My newest COMC haul

I recently made a small purchase on COMC for my Charlie Morton player collection and a few other cards that I wanted to add to the treasure room.

The Morton gem of the lot was a "Hope" parallel numbered 59/60.  I've been after one of these for awhile, but with a print run of only 60 they don't pop up too often.  When I saw this card, I decided to add some other items to my shopping cart and complete my purchase.  If it wasn't for this card, I probably would not have bought the others.

The card is numbered 59/60 and cost me just shy of $5.  I still need the printing plates for the card, and the Topps factory set parallels.

I also picked up a couple 2012 Topps variants I was still chasing

I needed the mini despite having the black printing plate for the card.

The red Target parallel and gold sparkle parallel.

The gold parallel numbered 566/2012

a 2008 Bowman Chrome blue border parallel numbered 32/99

From rehabbing pitcher to future ace, I also grabbed a Simpsons hand full of Taillon cards for $3.

I got 3 base cards of the young right hander.  2012 Topps Heritage Minors, 2012 Bowman Platinum and 2011 TriStar Pursuit.

I even managed to grab a jersey relic of Jameson for under $2 from the unlicensed company Onyx.

Since many of you may be unaware of the Onyx brand of unlicensed cards, I included a scan of the back.  This particular jersey is numbered 139/500

For $1.26 I also grabbed a game used relic of one of my favorite players here at the PTR, Dave Parker.  It's an unnumbered UD Heroes of Baseball bat relic from 2001.

It will go nicely with my Mad Dog bat relic from the same series.

Pedro Alvarez is the type of player that many fans can lose sleep over.  Personally I'm a huge fan of El Toro.  When he's swinging the bat well he can carry an offense.  When he's not in the zone, you'd rather send up a pitcher to pinch hit.  There's no doubt about it though that the man has incredible strength.

Check out the above video for some of his raw power.

I grabbed 4 cards of El Toro that I needed for my collection.  These were some of the most expensive cards I purchased with each card averaging a buck and a quarter a piece.  Each card is from 2011 Topps except the 2008 TriStar Plus Prospects (3rd card).  I didn't have any atomic refractors until I got this one of Pedro and I have to say, I love these cards.  They look like glass shattering and when light hits them they really pop.    The top 2 cards are from box store exclusives.  The Blue Diamond insert is exclusive to Wal Marts and the 2nd card is exclusive to Target Hanger packs.

One player who has not been struggling at the plate for the Bucs this year is Starling Marte.  He's having a season simlilar to what Cutch did last year.  Through May 4th he's posted a .328/.394/.513 line for an OPS of .907.  That's not a bad line for a corner outfielder.  When you consider that his natural position is centerfield, that's even more impressive.  He's leading the NL with 10 steals while also hitting 4 HRs and driving in 15 RBI.  

Because I will never get a pack of Spring Fever or Turkey Red, I figured it be fairly cheap to pick these two base cards of Starling up for $2.50 total.

To finish things off I got 2 autographs of Pirates prospects.

Stetson Allie was a highly touted flame throwing pitcher the Pirates drafted in the 2nd round of the 2010 draft.  In 2012, the Pirates turned the high risk/high reward prospect into a corner infielder.  His numbers through 2013 are monsterous and he has become the top slugging prospect in the farm system for the Bucs.  I recently did a prospect profile on him where I had showed off some of the cards I have of the 22 year old. The above ITG Heroes and Prospects auto cost me $2.25 and is now my 6th autograph.

Wyatt Mathisen is currently ranked the Pirates 15th best prospect, just one behind the highest ranked catcher, Tony Sanchez, in the farm system.  Mathisen is still very young, 19 years old.  He's currently struggling in A ball batting .182, but will be given many chances to prove himself as the everyday starter for West Virginia.  Last year while playing in the Gulf Coast league, he batted .295 with a very solid K:BB ratio (basically 1 to 1).  The raw skills are there for the young backstop.  The on card auto of Wyatt ran me $2.65.

Cutch makes the cover

I'm back with my second post in 2 days.  Playstation just announced the winner of MLB The Show 2013.  It's none other than the Pirates superstar centerfielder Andrew McCutchen.

To celebrate here's a card of Cutch looking quite dapper.

It's the variant from Updates and Highlights featuring Cutch at the All-Star game in Kansas City.

I'm so happy that the Bucs are getting some recognition mainly due to Cutch.  #BUCN 2013

McCutchen Monday: A Fun Card for a rough day

Things are still crazy and stressful at my household.  I really don't want to get into all the details here, but I am having relationship issues, family health issues, AND an abundance of work overload that are taking up a lot of my time.  Because of that I'm showing off one of my favorite 2012 Andrew McCutchen cards today.  This card makes me smile.  Just a fun looking card of Cutch with a giant wiffle ball bat getting some batting practice in with the Pirate Parrot while wearing the Homestead Greys uniforms. 
LOVE THIS SP CARD OF CUTCH!

