Random Wax: 2020-2021 Hoops Basketball Winter Blaster

 2020-2021 Hoops Basketball:  Donovan Mitchell is sooo good.  Problem is most folks don't think about him when they think of the top players in the league.  Part of that might be due to playing in Utah and the fact they haven't gotten by past the semis in their recent run of five straight appearances in the playoffs.  Wasn't this guys fault.  This year's he averaging 25 points per game and has averaged 23 points for his career.  And he is only 25.

This is the winter version of Hoops but it's way too subtle.  They don't need to go all Topps Christmas on the design but you can barely see the snow flakes on these.  And why not make it more pronounced?

If you are going to call this a vanity plate make it a little gaudy.  Hoops could can done so much more with these inserts.  A play on their name or nickname.  Special photo.  State outline/background.  Something.

Looking back at that Harden card, one it is a great shot and two who woulda thunk he'd be on his second team since being on the Rockets.  Dame!

The Rookie Sweater Relic is the hit for these blasters.  Xavier Tillman hasn't found his footing for Memphis though the Grizzlies have made a huge leap forward this year and are currently third in the Western Conference.

Frequent Flyers is good looking insert but the Slam magazine inserts are my favorite as they are for many collectors.  The Arriving Now inserts fall short though for me though.

I like these inserts.  You get some diverse players and it's fun seeing them have fun with something like a jersey swap.

I sure hope James Wiseman becomes something.  It feels like I pulled a ton of his cards.  Fun box of cards.  The pull may not be one of my best overall but still lots of cards I'm very happy about.

BREAKDOWN:
88 – Total Cards
23 – RC
2 – Vanity Plates
2 – Slam Magazine
2 – Purple Parallel
2 – Lights Camera Action
1 – Frequent Flyers
1 – Jersey Swap
1 – Arriving Now
1 – Frequent Flyers
1 – Rookie Sweaters

Random Wax: 2020-2021 Hoops Basketball Winter Blaster

2020-2021 Hoops:  Hoping Milwaukee can close things out tonight but in no way am I counting the Suns out of this thing.  Back in March it felt like I hit the lottery when I found these on the shelves.  At the time of my first post I didn't even know I had the winter Hoops cards...heck I didn't even know there was a winter version.  Love this Jimmy Butler photo.

Great pull here.  Was really excited to grab a Lillard.  That Harden photo is pretty cool too.

My rookie pull was headlined by LeMelo who won Rookie of the Year for his fine season.  I thought Anthony Edwards might sneak in and pull it off but it wasn't to be.  Williams had a good year for the Bulls and Haliburton looks to be an up and comer after a really nice year with the Kings.

I think these are pretty cool inserts.  We don't see it on the court all the time but these guys have lots of love for each other and at the end of the day most are big fans of the game just like us. 

Lights Camera Action is a favorite insert from the set.  

Rookie Sweater Relics and autos are possible in the blasters and I pulled this relic.  Avdija averaged six points and 4 boards a game in his rookie season.

It's great to see Khris Middleton get some props during the Finals.  He really is a good second to Giannis.  He can handle the ball and has a sweet shot.

Ja Morant had a good second season in the NBA.  I'm sure everyone would like to see him get better shooting the three but he's still a star on the rise.

Simmons may have to get new plates if he is traded this offseason though his shooting woes and salary will make him tough to move.  Love these Slam inserts.  I'm really wanting to collect the set but the current prices make that a tough road to hoe.  We'll see.  This was a fun box.  Go Bucks!

BREAKDOWN: 
88 – Total Cards
22 – RC
3 – Lights Camera Action
2 – Frequent Flyers
2 – Purple Parallel
1 – Jersey Swap
1 – Arriving Now
1 – Vanity Plates
1 – Slam Magazine
1 – Rookie Sweaters

2020-2021 Hoops Winter Blaster

2020-2021 Hoops: I'd missed out on these the first time my small town Wal-Mart had them two weeks ago.  Nothing new on the shelves Friday night when I went for something else.  Then yesterday morning there was Hoops and NFL Optic which I passed on.  I didn't take all the Hoops but so glad I did grab some as by the time I checked out all the Hoops and NFL were gone leaving only baseball and hockey.  I'm very happy to get these.  I love the NBA and basketball but was resigned to not getting to buy any of these outside of picking up singles or team sets.  These are just in time for the NBA All-Star Game tonight.  To the cards and we'll start here with King James!

The design isn't too bad though the borders take up quite a bit of room.  Maybe let the team colors come down the one side or the other would have been good too.  I'm happy overall with the photos though and I can live with any issues I have with the design.

Plenty of rookies in the blasters and I pulled three of the top five in scoring this year.  Ball is the most impressive so far and looks right at home in the NBA.  I really wasn't high on him but once again I prove why I'm not a GM.

These inserts are a bit bland for me.  They're not bad and probably hit the mark for a vanity plate but I'd think vanity plates for these guys could be more.

I love the Slam magazine inserts.  I got quite a few from everything I busted and may look at completing the set.  I know that may not be cheap so don't hold me to it.  Arriving Now is another opportunity to showcase rookies but I'm not feeling it.  The background does nothing for me.  

Each blaster have a relic or auto and I pulled Rookie Sweater relics in each of mine.  They're okay but not exciting.  Killian Hayes is still finding his way with Detroit only averaging 4.6 points per game.

The backs are the standard boring black and white we are accustomed to with Hoops.  

I like the Lights Camera Action design for this year.  That star is cool and in my mind gives more hype to the stars on the card.  Frequent Flyers isn't bad but the ticket and title could have been smaller.  Nice Westbrook photo.

The jersey swap cards are simple but work.  This is somewhat new in the sports world and I'm good putting it on cardboard.  Was this fun?  Heck yeah.  It was great finding these in the wild and I was like a kid ripping them when I got home.  A good pull, design and variety helped make it fun.  I'll show off the rest of the packs and blasters I picked up over time.  Enjoy the game and festivities tonight.

BREAKDOWN:
88 – Total Cards
23 – RC
2 – Vanity Plates
2 – Slam Magazines
2 – Lights Camera Action
1 – Jersey Swap
1 – Arriving Now
1 – Purple Parallel
1 – Frequent Flyers
1 – Rookie Sweaters