McCutchen Maiday #388: Happy New Year Y'all!

I didn't have time yesterday to show this off, but I managed to get in another Andrew McCutchen card as the year came to a close.  Here is the final Andrew McCutchen card from 2015.  This card arrived 4 days before expected delivery. 

In addition to that, I managed to get my scanner fixed so I am reshowing the cards I posted on Wednesday.

2015 was the most successful year in my cardboard collecting days.  I'm really looking forward to see what I can come up with in 2016 as my Cutch collection grows even more and I continue to knock off vintage needs.

McCutchen Mailday #380-387: Sick Sick Patches!!!

I got in 8 packages today loaded with some sick amazing patches of my main PC player. I also added 2 more 1/1 printing plates.

This concludes all the McCutchen cards I was expecting to receive by year's end. I set out with a goal to add 100 new Cutch cards, but in the end, it ended up being nearly 4 times that. 

Unfortunately, my scanner isn't working so I had to take a picture with my phone. I will provide actual scans next year once I can get the scanner working again.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy new year. My girlfriend and I are living above a pub now so we can save up for a house. It's a little noisy, but at least we should never get in trouble driving from a bar.

I will post a recap of how I did with my 2015 goals tomorrow, but it was a successful year for my cardboard collection.

McCutchen Mailday #379: The Show must go on...

In my quest to add 100 new Cutch cards to the PC this year, I went a little overboard by adding nearly 400 unique cards of the 5x All-Star and current face of the Pirates franchise to the collection.  Nearly 10% of them were 1/1s and nearly 20% were relics/autos.  That's insane numbers for any PC.

With less than a week left and a handful of cards still expected to arrive, I may come close to hitting 390 cards by year's end which will put me within 10 cards of 1,000 unique cards of Cutch.

My most recent addition is a sick patch of Cutch from 2013 Triple Threads numbered 1/3.

The card says "The Show" which Cutch was the cover star for the 2013 video game.

McCutchen Mailday #375, 376, 377, and 378: Some early gifts

Here's some recent early Christmas gifts to myself

All three are low numbered parallels.  The Orange Factory Set cards are extremely tough to find despite being numbered to over 200 copies.  Many collectors don't open their sets to discover who is in their mystery orange pack

I also received this jersey relic for being a good customer to an ebay seller this year

McCutchen Mailday #254-374 over 100 new Cutch cards in a single mailday

I took advantage of many sellers discounts for Black Friday thru Cyber Monday and added over 100 new Cutch cards in a single purchase.  In addition to adding all those Cutch cards, I grabbed a few Kent Tekulve oddball cards, a few AJ parallels and the biggest Charlie Morton card in my collection (a 5x7 red 2015 numbered /10)

My goal for 2015 was to add 100 new Cutch cards to the PC and I absolutely destroyed that goal by almost quadrupling it.  I managed to grab 100 new additions on a single day for around $1.20 a piece.  While none of the new cards added were big dollar "hits" I did add a few really nice ones.

Amongst them were two manurelics from 2015 Topps.
The First Home Runs medallion and MLB Logo Pin

I also added my first Asian exclusive Topps Museum card which is the Turquoise variant numbered to 50

A few more 2009 Bowman Chrome rookies were added including the XFractor.  I also couldn't pass up adding the Polar Bear back T206 Mini to the collection

All in all, 39 of the new acquisitions are of the numbered variety.  Overall, it was a terrific haul of cards that puts me with sites of 1,000 unique Cutch cards being an early goal for 2016. 

McCutchen Mailday #251, 252, and 253: 3 MORE 1/1s

I have already added an insane amount of Andrew McCutchen cards to my collection this year.
I've even added almost 40 1/1s to the PC this year.  That would be exciting for any collector.  However, I really think that I have outdone myself with this recent group of cards I have purchased.

I got in contact with a seller who has dealt me some nice Cutch cards in the past that he's won in group breaks and beaten me on eBay a few times.  I was trying to win a triple booklet of Cutch's All-Star sleeve from 2015 Triple Threads but ended up losing it.  Patience proved to be a virtue as after a few months, I was able to acquire from the winning bidder.

This card (along with it's custom case I will never remove it from) is now the highlight of my Cutch collection.

Behold the beauty of a 1/1 triple booklet All Star Sleeve patch!!!

The customized red case really makes this card pop.

