Random Wax: 2019-2020 Hoops Basketball

2019-2020 Hoops Basketball:  My small town Wal-Mart finally had someone come through and buy out all the basketball cards.  We had quite bit of the Prizm Draft Picks and some other random basketball on the shelves.  Gone.  Someone must have bought all of them at once.  All good.  I still have some packs I've been waiting to post so here we go.  Hoops put out some good cards this year and with Zion a part of the chase they, like all basketball cards, are a hot commodity.  This pack had a pretty good pull and finding Sir Charles is always a fun thing.  But no Zion this time but I've already pulled a few of his Hoops cards this year.

This is one of two Kawhi Leonard cards in this pack.  He's my favorite player in the league today so that is great.  It seems like this forced break in the season could help players like he and Paul George who have their playing time managed quite a bit.

Rudy Gobert of course is the face of kicking off the cancellation of sports.  It was only a matter of time no matter what but his antics put him front and center of the virus conversation in relation to sports.  Lonzo Ball is having a nice bounce back year with the Pelicans.  Stephen Adams is having another solid year for the surprising OKC Thunder.

I pulled a second Hoops Tribute insert.  Andrew Wiggins is now a Golden State Warrior after being traded for De'Angelo Russell.  I like Wiggins and think/hope he can be a great fit there.  This was a fun pack.  If they can be found I'll definitely pick up more of these.  Be safe and stay positive my friends.

BREAKDOWN:

30 – Total Cards
5 – RC
2 - Hoops Tribute
2 – Retired Greats
2 – Frequent Flyers
1 – Purple  Parallel

Random Wax: 2019 Absolute Football

2020 Absolute Football:   I like the looks of these cards so I will always pick some up when I get the chance.  It was such a letdown when Andrew Luck retired.  Hate to see that with a quarterback, or any player, with his talent.  But good on him for going out on his terms.    

Mike Evans has to be licking his chops at the thought of playing with Tom Brady.  Winston definitely put out some volume as the Buc's quarterback but Brady should be provide some leadership and swagger Winston really never could.

That's an orange mosaic parallel #/75.  While the card isn't that rare, seeing Antonio Brown in a Raiders jersey is.  A few of the inserts in Absolute give us retired greats which is always great.

Plenty of rookies which make up almost half the pack.

Love Todd Gurley and those throwback Rams jerseys.  I'm very excited to have him join the Falcons this year.  Hopefully he can get back to something close to the great years he has with L.A.

BREAKDOWN:

20 – Total Cards
9 – RC
3 – Green Parallel
1 – Red Zone
1 – Gridiron Force
1 – Orange Mosaic Parallel #/75

2020 Topps Women of Star Wars Hobby Box

2020 Topps Women of Star Wars:  I liked the concept of this set so I jumped on a hobby box which is pretty affordable.  I pulled the guaranteed auto and also two numbered cards (#/25 and #/99).  This Shaak Ti is probably my favorite card.  I like the blue and that photo.  Darker than most which makes it stand out.

   My auto is from The Clone Wars animated series.  I'm a big fan of series so this is a nice pull.  Leia was in some of the later season's episodes if I remember right.  Not sure yet what I'll do with the card.  It may end up on eBay to bolster my hobby funds.  We'll see.

The base cards have movie promo photos or screen shots as well as game and animated screen grabs.  The base design is pretty simple but I like it.  A bit more color could have made it nicer like the parallels.

It's fun seeing the animated shows getting some love.  I didn't share a copy of the backs.  They do have a nice write-up.  Nothing to wow you but interesting enough to be pertinent.

A Weapon of Choice insert, purple parallel #/24 and an orange parallel.  Again just that small addition of color makes these look a bit more appealing in my opinion.

A powerful pairs insert. I always liked Liminara Unduli and Barriss Offee whether it be their appearances in the legacy Star Wars books or The Clone Wars.  That's a green parallel #/99.  Rogue One is one of my favorite Star Wars movies of all-time.

Two of the iconic ladies of the Star Wars universe though I know Padme' doesn't get near as much love due to the majority feeling the prequels were a big letdown.  That is a The Journey of Leia Organa insert.  

This was definitely a fun box and I'm really glad I picked it up.  I definitely like the set.  There are some huge autos to be had in these boxes but obviously the odds for hitting those are long.  Doesn't mean there aren't other good ones.  I think mine was a decent one given Leia and The Clone Wars are pretty popular.  

BREAKDOWN:

56 – Total Cards
4 – Orange Parallel
3 – Powerful Pairs
2 – Iconic Moments
2 – Blue Parallel
2 – Weapons of Choice
1 – Purple Parallel #/25
1 – Green Parallel #/99
1 – The Journey of Leia Organa
1 - Topps Women of Star Wars Autograph

Random Wax: 2016-2017 Hoops

2016-2017 Hoops:  It's tough with all sports shut down but cards help keep me going.  This dude was having such a great season even for LeBron standards.  He is 35 and was having a monster year.  I'm hoping we'll get to see the end of this season.  The Lakers and LeBron were so good.

I wasn't a fan of the NBA 2K17 cards.  They seemed a bit off to me with the game screen grabs.  And wow how things have changed.  R.I.P. Kobe.

