Random Wax: 2021-2022 Chronicles Basketball

21-22 Chronicles:  Dame and the Bucks struggled this past season.  While I hated seeing him leave Portland I do hope him and Giannis figure it out.  Minnesota struggled their first year with Gobert so there is hope year one was just a bump in the road.  Dame also had a slightly better second half of the season which gives Milwaukee fans hope.

Solid pull of veterans in this pack.  Jaylen Brown looks that much better than he already did when I purchased this pack in 2022.  Since then, he's added an NBA Championship and a max contract (5yr/$304M) to his resume.

Plenty of different designs in this set.  That Playbook design is one I like even without a logo.

Cade Cunningham also got a max deal this offseason, albeit a max rookie extension (5yr/$224M).  Feels like if Golden State was truly all in, they'd be fine trading their young talent including Moses Moody.    

Solid Phoenix design on that Davion Mitchell card.  He was recently traded to Toronto.  Bones Hyland is now with the Clippers who need all the help they can get now that Paul George is gone.

Cade Cunningham hot pack?  Atlanta Hawks' management didn't return my calls and Trae Young is still on the team.  We'll see if they can get better, but this offseason didn't show a path that makes that happen.

BREAKDOWN:

30 – Total Cards

23 – RC

6 – Chronicles

4 - Score

4 – Green Parallel

3 – Playoffs

3 – Absolute

3 - Luminance

2 - XR

2 – Threads

2 – Prestige

1 – Crusade

1 – Phoenix

1 – Marquee

1 - Essentials

1 – Red Parallel

1 – Rated Rookie

Random Wax: 2021-2022 Chronicles Basketball Blaster

21-22 Chronicles:  The play-in tournament, which I really don't like, starts today.  Atlanta will play in Chicago.  The Hawks aren't good but maybe they can beat the Bulls.  Fingers crossed, but I'm not putting money on it.

Great veteran pull in this box.  Tatum and the Celtics are by far the class of the Eastern Conference while Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokic are in the top three of the Western Conference.  Chronicles base design here.

Chronicles is really all about the rookies.  Cam Thomas and Jalen Green are really good players in the league.  Cam is averaging 22+ points per game this season.

Plenty of variety as well in this set.  I like this Playbook design.  Cade is another star that came out of this draft.  Just needs to stay healthy.

Big man Alperen Sengun has had a breakout season with the Rockets averaging 21 points per game and almost 10 rebounds per game.

Nice LeBron sighting on this Marquee card which is a design I like.

Davion Mitchell and Scottie Barnes are solid players in the league and I like that Elite design.

More greats from the league.  Absolute is another solid design for me.  Really enjoyed this box of cards.  Great pull and you don't get bored.

BREAKDOWN:
42 – Total Cards
29 – RC
6 - Absolute
6 – Chronicles
5 – Essentials
4 – Playbook
4 - Luminance
4 – Pink Parallel
4 – Rookies & Stars
3 – XR
3 - Prestige
3 – Marquee
2 – Panini Threads
1 – Crusade

Random Wax: 2021-2022 Chronicles Basketball with Auto

21-22 Chronicles:  Trae Young is out with injury but Atlanta is doing well including a big OT win over Boston last week.  I'll try not to read too much into that but the fit with Dejounte Murray in the backcourt has always been suspect.

This set is mostly about the rookies and has tons of variety.  Keldon Johnson has done well averaging 16 points per game for his career in San Antonio.

Franz Wagner, Michigan alum, has done better than I expected and is averaging almost 20 points per game this season.  Just needs to improve his three-point shot.  Marquee and Crusade are designs I like.

Suggs is solid as is that Score design.

Can't wait for LaMelo to get healthy and see what he can do for the Hornets.  They've got a true rebuild going but he's a solid start as is Brandon Miller.

You probably got excited about seeing an auto was in this pack and so was I.  I opened this pack in 2022 but T.J. Warren was coming off a severe injury and never could regain the momentum he had in the early part of his career.  I like the Essentials design on that Ball card.

Playbook is another design I like.  We'll end it LeBron who's having another great year.  I think I heard he received his AARP card this week.  I kid but it's amazing he can still do what he does at 39.

BREAKDOWN:
30 – Total Cards
24 – RC
5 – Absolute
4 – Score
4 - Threads
4 - Chronicles
4 – Green Parallel
2 – XR
2 – Prestige
2 - Playbook
2 - Luminance
1 – Prizm
1 - Crusade
1 - Marquee
1 – Duplicate
1 – Essentials
1 – Airborne Signatures Red Parallel 

Random Wax: 2021-2022 Chronicles Basketball

21-22 Chronicles:  This is a fun set. I really like this card of Dame.  Unfortunately, he's a Milwaukee Buck now but I'll always have the memories. And his Trail Blazer shirzee.

Chronicles always has lots of variety and youngsters but we'll kick it off with the base design and some veterans.  Tyrese Haliburton is having a great season for the Pacers.  He was part of the trade that sent Domantas Sabonis to the Kings.

Scottie Barnes is averaging almost 20PPG and 10RPG for the Raptors as he's taken on a bigger role with the team.

Like I said, plenty of young players in this set.

Suggs is a solid player for the surprising Orlando Magic.  Maybe it shouldn't be a surprise with all the nice young talent they've accrued through the draft over the past few seasons.

