackie Robinson started a change in the world over 70 years ago and we continue to face that change today. 

Here are all the Andrew McCutchen cards I have that feature a reference to the man that changed the game, #42 Jackie Robinson.

This is now a top 10 card in my collection.  I bought it via Twitter.  It features the Jackie Robinson Patch worn by Cutch on April 15, 2018 when Cutch was a member of the Giants.  It also has a nice on card signature and the hologram referencing the game the patch is from.  This card is SICK!!!

Here are a pair of parallels that Prizm unfortunately doesn't do anymore.  These are the 2013 and 2014 Jackie Robinson parallels numbered to 42 copies.  Each card is serially numbered on the back and feature a "42" pattern border.

2018 Gypsy Queen Jackie Robinson variant base and logo swap.  There are also color parallels of this card to chase as well (green and black). Cutch is circling the bags after what became a game winning homerun in late innings at Wrigley Field 2017.

Here is the 2018 Jackie Robinson manufactured pin relic available in packs of 2018 Update.

This is the 2017 version.

Here are a pair of 2012 Triple Threads Unity Gold Relics numbered to only 9 copies.  Both cards feature Cutch in a Jackie Robinson Day uniform and reference two of Cutch's early career accomplishments (the 2009 Topps All Rookie Team and the 2010 Heart and Hustle Award).

National Treasures produces a Jackie Robinson tribute in their sets from time to time.  This diecut version is from 2015.

The following year had a more colorful design, but the die cut was removed and the jerseys were no longer guaranteed to be worn on Jackie Robinson day.

Cutch received the photo variant Jackie Robinson parallel in 2019 Gypsy Queen.  The patch on the right sleeve is the same patch I own and I showed to begin the series of posts.

He also got the autograph treatment in 2019 Gypsy Queen.

Nate Delivers an eBay 1/1

You may remember that last year Nate from Bucs Stop Here sent me a card that was a top 5 want list item.  I reciprocated with an epic mail day (his words, not mine).

Well...we are back at it again.
Nate sent me this Blue parallel dual jersey relic I needed for my collection.

It's an "eBay 1/1" (numbered 50/50)

Nate also included one of those Chipz that Topps produced.

Thank you Nate for the trade.  I sent yours out today so you should be getting it in the next few days.

A New Top 10 Card in the Collection

I haven't bought a lot of cards from Twitter, but the ones I have are all quite impressive.

They are all 1 of 1s.

I have had this card in my possession for nearly 2 months waiting to show it off on the blog today, Jackie Robinson Day.

That is the patch worn by Andrew McCutchen on Jackie Robinson Day April 15, 2018.

The card also features an on card autograph.

And it features the MLB Authentication sticker to verify it is game used.

My only gripe with the card is the picture used is not from that game the patch was worn.

Topps already paid Getty Images for the rights to the picture below because it was used on the 2019 Topps Gypsy Queen photo variant.

Here is the photo variant front

I know we all get on Topps for recycling the same images, but a nice cropped shot like this would have really brought the card together more.

Or personally I think this image would have been even better

Despite the mismatched photo to relic I am still incredibly happy to add this to my collection. It has landed itself into the top 10 cards of my collection and is only my 3rd Twitter purchase.

My 1st Twitter purchase was a 1/1 bat barrel nameplate from 2019 Topps Museum that featured Cutch in his new Phillies uniform.

My 2nd Twitter purchase was literally a white whale purchase.

This 2011 Topps Triple Threads printing plate autograph/relic card is marked as a white whale on the back.

This is my 3rd Twitter purchase and I still can't believe I was able to get it.

Thanks again to RBICRU7 for posting the card and for @mycards79 for selling it.


Do you use Twitter to buy cards?

Be sure to follow me on Twitter @CollectingCutch

Some Extra Green

Since we all missed out on celebrating St. Patrick's Day this year due to the coronavirus I thought I would show my favorite green parallel from last year.

2019 Tribute featured bold colors for their Certified Stamp of Approval cards.

In my experiences of collecting I have often liked the colors that are found in Topps Tribute designs.  While the relics are very plain and less impressive than other high end releases, Tribute often has the most popping colors.

Want proof?  Check out the other examples below that I have shown off in previous years.

The Firsts of Firsts

There was a lot of requests made for some famous black history that was made in relativity to them being the firsts to do it.  I am going to do a combination post on some of them and relate it to this card you see below.

The above 2019 Topps Tribute black parallel is a dual patch relic card of Buster Posey and Andrew McCutchen.  The pair were teammates for the 2018 season.

