McCutchen Mailday #130-134: more rookies, relics, and photo variants

I joined a Gypsy Queen case break in hopes of hitting some Cutch parallels or maybe a big Clemente hit. Neither happened so I ended up using some extra eBay bucks on the cards you see below.

Up first is this 2005 Heritage red back mini.

Next up is the 2016 Gypsy Queen photo variant along with the Copper parallel of MLB Debut and a Spring Fever card from 2016.

The final card received is a Donruss Bat Kings relic from 2015.

As I type this on the 102nd day of the year (April 11th) I am on pace for hitting the 400 mark of adding new Cutch cards to the PC.
As you can see I will be very far behind with my blogging as life gets in the way.

I am 4 months behind posting. While I have definitely slowed down with buying Cutch cards, I have still added over 225 new cards to the PC so far this year with some big ones recently added (8 new 1/1s and more on the way).

McCutchen Mailday #115: Jersey King /10

I jumped at the chance to add a /10 Cutch Jersey Relic for only $10

McCutchen Mailday #93-95: Another Test Proof and a Dominator

Here's some more Donruss cards I have added in 2016 in case you haven't seen enough already.

The test proof from the 1982 Retro design is the highlight of the bunch which also includes an Elite Dominator /999 and the non numbered pink parallel as seen below

For those keeping track at home, my Andrew McCutchen collection is now my main focus of my entire collecting goals. 

McCutchen Mailday #73-75: 3 more Donruss

I added a few more 2016 Donruss additions

Pink 1982 variant
Black Diamond King /199
Statline /298

Don't worry, there's more coming though

McCutchen Mailday #57 & 58: Some Donruss Invasions

Donruss has been fantastic in the past few years, offering collectors a number of cool Statline parallels to try and chase in addition to some fun insert sets and nicely designed relics.

I grabbed two parallels to start the 2016 Donruss collection.

The black parallel is numbered to 199 and the pink Donruss Diamond Kings isn't numbered.

McCutchen Mailday #76: Another Relic added to the Quest

I'm curious to see where my Quest for 100 new Cutch cards will actually end up tallying after the year comes to a close.  Donruss really upped their game for the 2015 release this year.  The relics for both Jersey Kings and Bat Kings are awesome looking.

Behold the majesty of this beautiful unlicensed piece of cardboard and clothing swatch....

It might have been purchased for way less than a 1/1 but this is a card that I absolutely loved adding to my collection.  $5 delivered well spent...

Another Cole Train auto for $15

In the next week I will be showing off some absolute sick cards (many of which are 1/1s). Be sure to check them out and comment as you see them.

In the meantime here is a 2015 Donruss red parallel I grabbed for $15. Its low numbered 23/25.

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.

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

I like Ike

I recently got my first baseball card of Ike Davis as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball club.  It's not licensed so it's not a true Pirates card, but for $1.99, I'll take it.  Hailing from 2014 Donruss Series 2 this bat relic is my first relic of the lefty slugger 1st baseman.

When the Pirates acquired Ike back in April, the Pittsburgh fan base was extremely excited and even gave him a standing ovation during his first at bat in PNC Park (very classy).  He hasn't lived up to his breakout 2012 season when he clubbed over 30 Homeruns, but there is no denying his true power.  It's going to be an interesting offseason this year with the emergence of Josh Harrison battling for a batting title (and his natural position being 3B), Pedro Alvarez having injury issues and no idea where he is throwing the ball from 3B, and a platoon at 1B that is due to get a raise in arbitration for substandard numbers.

Given the true choice between Ike and Pedro at 1B I would rather stick with Ike.  He's not afraid to walk and I believe he plays a better 1B.

Feeling Blue: Jason Bay 2005 Donruss Greats Blue Parallel /50

I keep adding more and more monthly color phrases to combat all the many different colored parallels that card manufacturers have produced over the years.  I've had a monthly feature of Seeing Red and Black is the New Black for a few months now.  Here's my latest entry to the rainbow highlight, Feeling Blue.  Each month I will show off a blue parallel similar to what I do with Red and Black.  I'm open to ideas for the following colors: Green, Camo, Yellow, Gold, Silver, etc.  I already have something planned for pink so no need for that.

