Cuts & Colors

Hey guys!  I am going to show some bling!  Card bling, of course.  In this case, I am using the word bling to mean flashy, not necessarily expensive.  I'd love to see the funkiest most colorful and cut up cards out there, but they don't need to be big money items, just over the top cool.

I have a section in my personal collection that I am calling the Cuts & Colors section.  The cards in this section are cards that might not have made it into my personal collection, except that they are so colorful, or so wonky of a die-cut that I just have to keep them.  So colorful, or so die-cut, hence Cuts & Colors.

I'm going to show off a few I grabbed out, and I hope you will go get yours and share!

Show me what you got laying around!!



First up, a few Colors...

1999 Metal - Boyz With The Wood - Andruw Jones

This card has it all!  Flaming weirdness.  The gratuitous use of the letter Z, as if we were living in the 90's (this card definitely is!).  And if you look closely, you can see the seams where, I guess, you can unfold the card or rework it into some other shape.  I'm not exactly sure, and I don't want to try and find out.  Anyone know?  I'd love to have this whole subset, but I bet it costs too much for the Griffeys and Ripken cards of the world.

2000 Topps Chrome - Allegiance - Andruw Jones

First off, I know, that's 2 Andruw Jones cards in a row.  But that's kind of what I am talking about with my Cuts & Colors section.  I don't really collect Jones, even though he is pretty cool.  But these cards are too wonderful for me to let them go.  So they go in Cuts & Colors!

As you all know, a lot of the cards that might fit in the Colors section are hard to scan.  This one does OK, but doesn't quite capture the completeness of its greatness.  Lot's of texture to the card, which adds to its in-person look.


2000 Topps - Dreamcast - Pedro Martinez

Speaking of cards that the scanner lets down, this one is a prime example.  I tried!  Beautiful and dreamy (dreamcasty?).  Pedro is one who has a lot of great looking cards, but since he isn't as loved in the hobby, a lot of them are available for cheap.  Which is where I come in.

Speaking of Pedro's love, I kind of wonder about that.  He had a few of the best seasons any pitcher has ever had, at least in my opinion.  He was pretty amazing.  I'm glad I got to see him pitch.


1995 Donruss - Bomb Squad - Jeff Bagwell and on the back, Frank Thomas

Classic conflation!  The word Bombs for home runs and bombs dropped from the plane in the background!!  I like the attention to detail on the plane, it says National League on it.  And of course, on the back of the card where Frank Thomas lives (sorry, too lazy to scan both sides), it says American League.

The number of bomb silhouettes is correct, the dog tags add to the military theme.  Nicely designed, if really gaudy, card, Donruss!


2000 Pacific Vanguard - High Voltage - Vladimir Guerrero

Vlad is bringing the lighting on this one!    The 'Danger' sign might detract a little from the effect, but I guess they had to have some kind of subset title on the card.

1998 Skybox Thunder - Thunder Boomers - Andres Galarraga

This is the last one for the Colors section.  It almost straddles the line between Cuts and Colors because that blue section around Andres is actually cut out and filled with semi-transparent acetate.  The card feels a little hokey.  But in a good way.  I might have picked a different font and made it feel less cartoony.  Still, very cool!




And now a few Cuts.  I put a blue sheet of paper behind them in the scanner, hopefully it will let you see the die-cuts a little clearer for most of these.

1997 Ultra - Hitting Machines - Roberto Alomar

Love the gears!  The rest of the card didn't scan so well, but this section is about the Cuts, right?  The photo of Alomar fits the angle of the card just right.


1998 Pacific - In The Cage - Bernie Williams

This one in intricate.  Yes, it is easy to see the cut around the top of the netting, but harder to see is that hte netting is mostly cut out as well.  Very tiny cuts, but they are there!!  The guys running Pacific Trading Cards must have had a brother in law with a Masters Degree in die-cutting!


1998 Pacific Paramount - Fielders Choice - David Justice

Exhibit #2 in Pacific's love of die-cuts.  The glove behind the player has been done a few times, but this one stands out to me.  First, the colors and depth are better than most.  And if you look closely, the pocket of the glove has little pieces cut out.  See all those little blue string looking things?  That's the blue paper showing through where the card was cut.  Most companies would let the outside of the glove be enough, but not Pacific!


1998 Skybox Dugout Access - Gronks - Jeff Bagwell

This one isn't as intricate, but what would you expect from a set called Gronks?  You get chunky, rock like edges.  Just perfect for the theme.  They should make a football subset like this and the only player in the whole insert set would be the new Tampa Bay tight end.


1999 Skybox Molten Metal - Fusion - David Justice

Back to crazy detailed.  I'm not even sure this qualifies as die-cut.  Maybe pin-punched?  The tiny holes form a portrait of the player.  I'm definitely not enough of an artist to do something like that!  Interestingly, the portrait looks better from the back side of the card.


1997 Fleer - Bleacher Blasters - Matt Williams

This one is interesting.  Another goofy font (am I suddenly a font snob?).  The blast behind Williams not only has holes in it, but the strange black hoop behind everything keeps the card from falling apart.  Or something like that.



And a bonus basketball card, because it is the funkiest die cut I have:

1997-98 Stadium Club - Triumvirate - Tim Hardaway.

Check out that die-cut lightning!!  Very detailed.  This card is so cut up, that it is difficult to put into a penny sleeve.  The edges around the lightning want to catch the sleeve as it slides up the card.

Anyone who is familiar with the Triumvirate set knows that there are 3 cards with the same number that are meant to hook together along the edge.  On this card, #9A, the right edge is meant to hook into card #9b, which hooks into #9c.  I loved this card enough that I decided to see if I could track down 9b and 9c.  9c turned out to be Penny Hardaway, and that seems possible, if I can just find a copy.  BUT.  #9b is none other than Michael Jordan!!  Yeah, I don't think I will be completing this Triumvirate any time soon!!

Thanks for looking!!  Pull out your Cuts and Colors and show them to me!!!