McCutchen Mailday #56 and 65

I didn't want to bore people with a random base card so I lumped it together with another random base card as both cards were purchased in blasters a few days apart from one another, but in the meantime I added some really nice parallels of Cutch that I hope you have all been enjoying.

2015 Topps Opening Day and 2015 Gypsy Queen were both pack pulled so I can't exactly state a price on the pair.

Morton on the Mound: 1st Edition

I still have about a dozen different parallels of Ground Chuck to show off from his 2015 release. Here is a card I bought this year, but hadn't heard anything about prior to purchasing it. Its a 2014 Topps 1st Edition. The card isn't numbered on the front or back and doesn't have any kind of special coding on the back either.

The only difference is the foil on front. Internet resources claim these to be made into a production run of only 10. If anyone has any more information about this card please let me know. I snagged this card for 99cents and $3 s&h.

Another low numbered Cole for the PC

Just a real quick post today to show off my newest numbered Gerrit Cole I have added to the PC.

Purchased for $3 is the 2015 Donruss Diamond Kings Stat Line numbered 59/138

McCutchen Mailday #64: Its Black and White!!!

Here's another card I've had for a few months that I just haven't gotten around to showcase. My goal to add 100 new Andrew McCutchen cards to my PC by year's end looks like it may be doubled. I am currently on pace for 170 new Andrew McCutchens as of writing this in mid April. (It will probably be on pace to be posted in May sometime)

The latest Cutch ran me $15 delivered and is a short print black and white from 2015 Donruss.

McCutchen Mailday #63: 2014 Topps Mini 4/5

In my ongoing pursuit to add 100 new Andrew McCutchen cards to my PC, I came across this very low numbered parallel from 2014 Topps Mini. The card is numbered 4/5 and ran me $30. Its more than I would have liked to pay, but I am trying to complete the rainbow and with such low numbering I knew I probably wouldn't see another for some time.

Cutch has finally started to heat up and recently won CoPlayer of the Week award with Ryan Braun for his performance last week.

McCutchen Mailday #62: Case hit photo variant!!!

Here's a card I purchased at the end of March for $35 in my pursuit to add 100 new Andrew McCutchen cards to my PC this year. I'm currently on pace for close to 150 new Cutch cards at the current pace I am at.

This 2015 Topps Opening Day photo variant features Cutch wearing the Bucs alternate black uniform in PNC Park. The card is one of the case hit photo variants and prices on these are heading north of $50 in recent weeks.

It's not cardboard, but needs to be highlighted

So everyone knows that I'm a Charlie Morton supercollector...well my legacy continues as I have added a Charlie Morton bat to the collection.

This is my first Morton game used bat and my 18th game used Pirates bat.

Charlie makes his 2015 debut today as the Bucs hope to extend their winning streak to 4 games.

He was a Pirate??? Moises Alou autograph edition

When people think of Moises Alou, they probably remember him for his performance on those early 90s Expos teams. He went on to have a Hall of Very Good career ( .303 batting average, 2134 hits, 332 HomeRuns, .885OPS) He appeared in 6 All-Star Games and won 2 Silver Sluggers.

Very few people will remember him for his 2 game, 5 plate appearances Pirates career.  However, thanks to 2015 Bowman, I now have a certified autograph showcasing his early roots in Pittsburgh.

McCutchen Mailday #61: Can't See Me Edition

My 61st new Andrew McCutchen card I've added to my collection this year is a 2014 Topps Camo numbered 5/99. I grabbed it for $15.

Seeing Red: Jamo Red Refractor /25

My scanner is still not working properly, so I'm forced to update via my phone and screenshots of eBay items I've won. Below is an item I won a few months ago for under $5 of a top pitching prospect, Jameson Taillon.

The goofy looking image of Jamo is the red parallel numbered 21/25

REVERSE BOXIN' 2011 TRIBUTE

I've been struggling to update my blog for the past week as my scanner hasn't been working. All my posts in the past few weeks were previously written and scanned.

For the past few years I have been doing reverse boxes on Topps Tribute. This year Topps recalled the product shortly after it's release. Because of that I decided to look at past year's Tribute products and make reverse boxes from 2011 Tribute.