This is what it looked like before putting it in the custom case

Also from the same seller were two other nice 1/1s including only my 2nd button in the collection

Oh and another letter...

McCutchen Mailday #250: Another Logoman!!!!

I started the year with 0 Andrew McCutchen logoman cards.

I will end it with 3, maybe 4 depending on the expediency of holiday shipping.

The first two can be seen here and here

Throughout the year, I have managed to grab some absolutely astonishing cards of Cutch and I think that my PC of Cutch may be one of the best out there. 

Unlike the other Cutch cards I have, this one we do know where the relic is from.

Be sure to check out the rest of my Cutch pickups I will be showing off this week. With only a bit over two weeks left in the year, I am finally almost entirely caught up with the Cutch cards I have received this year.

McCutchen Maiday #249: The Card I have always wanted produced is finally mine

Over the past few years, the Pirates have been sending multiple players to the All-Star game.  Topps usually produces cards with multiple players from the same team as a part of their Update series getting the All-Star relic treatment.

This year alone, I have acquired some of those cards.

Cutch with JHay (Tony Watson and Mark Melancon were both All-Stars too)
Cutch with Grilli and Alvarez (Jeff Locke was also an All-Star)

There has never been a card produced that featured all the players (Clint Hurdle isn't a current player) on the same card with a jersey relic until...well, they still haven't!!!!

Even without Mark the Shark Melancon on this card, it still rocks!!!

Cutch, AJ, and the Cole Train all together with images from the All-Star game and AJ's photo from when he was announced at PNC Park that he was going to the 2015 All-Star game.

These three guys (and of course Charlie Morton) are my favorite Buccos.  I am so happy to have a card that features all of them together with jersey relics that match their 2015 Warmup threads.

McCutchen Mailday #248: Who's the Best????

Andrew McCutchen
Mike Trout
Jacoby Ellsbury
Adam Jones

Who's the best all around centerfielder in the game today?
In 2014 Topps Museum begged us to ask that question when they placed these stars together on a single piece of cardboard.  Trout is by far the best with Jones and Cutch 2A and 2B if you ask me.  Adam Jones is a very under rated star in today's game.  His numbers have been consistent with Cutch's numbers each year, but for some reason more fans think that Cutch is significantly better.

The main reason I finally decided to pony up on this card was the patch for Cutch.  I've seen a lot of versions of this with Ellsbury patches, but rarely does a Cutch patch pop up on this card.  Since he's the main player I collect, I needed a nice version of black and gold on it.

In terms of contracts, it appears that the Pirates got the most value for their buck in extending Cutch before the 2012 season.  Here's a breakdown of the players depicted on this card current contract status.

Andrew McCutchen thru 2017 (6 years/$51mil) team option 2018
Adam Jones thru 2018 (6 years/$85 mil)
Jacoby Ellsbury thru 2020 (7 years/$153mil) team option 2021
Mike Trout thru 2020 (6 years/$144mil)

McCutchen Mailday #247: Another Thr3ads Patch!!!!

I've previously shown off a Triple Threads 3D Patch a few weeks ago.  I've since added a second copy of the 25 card print run. 

This one happens to have the bat from the Jolly Roger sleeve patch on it, which I am always on the lookout for.  There's still a few more of these Thr3ads on eBay, but I'm probably not going to be adding anymore to the collection this year.

McCutchen Mailday #245 & 246: Steel Greats and another On Card Auto

It's going to be tough for me to cram in as many cards as possible as the year comes to a close and I still have Andrew McCutchen cards rolling in.  I made a huge purchase on Black Friday and when all is said and done, I will have tripled my goal to add 100 new Cutch cards to the PC.

My 245th and 246th new McCutchen cards added to the PC this year are a pair of high end hits from yesteryears that I previously didn't have.

Up first is a card that I have wanted for a long time, but never pulled the trigger because it would often go for over $100.  I was lucky to snag mine for well under that and add a nice home jersey swatch from Hall of Famer Willie Stargell, a batting practice jersey swatch from 5 time All-Star Andrew McCutchen, and a dual bat relic from Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente.

 This card is amazing in person.

Next up is another on card autograph of Cutch from 2012 Tribute.  This was the year that Topps had slabbed all their cards.  The seller had taken it out of the case and submitted it to BGS, but it came back with sub grades, which worked out for me as I added my near century mark of Cutch autos to the PC.

