September Affordable Break @ Cardboard Collections

Another great affordable break by Colbey over at Cardboard Collections.  This month's break included a box each of the 1991, 1992, and 1992 O-Pee-Chee Premier Baseball.  The Braves and Red Sox were already taken so I went with the Houston Astros with my second random team being the Mets.  I was a bit disappointed at first with the Mets but upon receiving my cards realized how many great players were on those teams.  I was very happy with the Astros include some great cards of what was to become an excellent team.  Colbey also threw in some Braves players for me which was a great surprise.  He does a wonderful job with these breaks and I suggest everyone give 'em a try (though I do believe this was the last one for this year).

  This Astros team was still young but it wouldn't be long before these young players would form the base of a team that would go to the playoffs six out of nine seasons and would make one World Series appearance.

Head shots aren't always that fun but you have to like this one of Doug Jones.

Again, plenty of star power from these Mets' teams.

More Braves and Murph!  My favorite design of the three was definitely the 1993 design.  Nice O-Pee-Chee logo and design overall.  The backs of all the cards are nice with plenty of color and a different color photo from the front.  I look forward to more breaks next year.  Colbey comes up with some fun boxes.

Random Wax: 2018 Score Football

I know, more 2018 Score football?  I'm just enjoying these cards and I like the variety as well as the values.  This pack had plenty of inserts and lots of Gronk.  Speaking of, I really like this Rob Gronkowski card.   

Outside of the three Gronk cards I again didn't grab any of the big name quarterbacks, something that has been pretty consistent with my Score pulls this year.  I love Gronk so I'm not complaining.

These Captains cards are my favorite inserts from this set.  Enjoyed seeing a Georgia Bulldog sporting his college uni.  While Carlos Hyde has gotten the bulk of the carries for Cleveland so far, I expect Nick Chubb to start gaining more carries as the season progresses.  Saquon Barkley, on a red parallel card, is expected to be a premier runner someday though I hope the bad offensive line/offense the Giants have doesn't keep him from reaching his potential someday.  

Plenty of  inserts in this pack which keeps you from getting bored.  I'm good with the idea of the Sidelines card but man it seems you can get a more interesting pic than guys just standing there. 

BREAKDOWN:

40 – Cards

8 – RC (1 Red Parallel, 1 Scorecard Parallel)

3 – Captains

2 – Signal Callers

1 – Sidelines

1 – Color Rush

1 – Scoreboard

1 – Huddle Up

1 – All-Hands Team

1 – 2018 Draft

1 – Fantasy Stars

2018 Panini Contenders Draft Picks Football Blaster Box

I love these cards.  The Contenders brand across the sports has really grown on me over the years and I'm really digging this set 2018 Contenders Draft Picks football.  Each blaster has two autographs but I pulled one autograph and 150 Panini Rewards Points.  I would have rather had the second auto just to have a shot at a bigger name player.  Still I'll use the points for something and let everyone know what that ended up being.  It is fun seeing greats from my college teams (above) in this format.  

A huge draw for me is the retired legends included in this set.  These are only a few of the many I pulled.  This photo is too Sooner heavy but I am excited about getting this Marcus Dupree card and over the years I've come to like Brian Bosworth.  Interviews/docs have shown he has is just a man who was young once.  Not perfect by any means but still.  And who doesn't like Roger Staubach?!

Plenty of current stars as well.  It is great seeing players in their college unis.  The design this year is similar to last year's pro offering but quite a bit different from the draft picks cards.  The backs are fairly simple but the great colors and full bleed version of the front photo are still nice.  

 Some more great young stars from the league...though in retrospect I have no idea why I put  Foreman in here.   I'm definitely going to grab more of these.  Can't wait to see more of these cards.

 Inserts included Collegiate Connections and a Game Day Ticket.  The aforementioned autograph is tight end DeAndre Goolsby, a Jaguar, he has yet to play a down in the league. 

BREAKDOWN:

42 – Total Cards

20 – Retired Greats

2 – Game Day Ticket

1 – School Colors

1 – Old School Colors

1 – Collegiate Connections

1 – College Ticket Autograph

1 – Panini Rewards Points (150)

Atlanta Braves vs Los Angeles Dodgers (NLDS)

I would rather the Braves have home field advantage against the Los Angeles Dodgers but I still think they have a good shot in the NLDS series.  The Braves were actually better on the road and luckily they won't see Clayton Kershaw until game two.  It'll be interesting if the Atlanta pitchers can solve them and how does manager Brian Snitker handle this team in his first take at managing the Braves in the playoffs.   