Derrick Rose actually had a good season with the Knicks.  Most things associated with that franchise usually doesn't end well.  Brook Lopez is now the starting center for Milwaukee while DeMar DeRozan drew the short straw in Toronto and was traded for Kawhi Leonard missing out on the Raptors' championship last year.

Pau Gasol has retired while Matthews is now a Milwaukee Buck.  After two rough seasons with Boston Gordon Hayward was having a bounce back year with the Celtics before the season ended.

I really enjoy busting these packs and looking back at players in previous seasons.  Isaiah Thomas was at the height of his career here with the Celtics.  Sadly a year later an injury would derail his career.  Stay positive, stay safe my friends.

BREAKDOWN:

30 – Total Cards
3 – RC
1 – Kobe Bryant NBA 2K17
1 – Blue Parallel

2020 Topps Heritage

2020 Topps Heritage:  Heritage isn't a brand I tend to enjoy.  I'm not a big fan of the older designs so this is purely a personal preference.   Doesn't mean I won't take a look at it each year.  This year's design is a redo of the '71 cards.  Pretty plain and doesn't do a lot for me but I've also seen worse.  I'm sure collectors aren't fans of those black borders as they tend to show every little fault.  

This pack didn't have quite have the star power throughout but for a 20 card pack I won't complain.

You have to love a leaders card like this where it says they are leading the league in...oh wait it doesn't.  These are the league leaders in wins by the way.  I do like that on the back there must be 50 pitchers listed.

  Backs are fine.  Kind of standard fair for Heritage cards.

Plenty of rookie cards.  Probably my last pack of these but that just means there will be more for other folks to grab.  I was happy to pull Arenado and Davis.  

BREAKDOWN:

20 – Total Cards

3 – Rookie Stars
1 – League Leaders

2020 Topps Opening Day Hobby Box

2020 Topps Opening Day:  Been under the weather this week so I'm happy to finally get back to some cards.  I know Opening Day isn't a brand everyone cares for but I'm a big fan.  I like the logo and set.  With a smaller set size you get plenty of stars.  There are also some different insert sets and photo variations.  Hobby boxes do come with the chance for autos and relics.  I did not pull any this year.  This is my third year of buying a Opening Day hobby box and so far one auto.  A Kyle Freeland from last year.  Again hits aren't guaranteed...just nice bonuses.

   That Matt Olsen photo is great.  There's definitely a fun story there and I wouldn't knowing what it is.

More cool photos.  The Freeman for the nice throwbacks and another great A's action photo as well as a nice emotional shot from Gurriel.

The young stars of course get their chance to shine in the set.  Alvarez there with the not so common RC/Rookie Cup combo.

Inserts include Spring Has Sprung, which include all-time greats, and Dugout Peeks.

That Albies is a blue foil parallel.  There are 2020 copies of each but they aren't numbered.  But why not?  May's hair has to be tops for the year so far.

Team Traditions and Celebrations inserts.  That is a cool bat chandelier.

Mascots are a staple of Opening Day.  You'll also find stickers like this Bellinger.

You see some photoshop goodness on some cards like this Cole card.  Still getting used to the vertical styling on this year's design though.

Opening Day inserts showcase opening day moments from each team.

Plenty more stars.  I also Pulled Trout and Kershaw but they'd been shown in early 2020 Topps posts.  This was a fun box.  For the price and enjoyment I call it a win.  I get the Opening Day logo and plenty of stars as well as the main up and coming stars.

This is really one of the great photos in the set.  The emotion, headband, and classic uni make this a winner.

BREAKDOWN:

252 – Total Cards
17 – RC
16 – Opening Day
11 – Rookie Cup
7 – Mascot
5 – Spring Has Sprung
4 - Stickers
4 – Team Traditions and Celebrations
3 – Blue Foil Parallels
1 – Dugout Peeks
1 – RC/Rookie Cup

Mike Trout Tin - 2020 Topps

2020 Topps Baseball:  I'd been hoping these tins would hit my local Wal-Mart and they finally did yesterday. The only one I wanted was Mike Trout...and there was one left all the way in the back.  Phew.  Not interested in the others especially with Mookie Betts now a Dodger.  The tins come with an exclusive Chrome Decades' Best insert.  Appropriately I pulled these two Mike Trout cards which is great way to start.  I'm not a big Turkey Red fan but I will be holding on to this one.

  Can't complain about my rookie pulls led by Bo Bichette and Fernado Tatis Jr.

Plenty of star veterans as well.

The Marte Turkey Red and Warren Spahn Decades' Best are both chrome.

A Red Sox Team Card and Padres Checklist card.

The Tyler O'Neill is a rainbow foil parallel.

Hoskins Highlight, 1985 Topps 35th Anniversary, and another Turkey Red.

Topps likes their horizontal in this set and these are some nice photos.

Just a few more to show off including a great Sean Doolittle photo.  I was so excited to pick one of these tins up and not have to resort to the secondary market.  Plenty of good cards as well.

BREAKDOWN: 

75 – Total Cards

5 – Turkey Red
4 – RC
4 – League Leaders
2 – Checklists
2 – Team Cards
2 – Hoskins Highlights
1 – World Series
1 – Rainbow Foil
1 – Decades’ Best
1 – Turkey Red Chrome
1 – Decades’ Best Chrome
1 – Gold Parallel #/2020
1 – Topps All-Star Rookie Cup
1 - 1985 Topps 35th Anniversary Set