The boobs continue to be saved

Every October, perhaps the greatest thing to hit card blogs is Collecting Cutch's Save Second Base event for breast cancer awareness. Not only does he post voluptuous gifs, but also shows off some sweet pink cards. In addition to that, he give to others plenty of chances to win pink cards of their own.

I was the lucky winner of one of the contests, and my prize was the very cool Bob Gibson pink Project 2020 by artist Ermsy. What a cool card, and one of the tamest that Ersmy has done. I have several Project 2020s, but a Gibson was not one of these and will look great alongside the rest. There are a lot of strong feelings about these artist-issued cards. Mostly negative. As someone who paints a bit and likes art, I think they are cool. Sure, some are better than others (subjective) and some I don't prefer (also subjective). But what I find most interesting is that the people who dislike and dismiss these want to make sure you know about it, as opposed to the people who are fine with them and quietly collect. I have the full run of Jeters, yet this is my first time mentioning these cards.

Cutch also threw in a few more pink cards. Can't go wrong with either of these.

Brian, thanks again for all of your efforts for breast cancer awareness!

Phenomenon

When Collecting Cutch challenged us to post about our favorite John Travolta movie, I wasn't sure which direction to go. 

Pulp Fiction is an obvious choice. I like it, but wouldn't say I love it. Randomly, I really like Look Who's Talking, but I think that more has to do with watching it as a kid. Can't really miss with Grease, but I've seen it so many times (family favorite so it was on A LOT), that I actually sort of despise it now.

But when PWE showed up yesterday from a TCDB, it hit me like a bolt from the sky. Phenomenon. 

That's my favorite. I haven't seen it in a long time, but I certainly remember the story well. An average guy who can do extraordinary things. I sort of relate that back to this guy, who impresses me more and more by the day:

The story starts when George Malley, Travolta's character, sees an unexplained bolt of light from the sky. It sort of looks like this when it hits him:

Bam! The story goes on to show George suddenly being in touch with parts of his brain that most aren't, from quickly learning languages to being able to move objects to predicting disasters. He became a true phenom in every sense of the word, which is the name given to many young players in baseball. First-year phenoms or future stars:

(Although I must admit that it's quite a stretch by Topps calling Mike Tauchman a future star)

Ultimately the story has a sad ending, which I won't spoil. 

And while unconventional, I definitely think that this movie is my favorite of all of Travolta's hits. And if you want to read more on Travolta and how he unfortunately lost his wife to breast cancer, take a look at Collecting Cutch's contest post here. And let's continue to raise awareness for breast cancer.

The Finer Things Club

One of my favorite episode of the office is when Pam, Toby, and Oscar form "The Finer Things Club" to discuss a book they are reading. The club becomes the envy to many in the office, with Andy and Jim trying to join, while others disrupt the civilized conversation.

At one point, I'd say Topps Finest was the most exclusive club Topps ran. But now, not so much. Finest usually comes out each year without much fanfare. I guess it's old news now. I don't think I've ever even opened a pack, let alone seen one in real life. It's probably online exclusive now by now, or something. I don't know.

But TCDB has been a great resource to pick up some Finest singles. It really is a great place to trade, if that's your sort of thing.

The first single I received was this DJ LeMahieu. The design is familiar, as it's the famous 1993 Finest All-Star. I can't not think of Don Mattingly when I see this. This card was from the Finest Flashbacks set, which was an exclusive box Topps sold online, with a limit per customer. The re-sale value of the boxes was very high, I believe. In fact, I have one of the Ben Baller Chrome boxes coming this weekend, and I plan to never open it. So if you're looking for one, Ive got a deal for you...

Here is what the 2020 Finest base set looks like. This is your run-of-the-mill Finest set, unrelated to the Flashbacks set. It's fine. Very Finest. If you told me this was 2017 Finest, I would have believed you. They all blend together a bit now...as do A&G...as do Stadium Club...as do Donruss...as do Gypsy Queen.

These also made their way to me via TCDB.

I still like Finest. But it definitely doesn't reek of being the most exclusive offering anymore. Maybe that'll change again one day.

The Summer of PWEs

Holy moly. This summer is going fast.

For being stuck at home, the summer is sure finding a way to move quickly, as most summers do. I expected this one to drag, but here were are, mid-August.

Since it's really been the summer of PWEs, I thought I'd show off a few that have tricked in over the last few weeks.

Coach Tom sent a good one with a few different fun cards. The highlight for me was this Aaron Judge Syracuse Orange parallel from Big League.

A few other Big Leaguers. I love getting Gerrit Cole Yankee cards!

A couple Tinos! The diecut Retrospectives is a sweet design. I love the colors, too.

And as he tends to do, Tom sent me a few HOFers for my sons binder!

Thanks, Coach!

Kerry from Cards on Cards hit me up with a good PWE as well. I always like his, as they tend to be a mixture of Yankees and Knicks.

I wish the Knicks were in the Bubble since Kevin Knox cards would be worth like $50 a pop if he had a good game.

I like this CC from Big League, as well. Why didn't Topps give him a tribute card in flagship? That seems like an odd omission when a future HOFer hangs 'em up, right?

And finally a quick swap from Bru! I like the Defensive Wizards insert set as well. Players in outer space always goes over well with me.

I hope a lot of stuff from Covid time goes away, but I hope the PWE momentum continues to stay.

Be careful what you comment on...

... because it might just come true!

A few weeks back, I made an innocent comment on one of Collecting Cutch's post about - shockingly - Andrew McCutchen.

He was showing off a few McCutchen Yankees autographs (yes, there are a few out there). I really enjoyed Cutch's 1.5 months as a Yankee. It was awesome to see him in NY rocking the Pinstripes, although it was hot garbage he couldn't wear 22 because the corpse of Jacoby Ellsbury still had it. Anyhow, I made a simple comment, "I need to pick up a McCutchen Yankees autograph sometime."

