Another Dreaded 1/1 Added to the PC

This might sound a little weird, but lately I have been seeking out older cards of Cutch where his dreads can be seen.  Cutch's best seasons were 2012 to 2014 and during that time Club Dread was in full effect.

Quite honestly I think his best cardboard is from that time period.

Need proof, look at these unlicensed cards

Cutch looks like a badass on that card.
I recently grabbed the 1/1 to go with the "Gold" /25 and base

Who would have thought that Andrew McCutchen would join the likes of Hanley Ramirez and Ben Zobrist?  Hopefully Cutch gets back to his former All-Star caliber talent level despite the lack of dreads.

Scripture Sunday - Luke 14:11

Andrew McCutchen is one of the most outspoken Christian athletes of today's generation.  He wears his beliefs on his sleeve, literally.

When Cutch was signing as a minor league professional he would often inscribe them with bible verses.

I am always looking for more inscribed versions, but this is currently my only authenticated Cutch inscribed card.

Today's bible verse

LUKE 14:11
For all those that exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Breaking News: #JHayAllDayJoinsTeamUSA

It was announced today that Josh Harrison will take the place of injured Cardinal Matt Carpenter on the Team USA WBC games.  He will join Pirates teammate Andrew McCutchen on Monday.

Today seems like a good day to show off my Cutch cards I have pairing up with the runner-up for the 2014 NL Batting Title.

Since I just mentioned that JHay was a runner up for the 2014 NL Batting Title, I will just redirect you to where I showcased all the parallels I have of the NL League Leaders 2015 Topps card #127.  You can see the 3 printing plates, silver framed, and other parallels by clicking here.

I showed the limited Glossy and Pink/50 yesterday which you can see here as part of my big COMC order bringing my Cutch PC over 1,500 unique cards.

Above is the Heritage League Leaders card from 2015 Topps Heritage.

Cutch and JHay have been the focus of team cards since Harrison had his 2014 breakout season.

They've been dubbed
Pittsburgh Pirates Clubbers.

And River City Rakers

And Pirates Mateys.

They've also appeared on a few relic cards together.  The first of these cards was an All-Star triple jersey that also featured Yasiel Puig.

Triple Threads has recently had a large amount of Josh Harrison cards in it's release.
To this point though only one pairing has been made of Cutch and JHay.
The rarest of them is my 1/1 triple jersey which has a 2014 Postseason patch of JHay on it.

I am really excited to watch the WBC especially when the Dominican Republic plays team USA.  Lots of Pirates will appear in that game.

Another 1/1 Cutch Mailday and CC's 1st Interview

It should come as no surprise now for anyone who follows my blog that I am ALWAYS looking for new 1/1 Cutch cards to add to the PC.  I currently have over 1,500 unique cards of Cutch thanks to my recent COMC purchase.

A card I had been hoping to get for sometime is my first sketch card by Carlos Cabaleiro .

Upon receiving the card, I sent Mr. Cabaleiro an email telling him I admired his work and asked if he could answer a few questions for me.
I told him that I used to collect comics and would often attend comic convention trying to get sketches from the artists in artist Alley.  Even though I have lost the comic sketch crave, I still enjoy and appreciate extremely talented artists.
Carlos graciously and quickly responded to my questions.

How did you become one of the artists Topps chose to include in it's 2016 Topps Museum Original Sketches? 

• An artist that I admire and call a friend, Daniel Bergren, asked me if I was interested in doing some work for Topps’s Baseball Dept. and forwarded some of my recent Star Wars and Hobbit cards to the person in charge of the sketch cards/artists with my contact info. I received an invitation to work on the set shortly thereafter. Being to capture likeness is a key part of working on the MLB license and I feel like I do an okay job at it.

2. Your Andrew McCutchen sketch appears to be done using all grey tones. Is this a medium you prefer to work in or was that the direction Topps gave?

• This set in particular was a rather difficult one for me. The texture of the cards and the paper stock made it quite difficult for me to use my preferred medium at the time (primarily copic markers) and forced me to experiment with different styles and media. Some were more successful than others. Unfortunately, this is a rather common challenge when working on sketch cards. I did quite a few cards in a simpler style and in grey tones for that reason. Generally, I prefer to do my sketch cards in full color.

3. When drawing an athlete do you use specific reference or do you try to capture the person while still putting your art style influence on the sketch card?

• When working for a license like MLB, the likeness is very important and we have to use references approved by MLB, the MLBPA and Topps. The style comes in the execution of the finished product. I look at illustration as a series of problem solving techniques using the skills and tricks artists accumulated over years and are comfortable with. The job is to make the finished piece look like the player using what I know and can do. Like I mentioned previously, things like time, paper quality, artist mediums, etc really dictate the end result. What I love about working on likenesses and licenses like this are seeing how different each piece is. Its rare to see several artists create the same exact piece of art when referenced from the same image. 

