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 #179 & 180: A Pair of Gypsy Minis

For less than $7 delivered I was able to add two more Cutch minis to the collection as I continue to destroy the Quest for 100 goal.  If there is one part of my Cutch collection that needs to be increased, it's definitely the minis.  Despite having added 180 new Cutch cards to the collection only 2% of that have been these miniature cards.

Maybe I can track down a few of the Allen & Ginter parallels from yesteryears as the calendar turns to winter...

McCutchen Mailday #154: "Say Hello to my Lil Friend"

If you've been paying attention this year, you'll know that I have put a large focus on my Cutch collection. One of my goals was to simply just add 100 new Cutch cards by year's end. I blew that away.

With still 3+ months left in the year, I think it might be attainable to actually double that goal. I'm certainly at a good pace for it.

I've added plenty of 1/1s and colored parallels to the PC this year, but have been almost striking out at adding minis to the Cutch collection.

That streak ends now.

Say hello to my lil friend

This lil siver thing ran me $2 delivered for the /199 mini parallel. 

Morton on the Mound: Black Mini

Numbered to only 5!!!!

The Bugs are hoping for some cooperation from the Mets and Marlins to bring their games back in the NL Central to only 5.

Let's Go Bucs!!!

McCutchen Mailday #49 & 51: Mini Bazookas!!!!!

My Andrew McCutchen Quest for 100 has really gotten some nice cards to the PC this year.  Last month I received 3 big cards all on the same day and while it would have been nice to post all 3 in the same post for time sakes, one of them is such a big card in my collection that I just had to show it off by itself.  So you're getting two similar cards in one post and I am skipping over the 50th new McCutchen added to my collection this year because of it.

 On the left is the 2015 Bazooka mini and the right is the 2014 Bazooka mini

These mini bazooka cards were extremely short printed and despite not being numbered I see that they are found roughly 1: 108 retail jumbo packs.  Combine that with a 25 card checklist and these suckers are tough to find.  I grabbed both of the above cards for $25 delivered.

McCutchen Mailday #40 & 41: a pair of minis

I got very far behind in my posting and by the time this gets posted I will have likely added another dozen McCutchen cards to my collection in my Quest for 100 new Andrew McCutchen cards added to the PC.  At the rate I am currently on pace, I will have added 100 new Cutch cards to the collection by the MidSummer Classic.

My recent pair of ebay winnings came in on the same day and feature 2 mini colored parallels.

Up first from 2013 Gypsy Queen is a Sepia mini numbered 43/50.  It was won for less than $3.

I bought 10 tobacco sized pages last year and have already filled 2 pages of them with just Cutch tobacco minis.

Next up is a colored parallel that should be very familiar to anyone who has read my blog because I supported the entire month of October with nothing but pink parallels.  This 2014 Topps mini is numbered to only 25 copies and ran me $14 delivered.

Another Russell Martin Rainbow

I've shown off my 2013 Topps Chrome Russell Martin rainbow I was chasing in the past.  Earlier this year, I also showed off my 2014 Topps Mini Black printing plate of RussMart.  I'm going to attempt to put as much of this rainbow together as possible and since a seller had 2 of the colored parallels I needed I decided to grab both the pink and black parallels for $25 combined shipping.

You may recall that I showed the 2014 Topps Pink parallel of the base card back in October's Save the Boobies month.  That pink parallel was numbered to 50.  The mini featured above is numbered to 25.

Above are the backs of the cards and their low print run numbers.

"The Greatest Day" STARRING RUSSELL MARTIN!!!

The best words a baseball fan can hear "Pitchers and Catchers report today"

Russell Martin, despite having only a short term part of the Pirates history, may be easily one of the top 5 catchers the organization has ever known.  Manny Sanguillen and Jason Kendall will obviously be above him and a lot of fans have fond memories of Tony Pena and Mike LaVaillere, but in a very short time (2 seasons), Russ helped to reunite an entire city with their love of baseball.

I'm going to miss not seeing him be the backstop for the black and gold this year.  I purchased the above printing plate earlier in the year for under the price of a blaster.

It goes well with my Tony Sanchez black printing plate I showed in January.

McCutchen Mailday #9, 10, 11: GOTTA SEE THEM TO BELIEVE THEM!!!

