Card #117: TBTC

It has been over a week since my last post on this blog.  I really thought I would be able to keep up with daily posts on CollectCutch and three posts here a week.

Let's Turn Back The Clock and hit the reset button.  I should be able to get caught back up beginning next week.

It seems fitting That a TBTC card will help get me back on track.  It was the 1987 Turn Back the Clock card that was actually my first Clemente card.

This is one of the few Pirates cards that have been featured in the "Turn Back The Clock" series.  There has been two Willie Stargell cards, 1 Clemente, 1 Gerrit Cole, and 1 Honus Wagner.

It was Clemente's Walk Off triple on May 17th, 1971 that allowed the Pirates to win a game.

Card #116: All In The Family

A few years ago I discovered Topps sketch artist, Juan Rosales.  Since then I have gotten nearly a dozen Andrew McCutchen sketch cards from him.

A few weeks ago I put a message out on Twitter that I wanted to add more Roberto Clemente cards to my collection.

Juan sent me a message saying that his wife, Stephanie, created a card for 2018 Topps Museum Canvas Collection.

We came to a quick agreement on the price anda few days later the card below was in my possession.

Stephanie created this incredible portrait of the first Latin ball player inducted into the Hall of Fame.

She signed the back of the card.

Thank you Stephanie & Juan.

Card #115: Let The Kids Play

A few years ago MLB ran lots of commercials trying to get the youth back into baseball.  The campaign was called "Let The Kids Play".

The commercials featured some of the younger players in the game.

Topps has been utilizing the young "kids" of the game and giving them a chance to design their own baseball card set.  We have already seen sets designed by Bryce Harper, Francisco Lindor, and Fernando Tatis Jr.

One of Puerto Rico Heritage cards in the Lindor set features Roberto Clemente.

 The card is beautifully designed and features the Puerto Rico flag in the background.  It is simple and classy.

The back shows lifetime statistics of Clemente, a fascimile signature of Lindor, team logo, and a simple writeup of Clemente being picked for the Heritage set.

Card #114: It's Grotesk

I have been posting one of the Topps Project 2020 cards on average once a month.

This is the 3rd card that was released that reimagines the 1955 Roberto Clemente rookie card.

You can see the Mister Cartoon and Naturel versions by clicking their names.

At the top I shared the Naturel version card prices for Project 2020 were at an all time high and I was considering selling the ones I had to purchase an actual 1955 Topps Roberto Clemente.

I have decided to go forward with the set and building the Clemente cards.

This, as previously stated, was the third Clemente to be released.  Since this card was released three more have been produced, with only one of them being in hand as of now.

Grotesk is a Swiss born graphic designer and creative director for a footwear company.  He is one of the many artists that Topps brought in to get the "sneakerheads" interested in card collecting.

Many of his cards in the set thus far have a very similar style and I think would look great as a completed artist set.

His most expensive card in the set to no surprise was his first card, #7 in the set, of Bob Gibson.  That card which sold online at Topps.com for $19.99 on the day of release is now selling for upwards of a thousand dollars.

Card #113: Another Manufactured Rookie

Ever wonder what older vintage Topps designs would look like with the modern Rookie Card (RC) logo?

Well, you're in luck because Topps produced a series of manufactured rookie card medallion cards this year.

The 1955 Roberto Clemente rookie card got the RC treatment as part of it's Series 1 checklist.

When all is said and done I will have at least 21 different versions of Roberto Clemente's rookie card added to my collection in 2020 thanks to the Project 2020 and this medallion card.

21 seems an appropriate number for the great 21.

Card #112: Now This Is Art

Every day on Monday through Friday, Topps reveals their latest pair of cards to be offered as part of the Topps Project 2020 set. 

It was revealed during Blake Jamieson's Zoom Conference with Sophia Chang that her version of Roberto Clemente will be available tomorrow. 

I really like all these different versions of Clemente's 1955 Topps card and am excited to see her take on it.

I have been picking up other Clemente art reproduction cards in sets lately, especially the Topps Museum Canvas Collection cards.

This card is from 2019 Topps Museum and is absolutely stunning. 

Unlike the graphic designers or jewellers that are working on Project2020, you can tell that this was done by someone who does photorealistic paintings.

Art is a very subjective term, but ask anyone in the sketch card industry and they'll tell you...
"That is art"
When they look at how well the artist captured The Great Roberto Clemente.

Card #111: A New King

I got home today to find that my order from COMC that was placed and shipment requested over a month ago had arrived.  Among the nearly 200 card order were quite a few Roberto Clemente cards to go with a few dozen new cards for the Cutch PC.  There were some cards that will be going out to you guys as well including some 1/1s.

Lots of cool things to show off over the next month, that's for sure.

Here is just one of the new Clemente cards.  It's nothing special at all, just a basic insert from an unlicensed product.

I love Diamond Kings.  It is my favorite unlicensed product that Panini puts out each year.  A few years ago Clemente was featured on the box art and ever since that year (2016 I think) I have always looked to add more Clemente cards from this brand.

