2023 Topps Heritage Baseball

2023 Heritage:   Manny Machado has struggled this season, but he's been an excellent power hitter over his career.  

I somehow never picked any 2023 Heritage up last year.  Saw this reduced priced pack yesterday and couldn't resist.  This 1974 design isn't a bad one.  Wish they would have snuck in the team logo but otherwise I think it's solid.

Horizontal offering.  Yandy is also struggling at the plate after leading the league with a .330 batting average last year.

Youngsters from the pack.  Vaughn Grissom is now a Red Sox after being part of the trade that sent Chris Sale to the Braves.

Nice backs as well.  All the stats we want to see.

The 1974 Topps Baseball Stamps inserts include four past and present player stamps from each team and each stamp is individually numbered.

It felt like Heritage was getting away from the torso or head and shoulder shots on these.  I like that.  I think the action photos really work well and help mix it up.

I really like All-Star cards and these are a subset in Heritage.  I like the overall design and enjoy seeing the box score on the back.  Fun pack of cards and maybe I'll pick more of these up.

BREAKDOWN:
20 – Total Cards
2 – RC
1 – All-Star
1 - 1974 Topps Baseball Stamps

Random Wax: 2023-2024 Hoops

23-24 Hoops:  This guy is stoked for good reason.  No matter how this postseason turns out, Anthony Edwards will be looked at for how great a post season he had leading the T-Wolves this far in the playoffs.  And how he did it.  Really fun watching this guy and the defense Minnesota brings to the table.

Donvan Mitchell is also excited.  The Cavs have work to do but he really had another great season.  Lots of teams will be vying to trade for his services this offseason.

Brandon Miller had a really good year for the Hornets scoring 17 a game in Charlotte.

Nice Hoops Tribute card for Trae and LeBron.  Will Trae be a Hawk next season?  Will LeBron take his services elsewhere?  Odds are Young is playing somewhere else.  That Wiggins is a Teal Explosion Parallel.

Still not a fan of the Pure Players inserts.  And I go back and forth on those Dynamos.  It has potential but I don't know that, as is it's a winner for me.

Big fan of Brook Lopez and his brother.  Ok they won't win any Emmys anytime soon, but they are huge Star Wars fans.  Great pack of cards.  Plenty of star power and fun.

BREAKDOWN:

30 – Total Cards

4 – RC

2 – Hoops Tribute

1 - Dynamos

1 – Pure Players

1 – Arriving Now

1 – Teal Explosion Parallel

Swift Sword by Doyle Glass

Swift Sword: Another book I'd given my pop knowing I'd read it at some point.  He's always stated it was one of the best books he's ever read.   I get why.  The book details a rescue mission by Marines during the Vietnam war that goes horribly wrong.  That said, those Marines involved did a great job in holding off an enemy who vastly outnumbered them, and saved countless lives of the units involved.  Doyle Glass provides a great accounting of the battle and of the individual stories directly from those involved.   It's hard not to get sucked into the story while reading the book.  Rooting for the Marines and feeling heartbreak as instance after instance goes against them.  The many grim details are buoyed by those individual and group efforts that helped save the day from being worse.  I enjoyed talking about the book with pop after I read it.  His excitement about the book is something I don't see a lot.  It is a good read.  I will say look at the maps early.  They are presented later in the book but it really helps keep you oriented as it plays out.  

Random Wax: 2022 Donruss Football Holiday Blaster

2022 Donruss:  I always enjoy holiday boxes.  Unfortunately, Panini didn't add snow or holiday related bling to these.  Disappointed but I still appreciate the cards.  My all-time favorite player in the NFL kicks it off.  John Elway had a cannon for an arm and finished his career with two straight Championships.

I do like this design.  It's a little different but the photos are good.

Jermaine Johnson made the Pro Bowl this year.

Some great players in the league but Myles Garrett is the only player still with the same team.

We do get the Rookie Sweaters relic which gives us some holiday feels.  I like Franchise Futures and that Christian Watson is an Optic Rated Rookie Preview Red and Green Parallel.

Does feel like we only get the players in the photos.  Sometimes it's better when we can see an actual play as opposed to just the players in frame.

