Buck buck buck

It's been a long time since I showed off a chicken themed post.  I got another amazing card for what the chicken says (only a) "buck"

The card you see below was won for only $1.

A single buck!

With shipping, it cost only $5.

5 bucks!!!!

For a card limited to only 5 copies???!!!

Granted it's Panini so it's not officially licensed with team logos, but the image used makes it difficult to even realize it's missing the Phillies logo on the helmet.

Did I mention it was limited to only 5 copies and is numbered 5/5?

Um, yes please!!!

The Pirates jersey patch pictured with McCutchen is guaranteed to be game used, which you don't see often with Panini's football releases.  

Have you picked up any card card steal of a deal lately? If so, what have you gotten?

Sweep The Leg Johnny

Yesterday, reader Eliptical Man made a comment with "Sweep The Leg".  This is an obvious reference that Sensei Kreese said to Johnny Lawrence in the original Karate Kid.

Sensei Kreese of the original Cobra Kai dojo in the Karate Kid film wanted to win at all costs and demanded no mercy from his students.  Johnny Lawrence, who isn't the villain of the Karate Kid by the way, did agree to sweep the leg to give his team a chance at victory in the All Valley 18U Karate Tournament.

Before Cobra Kai was streaming on YouTube or Netflix, the actors got together for a music video called Sweep The Leg.

You can visit the music video on YouTube here.

The band No More Kings made a song called Sweep The Leg, Johnny and it features many of the original cast of Karate Kid in the music video.  Even the referee from the 1984 film appeared in this music video. 

In the hobby world, when you hear the word King, you are likely to think of Donruss Diamond Kings, a constant staple since their 1981 inaugural release.  

In 2018, Donruss paid tribute to their 1984 design, but they have never used the same design format for their Diamond Kings as they originally appeared.  

Panini Diamond Kings is also a regular release and features a matte cardstock design that incorporates computer technology to give the cards a canvas appeal.  

This 2018 version strikes hard with the bold red color choice framed around the card.  Eagle Fang Dojo would be proud of this color frame. 

The back of the card gives a quote from the Giants dynasty "sensei", Bruce Bochy.  The former manager of the Giants talks about how McCutchen is not only a great ball player, but also a great teammate.  

How much influence do you think a manager has on a baseball team?  

The Meaning of Memorial Day

Here is a card with a piece of camo jersey worn by Cutch.

Memorial Day is often the kick start of the unofficial celebration to the summer, but it's true meaning rests in remembering those that lost their lives serving in the US Military.

Thank you to those that served and prayers to the families who lost someone in the call of duty. 

The Pirates began wearing a camo jersey in the 2015 season to honor the military.

It is nice to see that the camo swatch (and the really nice home white jersey patch) are in fact game used jersey swatches.

Diamond Kings is a fantastic product and the way that art based products could be,done correctly.  It is my favorite Panini product each year.

This particular dual jersey card is the blue foil parallel numbered 4/5.


I hope everyone had a safe Memorial Day.

What Will Become Of The National?

News broke over the weekend that SDCC (San Diego Comic Con) was cancelled this year.  I am not sure how many comic or pop culture fans also read this blog, but this is major news.

For the first time in it's 50+ year history, the most famous pop culture convention in the world won't be happening.

There are already rumors that Disney & Marvel may stream a panel available to fans that would have typically been one of the main events at the con.

This got me thinking about The National Sports Card Convention.  I have never been to The National and was hoping to go this year since it is happening in my home state.  Yay! New Jersey!

As I was busy updating my checklist I came across a few cards that were NSCC exclusives and thought I should finally show them off.


Up first is 2019 Bowman Chrome National Wrapper Redemption.

This "Christmas numbered parallel" is the orange prism refractor found only in the special NSCC packs.

The logo for the convention is seen to the left corner, just above the name of Andrew McCutchen.

In order to receive a pack of these, attendants would need to buy a box of Topps products from a partnered dealer and bring the box along with a special sticker to the Topps booth where they would be rewarded with a pack of these exclusive Bowman Chrome cards.  The set contains 50 cards and offers color parallels and autographs randomly inserted into the 4 card packs.  I will show off some other 2019 Bowman Chrome National Exclusives in another post, sometime in the future.



I also have a pair of Panini product buybacks that are stamped on the front with The National logo

This is a 2016 Diamond King card from the 2016 National.

The Back is stamped directly in the center of the card and is numbered to only 5 copies.



I also have an Industry Summit card buyback.

Dealers, card companies, and others directly involved with the hobby who attended the 4 day event in Las Vegas received a bunch of swag from card companies.

This "Buyback" is actually a 2013 Prizm base card with The Summit 2014 stamp to the left ofthe card, just under Cutch's jersey number.

The card is numbered on the back to the left of the Panini centered logo.  It is numbered to only 5 copies.