McCutchen Mailday #241-244: All about that Base (Parallels)

If you missed yesterday's card, please go back and check it out. Its one my favorite booklets I have added this year.

We're getting close to the end for my Andrew McCutchen additions this year.  I've recently grabbed 4 more parallels.

Included in the group was a gold parallel from 2015 Topps Stadium Contact Sheets, A Topps Heritage Archive Game (red back triple), Topps Tek Clouds Diffractor, and 2015 Prizm Black & White Checkerboard.

McCutchen Mailday #240: The Big One!!!!!

Here's a booklet that I was trying to get since I saw 2015 Allen & Ginter get released.  I lost two previous versions of this booklet.  One of them had a huge patch of the Jolly Roger sleeve which I was very upset about being sniped on.  The other, was less impressive than this one. 

This marks my 91st unique Andrew McCutchen autograph to be added to my PC. 
It's also getting me into double digits for booklets of Cutch.

I love that this jumbo patch likely features the "P" for the Pirates alternate black jersey.  It's a massive 3 color patch.

When I set out to acquire 100 new Cutch cards this year, I never imagined being able to add the quality and quantity to my PC that I've been able to.

McCutchen Mailday #238 & 239: All About that Base

Nothing too fancy here

Just your base card from 2015 Elite and a cheap insert from 2015 Topps Finest

It's small purchases like these that are going to get me near 250 new Cutch cards to the PC this year.

McCutchen Mailday #228-237: Gettin Tek'd up!!!! (another 1/1!!!!!)

Last year, I wasn't a big fan of Topps Tek when it first came out mainly because the two guys I heavily PC (Andrew McCutchen and Charlie Morton) both were omitted from having base cards in the set.  This year, Cutch got Tekked the F out!!!!! 

And I bought as many of the parallels as I could get my hands on including the 1/1 black and white

 Here's what else I have so far from the rainbow (sorry for the cut scan, but the scanner was acting up and I didn't know how to fix it)

 purple diffractor, cubes, pyramid, tidal diffractor /75
grass, spiral, circuit board, blades

There's a few more 1/1s that have already gotten by me, but I am hopeful that I can add some of the less scarce ones to the collection.  The backs of these cards are extremely tough to read.  I wish that the stats could have been a little bigger so I wouldn't need a pair of reading glasses to see them.

McCutchen Mailday #227: Smooth As Silk

The latest addition to my Cutch purchases this year brings me this smooth as silk acquisition

Now my run of Cutch Silk Collections contains cards from 2014 (seen here), 2013, 2012, and 2011.

  I'm not sure if Cutch had Silk cards in 2010 or 2009, but if he did I will have to try to track them down too.

McCutchen Mailday #226: Feeling Blue (not really)

I've been buying a lot of Christmas presents between last night and this morning. My wallet and bank account have taken a pounding.

So why not show off something I got for myself?  My Cutch additions will be slowing down over the next few weeks as I begin to prepare for Christmas. I still have close to a dozen left that I've purchased this year, but haven't gotten around to show off yet.

McCutchen Mailday #225: Steel Patch!!!!

This one made me happy when I finally added it the first time.

It makes me happier to add a rarer version.  The patches for Alvarez and Cole are super nice!  Cutch has just a bit of yellow and black patch on his plain gray swatch.

I've slowed down buying cards for myself as the year wraps up, but I would say that I accomplished quite a bit considering that I only want to add 100 new Cutch cards to the PC this year.

McCutchen Mailday #224: The Letter C

ANOTHER 1/1 LETTER????

I just couldn't resist.

I'm getting dangerously close to spelling out McCutchen using letters from various releases.

McCutchen Mailday #223: Pure Badass Patch

I've added a few triple threads Cutch cards to the collection this year, but this is the first that features 3 players who played in the Post Season this year for multiple teams.

Joey Bats hit a mammoth and memorable HomeRun against the Rangers to send Toronto to the Championship Series.  As many of you may know, I am a huge Jose Bautista fan, but am starting to sell off my Joey Bats collection including the 1/1 bat knob.

Cutch will continue to be my main focus on my PC.

Cespedes will be a free agent this year and it should be interesting to see where he ends up.  Over the past two years he has played on 4 teams.  I actually like New York's chances of resigning him.

I previously showed off this card almost a year ago to the day, but have now added a more rare version of it as my Cutch PC this year added over 200 new cards to the collection.