Darth Maul 6 Inch Star Wars The Black Series Archives Figure

Darth Maul 6 Inch Star Wars The Black Series Archives Figure:  I'm a big fan of the Hasbro Star Wars Black Series 6" Figures and the Archives line of those figures give us all a chance to pick up those figures we missed in the initial waves.  Darth Maul was issued in Wave 1 way back in 2013 which I missed out on so I was stoked to hear he'd be released as part of the Archives waves.

My package was all banged up but I was fine with that. I always planned to open him.  I like the packaging overall.

With his cloak on he is not very pose-able.  He still looks great but his arms and head just aren't going to move around a lot.  Binoculars are one of the two accessories he comes with.  They are simple but nice.

The lightsaber can be two separate light sabers or the single double blade.  It is nice but the red laser parts tend to warp some and are hard to straighten out.  Still it is a nice look with some pretty good detail on the grip.  You can see some of the cloth under his plastic cloak.  This is a nice touch that doesn't make it all plastic and works well.

My favorite look is that of him without his cloak.  This is the classic look where he fights Qui Gon Ginn and Obi Wan Kenobi on Naboo.  It also gives us a great look at his face and head.  He comes with his cloak on.  To remove it you actually take off his head which is connected to the cloak.  Then put the stand alone head on and you have the look here.  

 You see a base in this photo but that is one I purchased separately.  Hasbro still does not do bases for these and third party bases are hit or miss on how well they work.  The holes in the bottom of the feet of figures throughout the life of the line has varied quite a bit.  Big fail.

The detail is really good on this Maul figure.  I really enjoy the colors, details on his horns and overall sculpt.  I'm very happy I picked up this guy and added him to my collection.  One more day until the opening of The Rise of Skywalker.  

2018 Topps Star Wars Solo Movie Cards

2018 Topps Star Wars Solo:  Keeping with the Star Wars theme this week is this blaster that was part of that Black Friday purchase from Steel City Collectibles.  I know the Solo movie doesn't have that many fans but I, especially after a second watch, have come to enjoy it for what it is which I think is a good but not great movie.  In my humble opinion.  The man himself stars on this card leading us off.

   These are yellow parallels.  I actually don't mind the yellow as it is somewhat prominent across the movie posters and makes sense for me.

These inserts are Smooth Sayings, Character Sticker and Silhouette cards.  I like all three of these.  

  A few of the base cards whose card design is nice.  I like Topps incorporating the Millennium Falcon while still leaving plenty of room for the photos.  Enfys Nest is a cool looking character.  Probably an action figure I'll pick up at some point.

This was my hit in the box.  A very muddy Chewbacca manufactured patch relic.  Not my favorite look for Chewy but he is an iconic character.

A Vehicles and Icons insert here.  Both are OK but the Icons don't really wow me.  Way too much wasted space.

A couple of black parallels including the Concept Art insert as well as a silver parallel.  Not sure why they call that black but color parallels don't always make sense.

Overall I like these cards.  The inserts are a little hit or miss but still fun.  This blaster gave me plenty of variety and I enjoy looking back at the scenes and characters from the movie.

That "Showdown With Enfys Nest" shot is pretty well known from the trailers and I do think it is cool.  I thought this was a great look for Qi'ra.  Another fun post and another day down as we get closer to the release of The Rise of Skywalker.  

BREAKDOWN:

61 – Total Cards
10 – Yellow Parallel
5 – Black Parallel
4 – Silhouette
3 – Concept Art
3 – Silver Parallel
2 – Icons
2 – Vehicles
1 – Sticker
1 – Smooth Sayings
1 – Manufactured Patch Relic

Star Wars Aftermath Book Trilogy

The Star Wars The Aftermath book trilogy is set after the events of Episode VI: Return of the Jedi.  The books include, in this order, Aftermath, Life Debt and Empire’s End.  The story starts out following new characters within the Star Wars universe including those from the Rebel Alliance and those from the Empire.  Along the way their journey will bring in characters we all know from Episodes IV-IX.  I enjoyed the new characters who are from across the spectrum of what we know of the Star Wars universe.  Author Chuck Wendig does a good job with the new characters.

The series sets up what we’ve seen with the current Star Wars movie trilogy that will end with the release of The Rise of Skywalker this weekend.  This trilogy was very enjoyable and it was good seeing the events after Return of the Jedi.  Though the Emperor was dead there was still plenty of the Empire left in the galaxy.  These books are canon so we could also see these characters in future books.  

This trilogy is a pretty easy read and fun.  It also isn't required reading for the movies but do provide some nice background.  Star Wars books are almost like a behind the scenes look at characters and the world they live in whether it be their relationships, the government, ideologies or daily life.  Again this is a fun read and I’m on to my next book.  

2019 Topps Star Wars Journey to Rise of Skywalker

2019 Topps Star Wars Journey to Rise of Skywalker: This week starts our Journey to Rise of Skywalker.  See what I did there?  Kind of corny but as a Star Wars geek I'm excited for the new movie and should get to see it Thursday night.  This pack I found at Target seems like a great way to start out the week.  Rey is definitely a favorite character of mine so this card is a good topper card for the post.

Each pack has parallels including red which is a Target exclusive.  I actually wish there were less parallels in the packs but I get folks like them.  And that said I do really like the red parallels.

