Some 2022 Cards of #22

Baseball will officially have a 2021 season and I have received 3 more cards for the Cutch PC this week. 

Nothing very expensive (all three cards cost $5 shipped), but they are welcomed additions to the growing collection. 

Favorite Bands?

It's been awhile since I discussed music on this page. 

About 4.5 years ago I discussed the 5 albums I could listen to repeatedly and showed off a card in my Andrew McCutchen PC relating to that band or album.  You can revisit that post here.

There are plenty of other albums that I listened to a lot that helped define my taste in music.  One band that had a major effect on me fashionably was the band 311.

I've discussed 311 on this blog two years ago when showing off some Andrew McCutchen Triple Threads Amber parallels.  You can visit that post here.

311 was a mainstream pop punk band that made spiky bleached hair, silver ball necklaces, and baggy cargo shorts/pants cool.  For a young teen of this era, they were one of the coolest bands and a band that helped lead the way for more heavier rock/rap bands to get noticed by MTV.  Without 311, Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park probably wouldn't have gone on to have as much commercial success that they had.  

I probably wouldn't rank 311 in my top 10 favorite bands of all time, but they were definitely influential on my life, which is odd. 

As I was cleaning out some boxes I came across this lot of 5 autographs from the band for Goodwin Champions.

I am looking to sell the entire lot for $100 despite recent comps being $30-$50 per card. ***ONE DAY 3/11 SALE ONLY***

What are some bands that influenced you fashionably?

Do you have any autographs of musicians in your card collection?

Taking the Bus of Superfractor Journeys

While I was saving up to purchase our first home I was presented with several opportunities to add many new Superfractors to my collection.

One of them was the 2005 Bowman Draft Superfractor which was sold by PWCC not once, but twice within a span of 3 weeks.  A month later news broke that PWCC would be banned from selling on eBay and was caught up in shill bidding. Both times it sold for around $3K.

I also had the opportunity to add Cutch's 2005 Topps Chrome Superfractor via an online auction house.  Only one person had bid on it and I probably could have acquired that card for around $3K also.  Fast forward to January and the new owner of that card offered to sell it to me for $6K.  I again passed as I had just moved into the house and didn't feel comfortable adding the card to my collection, despite being a grail card, because I wanted to remain financially responsible in the new house.

Fast forward two more months and that card is now listed on eBay for $35K or best offer.  

That is insane!

I love Superfractors.  I have 28 of them (includes the Panini gold vinyls which use the same technology)

I love 1/1s. I have nearly 300 of them.

I love Andrew McCutchen cards. I have over 3,500 of them.

What I don't have is $35K to spend on a baseball card for a card I could have gotten for under $3K only five months ago. 

Would I love to add that card to my collection? Absolutely! 

Will I ever add the card to my collection?

Probably not.

I made mention of appreciating what I have more instead of just hoarding more cards.  I have started to catalog all my Jerome Bettis cards and came across this rather unique (sort of rare) Jerome Bettis 1994 Topps "Special Effects" strip card.

The technology on this card is about a decade before the term superfractor was used.  Although the circles aren't golden, they do reflect the light the same way.  Copies of this card can be picked up for around $3, which is a great price for a Hall of Famer second year card. Much cheaper than a McCutchen first year superfractor for sure. 

I will keep showing off Cutch cards and maybe even some progress pics of the Cutch Cave, but while I'm still refined to staying off my feet, I'll just sot around and go through these boxes of Jerome Bettis cards.

Jerome Bettis is my favorite football player (with Troy Polamalu a very close second).  I suspect I will be having fun organizing the collection. 

What football player(s) do you collect? How many unique cards of him do you have?

Keep Grinding for the Super Collection

This will likely be my last big mailday for awhile, but don't worry I have plenty of cards to show off.

The first is actually the highest numbered card of today's mailday.  It is a 2021 Topps Five Star Inscription autograph. 

The card is numbered 9/20 and comes with an inscription saying "Grind"

In my job, our owner often thanks us for all the hard work we do and says "I know it's a grind, but thank you for everything you do." I guess Cutch lives by that same motto...just keep grinding.

The other two cards I got today were both one of ones.  Yup, a mailday consisting of two 1/1s.