I don't pretend to be an Andrew McCutchen super collector.  If I were to collect Cutch like they were Pokemon (gotta catch em all reference) I would be absolutely broke!!!  Every day there is a new card of Cutch hitting the open market that I didn't knew existed or if I knew about it, I couldn't afford it.

I am trying to add 100 new Cutch cards to my collection this year.

I know of Allen & Ginter's rip cards and short print extra minis they insert into the cards, but I never thought I would be able to purchase one.  I've seen them sell in the $100+ range almost every time.

Thanks to my unused paid time off from last year I received a check that was basically free money for being a good employee all year.  I decided to treat myself with this trifecta of Allen & Ginter awesomeness.

Purchased as a lot for $250, I am quite possibly insane....but a happy insane.

Up first is the most recent of the bunch, a 2014 Allen & Ginter Extra Mini #358.  Like all other extra minis, the card features a different pose than the standard mini and features a different numbering on the back.

Next is a 2012 Allen & Ginter Extra Mini #372.  Same deal as the 2014.  Different pose.  Different numbering.

Finally in my pursuit to get to 100 unique certified autographs of Cutch one day (maybe that will be my 2016 goal) is a 2012 Allen & Ginter RED INK auto numbered 1/10.  Yup an eBay 1/1!!!! LOL!

Last week we wrapped up the first month of the new year, I have already added 11 new Cutch cards to the collection.  I am currently on pace to surpass my goal of adding 100 new Cutch cards easily.  It might actually be more difficult for me to keep up with the blog rather than showing off all the cards.
Because all these cards are from the same line but different years and all from the same seller it made it easier to make these three cards a big lot post.
Do any of you have a preference on how I post future McCutchen Maildays?
Prefer the single card spotlight?
Prefer bulk spotlight?
Prefer no more McCutchens on the blog?  Well...go somewhere else!

The First Charlie Morton Post of 2015

I can't believe it's already been almost three months since I last showed off a Charlie Morton card on the PTR.  With Morton expected to miss his first couple starts of 2015 due to the hip surgery he received, you can still expect about 30 new Charlie Morton posts this year once he recovers.  I've got a small stack of 2014 cards left over from last year that will need to still be posted.

2014 Topps Mini Gold 62/63

This gold parallel from 2014 Topps Mini ran me just shy of $6 delivered.

2015 Topps hits shelves soon and it looks like Charlie is part of Series 1. Oooohhhh parallels, here I come.

McCutchen Mailday #7: 1989 Topps Mini

I'm adding Cutch cards like crazy the past few weeks as my quest for 100 gets me closer to double digits.  My latest ebay win didn't have to travel very far at all.  It had to go from Flemington NJ to Flemington NJ.  For $2.12, I won the below card with free shipping.

1989 was one of the most over produced sets of all time.  It's also one of those sets I fondly remember as a youngster just beginning to collect cards.

Speaking of being a youngster...Cutch likes to imitate some of the more veteran/retired players that he grew up watching.

McCutchen Mailday #4: 2014 Topps Mini Jersey

My first "hit" in the quest for 100 new unique Andrew McCutchen cards to be added to my collection is a 2014 Topps Mini jersey relic.  The card isn't sequentially numbered, but does feature a nice piece of black jersey.

There's not a whole lot to say about the front of the card.  I like that Topps has included relics in their mini card set as well as the flagship release.  This card has a nice yellow border going around the fabric and also features the same curved eyebrow design we saw in 2014.  Did anyone name the set?  I know 2012 was the surfboard and 2013 was the turtle design.  2014 reminded me of an eyebrow.

The back of the card has your standard...we don't guarantee this fabric is from anything you think it's from disclaimer.

Dammit it's a Doumit 2.0

I have been slacking on my goal to add 36 new Ryan Doumit cards by the end of the year.  That has mostly been due to me not wanting to add Braves or Twins cards to my collection.  Instead I've been searching for Ryan Doumit parallels from his Pirates days that I don't have.  I came across a low hand numbered 50 mini of one of my favorite Doumit cards from 2009 Allen & Ginter.  2009 was the year I started to really get back into card collecting.

This mini had been eluding me for a long time due to the scarcity (/50) and how old the card is.  I was fortunate to add it to my collection for a mere $5 delivered.

Ryan has had a very tough time at the plate this year and just can't seem to get in a good rhythm offensively.  For the season he .202 with only a .298 slugging percentage which includes only 3 Homeruns.  Through Ryan's time with the Pirates, it was not uncommon to see him with a .450 slugging percentage and double digit HR totals every year.