In recognition of the continuing theme of the blog, I am posting this thread for the Let's Go Bucs Contest! where you can win some free Phillies cards.  It's a four game series, so I'm offering up 4 Phine Phillies cards for this series if the Pirates win at least 2 of the 4 games.

Joe Savery 2012 blue, Jayson Werth 2011 Heritage Relic, Antonio Bastardo 2012 Black (22/61), and a 1976 Steve Carlton

B.A. Benney has already been entered for saying Let's Go Bucs before this post.  I will leave the thread open thru Tuesday afternoon since I am posting it just an hour before gametime.

LET'S GO BUCS!

If pulling hits from a blaster was rankable, I'd be the f---ing grandmaster

To quote Napoleon Dynamite, "girls only want boyfriends who have great skills."
While I may not be good with numbchucking and am only average with a bow, I do have some pretty sweet blaster pulling skills.  Check out my 2012 Archives blaster I decided to randomly pick up while at my local big box store. I hadn't planned to pick up any Archives because there wasn't a lot of Pirates in the set.  The Fan Favorite autos have a good selection of Pirates I actually enjoyed watching (Van Slyke, Drabek, Madlock), but the set doesn't really do anything for me.  I am very happy with what I pulled from my 7 packs + 1 free bonus pack.  JUST CALL IT 8 PACKS TOPPS!!!!

I will organize the cards numerically to make it easier for those set building.  All cards are for trade except Pirates.

Pack 1

 Archives Reprint: Roberto Clemente 164 (1:4 packs)
14 Yadier Molina (cardinals)
20 Robinson Cano (yankees)
63 Tim Hudson (braves)

66 Andrew McCutchen (pirates)
114 Jason Motte (cardinals)
165 Jay Bruce (reds)
177 Shane Victorino (phillies)

Pack 1 was very successful as it contained 2 Pirates for me to add to my collection. 

Pack 2
56R-SCA 1956 Relic-Steve Carlton Bat? (phillies) 1:30 packs

Felix Hernandez 3D card (mariners) 1:8 packs

27 Carl Crawford (red sox)
40 Nelson Cruz (Rangers)
117 George Brett (royals)
168 Carlos Santana (indians)

Pack 2 was even more successful because of the 1:30 1956 Relic card.  The relic is wood, so it may be a bat or seat.  The card does not state what it is from.  Very cool card of the Hall of Famer southpaw.  The 3D Hernandez is also a really neat looking card.  Why wasn't McCutchen made into a 3D card????
Things go down from here in the blaster, but pulling a 1:30 hit in only 8 packs from a blaster in Wally World is a good pull if you ask me.  Again all cards are for trade except Pirates.

Pack 3
22 Mickey Mantle (yankees)
57 Josh Beckett (red sox)
77 Chipper Jones (Braves)
108 Cliff Lee (Phillies)
150 Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers)
159 David Price (Rays)
200 Derek Jeter (Yankees)
215 SP Brett Butler (Dodgers) 1:4 packs

Pack 3 wasn't great.  I continued my luck of pulling a Kershaw or Kemp in every blaster I've opened since the start of the season and managed to get a SP Dodger.  The 1984 design is still one of my favorite designs ever for a baseball card.






Pack 4
Josh Hamilton Cloth Sticker (Rangers) 1:6 packs
41 Corey Hart (Brewers)
53 Adam Wainwright (cardinals)
74 Ty Cobb (Tigers)
86 Trevor Cahill
141 JP Arencibia (Blue Jays)
143 Marco Scutaro (rockies)
185 Roberto Clemente (Pirates)

A Josh Hamilton Cloth Sticker and a 1984 design of Roberto Clemente.  Yup, this was a good pack for my collecting purposes.  I'll listen to offers on the Hamilton sticker, but will most likely keep that for my collection.

Pack 5

1958 Classic Combos: Miguel Cabrera + Al Kaline Touch Em All Tigers (Tigers) 1:32 Packs
Archives Reprint 1979 Eddie Murray 640 (Orioles) 1:4 packs
37 Jose Valverde (Tigers)
49 Mike Moustakas (Royals)
87 Clay Bucholz (Red Sox)
129 Darryl Strawberry (Mets)
154 Starlin Castro (Cubs)
197 Allen Craig (Cardinals)

Pack 5 was a very good pack for trade bait.  The Kaline/Cabrera Classic Combo is 1:32 packs which is rarer than pulling a relic.  I think that Topps could have done a better job photoshopping these together.  Don't get me wrong, the idea is great, but the lighting used doesn't match up.  It almost looks like if you go to an amusement park and get your face implanted on Jack Sparrow or Princess Leia's body.  It just doesn't look right.  Nice try though Topps.