There are inserts as well including this Illustrated Character, Foil, and Choose Your Destiny cards.  The Foil inserts are my favorites here but the Illustrated Characters are pretty cool as well.

As the title says the cards will take you through the path that got us here which spans the previous eight movies.  Always fun to go down memory lane.    

I'm admittedly not the biggest fan of  the blue starfield design but I get how it pays homage to the Star Wars sets of old.  I still like these and enjoy looking back at the previous movies on these cards.  Glad I picked this up and it makes for a great start to the week leading up to The Rise of Skywalker.

The backs have nice write-ups.  Simple and to the point but not too short to be a waste of time.  The format is right in long with Star Wars Journey sets in the past.

BREAKDOWN:

16 - Total Cards

2 - Green Parallel

1 - Red Parallel

1 - Foil 

1 - Illustrated Character

1 - Choose Your Destiny

2008 Upper Deck Heroes Football Blaster

2008 Upper Deck Heroes Football:  Another part of my Steel City Collectibles Black Friday was this blaster.  I don't think they are hard to find since I seem to see them on special quite a bit. This is a fun set that I've never had in hand before.  I had to start with this Billy Sims card.  When you first see that Lions logo and a number 20 you think of Barry Sanders.  You can't go wrong with Barry but it is great seeing Billy Sims on cardboard.  He was amazing.  I wish injuries hadn't derailed his career so soon.  Great card and definitely my favorite.

     Each player had multiple cards in the base set though they could be different styles.  This is one of two Brett Favre cards I pulled.  Some great stars represented here.  The base designs are good and they have been growing on me.  Seems like a logo would have fit pretty well in one of the corners not being used.  

Speaking of Barry...  Retired greats have their time to shine as well in this set which is always a highlight for me.  Love seeing The Snake here.

It's nice seeing the rookies in their college unis.  These guys have all gone on to notable careers.  Matt Ryan just became the 10th player to reach 50,000 passing yards.  I know that is an inflated stat in today's throw first era but he is the 2nd youngest to reach the milestone.

These subsets seem a bit random for this set but are still cool.  You'll find Guitar Heroes as well as Sports Heroes from other sports like track and field and wrestling.  I love the Tony Iommi shot on his card.  These seem a bit out of place but I'm good with their inclusion.

Not much going on on the backs.  Seems like a few stats would have been fine but they went with a write-up only look.

More painted cards.  The design and art are definitely a favorite of mine from this set.

  Combine the cool art and these all-time greats and it seems like a nice finish to the post.  Mel Blount doesn't get on enough cardboard so this was a great find.  Just need a Donnie Shell card to go next to Blount to make it look even better.  I really enjoyed this blaster and I'm considering picking up more of these especially if they stay under $10.  

BREAKDOWN:

54 – Total Cards
18 – Rookie Heroes
9 – Painted
8 – Legendary Heroes
7 – Guitar Heroes
3 – Sports Heroes

2018 Topps Stranger Things Season 1 Blaster with Relic

2018 Stranger Things Season 1 Cards:  I've been wanting one of these blasters for a while so it was an easy pick for my Steel City Collectibles Black Friday purchase.  And today is Friday the 13th so a post about Stranger Things seems an appropriate post. I'm a fan of the show and while it's close I think season one is my favorite.  Eleven is a great character and this photo really resonates as a part of the series.  That particular look is a big part of it I know.

 The cards are pretty simple and are done on Topps Heritage stock (think Journey To... Star Wars cards).  The majority of what you'll pull from these are taken directly from scenes from episodes.  

Each blaster comes with a hit and mine was a commemorative patch.  Not sure the connection between Jim Hopper (town sheriff) and Benny's Burgers.  Maybe he worked there once?  No matter.  The patch is from one of the major characters and is  good pull.

As to be expected there are inserts to be had.  The Dustin card is a character card while the latter two are stickers.  The Nancy Wheeler is a character sticker while the "Concerned Brother" card is a scene sticker.

I like the design and the older card stock used is perfect for this show which is set in the 1980s.  I really like the R.U.N. card.  Winona Ryder is excellent in this series.  This photo with the Christmas lights and the look on her face is classic in my mind.

The backs are pretty simple but still effective with a nice write-up for the photo from the front.

I really enjoyed this blaster just as I do the show.  Not every photo resonates like some do but  looking back at a show you enjoy is fun.

Winona Ryder doesn't always look this strung out in season one...but probably 99% of it.  

BREAKDOWN:

71 – Total Cards
8 – Character Stickers
3 – Character Cards
2 – Scene Stickers
1 – Commemorative Patch

Mail Day: From Chris at The Collector

Chris from The Collector blog sent me a surprise card and boy was it fun.  I've been eyeballing this card for some time.  Like I told him I can't tell you how many times I've looked at this card lately wanting to pick it up but just didn't pull the trigger.  Chris thought of me when he saw this on COMC and I love it.  Steve Bartkowski is a top 3 all-time favorite of mine.  This Fabric of the Game relic is from Panini's 2011 Certified Football set.  It is numbered /49.  He threw in a 2019 Score All-Hands Team Julio Jones for good measure.  Big thank you to Chris.  This made my day.