My big concern is Atlanta isn't good against good teams. Luckily the NL East was bad this year but in the playoffs there won't be any Miami Marlins or Philadelphia Phillies teams to beat up on.  Still Atlanta is a good team with a bunch of offensive weapons.  You don't luck in to 90 wins.  This team has such exciting young talent and I'm hoping they'll keep it going in the playoffs.  This season has been such fun watching these young guys produce.  If the offense keeps hitting and the pitching can step up I think they can compete with anyone they match up against.  Go Bravos!

Random Wax: 2018 Topps Opening Day Baseball

The playoffs start today so some 2018 Opening Day is on tap.

 Another Ohtani card but you can't have too many of these.  I like that Bryce Harper card.  Rosie Red is a bit creepy but I'll just roll with it.  

There is a decent selection of vets and young players in this pack including stud Chris Sale who I hope is all ready to go for the Sox who are one of the big favorites going into the playoffs.

As always Topps offers up nice photos for their cards.

BREAKDOWN:

24 – Total Cards

3 – RC

1 – All-Star Rookie

1 – Mascot

1 – Before Opening Day

1 – Team Traditions & Celebrations

Random Wax: 2016 Panini Football

This pack of 2016 Panini Football was a lot of fun.  I found it at a reduced price at the local Wal-Mart.  The John Elway Decorated insert is great.  It shows him in the Bronco's orange uniform he wore for a large part of his career.  I've always been a huge fan and it is fun finding cards of his.  This one is particularly nice.  It is a good looking card and a nice photo.

  Seemed to be plenty of star power in this set.  This Antonio Brown card is a Templar foil parallel.  Tough to tell in the photo I know and believe me it is way too much work to figure out what a Chainmail Armor, Knight's Templar, or Shining Armor parallel is.  They aren't numbered so it takes some work.  It shouldn't be that tough.

That Cowboys uniform is probably my favorite though the blue Cowboys jersey, though I'm in the minority on them, are also a big favorite.  The borders take up a bit much of these cards but there is still a aesthetic here that I like even if the design is a bit overdone.

Darius Jackson has yet to play in the NFL but he is from where I live which is great.  I've been picking up his cards as I can but it is nice getting a parallel of one right out of a pack.  Come to think of it, this is the first of his I've pulled.  Sweet.  I like this Knight School card from Jared Goff.

BREAKDOWN:

20 – Total Cards

3 – RC

2 – Templar Foil

1 – Retired Great

1 – Decorated

Darrell "Bubba" Wallace Jr. 1:24 Chevrolet Camaro

Though I don't talk about it much I do follow NASCAR.  It is tough to watch as many races as I'd like but I'm always talking to my pop about the sport which helps.  I don't have much 1:24 scale but I do have some of the Air Force sponsored cars which I've always followed just due to my time in the service.  This year rookie Darrell "Bubba" Wallace Jr. got me excited so I ordered this car way back in January.

Wallace is only 27th in the standings through 28 races but still he is an up and comer so I'm hoping for better results in the future.  His best finish was his 2nd at the Daytona 500, the first, and most prestigious race of the year.

This car has the standard paint finish.  I really like the details on the cars.  This one is still on the base but a few screws will free it or it can be left there.  While you can order cars early in the year, most aren't produced until later in the year.  Some are actually never produced due to lack of demand or other reasons.  This one arrived late last month.

There is also a Daytona raced version that is planned.  This will include the dents, scratches and tire marks incurred during the race.  If I'd waited a bit I might have gone with that version instead of this one.  Doesn't mean I won't add it as well sometime.  The 1:24 cost approximately $55 and the 1:64 $10.

I also grabbed the 1:64 scale of the same car.  I'm very happy with both cars.  They do a great job on NASCAR diecast nowadays.  It is hard to complain too much.    

• Racing Series: NASCAR Cup Series
• Driver: Darrell Wallace
• Model Year: 2018
• Sponsor: AIR FORCE
• Car Make: Chevrolet
• Car Model: Camaro
• Scale: 1:24-scale
• Finish: Standard
• Production Quantity: 949