1979 Donruss Rock Stars

1979 Rock Stars:  I'd seen these over the years and finally grabbed a pack when I picked up some non-sport packs off eBay.  We'll kick off this pack with one of the great all-time showmen in history.  And who can forget the legendary Queen performance at Live Aid that helped get the band out of a slump.  Freddie was amazing.

Brian May, accomplished Queen lead guitarist and astrophysicist.  My Queen greatest hits albums get plenty of play.

The Village People are one of four bands featured in this set.  And who didn't love this band growing up?  They were definitely different but cool and had great catchy songs.  They threw in a few movies as well.  Fun band for their time.

The Write-ups on the back are good.  Plenty of information.  They didn't cheat you here.

Just classic. The deisign on the cards is pretty simple but effective.

The only thing I know about The Babys is what I read on these cards.  I just don't remember them at all.  I was bummed I didn't pull a card of the last band in this set - Kiss.  Still it was a fun pack.  I could see me picking up more of these.  They're fun and lots of good memories...well outside of The Babys.

BREAKDOWN:
7 – Total Cards
3 – Village People
2 – Queen
2 – The Babys

Random Wax: 2021 Donruss Football

2021 Donruss Football:  I'm a Drew Pearson fan.  When growing up in New Mexico it was Cowboys on TV every week so I got to watch plenty of this guy.  I was very happy he was elected to the Hall of Fame.  I think he deserved to be in and when I pulled this card it became my favorite Drew Pearson card.  Good photo, design and of course it references him being a Hall of Famer.

Still don't like this design.  Maybe someday I'll stop saying that.  It'll be interesting to see what happens with Lamar Jackson.  He's really betting on himself going into 2022 without a contract extension.  And it makes you wonder which side is being the most stubborn.  Hard to think Baltimore would risk losing this guy.

Pat Freiermuth had a great first year catching 60 passes and scoring seven touchdowns.  St. Brown had a monster year for Detroit with 90 catches and five touchdowns.  Thinking of Detroit I never would think any of their receivers would have that many receptions.  Much less a rookie.  Bolton also had a good year notching 70 solo tackles.  no complaints about my rookies.

I like Adam Thielen.  He may not be the #1 guy in Minnesota anymore but he is still a great #2 guy and has caught 15 and 10 touchdowns the last two years, respectively.  Retired greats are one of the great things about Donruss.  No complaints about this pack.  Lots of goodness.

BREAKDOWN:

30 – Total Cards
5 – Photo Variations
4 – Rated Rookie
4 – Blue Press Proof Parallel
1 – Inducted 
1 – Retired Great

Marvel Legends Series 6-inch Rhino Retro Action Figure

 Marvel Legends Rhino:  I've upped my action figure posting of late and I couldn't wait to show off this guy who showed up last week.  Rhino is a beast for sure.  Pun intended.  I've always been a fan of his.  He doesn't get much love and I understand why.  He isn't flashy and he hasn't gotten the fanfare other Spidey villains get.  That ill-fated moment in the Spider-Man doesn't count and should be erased from memory.  He's just one of those guys who I've loved since I was a kid.  When I saw he was getting the Marvel Legends treatment I was giddy.

This is only my second Rhino figure outside of the Hasbro Marvel Univers 3.75" figure which really is a nice-looking figure as well.  This guy is huge standing in at 8" tall to the top of his horn.

For his bulk he has decent articulation but he isn't going to be striking any Spider-Man poses anytime soon.  Not sure how many folks really remember this guy.  Again he is a favorite from my childhood.  He was in the Spidey cartoon and it seems like I remember him in the comic books as well.

This Rhino has a classic look and feel to him.  Lots of bulk, heavy and feels like he could run through walls...which is what he is good at.  I picked up two more of these, one each for the grandsons.  They deserve to enjoy some of this greatness and hopefully they'll gain some appreciation for him. 

I'm really happy with this figure.  Glad I picked him up before the secondary market was my only option.  I'll display him proudly.  

Packaging on this figure was first rate as well.  Love that he is carded like this and not in a square box.  The art is great.  As you see he also comes with an extra head and pair of hands as options for play.  I give my grandsons 30 seconds before they are trying those on him.  Hope you like this guy and my stroll down memory lane.

1993-1994 SkyBox Premium Basketball

93-94 SkyBox Premium:  While I admire SkyBox adding a Premium option I have to admit that other than it saying it is premium, in hand I really don't get the feel this set is a "premium" set.  We'll kick it off with The Mailman and this dude really did deliver.  Nineteen seasons averaging 25 points per game.  Not everyone liked this guy but I did at a distance.  Would have been nice to see him and John Stockton bring the Jazz a title but it wasn't to be...thank you Michael Jordan and crew.

I've had better pulls in packs but this was still really fun.  The design is ok but a little less white would have been nice. Seems like they could have gone a different direction there.  All three of these guys were great to watch.  None are Hall of Famers but you'd want all three on your team.  Price and Smith would be killing teams at the arc in today's game.

