Random Wax: 2021 Topps Big League Baseball

2021 Big League Baseball:  How good is this dude?  Albert has had a really good last season as he marched to 700 home runs.  It's hard not to root for him and it was fun to watch.  He's been so good over his career.  You just have to overlook the rough patches with the Angels.

Great pull in this box.  I wasn't sold on this design to begin with but it's growing on me slowly.

A Rainbow Foil parallel #/199 kicks off these youngsters.

I always enjoy league leader cards and stolen base leaders are a fave of mine.

I really like the Wanted and Defensive Wizards inserts.  Both look really good.  I do wish Wanted had photos of the players robbing someone on defense.  Souvenirs isn't bad but doesn't blow me away.

I'm a fan of the backs. Nice color. They don't have all career stats so that is a negative if I'm looking for one.

Award Winners and Highlights are subsets in the set.

Fun pack of cards.  We'll end it where we started.  This Highlights card focuses on Albert passing Willie Mays with his 661st homer.

BREAKDOWN:

36 – Total Cards

4 – Leaders

3 – RC

3 – Orange Parallel

2 - Highlights

2 – Award Winners

1 – Wanted

1 – Souvenirs

1 – Defensive Wizards

1 – Rainbow Foil #/199

Random Wax: 2020-2021 Contenders Basketball

20-21 Contenders Basketball:  More from the fat pack lot I purchased last year.  This guy has been nothing short of special for the Dallas Mavericks.  He's only 22 and there are dreams of championships in Dallas if they can get a good supporting cast around him. 

KAT is excited to have a defensive presence in the lineup after the trade for Rudy Gobert.  The T-Wolves stunk it up on defense.  Should be fun to see how good they can be.  He is one of the best big men from long range and isn't talked about enough.  Two-time reigning MVP Nikola Jokic.  Crazy good and fun to watch.

Portland is hoping Nurkic can stay healthy.  They'll need him to be if they expect to make any kind of serious run.  Vassell had his best year averaging 12 points per game last season.

I like Buddy Hield.  He can flat out shoot it from deep.  He's in Indiana now and we'll see if he can take his game to the next level there.  Beal got a huge deal this off season from the Wizards.  Who is Ben Simmons?  A center?  There's rumors Brooklyn will try him there in kind of a Draymond Green type of way.  I'm not a fan of his but that has me intrigued especially if it works alongside KD and Kyrie.  I am a big Kawhi fan.  He's healthy and will start camp on time.  Hoping he can stay healthy all season and we can see what the Clippers are with him and Paul George.

  

BREAKDOWN:
22 – Total Cards
2 – 2020 Draft Class
1 – Red Parallel
1 – International Ticket
1 – Green Game Ticket Parallel

Random Wax: 2020 Illusions Football

2020 Illusions:  Picked up packs of this brand late last year and I'm finally getting around to posting another pack.  This guy got the big contract this year and Arizona fans will be expecting results.  The start of the season was a bit tough but overall this guy is one of the better quarterbacks in the league.  He just needs that to equate to more wins.

Good pull in this pack.  Hoping to see Ezekiel Elliott back to form this year after dealing with injuries of late.  As a whole I like Illusions as a brand though it goes against some of what I usually want on a card.

This Justin Herbert rookie is looking even better this year.  Fingers crossed his rib injury doesn't affect him too much.  Philly fans are hoping Jalen Hurts becomes the guy they need to have any chance of contending.  Not sure I'm sold on that but only time will tell.

I'm a big fan of Todd Gurley but wow did he fall quickly.  Still plenty of good memories for this guy. Even got to see him play for Atlanta for a hot second.  That Mystique insert is an acetate card.

I like good running backs and Henry is another beast when he has it going.  Mahomes is a great way to end it.  Overall a good pack of cards.  You'll see a parallel of that card whenever I get around to posting the next pack of these cards.

 

BREAKDOWN:
20 – Total Cards
8 – RC
2 – Orange Parallel
1 – Mystique

Random Wax: 2021 Topps Heritage Hanger Box

 2021 Heritage: One of those I picked up over a year ago.  I'm a big Arenado fan.  Only bad thing is he's a Cardinal now but I do get to hear more about him day-to-day on local sports radio.  He's having a great season - his best since 2019.  Dude continually brings it at the plate and in the field.

Topps went with their '72 design for this edition of Heritage.  Plenty of great players in this box and Ohtani may be the best of the lot.

Two greats in their own right but seemed a bit of an odd pairing.

This is the Candy Lid insert.  Always like seeing retired greats even on different inserts like this one.

All three of these guys are having good years again and probably in the exact same order even if they aren't at the top of the ERA leader board.

Dylan Carlson has struggled this year after having a good season in 2021.  White hasn't found any success at the major league level.