I doubt I will be able to add 36 new Doumits to the PC by the end of the year, but am very happy to add this one to my collection.

It's so tiny....

I grabbed my very first ever Gypsy Queen mini printing plate.  It's from 2011 and is the Cyan plate for card #214 Pedro Alvarez.  For the low low low low price of $8 I grabbed this from a friend at a local mall card show.

It's my first printing plate of El Toro.  He swings a big bat as evidenced by The 5 HRs he has already despite only 8 hits on the young season. He currently has one of the lowest baBIP in the NL (.125) but still has a 1.016 OPS. Despite the tiny average, El Toro is clubbing the ball opposite field and taking more walks. Its crazy that a guy who already has two 30+ HR seasons could be looking at 2014 as the year he officially breaks out nationally. If that's the case, I almost feel bad for pitchers of the NL Central. Then I remember the 20 losing seasons and that this was Neal's first draft pick and say "yeah wze deserve this."

This Lil Card has eluded me long enough

Back in 2011, Topps released their Lineage card line.  It was a brand new design that had inserts that paid homage to series of years gone by.  One of the inserts was 1975 minis.  The Pirates had three active players get the 75 mini treatment Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker, and Pedro Alvarez.  To this day, I've rarely seen them pop up for sale.  After 2 years, I finally have added the Pedro Alvarez to my collection.

For a small 99 cents I was able to add this mini sized card of the Pittsburgh slugger.

If you see the Neil Walker or Andrew McCutchen minis pop up, please let me know.

The Best Ebay Lot EVER!!! Only 5 cents a card!!!!

While browsing for some good deals on ebay, I stumbled across this ridiculously cheap lot of 670 Pirates cards for $35 with FREE SHIPPING.  When you break that down, it's only a little over 5 cents a card.  Forget about your dimebox heroes, these are nickel heroes.

As part of the lot were 4 autographs from Francisco Cordova, the last Pirate to be involved in throwing a No-Hitter. Mike Kingery, Jon Liever, and Steve Cooke were the other signatures in the lot.

Also were 10 new Andy Van Slyke cards for my collection which I showed off yesterday.

It was overflowing with complete team sets from Topps, Upper Deck, Fleer, Donruss, Gypsy Queen, Pro Debut, etc.

It had over half a dozen minis.

Plenty of duplicate Andrew McCutchens (31 to be exact)

Plenty of new Andrew McCutchens (8)

More Jason Kendall, Brian Giles, Freddy Sanchez, and Jack Wilson cards than I will ever know what to do with

A Garrett Jones 2010 UD Biography card I've been chasing for awhile along with some more favorites that are all new additions to the collection

Several gold, blue, sparkle parallels (but my favorite is the blue Alex Presley shown below)

Oddballs and Diamond Kings

Some Hall of Famers

and a boatload of rookie cards for Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon, Gregory Polanco, Josh Bell, Luis Heredia, Tony Sanchez, Nick Kingham and Austin Meadows including a 2013 Bowman Refractor mini of Jameson Taillon

Of course there was junk in there, but considering that the cards were only 5 cents a piece, I think I got my money worth.  What do you think?

Charlie Morton is Going Platinum

Charlie Morton is insanely talented.  Not only has he completely reinvented himself as a pitcher over the past few seasons, but he's also a talented musician.  Don't believe me? Check out his music on his myspace page.

Because he's such a talented guitarist and singer, I thought it would be fun to show how Charlie Morton went platinum in 2012.  He might not be tearing up the Billboard 100s, but he was sawing bats in half with his sinker and that is good enough for me to keep adding to my large PC of "Ground Chuck".

2012 Topps Minis Platinum 1/5

2012 Topps Minis Platinum 1/5 (back)

I've only seen one copy of this card sell on ebay in the past and it went for a buy it now of $15.  I was PISSED!!! that I missed the opportunity.  Fast forward 8 months later and I saw one pop up for sale on sportlots.  Thankfully this was only $12 plus shipping.  Without hesitation I signed in and added to my collection.  Charlie Morton's platinum card is now in my possession.

Showing off my Andrew McCutchen minis

I'm getting close to completing my first page of tobacco sized minis of Cutch.

I need 2 more cards to complete the page.

Can anyone help me out?