The backs were okay with a different photo that was usually a head shot.  John Paxon of those Bulls who kept Utah from ever getting a title.  He actually retired in '94 and wasn't on the Bulls teams that beat the Jazz in back-to-back NBA Finals.  Steve Kerr basically took his roll with the team.

Charles Oakley was a beast and backed down to no one.  Many say his trade from the Bulls to the Knicks for Bill Cartwright helped pave the way for the first of Chicago's championships.  I wasn't that high on Bill so that's always a head scratcher to me.  It's said enough so I know it is a thing but still.  Love Detlef Schrempf who is an all-time favorite of mine and occasional Parks and Recreation star.  I really enjoy going down memory lane with these packs.  I watched even more NBA back then than I do today.

BREAKDOWN:
12 – Total Cards
1 – NBA on NBC

1992 Fleer Football Team Sets - Falcons and Bills

1992 Fleer:  I'll kick off the return to NFL football by showing off some team sets of my Falcons and Bills I picked up last year.  Today is 1992 Fleer.  We'll kick it off with an all-time Bills great Pro Visions card which looks pretty good.  Lots of color and nice art.

So this was one of those great 90's Buffalo teams but somehow there is no Jim Kelly or Bruce Smith in the set.  I'm lost.  How does that happen?  A grudge against Fleer?  Exclusive contract?  hmmm  At least we still get plenty of other greats from the team.  I'm a big fan of James Lofton starting when he was a Packer so him joining the Bills was great for me.

The '92 design is good but not great.  Simple and plenty of room for the photos.  The backs are fine with a different phot taking up the entirety of the background which I like.  These three were all known as really good players "doing the little things" that help great teams win.  The 1992 Buffalo Bills would to on to lose their 3rd straight Super Bowl...<cries quietly>

The Falcons on the other hand would have the first of two consecutive 6-10 seasons which would cost coach Jerry Glanville his job.  Still some all-time Falcon greats on this team to include Jessie Tuggle and Bill Fralic.  Michael Haynes was a favorite of mine who was a speedster on the outside.

Bob Whitfield would go on to a long career with Atlanta while Chris Miller could never take the next step in his career as a Falcon.  

Mike Kenn is another all-time Falcon great who probably has a Hall of Fame candidacy to be made.  Same could be said for Hinton who is primarily known for his time with Indy.  Pritchard and Rison helped anchor an excellent receiving corps.  A shame this team couldn't do more. 

Random Wax: 2021 Donruss Baseball

2021 Donruss:  Outside of the lack of team logos this is still a bad design.  A pack I picked up in April of last year I just haven't gotten around to posting it yet.  Can't go wrong with this guy who is hitting well after coming back this year from an injury that caused him to miss the World Series last year.  Fun to watch him play.

Can't complain with my pull which included some great pitching and Trea Turner who will be one of the biggest free agents on the market after the season.

A couple of variations including a Biggio Independence Day and Joey Gallo nickname variation.  Gallo is a Dodger nowadays after it didn't work out with the Yanks.

The Retro 1987 cards are fun mostly because we get to see retired greats. Not sure why they just didn't go with the black borders.  Would have made it a better nod to the originals.  Always love pulling Carew who was so freaking good.  Dude won seven (7) batting titles and if you look at some of those numbers they are crazy.   He needs to get more love and more shots on trading cards.

Arenado is having a great year for the Cards and I think he can become a free agent if he opts out?   I hear it is doubtfull he'll opt out.  Don't quote me but a defensive stud like him who can hit would be an amazing pickup.  One of my favorites in the game today.  Unfortunately, he plays for the Cards.  ;)  By the way Munoz is having a good start to his career as a reliver now playing for Seattle.

BREAKDOWN:

30 – Total Cards

6 – Retro 1987

4 – Rated Rookie

3 – Red Parallel

3 – Diamond Kings

1 – Trending

1 – Photo Variation

1 – Nickname Variation

1 – Independence Day

1994 SkyBox USA Basketball

 1994 SkyBox USA Basketball: Always enjoy cards of the Team USA basketball teams.  This one from 1994 covers the '94 team that took home the FIBA Championship going 8-0.  LJ came off the bench but played well in his limited minutes.  LJ had been in the league a few years and was a star on the court and off the court with his Grandmama commercials.

No action shots of the guys in their USA jerseys which really is a shame.  That's what we want - to see these guys in action in their USA jerseys on cards.  The uni is a clean classic look.  The card design is good.  The USA Basketball logo looks nice in the different iterations of subsets and overall the player photos are the stars of the card fronts.

A couple of inserts and the back of a card. The Mourning photo shows how the design can take away from a nice photo.  Nothing you can do about it I guess unless you zoom out which may work against it just as much.

Pulled a Nique card so that was a big plus.  He was third in scoring on the team.  Shaq was the star of the team as would be expected.  Fun pack.  Not the crazy great '92 Team USA but this team was still a dominant iteration none the less.

