2022 Favorite Cards

I enjoy looking back at my favorite cards from the year.  I'll highlight my favorite from each sport.  These are cards I've shown on the blog this year.  The tops for the year was tough this go around but I kept coming back to this John Elway beauty.  I'm a big Elway fan.  This unfortunately was from when he dismantled my Falcons in the Super Bowl.  Still it is a great photo and I love the card.  It was featured in this 2021 Score Football post from January.

Lauren Taylor is an artist I've liked from the get-go and was very happy when these cards were released.  In the set were cards of herself and I loved this one and it's my top non-sports card of the year even if it is from a set of baseball cards.  You can see this and the other cards I picked up from the set here.

Doesn't work out often that you pull an auto of your favorite player or wrestler but that's exactly what happened with this 2021 Topps Women's Division hobby box I opened in April.  I really like Alexa Bliss and couldn't be happier with this green parallel auto numbered to 50.  Easily my favorite wrestling card of the year.

I was very excited to add an autograph of Yaz.  He is my favorite Red Sox player and was such a great player.  I took my time finding an auto I liked and went with this one which heads the list of my 2022 baseball cards.  The scan isn't that great and looks much better in hand.  1997 Donruss Significant Signatures Carl Yastrzemski

I really like this card.  It stood out among many.  Something about the colors, design and the photo.  This one was from a Hoops NBA Super Stars Collection you could purchase as a set containing 10 stars from the league. 

This 2021 Donruss I posted in June was just fun.  Ty Gibbs as a youngster though I'm not sure he looks any older today.  It was also somewhat prophetic as Ty Gibbs would go onto be a controversial driver in the NASCAR Xfinity series but won the championship while winning seven races.

I didn't do a great job of posting hockey this year but I really like this card.  A hockey player spiking a football?  That's a win.

Everyone have a safe and fun New Year!

2022 Topps Holiday Mega Box

2022 Topps Holiday:  Merry Christmas!  I hope Santa Claus is good to everyone.  Perfect time to show of my holiday mega box and this Rare Mookie Betts parallel.  Seems like I always pull a Christian Yelich SP in these boxes so a Mookie was a great surprise.

I'm fine with the design this year.  The snowflakes are big enough to let you know these are holiday cards but not too gaudy.  But gaudy is okay for the holidays as well.  Fun design I look forward to each year.  Get to see Soto in his Padres uni while Altuve is all smiles after winning his second World Series.

Plenty of rookies in this box including this Francisco Morales metallic parallel.  The snowflakes on those are slightly raised.

My game used relic which I assume is part of a uniform.

No issues with my pull.  There are 200 cards in this set so getting some good players shouldn't be that tough.

Not sure why they call these mega boxes when you get the same amount of cards as a blaster.  Some love for the Missouri teams here.

My ornament card which comes one per box.

That Anthony Rizzo is my SP pull.  Note the candy cane sleeves.

Fun box of cards and perfect for the holidays.  Have a Merry Christmas.

BREAKDOWN:
100 – Total Cards
38 – RC
5 – Metallic
2 – All-Star Rookie Cup
1 – SP
1 - Rare
1 - Relic
1 - Die-Cut MLB Ornament

Random Wax: 2020-2021 Hoops Basketball

20-21 Hoops:   I know I've been away this month.  I'll say the flu was the real deal.  Swept through our house and didn't want to go away but ready for Christmas.  Lots of great NBA this week and on Christmas day so we'll do a pack of Hoops.  Didn't really become a Garnett fan until after he retired but I do like this guy.  He was so good and combined with the cool SLAM insert this is a win and great way to start.

I always enjoy Hoops.  All three of these guys are having "bounce back" seasons in some way shape or form.  Actually picked this pack up in early 2021 and just now posting.  Always fun looking to go down memory lane.

Patrick Williams is the one player of this trio who has done well.  I think the Bulls would still like to see more from him but he has done okay.

No complaints with my pull.  Plenty of star power and a nice purple parallel of Embiid.

I really like these jersey swap cards.  Just fun moments and these are two of the brightest in the sport.  We'll end it with Dame who I love.  He's having another great year, just became the Trail Blazers all-time scorer and has Portland as the #7 seed in the West as it sits today.  I like the design on this card as well.

BREAKDOWN:
30 – Total Cards
6 – RC
1 – Jersey Swap
1 – Slam Magazine
1 – Frequent Flyers
1 – Purple Parallel

COMC Patrick Mahomes Pickups

Time to show off the Patrick Mahomes cards I picked up as part of that COMC purchase.  Only a few of them but I'm a big fan so I'm very happy with these.  This 2018 Contenders Draft Picks is a cool looking card with the Red Raider colors, uni and logo.

I like Contenders and this 2019 base design is my favorite.  Really like how they did the circle and logo.  I know that sounds simple, and maybe even dumb, but I dig it.  This MVP insert is also from the 2019 Contenders set and looks good.  I like full representations of helmets on cards.

Some wins here as I'm a big Mahomes fan and a fan of Texas Tech.  We'll finish it off with his 2017 Contenders Draft Picks Passing Grades insert.  Enjoy all the football today.  Chiefs take on the struggling Rams at home in a later afternoon game.

