Random Wax: 1990-1991 SkyBox Basketball (3 Packs)

90-91 SkyBox:  I don't want to go over the top with how good Tom Chambers was, but he was really good.  He was very athletic for a big man and fun to watch.  He topped 20 points per game five times in his career (2X over 25) and topped out at just over 8 rebounds per game one season for Phoenix.

Vlade Divac will forever be remembered as the guy who was traded for Kobe Bryant but he was a solid big man who averaged 11 points per game and 8 rebounds per game over his career.  All three of these would move into the front office (Vlade and Dumars) or coach (Doc) after their playing years.

Sean Elliott was an underrated shooter and embraced the three-point shot, shooting 37% for his career.

Great photos as always on the backs of the cards.  Mugsy looks like some player's kid who the team is letting play with a ball.

Some little man love.  I misspoke.  While Bogues was 5-3, Webb was 5-7, which is NBA short, but Michael Adams was 5-10.  While not tall in the NBA that isn't short.  He didn't look 5-10.  Just saying.

Cliff Robinson played all three positions in the front court during his career.  He played 18 seasons winning 6th Man of the Year once and was named to the All-Defensive team twice.  As always, these cards are great and the memories so much fun.

BREAKDOWN:
45 – Total Cards
2 – Checklist

Random Wax: 2024 Donruss Football

2024 Donruss:  I'm really hoping Michigan alum Aidan Hutchinson is healthy this season.  Detroit will need him after their offense lost offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.  Aidan only played 5 games but registered 7.5 sacks last year.

This design is very solid.  Not an all-time great but I'm good with it.  I'm a big Jonathan Taylor guy and he had another amazing year with 1400+ yards even though Indy couldn't figure out quarterback.

One of my blue parallels.

Retired greats and Curt Warner is a guy I always loved when I was young.  He twice rushed for over 1400 yards including his rookie season.

Fun pack of cards even if Taysom Hill is a curious option for Elite Series inserts.  

BREAKDOWN:

30 – Total Cards

4 – Rated Rookie

4 – Blue Parallels

3 – Retired Greats

1 – Elite Series

Random Wax: 2025 Topps Baseball Hanger Box

2025 Topps:  You don't have to like the Yankees or Aaron Judge, and I don't, but dang that guy can hit.  I can't believe he's already 33.  His Rookie of the Year was 2017 when he blasted 52 home runs.  And it's not all about the long ball.  Judge has a career .297 average and is batting ~.340 this year.  Amazing.

Devers was shockingly traded to the Giants this year after things went south in a hurry.  Crazy how things work out.  Boston is actually doing alright and are third in the wild card standings.

Bogaerts and Altuve are favorites of mine, so this is a fun pull for me.

Great photo on youngster Elly De La Cruz's horizontal card.  The speedster is having a great sophomore season.

Plenty of young players in these boxes.

My Pink Diamante Foil Parallel which drops 1:12 hanger boxes.  

I do like the All-Topps Team inserts.  I really like that look.  Anthony Rizzo on a Diamante Foil Parallel which is another good look.  And my 1990 Topps card which looks better on new cardboard.  Back in the day it didn't work for me for an entire set.

Fun checklist cad.

Some great photos.

I love League Leaders cards and this season we see the return of the actual numbers (stats) on the front as well.  Good job Topps, good job.

I really went all in on the hanger boxes for 2025 Topps.  It really felt like I had a solid pull each box and a good variety with the inserts and parallels.

Some more horizontal offerings.  Fun Luis Castillo card.

Corbin Carroll has found some extra power this season and still has speed, but he has work to do on his average.  He's a favorite of mine and I'm rooting for him.  We'll end it with this Stars of MLB grouping.

BREAKDOWN:
59 – Total Cards
11 – RC
125 – Future Stars
4 – Stars of MLB
3 – Checklist
1 - Diamante Foil
1 – All Topps Team
1 – League Leaders
1 - Pink Diamante Foil (1:12 Hanger Boxes)
1 – 1990 Topps Baseball
1 – Topps All-Star Rookie Cup

1982 Donruss M*A*S*H

1982 Donruss M*A*S*H:  Klinger and Colonel Potter, two of the mainstays of the M*A*S*H TV series that ran for 11 seasons.  

