2020 Topps Utz Baseball Trout, Acuna, Bogarts...

2020 Topps Utz Baseball:  I'd seen these online some last month and they peaked my interest.  Utz is a regional chip brand in Pennsylvania. I liked the design so I started stalking some on eBay.  I made two purchases - a pack of three that come with the chips and an Acuna.  The pack came with this Mike Trout, Xander Bogaerts and Nelson Cruz.  The plastic on the packs is clear so you can tell what cards are in the packs.  That made this one appealing as I really wanted a Trout.  This is the most I've paid for a card in many years.  The fact Bogaerts was in the pack as well was a excellent bonus.  

 This Acuna Jr. was a single I picked up.  I really liked the photo and of course Acuna is so so good.  His card wasn't cheap but definitely not in the Mike Trout range.  

I really like the design and think it is much better than this year's flagship design.  The logo, slight border and the way the team and player's names are presented is pretty simple but makes for a nice card.

The checklist has 100 players so you are just looking at the key players from the league.  That's also appealing to me even though there aren't standard "packs" to rip.    

The backs are pretty much copies of the standard Topps design but UTZ is added above the number.  These are fun cards and I really like the design.  I may or may not pick up more but I'll definitely be looking.  

2019-2020 Donruss Optics Basketball

2019-2020 Donruss Optics Basketball:  Optic is not a brand I'd normally pick up but with basketball cards being what they are I grabbed this back when these were still in the wild.  I love this Steph Cury blue velocity parallel.  It works perfect with the Warriors colors.  

The basic design isn't bad.  My issue with Optic/Chrome/shiny cards is they just aren't for me.  I'm not a fan of the shiny look or the thickness arc of the card.  But again as a basic design this is a good one.

Been a few years since I purchased optic.  Seem to be more inserts this time around.  Not a bad insert here with Kyrie Irving in his Brooklyn uni.

Great pull in this pack.  Can't wait to see these guys back on the court.

I won't revisit these cards though if you find any basketball in the wild right now it'd be hard to pass up.  Still this was a fun pack with some great players including one of my faves Damion Lillard.

BREAKDOWN:

15 – Total Cards
3 – Blue Velocity Parallels
1 – Rated Rookie
1 – Fantasy Stars
1 – Express Lane

  

Marvel Legends Mar-Vell Action Figure

Marvel Legends Mar-Vell:  If I'm picking up action figures it's usually a Star Wars figure but I'm a big fan of the original Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell) so when I saw it on the shelf yesterday I was all in.  With the new Captain Marvel in the comics and the movie Mar-Vell has definitely gotten lost in the shuffle. He died from cancer which was documented in well known storyline.

Overall this is a good figure.  Mavel Legends figures have plenty of articulation.  A bit too much for my taste but it I know why collectors and kids like it.  There are a few imperfections in the mold including his right arm and nose.  Side photos are not pretty as it looks like he has a hanger.  His left shoulder also doesn't seem to always be in it's socket like it should.

  

The packaging is fine and comes with a piece of the build a figure Abomination.  There are no accessories included.  Seems like there are some easy ones that could have been included like a base or blasts.  

Good figure for fans of Mar-Vell.  Not sure I'm ready to go on an action figure shopping spree but I couldn't pass him up.

2015 Panini Michigan Wolverines Collegiate Trading Cards

2015 Michigan Wolverines Blaster:  Panini put out these blasters of cards for different universities and it always peaked my interest.  I finally pulled the trigger picking one up on eBay for around $16 shipped.  I'm really glad I did. There are a total of 80 cards in the blaster (10 packs/8 cards per) and the seller threw in an extra pack.  I pulled a complete set as well as this gold parallel #/25 of Tom Terrific.  That's definitely a win.  

All three sports are featured though Barry Larkin is the lone baseball player.  Brady had two cards and was the only player that did.  

Legends from yesteryear were also included.  That Gerald Ford photo is great!  Look at that hair, jaw and overall look on his face.  Classic.

The first nine cards cover logos, venues, and history which I like.

You won't find all the major stars but this set is still a pretty good showing.  Notables missing I can think of off the top of my head are Anthony Carter, Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, and Dan Dierdorf.  I'm sure I'm disrespecting many Wolverine greats but those are what pop to my head.

There are inserts including these Honors cards.  They look better in hand.  Autos do include Tom Brady if someone is lucky enough.