One of Tatis' few highlights of late.  I really like that dude and want him to come back strong after his suspension.  I know many will never look at him the same.

In Action cards which we've come to expect from Heritage.

Good box of cards.  My pull helps of course but modern stars in old designs can be a fun look.

BREAKDOWN:
35 – Total Cards
6 – In Action
4 – Rookie Stars
2 – Retired Greats
2 – League Leaders
1 – Rookies
1 – Postseason
1 – Candy Lids
1 – Then and Now
1 – Boyhood Photos of the Stars

Random Wax: 2020-2021 Mosaic Basketball

2020-2021 Mosaic:  This random pack of Mosaic showed up in my local Wal-Mart so I said what the heck.  If you're going to pull a green parallel Larry Bird is about as good a match for green as it gets.  Wasn't a big fan until after he retired but I'm all in on Larry Legend now.

Not a bad pull but definitely not one of my better ones from basketball packs.  Without Larry Bird I'd probably be a bit more disappointed.  The design is okay to me but not my favorite Mosaic.

James Wiseman is the most successful of these three but after being injured all last season he's got some work to do to find consistent minutes with the Warriors.

Don't ask me how this pink looking parallel is a "Camo Prizm" but they are.  Three come with these packs. Maybe camo has a definition I'm not aware of but I'm not looking it up.

Good pack of cards.  I won't seek these out but a random pack in my store seemed like something I couldn't pass up.  We'll end it with another hall of famer.  The inclusion of retired greats makes these that much more fun.

BREAKDOWN:

15 – Total Cards

4 – RC

3 – Camo Prizm

2 – All-Time Greats

1 – Elevate

1 – Green Parallel

  

Random Wax: 2021 Contenders Football

2021 Contenders:  Can't wait to see how Russell Wilson does with the Broncos. I really think he is "underrated".  Hard to say that as he gets plenty of hype. Hope he does well for Denver.

Jonathan Taylor was so good last year.  I hope he can do it again this season.  And some defensive love with a couple of studs.

Still thinking on the Chain Movers inserts while I'm a fan of the Gladiators inserts.  Wished they had a larger checklist for this insert than the 20 players they went with.  I am happy though they went with both current and retired greats. 

Plenty of color on the backs of these cards and with the photo it's a good back overall.

Keenan Allen has had 97 or more receptions in the last five seasons (100+ in four of those).  Dude is good. A fun pack of cards.  I like Contenders and while you can always wish for more pizzaz with this brand I'm good with it.  We'll end it with one of the top running backs of all-time Barry Sanders. I'd like to see what that card would look like with a color photo.  Might have worked well with the colors.

BREAKDOWN:
22 – Total Cards
1 – Gladiators
1 – Retired Great
1 – Chain Movers
1 – Emarald Parallel
1 – Legendary Contenders
1 – Rookie of the Year Contenders

Random Wax: 2021 Topps Archives Blaster

2021 Topps Archives:  A blaster I picked up last year but finally getting around to posting.  We'll kick off this box with three-time Cy Young award winner Max Scherzer.  Hard to find many pitchers at this point you would say are as good as this guy.  I don't want to give him too many props because he's currently on the New York Mets who are battling Atlanta in the N.L. East.  I may not root for this guy right now but I'm not sure I'd ever bet against him.

The mix of current and modern players and designs makes this a favorite brand of mine year in and year out.  This '62 design is fun seeing these modern greats on it.

The backs are just as fun as this '62 Joe Morgan shows.  As it also shows just how good he was.

Here we have two 2091 designs and a Mike Trout Floating Head.  These aren't my favorite designs but I won't complain about the star power.

Strasburg is once again battling injuries but was a huge part of that 2019 World Series Champion Nationals team in 2019 picking up the World Series MVP in the process.

I'm a huge fan of the Topps 2011 design so I really dig these cards.

Aaron Judge may well be the A.L. MVP this year with the monster year he is having at the plate.

Fun to look back at legendary careers like Gary Carter's.

I'm not sure Adrian Beltre gets enough love but this '83 design does him proud.  Good look. Bazooka Shining Star Andrew Vaughn is having an excellent year for the Chicago White Sox who have found a second wind of late.

Just wow...

This 2001 design isn't one I remember from back in the day but Deion makes it memorable. That was bad I know.  Fun box of cards.  We'll end it with this Poster insert showcasing black aces.  Plenty of greatness on this card.

BREAKDOWN:
56 – Total Cards
20 – Retired Greats
15 – RC
10 – 1962
10 - 1983
9 - 2001
6 – 1957
6 - 2011
5 – 1973
4 – 1991
3 – 2091
3 – 1989 Topps Big Foil
1 – Floating Heads
1 – Movie Poster
1 – Bazooka Shining Stars (1:6)