Pack 6

69DE-6 Deckle Edge Ichiro (mariners) 1:12
28 Melky Cabrera (Giants)
46 John Danks (White Sox)
97 Brett Lawrie (Blue Jays)
139 Ivan Nova (yankees)
147 Justin Masterson (Indians)
187 Nolan Ryan (Astros)
194 Gary Carter (Mets)

I got my only Deckle Edge in this pack.  Ichiro is nice, but it would have been nicer if it was Clemente :(

The thing that I really don't like about this pack is seeing Nolan Ryan and Gary Carter on 1984 designs.  Why?  Well quite simply, we've seen it before.  I'd much rather have seen them on a design from when they weren't playing if they were going to be included in this set.  At least the Carter shows him in a Mets uniform which is nice since the actual 1984 Topps has him in an Expos uni.  The Ryan however is wearing an Astros uniform which is accurate for the time period, but Nolan had a 1984 Topps Astros card.  Poor choice, if you ask me.  I'd much rather had seen something like a Nolan Ryan Mets uniform used on the 84 design or seen Ryan in a 1971 Topps wearing an Astros uniform. 


Pack 7
35 Zack Greinke (brewers)
78 Miguel Montero (Diamondbacks)
85 Matt Holliday (Cardinals)
130 Giancarlo Stanton (Marlins)
137 Jason Heyward (Braves)
179 Michael Bourn (Braves)
199 Mark Reynolds (Orioles)
223SP Cecil Fielder (Tigers) 1:4 packs

I thought about only showing the Montero for this pack because I love the 1971 design and think that it looks awesome for the Diamondbacks.  But in the interest of Tigers collectors and set collectors I also showed the Fielder SP.  Again everything is for trade.

The Bonus Pack
10 Ryan Braun (Brewers)
17 Mat Latos (Reds)
69 Ryan Zimmerman (Nationals)
70 Joey Votto (Reds)
120 Tim Lincecum (Giants)
123 Ryan Vogelsong (Giants)
173 Daniel Hudson (Diamondbacks)

 67 Sticker - Roger Maris (Cardinals) 1:8 packs


Nothing special here.  Funny that the bonus pack contained my first 67 sticker thus guaranteeing my pack odds quotes. 

So in 8 packs here's what I should have gotten based on the odds
1x 1977 Cloth Sticker 1:6 packs
1x 1967 Stickers 1:8 packs
1x 1968 3D 1:8 packs
2x Topps Reprint 1:4
2x Short Print 1:4

I did all that and I also happened to pull
1 Deckle Edge 1:12 packs
1 1958 Classic Combos 1:32 packs
1 1956 Relic 1:30 packs
plus I got 1 Andrew McCutchen and 2 Roberto Clemente cards
Overall, a very successful blaster pull.

All cards are for trade except the Clemente & McCutchen.  Leave comments below if interested. 

1 down, 2 to go

My main Topps collecting goal this year besides getting base team sets was to get the 2012 Topps Pirates team set in black parallels.  I've been adding them as I've seen them pop up on ebay and was recently able to add this Jose Tabata 2/61 to my collection.

Only Jeff Karstens and Neil Walker remain for me to collect from Series 1.  Then it's a couple months waiting before I have to worry about Series 2.  This is going to be an expensive parallel set to complete.

Can anyone help me out?

2012 Collecting Goals pt1

I recently won this card on ebay for .99 with $2 shipping.  Not a bad price for an autograph manufactured letter card.  Daniel McCutchen or "No Relation" as he's known to Pirates fans is a very reliable bullpen swingman that can do it all on the mound.  He can come in and get that needed groundball double play.  He can throw mid 90s heat past a batter to get a much needed strikeout.  He can pitch multiple innings in relief and even make a spot start if needed.  Daniel McCutchen was the "losing" pitcher for that blown call Jerry Meals made in July of last year that started the Pirates collapse from first place.  In relief he threw 92 pitches before the most recognized blown call of 2011.  I really like D Cutch a lot and he helps make the Xavier Nady trade to the Yankees one of the most lopsided trades the Pirates have had in recent years. 

Anyway, I'm going to try and spell out McCutchen.  I found the c and C cheap on COMC and recently won another auction for the U on ebay.  That could put me at McCUTC in a little over a week.  I still need the H, E, N.  Because I don't want them to look odd when fully assembled it has to be the numbered out of 106.  None of the blue, green, etc. limited refractors.  Just the base only.