 

Deadpool Sport Ball! Set (2019 Upper Deck)

2019 UD Deadpool:  I've always liked these cards and picked them up as part of my COMC purchase this year.  These are great Deadpool takes on "famous" cards across different sports.  '89 UD Nolan Ryan starts us off.

This is an insert set in the 2019 Deadpool set.  Here you have the '89 UD Dale Murphy, '92 Upper Deck Shaq and '89 Fleer Billy Ripken.

The backs are simple but the stats and writeup are fun.

'87 Fleer Barry Bonds, 90-91 UD Jaromir Jagr, and 91-92 UD Hockey Pavel Bure.

More fun backs.

'89 UD Mark McGwire, '94 Collector's Choice Jose Canseco and '86 Fleer Mickey Hatcher.

'88 Fleer Tim Flannery and '84 Fleer Jay Johnstone.  Just some fun cards.  Really glad I picked these up.  Luckily, I'd selected these on COMC before pandemic prices made them more expensive.

BREAKDOWN:

SB1 1989 Upper Deck Baseball (Nolan Ryan)

SB2 1989 Upper Deck Baseball (Dale Murphy)

SB3 1992 Upper Deck Basketball (Shaquille O'Neal)

SB4 1989 Fleer Baseball (Billy Ripken)

SB5 1987 Fleer Baseball (Barry Bonds)

SB6 1990-1991 Upper Deck Hockey (Jaromir Jagr)

SB7 1991-1992 Upper Deck Hockey (Pavel Bure)

SB8 1989 Upper Deck Baseball (Mark McGwire)

SB9 1994 Collector's Choice Baseball (Jose Canseco)

SB10 1986 Fleer Baseball (Mickey Hatcher)

SB11 1988 Fleer Baseball (Tim Flannery)

SB12 1984 Fleer Baseball (Jay Johnstone)

Tales of the Jedi (Disney+)

Tales of the Jedi:  Happy Thanksgiving!  I'm a fan of the Star Wars animated offerings and this is another really good add.  You can watch the trailer here.  There are six short episodes (~15-20 min) that are focused on Ahsoka or Count Dooku as a Jedi.  All are good and provide insight into both characters which is great.  Star Wars has so many great stories to be told.  Not just of these two but all the Jedi.  We've seen so many in the prequels, books and other outlets and they have great stories ready to be told as well.  Highly recommend Tales of the Jedi.  I will say it isn't made for small children but for the rest of us they are a fun a watch.  Hope we see more like this in the soon.

COMC Damian Lillard Pickups

Damian Lillard:  I had a COMC purchase shipped earlier this year that included cards from across the card realm.  I had been saving the cards up for over a year before hitting the purchase button.  Today I'll show off my Dame cards.  Lots of good ones here.  He's having another good year but needs to get his shooting percentages up to get back to elite.  This NBA City card comes from the 18-19 Hoops set.  The dark colors work well with the Rip City uni he's wearing.  Sharp looking card.

I love me some Contenders and didn't hesitate grabbing these.  I really like the look of all three of these.

From the 17-18 Prestige set these Stars of the NBA cards are the base and Rain parallel designs.  The rain parallels really look good.

Going horizontal allows for some nice photos we don't always see on cards otherwise.  This Courtside from 18-19 Hoops is a nice photo of Dame turning the corner.

I like the "Kings" cards that Donruss does and this design is a good looking one.  Their All-Star set was plenty colorful but works for the most part. Looks like a photo from the actual game so I'd prefer seeing all of the in-game photo but I'm good with it overall.

This Court Kings doesn't have the classic feel to me but they can't all be winners.  Panini seemed to like the alternative unis which is fine with me.  All of the Portland jerseys have a good look to them.  We'll end it with another Contenders card.  I like that big logo.

Random Wax: 2020 Playoff Football Blaster

2020 Playoff Football:  Josh Allen and the Bills have had a good start to the year but losses from opponents within the division has given fans pause.  Allen has been dealt with some injuries as well but is still one of the top quarterbacks in the league.

Love the retired greats in this set.  Eric Dickerson and LT are favorites of mine while I always liked Andre Tippett as well.  All three also show off the unis of their teams that I like.

No issues with these guys either.  I actually purchased this right before Tom Terrific and the Bucs won the Super Bowl last year.  Yes, I've had this blaster that long and am just now getting around to posting it.

More retired greats so I'm in and I like the theme here.

More inserts.  Gardner Minshew had a hot moment where he and his hair were a thing.  And wow that Henry Ruggs card has an entirely new vibe to it after his DUI arrest in which someone died.  John Elway is an all-time favorite of mine.  Loved watching him sling it when I was younger.

My relic from the blaster.  Kmet had a really good year two last season with 60 receptions but has fallen off some this year.  The Bears offense seems to be a bit better of late so maybe his stats will see an uptick.

Overall this is a really good box.  No complaints here.  We'll end it with a nice-looking Chase Young card.  He's still recovering from injury but I'm hoping he can return to form when he gets back on the field. 

BREAKDOWN:
56 – Total Cards
8 – RC
7 – Retired Greats
2 – Rookie Wave
2 – Green Parallel
1 – Call to Arms
1 – Kickoff Parallel
1 – Behind the Numbers
1 – Thunder & Lightning
1 – Rookie Stallions Relic