2020 Contenders Football with an Auto

 2020 Contenders Football: More new cards as I found these yesterday and picked up a few packs.  This pack yielded an autograph though not a name I knew.  We'll kick if off with Derrick Henry who is a beast.  Hard not to like watching this guy plow through defenses even if we didn't get to see that last week against the Ravens.

I'm a big Contenders guy but I have to say this year's design, while cool, takes up way too much of the card.  Anytime you only give 1/3 of the card to the photo you've failed.  I don't like saying that as I really do like the overall design.  As a reminder the ticket numbers mean: 

Sec: Weight / Row: Height / Seat: Uni Number

My inserts sans the auto. Round Numbers is a staple of Contenders that let's us see players drafted in the later rounds.  I'm not a big fan of the Winning Ticket design and color but maybe over time it'll win me over.  I do like the colors of the Rookie of the Year Contenders.  Reminds me of some cards I don't remember.

Joe Reed was drafted in the 5th round but did see some time on the field.  He's a receiver who had no receptions but did rush five times for 29 yards and a touchdown.  He also saw some time returning kicks.

The backs are fine but won't wow ya any.  The photo is the same as the one on the front.  The "Game" number on the front looks to be the age of the player and seems out of place.

The base set is 100 cards with rookies showing up in the inserts.  Out of the four packs I had some duplicates but it wasn't too bad.  Not sure I'll search out more of these but again I do like the design so who knows.  Just not on board with the amount of space given to the photo.  I'll end this one with personal collection guy Larry Fitzgerald.

BREAKDOWN:
22 – Total Cards
1 – Winning ticket
1 – Round Numbers
1 – Rookie of the Year Contenders
1 - Rookie Ticket RPS Wild Card Parallel Autograph

2020 Topps Baseball Holiday Mega Box

 2020 Topps Baseball Holiday: Was bummed when these were pushed back to a late December release but I found and purchased a loan box at my Wal-Mart last week.  These are the holiday cards we were looking for.  Not Panini's holiday football cards with a single holiday card in the box (rookie relic).  The holiday cards include cards from Topps Series 1 and 2 but are numbered specifically for this release.  We'll start out with this Blake Snell SP (1:7 packs) which was easy to spot due to the Santa hat.

This Christian Yelich with the candy cane bat and eye liner is a rare variation (1:20 packs).  It took me three looks at all the cards before I found the three variations I pulled.  I saw Snell right away but the other two took weren't as easy.  Beckett does a good job looking at the variations at the link here. 

Some great young players s were in this box including a SP Kyle Lewis who is a hot commodity right now.  

I really like the designs for these.  If you're going to do a holiday card go over the top and make me feel in the holiday spirit which these do.  I know the design isn't something everyone likes and that's okay.  If nothing else collectors should like that the print run on these is less than the flagship set plus you get the different variations.

My relic.  Kind of "meh" on this but of course a more name player changes my outlook considerably.  The design is a big blah too.

You'll never be able to tell from the scan but that Chavis is one of my metallic parallels.  The snowflakes are raised so you can feel them.

I really enjoyed this box.  Hopefully we'll get these in advance of the holidays this year. Just a fun alternative for card designs I like.  ...and you get an die cut ornament in the box.  If you're fan of the player you pull I could see this going on the tree.

BREAKDOWN:

100 – Total Cards

14 – RC

7 – Topps All-Star Rookie

5 – Metallic Parallel

2 – SP

1 - Rare

1 – Relic

1 – RC/Topps All-Star Rookie

1 - MLB Ornament Die-cut

1990-91 Topps Hockey

 1990-1991 Topps Hockey: This pack was part of a pack lot buy I had stashed for such occasions as this - opening day in the NHL.  This pack comes with four hall of famers so it is a definite win.  This was a fun pack and good trip down memory lane.

I like Leader and All-Star designations which were pretty common among Topps cards.  

The design on these isn't too bad but it definitely needed a team logo on there somewhere.  The backs have that familiar Topps back from the era with plenty of stats.  I also think the photos are good.

Team cards are always fun.

A Flames appearance.  Johansson didn't pan out but I like the Top Prospect on the card.  Anything helps break the monotony of base cards.  Not that these were boring.  Just nice to have some variety especially in sets that don't have many inserts.  Happy first day of the season!

BREAKDOWN:
14 – Total Cards
1 – All-Star
1 – Team Card
1 – Top Prospect
(4 Hall of Famers)

Buffalo Bills Win a Playoff Game!