That was it. Innocent, right?

And a few days later, a bubble mailer showed up in my mailbox. And this was in it:

Are you kidding me?! It's not like these are a dime a dozen. This was waaaay too generous. To boot, this is the EXACT autograph of McCutchen I would have targeted. Brian assured me this was a dupe for him. But still!

I was ecstatic. 

Of course, with Collecting Cutch, it never just ends there. Look at this! A giclee print of an art card by Edward Vela, signed on the back by the artist! Gorgeous.

I had seen the word "giclee" a few times, but wasn't sure what it meant. 

Hmph, well that makes sense. That is indeed what it is. Also I was pronouncing it "Gick-lee" which is very wrong.

And more and more Cutch cards. I feel like I have a nice mini-collection of him simply from the extras Brian throws into packages.

And look how far into this post I got without even showing a 2020 Topps DJ LeMahieu autograph. Nearly a perfect card. And look, he wore #26 right after Cutch did! I never thought about that.

And this absolutely beauty of a Jesus Montero card. If this were 2012, it would go for a pretty penny. Remember to sell your prospect cards, kids.

This Austin Jackson/Joey Devine card is awesome! Itr's numbered 2/2 (weird!). Austin Jackson has had a really good career. Somehow he's still just 33, although he has played for 7 teams. Still, he's a .273 career hitter, with over 1100 hits. That...is a solid big leaguer. He's made over $31Million as well. Good for him.

And least but not least, a custom from Collecting Cutch himself! I have been assured this is Yoda, not Shrek.

What a very generous gift he sent me.

Now I'm going to go find someone posting about a Trout RC and casually mention it would be nice to have one...

I like this free card trend

Over the past few weeks, I've noticed a lot of "Free Card Fridays" going on. I like it! I'm going to have post some of my own one day soon.

Last week, Rod of Padrographs posted a few cards from Heritage, and I was happy to claim this:

Nice! The purple looks cool. I'm a weirdo who likes seeing classic designs in different colors.

The back of the card is interesting too. I had no idea DJ was age tallest 2B (6'4") to play 500+ games at 2B. Thanks for this tidbit, Topps.

Also, props to the USPS. I claimed this on Friday and it arrived in a PWE on Tuesday from across the country. Impressive.

Thanks, Rod!

Secret Santa pays me a visit from the Pacific Northwest

Just before I was to head out for my yearly Christmas travels, a box from my Secret Santa showed up! Before I get into it, thanks again to Jon from Penny Sleeves for once again running this year's program. Like Matthew before him, he does a great job!

I was thinking I might be getting a package from someone new this year, as I noticed in the comments there were a lot of names I didn't recognize. Many were from Twitter or TCDB, so I figured I might be getting something from an unfamiliar name.

WRONG!

A nice flat rate box showed up from one of my oldest trading partners, Kerry from Cards on Cards! Although he does send some surprise packages throughout the year, I was thinking this one might be too well-timed to not be Secret Santa. And I was right! I opened the box and there were two glorious team bags, as well as a sticky note that read, "This worked out well. I had some cards set aside for you anyhow."

Kerry always sends super generous packages, and this one was no different. The highlights were what were undoubtedly the main Secret Santa gifts in the form of two Tinos I didn't have!

The relic is aN eBaY oNe Of OnE #'d 100/100!

And the Gallery is a Private Issue #'d to 250.

Two low numbered Tinos I needed?! Secret Santa was good to me.

And the team bags were great too, chock full of Knicks and Yankees! I was really happy that Kerry was kind enough to include two RJ Barrett rookies! These are the first cards I have of the promising Knicks rook. I love the old school Hoops Tribute design!

A few more Knicks, including some Kevin Knox RCs and a sad card of Porzingas. I do love the sweet Knicks City Jersey.

For the baseball portion, I really loved the 2019 Chrome Refractors. A nice pink of DJLM and the Jeter is awesome.

I LOVE this shot of Judge.

I'm surprised by how many Yankees cards Edwin is going to end up with this year. I loved having him in Pinstripes, even if it was for a short time and even if he stunk in the Playoffs.

Lastly, a vintage stock card of Yankees legend Ivan Rodriguez. Perhaps he is hitting his only Yankees homer in this shot?!

Kerry, thanks for being an awesome Secret Santa!

SIFK DJLM

Weird title, I know. But it does have a meaning.

Yesterday, after having to work an event in Philadelphia all day (p.s. live events suck), I got home to find the last Sports Illustrated For Kids (SIFK) magazine waiting for me. I've mentioned before that I get the magazine by using unwanted airline miles from a carrier I no longer really use. It's better than them just sitting in an account gathering dust.

I never actually read the issue. Sometimes my son does, but once in while. But I always first rip out the customary sheet of cards. If he reads it, great. If he doesn't, into the trash it goes.

This month I was pleased to notice another Yankee featured:

DJ LeMahieu! (DJLM)

Cool! I don't have many LeMahieu Yankee cards yet. At least not off the top of my head. DJ has been a godsend this year. Like many fans, I was confused when the Yankees signed him to a 2-year, $24-million contract, closing the door on signing Manny Machado. I remember LeMahieu making All-Star teams and always hitting for a high average, but hadn't really seen him play much.

And all he's been with the Yankees is an absolutely machine, hitting the ball hard nearly every time up and playing great D between 2nd, 3rd, and 1st. He's currently leading the AL in hitting. He's a joy to watch each and every day, a player you can't really appreciate until you watch him daily on your team.

He's definitely a great player to feature in a kids magazine...and for an adult who gets a kids magazine.