Also, I'm trying to assemble the black bordered /61 Pirates cards this year.  I've never attempted to put together a parallel team set like this before and be completely committed to it.  Last year I bought a few of the 2011 Heritage blank back 1/1s off Topps site, but some of them are now in permanent collections so I have no shot at obtaining that team set.  This seems a bit more realistic.  Not to mention that the black borders this year really look great on the Pirates cards.

Here's what I have so far.
-D'arnaud
-Alvarez
-McDonald
-Hughes
-McKenry

I picked up Kevin Correia off ebay for $7 (hasn't arrived yet) and I assure you I will never pay more than $1 for a Kevin Correia card again in my lifetime had it not been for trying to complete this set. 

I'm still looking to add Neil Walker, Jeff Karstens, and Jose Tabata.

Black Parallels are cool

I'm making it a collecting goal this year to get a black bordered parallel of the 2012 Pirates team set.  I know this is going to sound expensive, but quite frankly I think they look amazing this year.  The photography on this year's Topps set is the best I've ever seen from Topps and the black borders look great with the Pirates uniforms.  Here's the two that I have so far.  I also have D'arnaud and Tabata coming from ebay.

Oddly enough Jared Hughes was the last card I needed for the base team set, but was the first black parallel I bought on ebay.  This one is numbered 21/61.

Pedro Alvarez numbered 60/61.  I love this photo of Pedro getting ready to send a bullet across the diamond to get the guy out at first.  Again the photography on this years set is so much better than last year.  Need proof, look at Pedro's 2011 Topps base card and you'll see what I'm talking about. 

By now it should be no secret that Andrew McCutchen is my favorite player.  I already had the 2011 Topps Tier One base card, but decided to splurge and pick up this black parallel numbered 2/50.  One more Cutch for the PC.

TEAM SET COMPLETED!

I bought a blaster today at WalMart on my way home from the hospital and as I'm flipping through I got very excited.  I completed my 2012 Pirates Series 1 Team Set of the base cards.  I still need the Maz Walk-Off, the Neil Walker auto, McCutchen relics, and darn near all the Roberto Clemente cards, but I felt relieved.  The missing card to my team set was Rookie Jared Hughes.  I had seen Jared pitch in AA in 2010 and AAA in 2011 and I knew that one day he would be make it to the majors.  Jared is a tall righty (6ft7!) that throws low to mid 90s heat.  It feels good to just enjoy opening wax now not needing to complete any Pirates team sets anymore.  Now I can start to send out some TTM with spring training so close.

The Jared Hughes wasn't the only card that made me happy while opening up the box though.  I also got this retired numbers card of one of my favorite players as a kid, Frank Thomas.  The Big Hurt was incredible early into his career.  After the Pirates started to fall apart post the free agency of Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, and Doug Drabek, I started to root for the White Sox and the hot corner duo of Frank Thomas and Robin Ventura.  To this day, the ChiSox are a close 2nd in terms of my favorite team. 

Here's some of the other gems of the blaster

 all blue parallels are available for trade

all cards except the JP Arencibia and 87minis are available for trade.

If anyone is looking for base, please let me know.  I am looking to unload all my nonPirates for practically nothing.

2012 Topps 1987 Minis

Here's what I have
5-Howie Kendrick
15-Robinson Cano
21-Matt Holliday
29-Adam Jones
37-CC Sabathia
38-Chase Utley
42-Josh Hamilton
46-David Price
49-Jared Weaver

I'm looking to build this insert set.  Help me out

My 2012 Topps Wants

I want your 2012 Pirates.  Even if I have duplicates or triples, I don't care. Base, parallels, inserts, hits.  Send them my way.
Here's what I have so far.

I'm missing base cards of James McDonald (have the gold) and Jared Hughes (rookie)

I need all the gold parallels except JMac and need all the inserts, but like I said I will gladly accept doubles of the Pirates base to try and get autographed.

$3.26 for a HOF bat? Yes Please

Today, I got one of my ebay winnings from last week.  A 2002 Fleer Classic Cuts Bat relic of HOFer Ralph Kiner.  The best thing about this card is that I won it for only $3.26.  Sometimes, it pays to be a Pirates fan.  LOL!  The card is nice and features the bat in the center of the card along with a picture of Ralph.  I just wish that card companies would use the Pirates logos from the right era when displaying the Pirates of Yesteryear.  Oh well, for $3.26 I can't complain.

On another note entirely, I was just at Wal-Mart and they have 2012 Topps already available for the public.  I bought a box and a blaster.  I'll show some of the inserts, parallels, and hit I got later in the week.  I'm not planning on collecting the set so I will be willing to trade anything that's not a Pirate.  I got some really nice looking inserts along with a bunch of base.  Leave me a comment with your wants.  First come, first serve.