Fun pack and a great pull in my opinion. De'Aaron Fox is having a terrific season for the Kings,  Averaging 30 PPG and 6+ APG.

BREAKDOWN:
30 – Total Cards
20 – RC
5 – Base
4 – Score
4 – Luminance
3 – Threads
3 - Absolute
3 – Playbook
3 – Green Parallel
2 - Prestige
2 – Marquee
1 – XR
1 – Honors
1 – Crusade
1 – Essentials

Random Wax: 2021-2022 Chronicles Basketball

 21-22 Chronicles: Who is Ja Morant this season?  We know he'll sit out the first 25 games of the season. Memphis won 51 games last season but lost in the first round to the LA Lakers without Morant.  I'm not a big Morant guy but he's an amazing basketball player and the league's better with him on the court free of off court distractions.  Fingers crossed that is the Morant we get this next season.

So much variety in these packs and this one packed a punch when it came to star power. I'm not complaining.  Three of the NBA's best here and you can make the argument that these are top 5 amongst today's players.

Chronicles though is about the youngsters.  Twenty-two of the pack's cards are RCs. Cunningham was looking so good before injury took him out last season.  Hopefully he can make a full comeback.  Trendon Watford has been solid as a Trail Blazer averaging 7.5 points in his first two seasons in Portland. 

Three solid young players here.

Scottie Barnes and Bones Hyland have both carved out niches on their teams.  Barnes probably has more upside and should see his roll increase with VanVleet moving on.  He needs to get better shooting from deep but he has potential.

Austin Reaves had a breakout year in LA and got a really good contract to match his output.

This was a good pack of cards.  The veteran star power is great and the variety adds to the fun.  Camps start soon and the season is just around the corner.  I'm excited.

BREAKDOWN:

30 – Total Cards

22 – RC

6 – Chronicles

4 - Score

4 – Playbook

3 – Luminance

2 – XR

2 - Threads

2 - Prestige

2 –Absolute

2 - Marquee

1 – Honors

1 – Phoenix

1 – Donruss Rated Rookie

Random Wax: 2021-2022 Chronicles Basketball

21-22 Chronicles:  March Madness comes to an end tonight as a new champion will be crowned.  So basketball is the flavor of the day.  We'll kick off this Chronicles pack with a guy who knows something about championships.  Lakers should at least be in the play in playoffs so we'll see some extra games with LeBron and company.  James is 38 years-old but he is playing like a 20 something this season.  Doubt the Lakers make any waves but nothing wrong with more games with this guy.

So much variety here makes it hard to get bored.  We see the base design as well as Essentials and XR offerings.  I like the Essentials cards which is also what LeBron is featured on.  The base Chronicles design is okay too but needs a logo.  That Giannis is the first of two pink parallels of the Milwaukee star I pulled in this pack.

Hyland and Grimes are doing alright but big man Evan Mobley is doing really well for the Cleveland Cavaliers who are contenders in the Eastern Conference.  Of these "shiny" offerings I like the Crusade design the best.

Detroit star Cad Cunningham had his season derailed by injuries while Scottie Barnes didn't take his game to the next level as many expected after a solid rookie season last year.  Kuminga, meanwhile, is a solid big coming off the bench for the Warriors.  I like the Playbook design.

Absolute are nice looking cards while Threads and Rookies & Stars are so-so for me.  

Prestige had way too much white in their design which was an eyesore on the football cards as well.  Injuries doomed LaMelo and the Hornets this year while Zach Lavine and the Bulls are one of the league's most disappointing teams.

Look at the star power here.  Embiid, Jokic and Giannis are the consensus top three in the running for MVP.  I go with Jokic.  No slight to the others but wow he is amazing to watch.  Voting could go either way as you have to wonder if voters will have Jokic fatigue after he won the MVP the last two seasons.

BREAKDOWN:

42 – Total Cards

32 - RC

7 – Chronicles

6 – Pink Parallel

5 - Absolute

4 – Prestige

4 - Playbook

4 – Marquee

4 – Rookie & Stars

3 – XR

3 - Threads

3 - Essentials

3 – Luminance

1 – Crusade

Random Wax: 2021-2022 Chronicles Basketball Blaster

21-22 Chronicles Basketball:  We'll kick this one off with a green parallel of Trae Young.  He's having another good year but his shooting is not what we are used to seeing from him.  Still the Hawks are doing well and the addition of Dejounte Murray has been a very good thing so far for the Hawks.

No complaints with my pull in this pack.  That Harden is a green parallel.  Dallas and Philly are struggling but the Grizzlies are doing really well again this season with Ja Morant a huge reason why.

Lots of youngsters in these packs.  

This is a good set.  Plenty of variety.  You won't get bored here.  

I like both of these designs with Playbook my favorite of these two.

I really like Essentials.  XR is a pretty good card as well. We'll end it with one of the league's best and a nice-looking Hometown Heroes card.

BREAKDOWN:

30 – Total Cards

21 – RC

5 – Chronicles

4 – Score

3 - Prestige

3 - Playbook

3 – Absolute

3 – Luminance

3 – Green Parallel

2 – XR

2 - Threads

2 – Essentials

1 – Optic Chrome

1 – Hometown Heroes

1 – Donruss Rated Rookie