Donruss 2002 and 1992s throwbacks.  I do like the 2002 design though the player name is hard to read.

I love retired greats and we get some of the best here.  I love them and that's a big part of Donruss for me.  Great Warren Moon photo too.

BREAKDOWN:
90 – Total Cards
12 – Rated Rookie
10 – Retired Greats
1 – RC
1 – Donruss 2002
1 – Donruss 1992
1 – Franchise Future
1 – Rookie Holiday Sweater Relic
1 – Optic Rated Rookie Preview Red and Green

Topps Jaws 2 (2 Packs)

Jaws 2: At least locally plenty of pools are opening this weekend.  Jaws is an all-time favorite of mine and Jaws 2, in my opinion, is also a really good movie.  Hard to capture the same tone as the first Jaws but I do think this one is good.  Speaking of the star of the movie, he highlights this first card which is a nice painting depicting one of the scenes from movie.

Roy Schneider is back as the sheriff but he is in no mood to deal with another shark after his experience in the first movie.  I like the design here but the trademark information shouldn't be on the fronts.  Kind of lost as to why Topps thought this was a good idea.

Like many non-sports sets from Topps, some of the backs are pieces to a puzzle.  

I like the art mixed in with the screenshots on the fronts.  The backs that have movie facts provide some behind the scenes information.  That first card is one of the two stickers I pulled (one per pack).  

These cards almost align but not quite.  More good still shots showing key moments of action.

I feel the tension in these photos.  I actually purchased this pack as part of an eBay buy back in November, 2021.  No clue why it's taken me so long to post these.

Great way to help kick off the holiday weekend as many will take to the water.  We'll end it with another sticker and a great final shot from the movie showing off the sun setting.  Have a safe and fun weekend!

BREAKDOWN:
16 – Total Cards
2 – Stickers

1992 Score Pinnacle

1992 Pinnacle: I don't remember where I picked up this pack from January, but I think it was part of an eBay purchase?  Kirby and the Twins were coming off their second World Series Championship which they won against Atlanta in one of best World Series we've ever seen.

The basic design isn't overly great.  The borders take up too much room though the players do bleed into that space.  There's also the lack of a team logo.

Terry Pendleton was key to the Braves' turnaround and World Series appearance in 1991.  He was selected as the 1991 NL MVP.  The backs aren't bad.  Not enough stats but otherwise it does a pretty good job.  Probably not Terry's best photo he's ever taken.

I do like the Shades subset.  Strawberry was coming off his first season as a Dodger in what unfortunately would be his last season playing full-time.  He'd play eight more seasons but only played more than 63 games once.  Sidelines shows off player pursuits off the field.  Dwight Smith sang on opening day, 1991.  Cal Eldred went on to win 86 games in his career.

Kirby new how to take a photo.  I like that write-up.  "Barrel-chested" was appropriate.

Schooler had 30+ saves twice in his short six-year career.  Darryl Hamilton batted .291 for his career.  I would never have guessed that.  I didn't think that he was bad.  Just didn't know he was that good.

Smoltzy!  He was 2-11 before the All-Star break in 1991.  The Braves really did stick with him.

This was a fun pack of cards.  Plenty of memories and a good pull.  Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend!

BREAKDOWN: 16 – Total Cards
2 – Rookie Prospects
1 – Shades
1 – Sidelines

1995 Topps Widevision Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Empire Strikes Back Widevision:  Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back was released 24 years ago on this day.  It's still one of my favorite Star Wars movies if not my favorite.  It really took the story to new places and new levels.  This poster card is a favorite of mine.

Widevision is a favorite of mine.  I enjoy getting an entire photo as opposed to a smaller or cropped version of what we actually see on the screen.

The backs are great with a synopsis of the front photo and behind the scenes information including a different photo or art.

There are 144 cards in the set.  The majority of mine focus on Hoth but that's okay.  It was a favorite part of the movie for me.  But I really wanted to see a good AT-AT photo.  

I do own this set but widevision work well as bookmarks, so I don't hesitate to grab a pack when it is a good deal.  There are nine cards in each pack.

Another great photo.  I think they did a good job selecting scenes to step you through the movie.  For big Star Wars fans like me it's a fun opportunity to revisit all the great characters and moments that hooked us so many years ago.