I was fortunate to find this Willie Stargell dual jersey/facsimile auto for only $4.25.

Charlie Morton SuperCollection Keeps GROWING!!!

The self proclaimed world's greatest Charlie Morton collection continues to grow.  When I wrapped up 2014, I had acquired every non 1/1 of Charlie Morton except for one card.  That one card is the 2012 Topps Factory Orange Parallel numbered /190.  I still have several minis to show off from 2014, but due to Charlie getting injured at the end of the season and running only pink parallels in October I never got a chance to show many of them off.  I will continue to show those off as the 2015 season begins to happen.

One of my ongoing goals is to try and grab as many 1/1s of Charlie that I can.  Even though the year is young, I have already grabbed a couple.

This is the first 1/1 of Charlie I am showing off since July 2014 when I showed off 2 Charlie Morton 1 of 1s (a 2014 yellow plate and the gold embedded card).

Hailing from 2008 Bowman Chrome Draft Picks and Prospects is the black printing plate 1/1.  It ran me $16.58 delivered and is my 5th printing plate and my 12th 1/1.

What do you guys think of my Morton collection?

IMPRESSIVE OR INSANE?!!???!!!!

Jose Bautista rookie printing plate

I've been adding some nice Jose Bautista cards to my collection recently including a 2007 Upper Deck Cyan printing plate.

This 1/1 printing plate ran me $28 and is my first printing plate of the former Bucco from his Pirates days.  Hopefully I can add a few more by year's end.

McCutchen Mailday #59 & 60: Gum Stains and Variant Photos

I tend to not buy base cards online.  I grab a few blasters and hope to pull the base cards of the players I collect.  The rest I use for trade bait or to give to lil kids.  I have yet to add the base card of Andrew McCutchen's 2015 Topps Heritage to my collection.  However, in my Quest for 100 new Cutch cards I have added 3 Chrome parallels.

I recently picked up at a card show the Photo variant and Gum Stain variant for $7 total.

#tbt: A Trio of 61s

Every few months, my local mall has a cardshow where you can find some nice vintage cards for very cheap.  I generally get great deals from one seller in particular.  Below is a trio of 1961 Topps that I purchased for $2 combined.

Gene Baker

Vern Law

Smoky Burgess

Black is the New Black: Willy Style

My latest autograph in my pursuit for the Willy Garcia rainbow is a black parallel

McCutchen Mailday #57 & 58: More Chroooooomes!!!!!

These McCutchen Maildays are starting to seem a little silly as I compile my updates nearly a month late all the time.  Numbers 57 and 58 in my Quest for 100 new Andrew McCutchen cards added to my PC by year's end bring me two new Chromes (one of which is a die cut).

The Bowman Chrome Fit the Bill is very tough to find and often times will go for around $30.  The seller had listed it with a 1 day auction for a BIN of $9.99.  No one bought it and I decided to try my luck and ask the seller if he could try it again.  

Thankfully the seller elected to take my offer and I grabbed it for $10 with free shipping.  It marks my 3rd die cut I've added to the PC this year.

Auto XFractor...Read All About It!!!!

I couldn't think of a better headline, so I'm sorry for the stupid title.

Even more though I apologize for lack of words on a title that says "Read all about it"

Here's my latest Gerrit Cole.  It's from 2013 Topps Finest and features a nice swatch of yellow spring training jersey.

It cost me only $17

Black is the New Black: Silver Lambo-graph-ini

If you've followed my blog for awhile you know that I love silver ink and black borders.  I've got a large collection of Bowman Black autographs of all the Pirates top prospects (Cole, Taillon, Marte, Polanco, Glasnow, Hanson, Joe, McGuire, Meadows).

I've decided that I wanted to start seeking out Topps Chrome black autographs with silver ink also.
Up first is Andrew Lambo.

When Lambo came to the Bucs in 2010 for Octavio Dotel, I was extremely excited.  He was in his early 20s and already smashing AA pitching which lead to him being a top 100 prospect.   5 years later and he still hasn't been given his full shot to produce at the major league level.

The above on card autograph ran me less than $7 delivered which is an incredible price for a card numbered to 25 copies. Lambo is currently on the DL which is a shame because of the uncertainty revolving around Starling Marte's early exit yesterday.