4. Are you a sports fan? If so, do you have any favorite teams and players?

• You mentioned that you stopped collecting comics and cards a few years ago and that’s kind of where I am with sports currently. I grew up just outside of NYC and was a huge Yankee fan back in the 80’s. I moved to South Florida before the days of the internet and slowly embraced the Miami teams as my own (Dolphins, Heat, Panthers, Marlins). I was a die hard fan for decades. Today, I’m weening myself off of being a fanatic. I’ll still catch a good game on a lazy weekend but it’s not something I’m very passionate about anymore.
• Favorite players: Don Mattingly, Dan Marino, Jason Taylor, Zach Thomas

5. If you could be any superhero for a day, who would you pick and why?

• I LOVE Batman and have a pretty impressive Batman: The Animated Series Collection but I’ve always thought that The Flash had the greatest superpower. As a professional illustrator constantly facing deadlines, being the fastest man alive right now is really appealing

I want to thank Carlos for answering my questions and am looking forward to seeing some more of his sketches in 2017 Topps Museum.

The Big COMC Order Arrives: Officially Over 1,500 Now!

About ten days ago I placed an order for 93 cards to be delivered by COMC.  Many of them had been sitting in my cart for months.  Of the 93 cards, only 9 were NOT Andrew McCutchen cards.  7 are for my brother.  The other two were purple refractors of Nolan Arenado.

So what's that mean for my Cutch collection?  Well, quite simply...

84 new cards were added to the Cutch PC.  84!!!!

This brings my new total of unique Cutch cards to 1,577.

When I started collecting Cutch, I didn't think I would ever get to a total close to that.

This latest batch gets me closer to several rainbows.

Let's take a look at the batch by year.

2016
The biggest joy from this group is the number of Bowman Chrome cards added to get closer to the rainbow.  A few Triple Threads parallels, some inserts, and a pair of Bowman Platinum that are relatively easy to acquire.  The Tops Tek Peak variant is only 1 per case.  I didn't scan the Tribute base card.  I've shown that in the past when showing off other low numbered parallels of the same cards.

2015
There were a number of parallels that I need from the various number of Cutch flagship cards (League Leaders, All-Star Game, and Series 2).  The base looking cards are actually the Limited Glossy parallels.  A pair of Triple Threads color parallels to go with the base gave me a nice trio of new additions.  The Purple Ice is numbered to only 50 and is a beautiful card in hand.  A pair of Bowman's Best (gold /50 and green /99) to go with the Superfractor i already had in my possession helps get closer to completing the rainbow.  I have been seeking out as many 2015 Allen & Ginter buybacks as possible. I was excited to add this 2010 AG to the PC.  I also grabbed another Heritage for the team set.

2014
These pickups were all about adding 5 new Donruss cards to the PC.  The Diamond Kings was a base.  The others are statistical cards along with a Gold Press Proof/99.  The Topps Chrome Topps Shelf is a card I must have lost in auctions with Free shipping nearly a dozen times. Very happy to finally add this to the collection for only a bit over $1.  The Diamond Dominance is the Prizm parallel.

2013
A bunch of color parallels spotlight these 5 cards.  The Orange Finest is /99.  Oddly enough the card that finally brought me to submit my order was the Bowman Platinum Ruby (not sequentiality numbered).  I don't know if these are short printed, but this lil bugger always sells for over $7.  It's a gorgeous Atomicy looking card.  I grabbed this Ruby for only $2.

2012
GOLD CHROME /50!!!!

2011
2 Black parallels and 2 more Contenders Season Tickets

2010
Only 4 new cards here.  The Gold Finest is /50 and the Gold Triple Threads is /99.  The Bowman Platinum is the refractor numbered to 999.

2009
I had the Heritage but needed an extra one for my Heritage binder.  The 2009 Chrome is funny cause I have the Superfractor (1/1), two copies of the Gold (/50), and a Blue (/199).  Didn't have that base though.  Now I do.  A perforated Ticket to Stardom and a Gold (/2009) close out my newest 2009 additions.

Finally a trio of Pre Debut cards

So there you have it.  What do you all think?  Did I do well?

In 1,492 I added a McCutchen Blue

What's 1492 represent?
The year Columbus sailed the ocean blue?
OR.....
A Blue Cutch makes it 1492? As in 1,492 unique cards of Cutch.

2016 Immaculate had a very nice base set.  I now have 3 of the parallels which you can see below side by side.

While I wasn't around to confirm that Christopher Columbus mistakingly set sail for the US in 1492, I can confirm that I am now the proud owner of 1,492 unique Andrew McCutchen.  Only 8 more to go and I am at 1,500.  I am expecting a large amount of cards from COMC soon that I ordered not long ago.  That package will definitely push me over the 1500 limit. It should be here in a matter of days.

It came from Japan

Godzilla
Yu-Gi-Oh!
Pocky sticks

There's a lot of things I enjoy that came from Japan.  Four years ago I picked up my first SegaGen Topps card of Cutch.  I eventually tracked down the 2012 version to go with the 2013, but the 2010 and 2011 versions eluded me.

Until now.

On February 22nd I received an email that a McCutchen Sega card had been listed.  It's one of nearly two dozen saved searches I have.  Upon viewing the item, I couldn't click Buy-It-Now fast enough.

Somehow, I received the card only 6 days later FROM JAPAN!!!! How in the heck did that happen?

With the 2010 release added to my PC, along with the 2012 and 2013, I can now set my focus on adding the 2011.

Below are the

2010

2012 and 2013 with their backs

As you can see as McCutchen's career continued to blossom his star level and scoring system on back increased also


If anyone comes across any other McCutchen international cards, please send them to me.