2005 Donruss Greats Blue Parallel 16/50

Anyway, with the first installment of Feeling Blue, I figured it would be best to show off one of my all-time favorite players and one of the first Pirates players I started to collect in bulk.  None other than Jason Bay of course.  If you were a Pirates fan during the stretch, there was no player easier to root for than Jason Bay.  That's not to say there wasn't talent during the 1993-2012 seasons because there actually was a lot of it (Jason Kendall, Brian Giles, Freddy Sanchez, a very young Aramis Ramirez, Jack Wilson, even the injury plague seasons of Andy Van Slyke's career, and of course promising pitchers like Kris Benson, Jason Schmidt, and Oliver Perez)  The problem was that most of them weren't consistent enough to gain a lot of fan appreciation and the ones that were consistent often had off field issues (Giles, Kendall).

Jason Bay was just what you envision the best baseball player on a team to be like.  He would help carry an offense, all out hustle on every ball hit to him in the outfield, steal bases when it was needed, and greet the fans with a smile and an autograph at the bus stop.  He was my favorite player, simply put.

When he was traded in 2008 to Boston, I knew it was happening.  It was obvious that the new General Manager Neal Huntington (who I think is one of the best GMs in the game to operate with the small payroll he has and still be competitive) would blow up the team and start from scratch from the ground up.  Yesterday marked the trade deadline and the Pirates were silent.  They didn't acquire any big names to get them into the post season.  They are relying on a team that is already the 5th best team in the NL prior to yesterday.  With the current team they have, they were only a half game away from a Wild Card berth.

The team might have struggled early in the season, but they have since added guys like Gregory Polanco, Jeff Locke, and Vance Worley to the 25 man roster and in doing so has caused the team to be one of the NL's hottest teams since May.  I think their bench is a big need and can't wait to see both Brent Morel and Michael Martinez go.  I'd personally rather see Chase D'arnaud up there hacking at the ball when we need a right handed pinch hitter in the 7th inning than either of those two clowns.  At least D'arnaud can play a good shortstop and is a speed demon on the basepaths so he can pinch run too.

I wasn't looking for the Pirates to add Price or Lester, but I was hoping they could add another weapon in the bullpen.  Then again if Nick Kingham continues to exceed expectations he may be called up in September and used strictly in relief similar to what the Rays did with David Price in 2008 and  Adam Wainwright did for the Cardinals in 2006.  By the way both those teams went on to the World Series those years.

McCutchen Monday: 2014 Donruss Game Gear

When 2014 Donruss came out, I tried three different attempts to win the below card.

The winning auctions started at $14 and went up to $22 delivered.  With patience, I found an auction that stayed in what I considered affordable and won it for $5.97 delivered.

2014 Donruss: #BUCN Style

I recently made small purchase from one of my favorite ebay sellers, for several of the 2014 Donruss inserts of the Pirates.  I'm not trying to get complete sets of unlicensed products, but when I can win auctions of players I collect for around $1-$4 a piece, it's hard for me deny adding them to my collection.

Up first are Breakout Pitchers and Breakout Hitters.  I like these.  They look like fun inserts and feature players that actually broke out on the baseball world last year (although Pedro Alvarez did hit 30HR in 2012 also)

Next up are some of the more expensive cards purchased from the group.  I have to be honest, none of these really jump out at me.  It reminds me of why Donruss was my least favorite card company to collect from.  They all look cheap and lazy.  The whole line (especially the Team MVP of Cutch) seems like someone was trying to get creative with a 1987 version of ClipArt.  I like the idea of the stats cards being numbered to an individual season or career numbers, but am not a big enough fan of the base cards to collect the rainbow.  I do like the player selection for the Game Gear cards, but it's still not enough to make me want to collect them all.

My least favorite of all the inserts though is the Box Topper Donruss Diamond Kings.  How can I hate on the Diamond King?
It's obvious!
1)There's no art on the card design anymore
2)The uniforms clearly show no logos because they are all head on images of the players (as they should be)
3)The design doesn't match the base cards, unlike classic Donruss which had the same borders as the base set.

Overall, the 2014 Donruss version is a lot of the classic Donruss line which I hated as a kid.  There's 3 plaeyrs to collect basecards of for the Pirates (Marte, Cutch, Alvarez) and a lot of inserts/parallels.  My suggestion is to save your money.