Morton on the Mound: 1st colored parallel of 2015

I have a near complete rainbow of Charlie Morton's 2015 Topps baseball cards.  I need all four printing plates

This card was purchased for $1.

Charlie pitched 7 scoreless innings last night in his first minor league rehab assignment.

McCutchen Mailday #53, 54, and 55: A trio of shiny Heritage Refractors

The latest quest for 100 new Cutch cards yielded me a 3 package mailday all featuring the same card, but different versions. I went aggressive trying to add as many non base variants of Cutch's Heritage card as possible when Heritage was first released.  The refractor and purple refractors were won off ebay and the black refractor was purchased from someone on Blowout Cards.

The black is very low numbered (only 66 copies)

Cutch is still struggling in this early season and I really hope that he can start to turn it around soon.

HOF Mojo!!!! DUAL AUTO w/Johnny Bench!!!!

I don't often collect multiplayer autographs featuring Neil Walker, but when I do I prefer for them to have Hall of Famers on them.  Que the most interesting man in the world....

Just kidding.

This is my first dual auto with Hall of Famer Johnny Bench on it.  It is only my second dual autograph with Neil Walker on it.  I also have one with Jason Kendall.  I also have a triple auto with Ralph Kiner and Jack Wilson.

Reds and Bucs finish up their 3 game series today.

Major Error on this Cole Train card

Gerrit Cole is one of the league leaders in wins this year.  His performance on the mound has been nothing short of incredible.  Last year he won 11 games and in early May he will attempt to get win #5.  Earlier last month I snagged up this low print run (only 11 copies) card commemorating Cole for his 11 wins last year.  This particular card is numbered to 5.

On the back of the card is where I get frustrated with Quality Control at card companies.

Notice the 2014 states that Cole won 11 games in 2014.  Well how come for his career, he is only a 10 game winner?
Donruss used Cole's career numbers for ERA, WHIP, and total innigs pitched correctly, but the Wins ,Loss, Games/Games started, Hits, BBs, and K columns they used Cole's 2013 numbers.

C'mon....get your shit together

A Joey Bats rookie graded for less than $5.

I have no idea how trustworthy this grading company is, but for $2.58, I couldn't pass it up.  The grade is perfect and it's a Joey Bats rookie.

Archrival Autographs: Cutch & Bruce

There's only one team that I truly hate in baseball and that's the Milwaukee Brewers.  The reason for the hate is based mostly on the past 8 years when the Brew Crew made a mockery of the Pirates and when Carlos Gomez became a regular in their lineup.  Carlos Gomez is the single most player I hate in all sports.

There's other teams that I just don't like, but for some reason I appreciate the actual rivalry they bring.  Such is the case with the Reds.  I know that every time we are in a close game with them, it's going to be hard fought on both sides and players will give the extra bit to gain an edge.  Aroldis Chapman is a true weapon in their bullpen, but our pitchers aren't afraid to throw at their best players either.

Two players that are linked on both teams due to their positions taken in the 2005 draft are Andrew McCutchen (11th overall) and Jay Bruce (12th overall).  To me, they represent what each team offers.  Cutch is the underdog little guy that can do it all and (for many years) was under the radar.  Bruce is the powerhouse playing on a team with many years of success.

I've been after this dual autograph for nearly 3 years.  I had contacted people from multiple sports card blogs and forums that posted theirs and every person that had a copy of this card said "It's PC, not for sale".  With only 15 copies produced, I knew that it would be a tough card to one day track down, but with my tax refund I splurged the $75 to add it to my collection.

Now I can say "It's PC, not for sale!"

The Buccos take on the Reds tomorrow as they return home to PNC Park for a week before heading east to Philly next Monday.

And El Cofee was his name - o!!!! P-L-I-N-K-O addition...

I had doubts about only one of the Pirates bats hitting heading into the 2015 season. Historically Cutch, Walker, Marte, Alvarez, and Mercer have shown enough above average offense over their careers to trust that trend continuing. In small sample sizes Cervelli has shown a high average over his career. JHey showed signs of brilliance last year and I trusted him to be a .280 - .300 hitter with double digit HR/SB combo. Gregory Polanco had shown poor plate discipline last year and I felt his swing was too long. Thus far, he has been the Pirates lone bright spot on offense.