The card features a nostalgia Donruss design similar to something we would have seen produced around 1981.  I like the basic design and the short blurb on the back about Clemente's tools that often don't get enough credit, his cannon arm and ability to run from 1st to 3rd. 

Card #110: A Golden Opportunity

I have been actively seeking "older" color refractors that feature Roberto Clemente.  There are so many parallels in today's cards and a lot of the legendary players are showing up in every single release that Topps puts out.  That wasn't always the case, especially for products released before 2005.

I have discovered the pure beauty of the first few years of Topps Tribute and holy smokes are they awesome to look at.

 Back in April I picked up this gold parallel of Roberto Clemente from 2003 Topps Tribute.  The gold really pops on this card.

This card is numbered to only 60 copies and it commemorates Roberto's 1st of 12 All-Star seasons that began in 1960.

Card #109: The Man Who Laughs

I have a bunch of oddball Roberto Clemente cards to show off, but I thought this one was appropriate given the subject material I used on my main blog, Collecting Cutch.

Today I wrote about bad comic book movies and this 1980 Laughlin made me think about a really good comic movie.

I am unfamilar with Laughlin products, but I know a good laugh is always good.

The Joker from 2019 starring Joaquin Phoenix is one of the best big screen adaptations of a comic book character ever.

When Jerry Robinson, Bob Kane, and Bill Finger put their creative efforts for the creation of Batman's archnemesis The Joker they used the 1928 horror film, The Man Who Laughs, as inspiration.

One look at the above poster and you can see the influence this movie had on the creation and imagery of The Joker.

It becomes even more noticable in the above production photo.

Card #108: Another Big Relic

I planned on getting back on track with posting on this blog 3 times a week (Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday).  Since that commitment I have been doing a fairly good job with it.  I missed a Monday post last week and the previous week.  (Evidently Monday deadlines are tough for me)

I currently have over 300 Clemente cards in my collection so I should be good for showing off my old cards while still acquiring new cards.  I am hoping that in July I will have some free time to actually get caught up and update my haves list.

When it comes to Clemente I don't have much of the modern parallel cards.  There's literally hundreds of his cards produced each year.

The current total of Clemente cards produced according to TCDB is 4,969 cards.

In the year 2020 there has already been 77 cards produced.  In 2019 there was 365 cards produced.

I have plenty of options to continue this life long goal.

My first options are always cards that feature Clemente with McCutchen.  These two players are my two main PCs so if I can get a card featuring both them it is an automatic "I need that card."

Such was the case with this 2015 Topps Heritage High Numbers quad relic featuring Clemente, Stargell, Marte, and McCutchen.

Had Marte and McCutchen won a World Series for the franchise in the 2013-2015 stretch I could certainly see them both being long remembered in future tales of All-Time Great Pirates in the way that Wagner, Mazeroski, Clemente, Stargell, and the Waner Brothers are remembered.  McCutchen might still fall into that category despite not winning a Championship for the Steel City.

I showed off a similar card back in February 2019 when I posted this card.

I like that Topps used different photos for all the players involved between the quad relic and triple relics.

Card #107: It's only Naturel

Last month I showed off the first of the Project 2020 cards of Roberto Clemente.  It was done by an artist known as Mister Cartoon.  Since that post there have been four more cards produced of Clemente.

However since that late April post the prices on Project 2020 cards have skyrocketed.  That $20 card that was available through Topps.com for 48 hours is now selling in upwards of $500.  The card was one of the earliest cards printed and had a low print run of "only" 1,844 copies. 

I say "only" because in terms of low print runs that is actually kind of high compared to some others on the early releases.  However, the card with the highest print run was just announced.  The Keith Shore artist interpretation of the 1989 Ken Griffey Jr card sold nearly 100,000 copies equating to almost $1.98M in sales for Topps.

Strange things are happening with this card project and I am contemplating about selling my Clemente cards. 

This card is done by the artist Naturel.

I am contemplating the value of these cards long term and doubt that this can be sustainable. 

Would you sell any of your early low print run Project 2020 cards if you had them?

Card #106: Spring Has Sprung

The weather today is beautiful. 
It is a sunny and breezy 60 degrees. 

Spring has sprung

Let's hope baseball is back soon. 

Card #105: Only The Select

I recently picked up another of the 1994 All-Star Game cards featuring Roberto Clemente.

Attendants at the All-Star Game could receive cards from Topps, Select, Donruss, and Upper Deck.

This is card #3 in the 5 card set.

I really like the look of this card.  It has some etching and a nice shine to it.

Card # 104: A View To A Thrill

I decided to show off this 2002 Topps Super Teams Forbes Seat Relic card because it relates to the last card I showed on this blog.

These relic cards were found in the now defunct Topps Super Teams card release.  The relics were part of a set of old stadium benches and seats purchased by Topps and subsequently cut up for multiple card releases.  I have a few different Forbes Field relics, but the image used on this card is what I really like about this "A View To A Thrill"

The image matches Roberto Clemente's 1972 card release image (his last LIVING release) and was also used in the 1987 Turn Back The Clock release.