Each blaster comes with an auto or memorabilia card.  Not the biggest name I could have pulled but I'm good.  I really enjoyed this box.  I know the checklist has holes in it but any Wolverines fan should still enjoy this.  Next up I'll track down a Georgia Bulldogs blaster.

  

BREAKDOWN:

88 – Total Cards
3 - Honors
1 – Base Memorabilia
1 – Gold Parallel #/25

2020 Contenders Draft Picks Football Blaster w/2 Auto

2020 Contenders Draft Picks Football:  More new product on the shelf this morning so I didn't hesitate with picking up a blaster that guarantees two autos.  I'll kick it off with Emmitt here.  First thing I noticed was this year's offering has fewer retired greats.  That was a big draw of this set for me so that's a letdown.  Still I thought this Emmitt has a nice photo and is a good way to start things off.  

If you are looking for actual 2020 rookies or potential rookies those are only found in the inserts.  

Neither of these autos were names I'm familiar with but at least they were both drafted.  Cincy (7th rnd) and Baltimore (3rd rnd) respectively.  Nothing worse than pulling those undrafted guys so this at least gives me some hope one or both will turn out to be something.

I like the design on that 2020 Draft Class.  The Travis Kelce is a Draft Blue Foil parallel though the blue doesn't show at all in the scan.  

To the design on these I'm OK with it but not my favorite design.  The photos seem small with the bottom info taking up too much room.  I'm a Contenders fan overall but this one is a bit too busy for me.  My favorite Football Contenders Draft Picks is the 2018 Set.  Those cards almost had an art quality to them.  Last year's was good as well.

A quick refresher on the numbers:  Section = Weight  Row = Height  Seat = Jersey Number

The backs are fine but not great.  The photo is the same as the front but I'm fine with it.  You do need a magnifying glass to read the stats.  I like the large logo.

This box was OK but I'm not sold on it overall as a product.  I'll probably grab more but I won't go nuts.  I'll end this on a high note with Tom Terrific on my favorite card from the box.

BACKGROUND:

42 – Total Cards
2 – Retired Greats
2 – Game Day Tickets
2 – College Ticket Autographs
1 – Legacy
1 – Draft Class
1 – Draft Blue Foil
1 – 2020 Draft Class

2020 Bowman Baseball

2020 Bowman Baseball:  These finally hit our neck of the woods so I picked up two value packs as well as some standard packs with this being a value pack.  Bowman again offers up a clean design with plenty of prospects which make up 150 of the 250 player checklist.  I didn't pull the big name in this year's set, Jasson Dominguez, nor any of the other big names but it was still a decent pull.

 The youngsters dominate this set and you'll find them with base cards, RC, and 1st Bowman cards.  That Wander Franco is a Camo Parallel exclusive to these value packs.

There are of course vets in the set as well.  The trio of Harper, Yelich and Springer are a good pull in my book.

Five chrome parallels are also a part of your pullsand I know many are hoping for these of hot young players.

The backs of these are fairly bland though I like the color logo.  Nothing wrong with the write-up either.  

One more chrome to round things out.  This set is all about stashing these young guys and seeing who shines in years to come.  Not a bad looking set design wise.  I'm not a bit Bowman guy so I probably won't pick up anymore but I never say never.  Those Dominquez cards are so hot right now.  

BREAKDOWN:

29 – Total Cards
5 – Chrome
5 – Camo Parallel
4 – 1st Bowman
3 – RC
1 – Talent Pipeline
1 – Spanning the Globe

1991-1992 Fleer Update Basketball

1991-1992 Fleer Update Basketball: Another pack from the Amazon purchase.  I'm always drawn to this set but when I get it in hand it always disappoints.  Obviously the fact they took like 25% of the card for that border is a killer.   This card is a great example as I think seeing the rest of this photo would have been a big plus.  Still I'll take John Stockton any time I can get one.

The update packs featured both new cards as well as cards from the first series.  There are about 160 cards in the update for this set.  That Dale Davis is part of the update while Derek Harper and Ro' Blackman are not part of the update series.

Not really inserts but there are subsets like the Blue Edwards Slam Dunk card.  Coaches also get some love which is always needed.  The backs are pretty decent actually.  Little did rookie Mario Elie know he'd end his career with three rings - two with Houston and one with the Spurs.

Luc Longley also got himself three rings as part of the Chicago Bulls' final three championships.  Moses Malone in a Bucks uni just doesn't compute.  Fun pack no matter my misgivings about the design.  

BREAKDOWN:

35 – Total Cards
2 – Coaches
2 – Team Leader
1 – Slam Dunk