 That dude could literally be every Buffalo Bills fan.  I was wearing my Thurman Thomas jersey watching the game and man it was nerve wracking.  While it was a good win there are things Buffalo has to figure out.  Their running game has to get going and the defense can't be average like they were during the regular season.  Josh Allen can't be the running game.  Still you have to be excited about beating a very good Colts team with Phillip Rivers who has a ton of playoff experience.  We'll see who they play next week but this win felt good.  It helped feel like Buffalo has turned the corner.  Another building block like winning the AFC East. 

Random Wax: 2018 Score Football

 2018 Score Football:  Score has tons of variety year in and year out with plenty of inserts and our first look at rookies.  I really like these Captains cards.  Just a cool looking card with plenty of color.  The Bucs played Washington this weekend in the first round of the playoffs.

A-A-Ron gets to rest this weekend as a #1 seed.  One of the big stories of the off season will be what happens with Dak Prescott.  He and Dallas were already having issues coming to an agreement on a long term deal before he was injured and out for the year.  It puts Dallas in a precarious spot. I doubt Dak is willing to take a discount even with the injury.

The design on this particular set doesn't wow me.  Nice pulling that Matt Ryan card in his throwback uni though.

Color Rush is a favorite of mine every year.  Well except when they show a team in all white.  The Sidelines insert is somewhat boring to me.  I'd actually be ok if they did a base card design using this as a basis for it to some extent.  Maybe the sideline marks as part of a card.

Playoffs?  Yep those Cleveland Browns will square off against the Ravens this weekend in the franchise's first playoff appearance in like forever.  Good for them and their fans.

Good with both these inserts and two more playoff teams who'll be showcased this weekend.  That Huddle Up design is one of my favorites of that particular insert from year to year.

Just a few more base cards with more teams who get to play extra football this year.

Score loves the rookies of course.  Cool 2018 Draft insert.  Love seeing those Bulldog unis and all the former Georgia running backs in the league.  Score is always fun.  My base cards weren't exactly the best but I'm not complaining about this pack. 

BREAKDOWN:
40 – Total Cards
6 – RC
1 – Sidelines
1 – Huddle Up
1 – Scorecard Parallel
2 – Captains
2 – 2018 Draft
2 – Color Rush
2 - Scoreboard
2 – Fantasy Stars
2 – Red Parallels
2 – Signal Callers
1 – Retired Great

 

Buffalo Bills - AFC East Champions and #2 Seed

 Buffalo Bills 13-3: Wow what a year and it's been fun to watch.  Especially seeing Josh Allen coming into his own as a true franchise quarterback.  This was the Bill's first AFC East title since 1995!  Been hoping for this day for a long time.  The works not over yet.  Today Buffalo faces a tough Indy team and they better be prepared.  They'll need everything in their arsenal to win against a tough Colts team.  It's scary.  We've had all of 6 days to enjoy the success yet today that could be undone.  That's the fun and fear that is any NFL season.  Buffalo can win this game but anything can happen.  I'll be nail biting and can only hope the Bills start off hot.  It's been a great season and here's hoping it doesn't end today.

2012 NASCAR Press Pass Blaster

2012 NASCAR Press Pass:  This was part of a purchase some time back. Some of the NASCAR products from early last decade are still very affordable.  This set has 100 total cards.  It has plenty of variety as it isn't all just driver cards.  We'll kick it off with a cool shot of Carl Edwards.  I have to wonder if he did his signature back flip right after this.

The base cards are pretty much torso shots but I like that they are done at the track and not promo shots.  Tony Stewart and Bobby Labonte are NASCAR Hall of Famers with "Smoke" having three championships while Labonte has one. 

I like the design.  It's simple but leaves plenty of room for the photo while also giving a subdued view of the driver's car and number. 

Snapshots are a pretty good looking insert.  I like the bulletin board thing going on.

Great photo on the 2011 Highlights card.  This card highlights Dale Jr.'s 400th career start.  I like the Transporters cards which showcase the car haulers which you don't see in sets nowadays.  These are both part of the base set.

The Hall of Fame cards are inserts and I like those.  Front Runners is part of the base set. 

Jimmie Johnson retired after this season and is a seven-time champion.  Danica Patrick didn't have a very successful career but it was the most successful by a female driver.  She was very popular during her time on the circuit.  This was fun and I won't hesitate to get another one of these.  It was fun and there are plenty of stars you can pull here.

BREAKDOWN:
34 – Total Cards
10 – Sprint Cup
6 – Camping World Truck
4 - Snapshot
4 – Nationwide
3 – 2011 Highlights
3 – Head of the Class
2 – Blue Parallel
2 – Transporters
1 – Front Runners
1 – NASCAR Hall of Fame Blue