I had so much fun with my reverse box challenge of 2014 National Treasures that I decided to take another crack at it.  Same rules apply as the first time around.  Grab a minimum of 3 autos, 1 booklet, and 4 other cards for less than the price of a box ($425).

To start us off, I have a Notable Nicknames on card autograph of Gregory "el coffee" Polanco.  This card was originally a redemption only card and only a few have started showing up on the secondary market.

I am not sure how Gregory got the nickname El Coffee, but the way he plays is very energetic so maybe that had something to do with it.  The on card autograph ran me $38 so my total spending limit on the next 7 cards can not exceed $387.  That shouldn't be a problem.


To recap my last National Treasures reverse box, I have provided links and pics below.

2014 National Treasures

Cost of 1 Hobby Box: $425

Each box was to contain the following compared to what I received
1 booklet (numbered to 99 or less)  - I got 2 (both numbered to 10) including a cut HOF auto
3 relics (numbered to 99 or less) - I got 4 (all numbered to 25 copies or less)
4 autographs - I got 6 (2 by Hall of Famers)
0 guarantee gems - I got 1 of HOF numbered to 20

My reverse box had an extra 6 cards in it and almost all my cards were numbered to less than 50 copies.  

Roberto Clemente bat relic 6/25

Willie Stargell Cut AUTO and jumbo bat booklet 7/10

Gerrit Cole on card AUTO and jumbo jersey 32/49

Jameson Taillon Jersey Patch 2/25

Gregory Polanco Colossal Prime Jersey Patch 14/25

Bill Mazeroski On Card Autograph Hall of Fame 2/10

Paul Waner Diamond 12/20

Dave Parker Notable Nicknames 40/99

Gregory Polanco Silhoutte Jumbo Jersey Patch/AUTO 7/25

Gerrit Cole MLB Player's Choice Patch/AUTO 3/5 and Colossal Patch 6/25

Jose Bautista "Joey Bats" Bat Relic Booklet 8/10

McCutchen Mailday #52: Another 1/1 All-Star Game Jersey Letter

Finishing up my McCutchen 1/1s I've purchased is this 1/1 2013 All-Star Game Workout Jersey Letter "E" from 2014 Topps.

It's my fourth true 1/1 I've added of Cutch this year.  The others can be seen by clicking on the links below.

2012 Bowman Red Paper 1/1 (damaged in transit)
2014 Leaf Legends of Diamond Artist Proof Sketch by Chris Henderson
2015 Topps In the Name "N" Letter patch from 2014 All-Star Game

My Quest for 100 has been a lot of fun and I might try to push for 200 by year's end.  Adding only 2 new Cutch cards a week isn't enough of a challenge for me this year.  LOL!

My other goals haven't been avoided either as I have added autographs of several Steelers Hall of Famers, added a few more Tony Sanchez graded autograph rookies, and my Charlie Morton PC is up to date with all the 2015 releases thus far.

I almost forgot to show off the back of the card...

Thor & Iron Man Team Up!!!! Autograph Style (for trade/sale) HOF MOJO

With Avengers getting ready to come out, it only makes sense to highlight baseball versions of the lead characters today.  I fell in love with the Notable Nicknames set from 2014 National Treasures.  After grabbing the 3 Pirates players (Parker, Polanco, Cole), I set my sights on other players that were affordable that I liked their nicknames.

Noah Syndergaard aka Thor, fit that bill perfectly.

Thor fits my reverse box challenge well as he is one of the 4 required autographs I need to reverse box 2014 National Treasures again.  The on card autograph with "Thor" inscription is for trade or sale if anyone is interested in the young Mets right hander.

While I would have liked to also grab "Captain America" David Wright from the same National Treasures set, that card went for much more than I was willing to pay.  However, I did manage to grab another Avenger.

The Invincible Iron Man....

 Cal Ripken Jr.

Both cards are available for trade if anyone is interested.
Just send me an email or leave a comment.
I'm off to watch the Avengers now....