2025 Favorite Cards and Action Figure

 

These favorite cards posts are one I look forward to every year.  This Eric Dickerson card takes top honors this year.  I really like the colors, the photo, it's a simple design, and the great look at Dickerson's eyes and goggles.  In June I posted this card and other Dickerson cards I got in a Eric Dickerson card lot on eBay.  There are a few good-looking cards in the lot.

This Giannis was close behind.  I thought this 2021-2022 Donruss card did a great job with the photo and subtle design elements making it feel like a show.  It was posted in March.

This 1992 Pro Set Racing card is one of Jeff Gordon's first cards and a big reason I picked up some packs to open.  It's very simple but a card I like.  This one was also posted in March.  

Cards found in this post are cards I posted in 2025.  I'll show of my favorite from each sport and non-sport as well as my favorite action figure.  Why I like them or choose them can be random and it doesn't matter if they are old or new.  

This cool looking card is from a 2024 Upper Deck Marvel Studios Series 2 Cinematic blaster that I also posted in March.  I like the retro lunchbox vibe, and the colors and design really work for me.  I like it.

This 2025 Topps Elly De La Cruz I showed off in August has a nice photo and framing.  A really good use of the horizontal cards from Topps.

This 2022-2023 Upper Deck Trevor Moore was in a June post.  I didn't post much hockey this year, but I kept coming back to this card.  It's the intensity of the bench players that really draws me in here.  Good job Upper Deck.

This Topps Chrome Rhea Ripley was posted in February.  Ripley is very photogenic, and this made for an easy pick.

This Baylan Skoll figure looks really good.  I posted him in May along with Shin Hati, both of the Ahsoka series.  He really captures the actor's looks and is a great addition to the collection.

These are so much fun. Everyone have a fun and safe New Year's Eve!

2023 Favorite Cards and Action Figure

I really enjoy doing these Favorite Card posts.   My only criteria for these are that I posted them on the blog in 2024.  They can be old, new, doesn't matter.  And why they are my favorite can be very random.  #1 this year goes to Carlos Correa on this 2020 Big League Baseball card.  The photo is what does it for me.  Only thing that could make it better is having the catcher involved but this one is still my favorite of 2024. That post is here.

This Kyle Petty card was so close to taking the top spot.  Mello Yellow, the hair, the colors.  It screams early nineties, and I love it.  This was part of a 2024 Donruss NASCAR post found here.

The photo, determination and focus of KAT, framing, design and colors really work for me on this card.  The 2022-2023 Hoops post can be found here.

Howie Long has a great football look to him.  That flat top is the icing on the cake.  Seeing him talking with baseball great George Brett in this photo is just too cool.  Combined with one of the all-time great designs this really is a great looking card.  The post can be found here.

This Jaws 2 card really does a good job of capturing the spirit of the Jaws movies. The design is nice, but it really is the artwork depicting a scene from the movie.  Watching the movie, you imagine the shark doing just what you see here in those frantic moments.  The post is here.

For the first time I didn't have any hockey or wrestling posts.  Just a casualty of budgets and focusing funds on other cards and collectibles.  But I am going to show off my favorite action figure from the year - this great looking McFarlane Alan Scott Green Lantern Platinum Edition Figure.  I'm a big Alan Scott fan and couldn't be happier with this figure.  Hoping to post enough action figures next year to have their own "favorite post".  The Alan Scott post with more photos of him are here.

I posted more on the blog this year than I ever have in years past.  I'm hoping to focus my collecting this next year, but I'll keep posting lots about cards and randomness.  Thanks to everyone who comes to my little world on the interwebs.  Have a safe and Happy New Year!

2023 Favorite Cards

Annual Favorite Cards:  Huge challenge for me this year as I look at my favorite cards from the year.  Cards shown today are from any blog post in 2023 no matter the year the card is from.  I'll show off my favorites from each sport as well as a non-sport entry.  Speaking of, this Stranger Things Upside Down insert is my favorite card of the year.  I know it doesn't scan well but I really like it. That combined with the fact Eddie is a character I really like from the show and this is maybe his shining moment in the series.  As such it gets the nod as #1 from 2023.  This one was appropriately posted in October.

I went back and forth between this one and Eddie for tops on the year.  This is from an April post of 2020-2021 Hoops.  I love the emotion and the photo.  There were other good cards to choose from but this card made it an easy choice as the best basketball card of the year.

This one barely edged two others competing for the top football card.  I really like the photo.  This is from 2021 Score which I posted in May.  In contrast to Saquon's athletic play, the player and coach in the background have no interest in what is going on.

Another card with great emotion, this Asuka card from a post in August is pretty cool.  The photo and emotion paint a great picture.  Not a surprise it is the #1 WWE card from the year.

In March I took a second look at 2021 Donruss NASCAR hobby box.  In the post I showcased this nice-looking Dominators insert of Brad Keselowski.  For winning the race, drivers receive a lobster which he shows off in the photo.  The mask he's wearing also takes us back to 2020 and the infamous look.  I like the look on this card and the lobster helping it be the #1 NASCAR card from the blog this year.

From a July post is this 2022 Juan Soto which has a nicely timed photo.  He's already celebrating with the bat flip while the fans and players watch the ball fly.