A lot of these old stadium seat relics can be had very cheaply compared to other style relics of the same player.

Now granted all Clemente did was sit his butt down on the bench in the dugout, but the presentation of this card looks awesome!

Do you have any stadium seat or clubhouse bench relics in your collection?

Card #103: My Very First Clemente Card

Back in 1987 I began baseball card collecting with my parents.  They would help me organize my cards, learn about the stats on the back, and figure out what cards I needed to complete my set.

It was during this time that I acquired a lot of 1987 Topps.

This is my very first Roberto Clemente card in my collection.  I plucked it from the many that were stuffed inside a 9 pocket page. 

I remember not liking this card as a kid for a couple of reasons. 

The first was that it looked a lot different than the rest of the cards in the set.

The other is that it didn't have stats on the back. 

My dad eventually told me about how great Clemente was and how he was one of the game's best players and how he made it into the Hall of Fame. 

Over time I began to like this card more.

Card #102: A 3rd Year Clemente

I am getting close to completing the Topps Flagship run from Clemente's playing days.  There was recently a 5% eBay bucks, no minimum purchase, off that I took advantage of to grab this

1957 Topps Roberto Clemente
The colors are strong. There is some corner fuzzing and it is off center, but man am I happy to grab this card.

Card #101: International Affair

Short on time, but wanted to keep the trend of posting 3 times a week on this blog.

This 2018 Topps International Affair was picked up as part of a COMC package I got late last year.

Card #100: The Force is Strong With This One

Today is National Star Wars Day

One of my favorite Yoda quotes is
"The Force is Strong With This One"

The same can be said for this card.

2006 Triple Threads gold parallel featuring Barry Bonds, Roberto Clemente, and Willie Stargell (all in Pirates uniforms).

This is one of my favorite cards in my collection as it features three of the game's greatest to ever wear a Pirates uniform.

Cards 98 & 99: Stone 1 and Stone 2

The 1990s had a lot of brands that offered nice looking sets featuring former players.  I wish that Topps would make a set similar to what the Ted Williams Company of cards was doing back in 1993.

Way back in January 2018, for card post #17, I showed off a card from the Ted Williams Company insert series called Etched in Stone.  You can revisit that post here

It has been quite some time since that post, but I am ready to show off the first two cards of that set.

This particular card (ES1) discusses Roberto's youth and growing up.

This card is the second in the series.

The back of this card talks of how the Dodgers signed Clemente as a teenager and how Clemente used his nickname of Momen when initially asked by the scout who he was.

Card #97: Project 2020

Topps has really done a tremendous job in marketing their online exclusive cards in the past few years.  Not only does it cut back on costs, because the card's print runs are literally printed to whatever the demand is, they are also coming up with ideas to stay fresh to the current collecting environments.

Topps Now changed the way Topps began to print exclusive to what fans wanted.  They have continued that success with their Throwback Thursday and Living Set cards.

This year Topps introduced Project 2020.  The idea is unique.  Take 20 of the most iconic Topps cards and 20 unique artists to reimagine those cards.  Each artist will draw the selected 20 cards, giving fans a potential 400 card set.

Roberto Clemente's 1955 rookie card was selected as one of the subjects.

 Legendary tattoo artist, Mister Cartoon, wad the first to put his spin on the card. 

I showed off my framed rookie reprint a few years ago here.

The backs of all the Project 2020 cards feature a brief bio about the artist along with details of the project and the original card.


What have your thoughts been on Project 2020?  Are you collecting any of them?

Cards 93-96: Secret Santa Swag Revisit

It was about 4 months ago that I posted my Secret Santa gift that Rod from Padrographs sent me.

You can revisit the entire post here from my main blog, Collecting Cutch.

I will show off all the cards he sent me again below so that it may count towards my goal of Chasing 3000.

 Up first is the 1994 All-Star Game Donruss Diamond King with art by Dick Perez.

This card looks great and is part of a 5 card subset available for the 1994 All-Star Game, held in Pittsburgh.

Here is a modern take on a vintage brand.

2019 Allen & Ginter
Clemente has become a staple in the modern version of this old card branding.

I think this is my only official Topps Chrome card of Clemente.  It is from 2019 and discusses Clemente impact on the 150th Year Anniversary of the great game of baseball.

2 years earlier and this black parallel card from 2019 Faces of the Franchise would have pictured Andrew McCutchen instead of Starling Marte.
Wagner is the greatest Shortstop of All-Time.
Clemente is one of the game's greatest rightfielders of all-time and a 1st ballot Hall of Famer.
Marte became the "Face of the Franchise" for two years after Andrew McCutchen left.  While he was a solid player in Pittsburgh, he won't have the lasting impact that McCutchen had on the franchise.

The black parallel is numbered to 299 copies.

I know I said this before, but thank you,again Rod for the great Christmas gift.  I hope you,are staying safe.