Topps Gallery really changed up the product last year.  Rather than using artist drawn cards with a limited number of parallels, this year's set only had artist drawn cards for inserts and really upped the number of parallels this year including a bunch of new shiny sparkly parallels.

The 1/1 red parallel requires sunglasses to look at as the shine on this card is unlike anything I have ever seen from a Topps retail exclusive set before.

My other 1/1 was a very generous gift from a Twitter friend Josh JrNoble1

This is the 2020 Topps Chrome Update cyan printing plate.  I have the magenta and Superfractor. Maybe I will chase after the yellow and black printing plates to complete the set.

Nearing the end...

I said I would take the unplanned time off due to my achilles injury and update my spreadsheets so I know what cards I have in my collection without having to go off memory or flip through boxes.

Well, I am on my last storage box and am shocked at how many Cutch cards I have accumulated in my time of collecting. 

I am currently sitting at 3,443 cards not counting what you see below.

What an insane amount of baseball cards of one player.

I might need to slam the breaks on adding cards for awhile and really appreciate what I have as this collection has gotten out of control. 

The Art of Juan Rosales

You may have seen me talk about the amazing talent of Juan Rosales on this blog before.

Amazing is Just one word to describe his style.  

I have gotten at least one sketch card of Cutch from Juan for the past 6 years.  

It was time to add another sketch card from Juan to the collection.  I thought about what image I wanted Juan to use as reference and ultimately chose for him to use the last HR Cutch hit as a member of the Phillies as inspiration. 

In typical fashion of Cutch's career he made a lasting impression with the Phillies fan base by hitting a home run in his final at bat with the club (it should be noted that he hit a HR in his first at bat with the club also). He also went on to celebrate in a very fun manner as he had done all year long, by wearing a straw hat with the Phillies logo under it.

Here is what Juan came up with

He added the lime green and neon pink to the background as a tribute to the Miami theme.

What is your favorite moment of your favorite player from the 2021 season you'd like to see turned into a sketch card? 

The Mount Rushmore, non HOF edition

MLB Radio recently was discussing Mount Rushmores of MLB teams and it got me thinking about who the Pirates Mount Rushmore would be.  Many teams Mount Rushmores (including the Pirates) can be quickly identified by retired jersey numbers and bronze statues outside the ballparks.

The 4 best players for the Pirates are 3 guys who spent their entire career with the Pirates (Willie Stargell, Bill Mazeroski, Roberto Clemente) and one guy who was pillaged from another team that it actually changed the team name to the Pirates (Honus Wagner).

All obvious choices, but what about the unsung legends of our favorite franchises lore?  

Who are the guys who likely won't be in the Hall of Fame, who won't have a statue outside a ballpark, and who won't have their number retired? 

Who are those guys that fans of the franchise will talk about for many years to come?

I think we all know who I'm going to lead off with on my Mount Rushmore of Pirates legends not in HOF, number retired, or bronze statues....

Andrew McCutchen

Pictured above is a canvas photo signed by Cutch that is hanging in the Cutch Cave.

Now for a pair of guys who were legends on the 1979 World Series Championship Pirates

As you descend into "The Pitt" my Pittsburgh sports theme bar area in my basement I have some great pieces of artwork by Dan Horine of Popflyshop.

Dave Parker

Another MVP winner, but also a member of the last time the Pirates won the World Series, Parker was a batting champion, All-Star MVP, Gold Glove winner with the Pirates before going on to be a member of 

Kent Tekulve

His most famous years were with the Pirates when he was the closer for the 1979 World Series Champions. He later went on to be in the bullpens of the Phillies and Reds. He also served as the post game analyst for the Pirates home games over the past few decades before officially retiring a few seasons ago.

Temporarily hanging up in the utility area of "The Pitt" is this canvas photo signed by Steve Blass and Manny Sanguillen.

Steve Blass

An odd choice I know, when you consider guys like Jason Bay, Jason Kendall, Barry Bonds (he will be remember more as a Giant), Al Oliver, Manny Sanguillen will be omitted, but I have to give it to Steve Blass who was the pitcher on the mound when the Pirates won the 1971 World Series and would later go on to broadcast for the Pirates for nearly three decades.  

Who are the top 4 non hall of famers on your favorite team?