Merry Cutchmas

It's never too late for some Christmas cheer. Way back in early December, Brian at Collecting Cutch sent me a holiday gift package. Totally unannounced and unexpected. Brian's the most generous collector I've connected with, and apparently one of the most artistic. The artwork he did on above is on the top loader, not the card itself. I imagine defacing a cutch card is a cardinal sin for a Cutch super-collector.

Brian hooked me up with a wide variety of Pirates goodies. First off is the Nick Burdi Inception Autograph, Pink Parallel #/99. Also along for the ride is a Gerrit Cole Prizm RC. 

And the real gem here, my first Willie Stargell auto. It's part of the 1993 Nabisco All-Star set. I don't know much about the set but according to some light research, I see that Phi Niekro, Brooks Robinson, Don Drysdale, Catfish Hunter and Jim Palmer are also in the set, so it seems like a small set of some big time HOFers.

Brian also included some cards that I was lucky enough to win in his Save Second Base contest in October. There was a big stack of 2019 Topps Chrome Pink Parallels, as well this awesome Jose Berrios from 2018 Clearly Authentic. My infatuation with Berrios is well documented so this a sweet addition to my collection.

Thanks again Brian!

Speaking of packages, I also wanted to give a shoutout to Chris over at The Collector. I sent him Red Sox cards from his wantlist and he was nice enough to send me back a great stack of Pirates, Steelers, and Blue Jackets. I'm still very new to hockey collecting, so any CBJ cards are super appreciated. Thank you Chris!

Last week I joined a 4-Box Bowman's Best Break from Midwest Box Breaks. Theres' a hefty number of Pirates on the autograph checklist so I figured I'd spin the wheel. To acquire the Pirates in the break, the price was right. Cal Mitchell is the Pirates #6 overall prospect and #2 outfield. 20 years old, drafted in the second round in 2017. Quinn Priester is the newest Pirate, drafted 18 overall in 2019 and the #5 overall prospect in the system. I've been meaning to grab an auto of him for some time. Hopefully we'll see these guys in the show in the next 3-4 years.

Thanks for reading.

2019 Topps Chrome Group Break: Pirates

Last week I joined a group break for the first time in years. While browsing the cardboard blogosphere recently, I ended up on the Cardboard Connection reading a guide about the best group break sites. They mentioned Real Breaks, who is Facebook-exclusive family friendly group. They have an assortment of breaks with a little something for everyone - pick your team, random team, etc. I believe they do mostly case breaks. 

I started by just joining the group and not looking for any specific group breaks. Of course over time I started to get notifications, and one night I found myself checking out a 12-box case break of 2019 Topps Chrome, which will yield 24 autos. The Pirates don't have the greatest autograph checklist in 2019 - so my yield had a low ceiling - but that also meant that the price was right. For $30, I jumped in.

The whole break took about an hour which is a long time to tune in to hope for one or two good cards. You'll need some free time and some patience. If you're feeling social, the chat can certainly help keep it interactive. I should also mention that I received all of my cards within a week of the break! Speedy.

Aside from accumulating about five team sets, I did land three nice cards:

Two Nick Burdi autos. The one on the right is the base auto, but the one on the left is the gold parallel #/50. I'll take it! I guess Burdi shows up a ton in Chrome and sort of saturates the product. The break host was joking about "another dang Nick Burdi card." I'm not complaining.

Burdi carried a lot of hype into the season this year because he can creep into triple digits with his fastball. He won a spot in the bullpen out of spring training and was expected to work his way into meaningful late innings. That was cut short after just 11 appearances when his elbow acted up and he underwent his second Tommy John in three years. He's only 26, so here's to hoping he can come back strong some time next year.

Here's the card that I was most excited about, a Kevin Kramer Gold Wave #/50. There's something about gold parallels that really bode well with the Pirates. Yes, the Pirates colors are often referred to as "Black and Gold." In reality, it's black and yellow, but yellow parallels are generally impossible on the eyes. Gold parallels on the other hand... give me all the gold.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with my return. Group breaks will always involve risk, but this one worked out. I'd definitely recommend Real Breaks to those looking for a taste of a break without buying a box.