2020 NFL Stickers (3 Packs)

2020 NFL Stickers:  I don't grab a lot of stickers but they are fun and harken back to when I was a kid.  I'd use my lunch money at Circle K to buy more for my sticker album whether that was football or baseball.  Favorite players would go on school notebooks.  This Jones and the Adams at the end are trading cards added to the packs.  Nice inclusion.

I forgot I had these laying around.  I picked them up sometime last year.  The design is pretty good.  I like the large team logo.  There are 563 stickers and 100 cards in this set.  Should be something for everyone.

There is some variety which always helps. These are London, foil and Rookie stickers.  I think I had a pretty decent pull though all the Falcons really help skew that for me.

I love cards and photos from the actual championship games.  This one isn't the most exciting but I'll still take it.  Found these at Dollar tree and I think mine still has some all this time later.

Overall I liked these.  They'll probably end up on some box of cards somewhere.  But oh the memories.  I really did love them as a kid.  

BREAKDOWN:
15 – Total Cards
3 – Trading Cards
3 – Animated
1 – Foil
1 – Rookie
1 – London
1 – Super Bowl

Random Wax: 2020 Bowman Baseball

2020 Bowman Baseball:  This is another of the packs I picked up last summer.  Nice design on this set though not spectacular  I know Jose Altuve struggled mightily last year but I'm a fan and hoping he'll bounce back this year.  He did have excellent ALDS and ALCS series after going 0'fer in the Wild Card Series. 

Young players of course dominate the Bowman brand.  Sean Murphy has the most experience here and could yet be a nice player if he can get his average up as he does have some pop in his bat.

Nola is the only one of these to see the field but still hasn't distinguished himself.  Not a pack that will wow anyone but they are always fun to look at down the road.  

BREAKDOWN:
19 – Total Cards
5 – Chrome
4 – RC
4 – 1st Bowman
1 – Yellow Parallel #/75

Buffalo Bills Lost AFC Championship Game

The Bills lost to the Chiefs 38-24 this Sunday.  It was no big surprise right?  The Chiefs are so good.  Now the off season starts and the Bills have some things they need to figure out.  I'd think the offensive line and running game would be tops on the list.  The line isn't bad but it needs to be better.  We'll see if they can make improvements on defense as well.  Don't get me wrong Buffalo is a really good team.  But to keep up with other teams who will also get better and to keep up against the elite teams they have to continually evolve.  For now I will enjoy the 2020 season.  It was great to see Josh Allen get it and take his game to another level.  Can't wait to see what he still has in the tank.  Stefon Diggs was also a huge revelation.  I wasn't ready to say he was a difference maker when he was acquired via trade.  Boy was I wrong.  So a good starting point for the Bills and I can't wait to see what the future holds.

 

 

1991 Pro Set Series II Football

 1991 Pro Set Football:  This is a good set from the past so this was a fun pack to open.  This Lawrence Taylor photo is great.  That should be Rodney Peete about to get swallowed up by Taylor.

These are really good looking cards and about the only thing missing is a team logo.  The photos are solid as are the colors used matching the team colors.

There are plenty of subsets as part of this release which makes it much more than just a base set.  Those art cards are all-time favorites of mine which is a part of the Pro Bowl subset.  This one showcases Albert Lewis.  There are some inserts but they are vey limited and highlighted by the Santa Claus card.

The backs are great.  They are vey colorful and I like the inclusion of the appropriate AFC or NFC logo.  A team logo would still be nice.  I'm a big fan of this set.  Pro Set thought outside the box back then which helped shape some of what we see today in cards. 

This Joe Ferguson is definitely a favorite of mine.  A fan favorite in Buffalo he didn't get many special cards like this.  Nice looking card.  Speaking of Buffalo...GO BILLS!

BREAKDOWN:

15 – Total Cards

2 – Draft Choice

1 – Legends

1 – All-AFC Team

1 – NFL Newsreel

Hank Aaron Passes Away

 Hank Aaron passed away yesterday.  While I never got to see him play he's always been that guy I've been amazed by.  He was so consistently good year in and year out.  His stats blow you away.  Someone mentioned he was baseball royalty and I think's that's exactly how to look at him.  You hear nothing but glowing things about him whether it was as a person, player or friend.  He'll truly be missed in baseball, sports and the world.  

Turner Field circa 2007.  

2020 Christmas Haul

 I'm a little late on this but Santa Claus was good to me on Christmas.  It was a very quiet day with only immediate family but I did make it to see daughters on the days before and after Christmas.  I received no cards this year but I also didn't ask for any.  I'm extremely happy with everything I received.  My family knows me so Star Wars is always a safe bet.  The shirt came from a daughter and the dog leash and collar came from the same daughter that gave me these...

One of my daughters got me these which I think are really cool.  They are "patent office" drawings based on DC, Marvel and Transformers.  I really like these.  They are weathered to give them a feel that they come from years ago.  Just unique and cool.  My plan is to put these up at work when I'm no longer teleworking.

I received a PS4 last year so I asked for two video games which were each half price by December.  I love NBA 2K21.  That does not mean I'm good at it or a gamer by today's definition but I really do enjoy playing it and will probably do a "review" at some point soon.  Madden 21 is also really fun.  I'm a big Heart fan so the DVD is a good add though I think one with more of their classic stuff is my preference.  The Nickelback and AC/DC compact discs are nice additions to the collection.  AC/DC can't be streamed or downloaded which I like.  Have to buy their music old school...if CDs count as old school.

I've been slowly picking up the Star Wars SteelBooks.  SteelBooks are niche and aren't necessarily that much greater than other releases but I like them for this purpose.  Again Santa was good to me and I'm blessed to have received so much goodness.  Can't thank my family and Santa enough. 

Buffalo Bills to the AFC Championship Game

 Buffalo beat Baltimore getting to the AFC Championship this Sunday.  It wasn't the prettiest game as the Bills had zero rushing game and Josh Allen wasn't at his best.  Baltimore has a good defense so it was a struggle most of the game.  Buffalo didn't take control until late and obviously Lamar Jackson having to leave the game for the 4th quarter didn't hurt.  Still the Buffalo defense played really well with the 101 yard pick six as Baltimore was threatening being the turning point of the game.  I expect the Championship game to be tough but when Buffalo's offense is at it's best it can compete with anyone.  Their defense will also be key.  They showed they can contain good teams.  Just need them to keep it up.  Go Bills!  

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