Remembering Kobe via Cutch Cards

News broke yesterday afternoon that Kobe Bryant passed away in a helicopter crash.  He was only 41 years old.  His 13 year old daughter was also aboard the helicopter.

The number of accolades and accomplishment that Kobe had on the court immediately puts him in discussions of being of the greatest of All-Time.

He is the first player to wear two numbers in his career and have both numbers retired by the same team.  While it may seem gimmicky, Kobe's numbers with the two numbers (8 and 24) are actually pretty comparable.

Read this article and you can see the crazy parallels of Kobe's number 8 and number 24 journey.

For those that don't want to click the article, here is a snapshot

Number 8
8 All-Stars
3 NBA Championships
16,777 points

Number 24
10 All-Stars
2 NBA Championships
16,866 points


He also won a scoring title with both jersey numbers.

Today I will look at 8 serially numbered 24/xx cards of Andrew McCutchen to remember the Black Mamba.

2017 Donruss Optic Black & Orange Parallels

Numbered 24/25 and 24/199

2016 Topps Pink

 Numbered 24/50

2017 Diamond Kings Blue Artist Proof

 Numbered 24/25

2013 Bowman Chrome Orange Parallel

Numbered 24/25

 2014 Topps Tek TEKtonics insert

Numbered 24/50

 2015 Bowman Best Orange Parallel

Numbered 24/25

2010 Topps Finest Gold Refractor

 Numbered 24/50

Just A Random Rainbow: Entry 1

I am falling into some writer's block trying to come up with good content for the blog.  Once the baseball season gets started I am certain I will have plenty to talk about, but with spring training still a month away I am looking for some inspiration.

I think I will do a new style of posts where I show off some of the rainbows I have for certain sets. 

With nearly 2,700 unique cards of Cutch in my collection now I have LOTS of rainbows started. 

This will give me a chance to show and talk about my favorite parallel of the rainbow, any needs I may have for the set and also talk about any unique stories relating to the rainbow.

I am going to start with 2016 Diamond Kings as the inaugural Random Rainbow. 
2016 Diamond Kings is my favorite design from the Diamond Kings line.  The product release began in 2015 and offered collectors a chance to get artisticly designed cards that Topps was doing with their Gypsy Queen line and take it a new level.

The product offered multiple parallels to chase from Artist's Proofs (base/99, silver/25, and black /1) and Framed Parallels (base framed/unnumbered, red/99, blue/99, green/5, and black/1). 

Of the standard issued cards there were 9 parallels to chase in total.

I currently have 5 of the 9.  I still need the following:
Silver artist proof/25
Black artist proof/1
Green Frame /5
Black Frame/1

Obviously needing 2 1 of 1s will be tough to complete the rainbow.  The green/5 is going to be difficult as well and the silver artist proof is a tough find due to the foil not being very obvious on the card to highlight being a low numbered parallel.

Among all the parallels that I do have, there is one clear cut favorite and that is...

I am a sucker for bright red parallels (I also like blacks and pinks too though).  The bright red frame on the artistic canvas looking image screams a museum quality baseball card.  If Panini ever decides to make larger format cards I hope they do Diamond Kings as one of the initial releases.  This diamond king is truly king of my parallels for this set.

What do you think about me showing off some random rainbows in the future?  

Diamond Kings Are a Guy's Best Friend

Don't forget to enter my contest and select who you think will hit the first double in the World Series.

As a reminder all month long I will be showing off pink baseball cards to raise awareness for Breast Cancer.  In addition to showing off those cards I will highlight some of my favorite female celebrities.

1 in 8 women will be detected with breast cancer in their lifetime.  To put it into perspective, it is possible that 4 of the lovely ladies I show this month could be detected.

Make a donation to breast cancer awareness.

Let's Save Second Base!

Caroline Vreeland

She is mostly a model today

At one time she was dating Ryan Seacrest.

At one point

She became the face of Steve Madden

She can also act and sing, much like another cultural icon from the 50s that created the term "blonde bombshell".

She got to star in a short film in 2006 called Diary about the life of Marilyn Monroe, where she played the tragic American legend.

One of Marilyn's most famous songs she sung was Diamonds are a girl's best friend in the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

I have met a few girls over the years that diamonds are in fact a girl's best friend, but for a collector (with 80s nostalgia running deep in my blood stream), Diamond Kings can be a good friend of mine.

Last year I posted a 2018 Donruss Mother's Day Pink Ribbon parallel as a major want of mine.  I had missed out on the first two I saw hit the open market around release day and feared that I wouldn't see another one pop up for some time.

I was right.

In the calendar year following the first two weeks of 2018 Donruss, ZERO popped up for sale.

Fast forward the first 6 months of 2019 and the trend of ZERO appeared on various forums, eBay, COMC, and sportlots.

Then the hot month of June came.
With the below card finally popping up for sale

Pardon the pun, but Some Like it Hot.
With a winning price of $2.28 delivered, I am so glad that I can check this one off the list.