This black parallel is numbered 1/1.

🏒Willie O'Ree 🏒

Willie O'Ree was the first black player in the NHL.  The 5ft9inch winger broke the hockey color barrier in 1957.  He stated that Jackie Robinson was an inspiration to him and that he met Jackie when he was younger.  In November 2018, O'Ree was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.

He played only a few seasons with the Boston Bruins, but like Robinson helped pioneer black athletes in hockey.

Similar to the Roberto Clemente award in baseball, in 2018 the Willie O'Ree Community Hero Award was created to spotlight an individual who has made the culture and community better through their outreach and hockey.
Darcy Haugan and Rico Phillips have won the 2018 and 2019 awards respectively.



🎾Althea Gibson 🎾

Althea Gibson was born in South Carolina in 1927 and faced much adversity in her path to become one of the first black athletes to cross the color barrier of international tennis. She grew up on a cotton farm and during the aftermath of the Great Depression.

In 1956 she became the first African American to win a Grand Slam (French Championships).  The next year she won Wilbeldon and (what eventually became known as) the US Open.  She won them both again the following year.  In 1957 and 1958 she was voted Female Athlete of The Year by the Associated Press.

In her career she won 11 Grand Slam tournaments and would eventually be inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame and International Women's Sports Hall of Fame.

Venus and Serena Williams have stated In numerous interviews over the years that they are honored to follow in Gibson's footsteps.

In the early 1960s she also became the first black player to compete in Women's Professional Golf Tour.  More information about Althea's golf career can be found here.



 🏃🏈 🎾I will spotlight other black athletes who helped break the color barriers as the month goes on. 👣 🏃🏈

Serial History: Super Bowl Connection

In case you're living under a rock, today is Super Bowl Sunday.  The Kansas City Chiefs will be facing off against the San Francisco 49ers.

I am going to show off a pair of Black parallels that relate to the cities and then I will talk about the best black athlete from each team in my opinion.

Cutch played only a few months with the San Francisco Giants to start the 2018 season.

This particular autograph from 2018 Topps Brooklyn Collection, black parallel is numbered 7/10.

There is a lot of Super Bowl connections with that serial numbering.

The 7 represents the former 49ers Quarterback who was under center the last time the San Francisco 49ers were in the Super Bowl.

I am of course talking about Colin Kaepernick.  Kaepernick was an above average quarterback, but in his final two seasons was below average.  He has Been out of the NFL for a few seasons and has a career passer rating of 88.9 and a completion percentage under 60%.  In his final two seasons the 49ers went 3-16 under his guide and his QBR was 43.4 and 49.5 resepectively in those final two seasons.  50 is average QBR.

He began to become an activist and spokesperson for racial inequality when he took a knee during the National Anthem.  Kaepernick started the movement in response to police brutality, but has continued to be outspoken regarding equal rights for all races.

In addition to being an activist he is also a devoted Christian with several tattoos representing God and Jesus Christ on his arms.

In 2015 he became a vegan and has been following that lifestyle ever since.

He has recently been in the news because the NFL refused to air a PETA commercial that Kaepernick endorsed.



The card that the print run is numbered to /10) represents the current quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo.

I won't go into any comments about Jimmy G but I think that Patrick Mahomes is the better QB in this year's Super Bowl.

Andrew McCutchen is a five time All-Star.  One of his All-Star game appearances was in 2012 in Kansas City.  Cutch had two cards in 2012 Topps Update to represent his All-Star appearance.  In addition to being selected as a participant he also took Giancarlo Stanton's place in the Homerun Derby.  I am still missing a homerun derby (US9) card but do have his All-Star game card in the Black parallel.

My particular copy of US87 is numbered 15/61.

Wanna guess the connection of 15/61 to this year's Super Bowl?

Well Patrick Mahomes, the superstar Quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs is number 15.

Mahomes was born the son of longtime journeyman relief pitcher, Pat Mahomes.

He showed a promising career as a pitcher and toolsy outfielder and was drafted out of high school by the Detroit Tigers.  He ultimately decided to play football and in his first full season won the NFL MVP.  Were it not for an injury early in this past year, he would have likely garnered some additional MVP votes.

He is only 24 years old and has a completion percentage of nearly 66% with a 76-18 TD-INT ratio.

If he has a big game today he could become not only the face of the NFL, but one of the most popular athletes in any sport globally.

I am picking Chiefs to win 36-20.