2017 Topps Fire Baseball

This is the first time I've seen Topps Fire in baseball so I had to pick up a pack of the 2017 Topps Fire baseball cards.  There were 12 cards in the pack.  They are colorful like their cousins the Topps Fire football cards.  Looks like there  are a few different colors that dominate the base cards to include a yellow that I really can't get into .     

There were 10 base cards and I believe the Adrian Beltre card is a Blue Chip exclusive to the fat packs which is what I purchased.  I almost think the Jackie Robinson is a parallel but I can't figure it out.  It is glossier/shinier than the others but I can't tell what it is. The inserts were a Nolan Ryan moniker card and a Edwin Encarnacion walk off card.  I like the concept of both cards especially the walk off.    

The backs are pretty simplistic with not much going on.  I was happy with my pull grabbing Jose Altuve and Beltre who will both go in my personal collection. 

 Do I like them?  Not near as much as the football cards I've seen from this brand.  These are just ok and I won't be buying any more unless it is singles I run across.  Hopefully this will give others a decent look and they can decide on their own if they want to dive in to the Topps Fire baseball cards.  

Blade Runner 2049 Review (Minor Spoilers?)

We caught Blade Runner 2049 on opening night.  I have not seen the original so I went into this blind.  I think it was a good movie.  I liked the story which was easy to pick up on even without seeing the original.  The visuals and cinematography was also great.  They are really appealing which help draw you into the world they've created.  Ryan Gosling and Ana de Armas are the stars of the movie for me playing K and Joi, his artificial intelligence companion.  They were great.  Harrison Ford is not in the movie as much as you may believe from the trailer.  That isn't a bad thing per se.  His character is fine and serves it's purpose.  He didn't need to be in it any longer.  

There were some negatives for me but none mean the movie wasn't good.  It was long!  Two hours forty-five minutes.  Not only that but the pacing is slow.  Combined that makes for a long movie that felt like a long movie.  It was like they wanted to make each scene an event or overly dramatic - and too long.  Gosling's character K is also a little devoid of emotion so dialogue at times seemed like a first read through of the script as opposed to actual acting.  Take my look at the movie for what it is worth.  For a different perspective our 23 year-old son really enjoyed it.  I would think that if you enjoyed the first movie you'll want to see this movie and would probably enjoy it.  

2016 Panini Super Bowl 50 Commemorative Football Cards

The 2016 Panini Super Bowl 50 Commemorative Football set contains 21 cards.  10 each Broncos and Panther cards as well as a Super Bowl 50 card. 

 I really like the design on these cards.  Nice fully bleed photos, player names and the Super Bowl 50 logo.  The cards aren't numbered which is odd but I the biggest of deals.  

I really think the Super Bowl card (left) could have been so much more.  Big logo, football with the logo, stadium in the background, throw some players in there too, or about anything else and it would be something. As is the only thing I like is the football.  With the logo it is a good looking ball.  The rest is pretty bland.  The backs have a quick write-up and stats on the players.  That is only one card though and do like this set and I'll be searching for more Super Bowl oriented sets.  

Hell House LLC Movie

Another random Halloween appropriate movie myself, the wife and daughter watched tonight is Hell House LLC.  We watched it off Amazon Prime and really enjoyed it.  A group who create and run haunted houses pick the wrong house as things go bad.  Made in documentary style I just felt like I kept wanting to see more, to see what would happened next and what would be revealed in the end.  Obviously this falls into the scary movie genre and if you like those I think you may enjoy this movie.  I wanted to pass on what we thought to any who may be looking for a scary movie to watch this October.  MOVIE TRAILER

2014 Panini Super Bowl XLVIII Champions Football Cards

Looking at the 2014 Panini Super Bowl XLVIII Champions Football Cards this week.  These were created after the Super Bowl.  Similar in design to the Super Bowl XLVIII Collection set but these cards focus on the winning Seattle Seahawks and includes cards with photos from the game itself.

 There are 18 cards in this set with some cards using the same fronts from the Super Bowl Collection set.  The backs do have updated write-ups.

  I like this set though a set with just photos from the Super Bowl itself would have been great.  But I won't complain.  This is a nice set and I enjoy these sets that center on the biggest game of the year.  

Static Signal Movie Review

Dark Signal is not a film I knew anything about but the wife and I enjoyed it quite a bit.  We like the horror, thriller, and paranormal thrillers that go along with this time of the year.  The official synopsis is "The spirit of a murdered girl returns with a message for the staff of a local radio station." but that really doesn't seem to do it justice.  We randomly picked this one from Netflix and the trailer can be seen here.  There is a lot going on in this movie but it is in a good way that keeps you engaged throughout.  The different story lines are  brought together nicely at the end while different twists throughout keep you guessing.  I won't go into too much detail as I don't want to give too much away but we thought it was good watch and wanted to share.  P.S. It is a British film.       

2014 Panini Super Bowl XLVIII Collection Football Cards

It is football Sunday and I picked up a few Super Bowl centric sets that I want to share over the course of this month.  All three were pretty cheap online so I didn't need much convincing to pick them up.  I like sets that concentrate on the Super Bowl and all-star games and Panini has done that with some of the recent games.  This is the 2014 Panini Super Bowl XLVIII Collection set.  

Nice enough card with photos of the players against an artsy background and a large NYNJ logo that seemed a bit large and out of place.  The backs gave a quick write-up on the player and a nice Super Bowl logo which might have also been nice on the fronts.  

There are 40 total cards with there being 10 each of the Seahawks, Broncos, Giants, and Jets.  It is annoying that they wasted space on the two New York teams whose stadium hosted the big game.  That is 20 cards that could have gone just about any direction except for that and been a better inclusion.  So while I'm ok with this set I do think there was plenty of room for improvement.