This '90-'91 Score Hockey card posted in October gets the top sport for the year in hockey.  I hope to post more hockey in 2024.  This card has cool photography magic going on.

Cards and the blog has been good to me this year.  Lots of fun.  I've gotten a little more organized and will continue to work on that in 2024.  I also hit 51 followers.  Not a lot to some but I'm very happy and very thankful for those who take the time.  Be safe tonight and have a Happy New Year!   

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!

2021 Favorite Cards

 It's that time of the year again where I agonize of my favorite cards of the year.  These can be cards I've featured on the blog no matter how I came about owning them.  This is always so much fun but is so hard.  This non-sport entry takes the top spot for 2021.  How can you beat Frankenstein smoking and taking a shot?  You can't!  This masterpiece was one of the Universal Monsters of the Silver Screen cards I showed off on Halloween.

Football was a tough call but I landed on this Retro Series Earl Campbell from a hanger box of 2020 Donruss Football. It's Earl Campbell, that Oiler uni, and the colors on this card all work so well for me. 

It's great when emotions are caught on cards.  In wrestling it may be a little more scripted but I truly believe these guys are loving the moment.  This 2019 Summerlam All-Stars card of Triple H flexing like a son of a gun is a great card.

This slick looking 1986 Throwback came out of a 2021 Topps Ronald Acuna Jr. tin.  You can feel Yadi in this photo.  That look.  A great player with great intensity.  The card itself looks really good with primary colors of the team name and his chest protector.  And the tats!  If you didn't know who Yadi was and saw this photo you'd want him behind the plate for your team.

This 2012 Press Pass Carl Edwards shows a young Carl Edwards.  Something about seeing him enjoy himself in a scene that would play out throughout his great career.  Him celebrating a win standing in the window of his car.

Upper Deck does photography so well.  I may not be a huge hockey fan but I love seeing their cards every year.  This year's top spot in hockey goes to Thatcher Demko on this 2020-2021 Upper Deck offering. 

 Everyone have a safe and Happy New Year!

2020 Favorite Cards

 This tradition I stole from the many other bloggers who do this but I love it.  It is also hard.  I really thought this would be easier this year but it definitely wasn't.  My favorite card of the year though has to be this one.  Denny Hamlin wearing a mask of himself.  It is a 2020 Prizm SP and one I pulled just this month but I love it.  I know it is easy to say "it is so 2020" but I like that he didn't take himself too seriously and it's creepy funny.  

I've wanted this card for a long time and when I was finally able to find one at a good price I was  excited.  During this speech David Ortiz famously stated "This is our ****king city" after thanking local first responders and officials for their response to the Boston Marathon bombing.  

Nique is my favorite all-time player and this card has always been one I like.  I happened to pull it this year from a pack from a pack lot sale.  Great photo and he is framed by Atlanta Hawks on the board in the background.  And you have to love the excitement of the fan in the background (bottom left)!

My favorite football card was so easy.  Nothing better than Drew Brees looking like a boss on this 2001 Upper Deck Vintage card.

This card was a no brainer.  Sandy (Olivia Newton-John) with her black leather coat and cigarette...gotta love it.  And who doesn't love the closing scene of Grease when we were all blow away by her transformation.  

This Sidney Crosby card has a great photo as it goes horizontal.  You see the intensity on his face and ya just have to figure it didn't end well for some poor goalie.

Asuka is a great WWE personality and I really liked this photo, and card design, as she celebrates her NXT Women's Championship in 2016.  Pulled this one in October from a 2017 WWE NXT Blaster.

Everyone have a safe and Happy New Year!

2019 Favorite Cards

Deciding on my favorite cards of the year was tough but determining my single most favorite of the year was easy - this Anfernee Simons card that came from Cards on Cards in February.  I love this card.  The emotion and background, which evoke playing ball on outside courts, are a big hit with me.

    This 2018-2019 Upper DeckMarc-Andre Fleury card came to me in a random pack in April.  Upper Deck really does hockey right and photos like this are a big reason why.

Baseball was much tougher to pick a winner but speaking of photos...this is a great shot of Atlanta Braves stud Freddie Freeman.  Emotion is always something fun when caught on film well.  This card came from a random pack of 2019 Stadium Club in September.

This Boba Fett came from a blaster of 2018 Star Wars Galaxy cards I opened in March.  I really enjoyed the box but this card is a great rendering of one of Star Wars' iconic characters.  I like this so much it was in the running for top card of the year.  As is, it is a solid #2 and my favorite non-sport card of 2019. 

  

I'm a big fan of the WWE Women's Division cards and this card is from a 2019 Blaster.  Not a flashy card but I like how the Women's division has been spotlighted and this is just a cool card to me and my favorite wrestling card of the year.

  

Another card where the photo sells it.  Snow cards are already a big plus and this one is just too cool with the snow being a prominent part of the picture, the white Colts' jerseys and the camera catching the look in the eyes of T.Y. Hilton.  This was from a random pack of 2018 Donruss Football back in May.

And last but not least this Dale Earnhardt Jr. is tops among my NASCAR pulls this year.  This great shot of Jr. looking all intense came from a pack of 2013 Press Pass in March.  This is a fun exercise I really enjoy.  It's fun looking back at posts from the year and even more fun, and tough, narrowing down my top cards. 

Everyone have a safe and Happy New Year.  I look forward to more fun with cards in 2020.