I'm a big fan of this series.  I grew up watching the series during its run as well as reruns that were on TV after school.  And it was rerun a lot, as it seemed to be one of the first television series that dominated that cable market.  But I never got tired of it.  I even purchased the M*A*S*H - Martinis and Medicine Complete Collection (DVD) while serving in Korea and watched a good part of it again there.

The design on this set is pretty simple and fine to me.  I really thought they would have gone with an army green color for the borders and the yellow lettering synonymous with the opening credits.  The backs are parts of puzzles which we see a lot with non-sport cards from the era.   

Looks like M*A*S*H is streaming on Hulu.  It's on my list of series I want to rewatch beginning to end.  So many memories.  I really enjoyed this show and when I see episodes on MeTV it feels like it's still relevant.  Lots of adult content which went right over my head as a kid but I got more and more the more I watched.  It was just fun while balancing some heavy messages.  Good memories.  

BREAKDOWN:
6 - Total Cards

Random Wax: 2024 Donruss NASCAR Hobby Box - 6 Packs

2024 NASCAR:  Kyle Larson is in the midst of a mid-season slump, but he already has three wins this year and is probably still looked at as the best all-around driver in NASCAR.  He's also the 2021 NASCAR Champion.

Bubba is fighting for his playoff life right.  He's one of my favorite drivers.  Jeff Burton is retired and an announcer now but having retired greats in these sets is something I really enjoy.  Chastain has won a race and is in the playoffs.  I'm not a fan of the '91 Donruss design but I do like it better on parallels like the Blue Parallel.

Denny Hamlin is having a great year with three wins, and many are hoping he'll get his first championship.  I'd be fine with that.  I think he's one of the few great personalities in the sport which it is lacking right now.  The photo is too small here but overall, I like the design on Burning Rubber.

The Retro Series inserts are fun and od have a retro vibe to them.  Bill Elliott (retired legend) drove with McDonald's as his sponsor for a really long time.  I like the 2024 Race Kings.  Plenty of color and while the driver is really prominent, we also get to see his car.

These Picture-Perfect Victory cards are a fun way to highlight wins by the drivers.

Here we see the standard 2024 Donruss design utilized. It's okay but again the extra color on the Purple Parallel #/99 looks better.  I really like the Cole Custer photo.

I like how the Production Line inserts highlight how many times a driver has won the championship and overall is a good-looking card.

One optic card per pack.  That Erik Jones card is a Black Velocity Parallel #/39.

These car photo cards are good.  I like them but I do wish we could see them in other spots other than just on the track alone.  I know it's limited what they can do when taking photos of cars but I think there is room for variety.

Dominators inserts don't scream dominator to me.  Feels like they could have done more.

I like Unleashed.  As always, I wish there was more variety in the animals behind the driver.  They are the same on every card.

Fun packs of cards.  I still haven't decided if I'll pick up a 2025 hobby box this year.  I'm reevaluating my collecting so it's still TBD.  We'll end it with my favorite driver in NASCAR, Kyle Busch in a nice photo.

BREAKDOWN:
48 – Total Cards
15 – Retro ‘91
8 – Retired Greats
6 – Optic
4 – Red and Blue Parallel
3 – Cars
2 – Retro Series
1 - Unleashed
1 – Race Kings
1 – Dominators
1 – Rated Rookie
1 – Base Variation
1 – Burning Rubber
1 – Production Line
1 - Red Xplosion #/99
1 – Blue Parallel #/199
1 – Purple Parallel #/99
1 – Black Velocity Parallel #/39

1996 Topps DragonHeart Widevision

1996 Topps Dragonheart:  The movie Dragonheart was one I really enjoyed back in the day.  This movie got the widevision treatment in 1996 and I'm glad it did.  This is a great shot of Draco.

Here we have Dennis Quaid who played the main character, Bowen.  The fronts are great.  It's very simple and plenty of room for screen grabs.  I really like this photo.

Hard to tell but these are the scales of Draco, voiced by Sean Connery.  Really good cast in this movie.

In 1996, the graphics were a big win.  We hadn't seen dragons look this good and he was a main character you saw plenty of whether it was in the distance or close up.

There were a total of 6 cards in this pack.

I really like the backs which give us a storyboard and details on the photo we see.

I like this card even though I'm not sure why it's so blurry.  Maybe it was on promo materials?  Don't know.  But these were still a fun trip down memory lane.