BREAKDOWN:
10 – Total Cards

2 - NBA Rookie
2 – International
1 - Checklist
1 – Magic On

1 - Trademark Move
1 – International Rules

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

 Multiverse of Madness:  Finally watched this one.  Lots of folks weren't enamored with it and I get it.  I think there are plenty of cool moments in the movie but the plot as a whole wasn't a hit with me.  I know where they were going but it is convoluted and I don't think it did the characters justice in the end.  I really enjoyed the original Dr. Strange and his character in the Marvel movie universe but this one was just a bit meh.  Doesn't mean I wasn't entertained but it doesn't hit the mark of the other recent Marvel films including the last Spidey offering which was great.  I talked about Wandavision yesterday and I think these two are naturals to be teamed in a movie.  Just didn't wow me.  My quick take and I always enjoy hearing what others think so let me know.

Top Gun: Maverick

Maverick:  Was excited our small-town theater brought this one back this weekend so I got to see it in the theater.  I'm so glad I did.  Top Gun: Maverick hit all the marks for me. It's what I would hope for and expect from a Top Gun sequel.  In doing so it didn't go over the top and did a great job blending the original movie into what we see here.  The acting, the story, the nods to the original movie, the music, the goose bump moments, how they handled Goose and Ice - it all worked.  Tom Cruise fought to wait out the pandemic to make sure this was seen in theaters and boy did that pay off.  It is now seventh all-time now in domestic money having just passed Titanic.  Worldwide it has brought in $1.3 billion!  This is one of the most entertaining movies I've seen in a while.  I think I've gotten my point across.  As you have surmised, I highly recommend this to everyone.  You don't need to see the original to enjoy this installment either.

Wandavision

Wandavision:  This has been out since last year but I'll still warn folks there'll be spoilers in this post.  Wanda Maximoff, AKA, The Scarlett Witch, has taken over a small town as she deals with her own demons.  In taking over the town she and her husband, Vision, and family live in what is now like a 50s 60s sittcom where everything is simple and campy.  Kind of funny but things of course go haywire.  In the end you find out someone helped push Wanda over the edge into creating her own world and taking over the town.  So the show isn't bad.  It's actually well done.  That said...we have to suspend belief in any of the solo Marvel film right?  A superhero takes on the bad guy or gal on their own and none of the other Avengers or heroes show up to help.  But this one screamed bringing in the big guys to help out.  She's extremely powerful and just took over a town!  They vaguely try to explain it away but that is huge.  But hey if we want to keep this as a standalone venture sobeit.  There are plenty of good characters and the campiness sets a tone we're not used to.  It's a dark series no matter what the background looks like.  No matter how much it looks like Leave it to Beaver.  It's worth the watch and shows Marvel isn't scared about thinking outside the box.   This one also sets up the new Dr. Strange movie which I'll talk about tomorrow.  Curious as to what everyone else thought.

Obi-Wan Kenobi TV Series (No Spoilers)

Kenobi:  This one's been out a few months now and I finished it over the weekend.  As a big Star Wars fan I'm always worried I'll be let down by these shows.  This one did not disappoint.  Really, they could have done this as a movie which could have led into a series.  Too much to do just two hours but Obi-Wan would have been fun on the big screen.  I love Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan Kenobi.  Set after the prequels the Empire hasn't given up on chasing down jedi and of course Kenobi is big on the list.  If you haven't watched other series or the animated shows you'll be introduced to Inquisitors who aren't Sith but are force sensitve and hunt the Jedi.  Pretty cool characters.  Most characters you'd expect to be associated with Kenobi do make an appearance here to include a few surprises.  Some were only referenced but give us fans hope for future appearances.  I got where they were going with the show and enjoyed it.  Always small things you can knit pick but nothing that keeps me up at night.

1999 Inkworks Planet of the Apes Archives

1999 Planet of the Apes Archives: I'm a big fan of the Planet of the Apes including both the original movie series and the latest iteration.  A few of the early movies weren't that good but still a fun memory from my childhood.  They'd pop on TV from time to time and it made my week.  This is an iconic scene but I wish they had used a different shot from the scene.

Fun to see some of the renderings of what they came up with in initial designs for movies.  Each of the first two movies get 18 cards a piece while the final three have nine each in this set.

The base set is 90 cards.   I didn't pull any inserts but some of these are labeled like subsets like this In Production card.  I like the backs.  Decent color, design and write-up.  Nova...I may not remember that much about Beneath the Planet of the Apes but I remember Linda Harrison as Nova...for obvious reasons.  Autographs are possible as well but neither Charlton Heston nor Roddy McDowall were amongst those.

I admit that my memories of the sequels has waned as I don't watch those anymore.  They just aren't as good or do I have a real connection to them.  I saw the original many more times and I remember the series more than the sequels.  And when I see parts of the sequels it makes me in no hurry to rewatch them.  But these cards are still fun. I also enjoy the modern day takes on this franchise.

BREAKDOWN:
8 - Total Cards