1988 Fleer Baseball

1988 Fleer: Grabbed a box of this and a box of 1990 Donruss last year at a card shop in St. Louis.  I think they were $10 a piece.  My buddy and I had gone to the card show in town but I really didn't find much I wanted.  He mentioned the store and it had plenty of old wax for sale which made me really happy.  With shipping these can still be a little pricy.  I'll show the Fleer and Donruss in three pack increments over time.  

This is a design I really like and own the complete set so while I didn't need this box I couldn't resist the fun.  I like those red and blue stripes in the border.  A couple of great closers here with a favorite of mine in Ellis Burks.

Julio Franco when he was still young..maybe only 38 in 1988...I kid of course.  These are so fun to open.  All the players from era that I really liked liked Chuck Finley. 

We need more cards like this.  Random groupings of players.  You'll see as I show off more packs that they put mostly star players together to show them off.  I assume many of the photos came from when players were together at the All-Star Games.

I really like that photo of Rich Gedman.  

Each pack comes with one sticker and I like the designs here.  The team name stickers were always useful.

The backs of the stickers has cool info on the stadiums.  They were pretty cool in an age before the internet when this wasn't readily available at our fingertips.

Velarde had a long career ending with a .276 batting average. Having a Met paired with Dale Murphy really makes this a tough card but I won't burn it, or throw it away...can't do that to Murph.  It'll be fun showing these packs off over time.  So many great players and memories.

BREAKDOWN: 
45 – Total Cards (3 Packs)
3 – Stickers
3 – SuperStar Specials
1 – Checklist
1 – Major League Prospects

 

2020-2021 Illusions Basketball Blaster with Autograph

2020-2021 Illusions Basketball:  Found some new basketball cards on the shelves in the delayed release of 2020-2021 Illusions which barely hit the stores before 2021 ended.  Unlike Chronicles these flew off the shelves so I'm glad I grabbed a box.  Kawhi Leonard is a classic "what if he had stayed healthy?" guy.  I'm still a big fan and he's only 29 with plenty of years ahead of him as he is surely headed to the Hall of Fame.

This is a 200 card set and I had a great pull from this box.  I have no idea why the Nokic scanned differently than the Beal and Doncic cards. In hand they have the same look and it isn't a parallel.  Scanning anomaly I guess as all three were scanned together.

My pull amongst the rookies was a bit tough as these guys still haven't found their way in the NBA yet though I think Wiseman has a chance.  Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball were the highlights in this rookie class but alas I didn't pull either. Tate is averaging 12 PPG for the Rockets as a wing but needs to add a three point shot to his game.

This acetate insert is definitely colorful.  I still haven't decided how much I like it but it might be growing on me.

I've liked Illusions overall as a brand and I do like this year's design.  The primary photo and the subdued foil photo are really clear and look good on the card.  Also glad they used two different photos.  It does need a team logo even if it was small.  The backs are okay.

Roby still hasn't had a good year for the Thunder but he's young so who knows and I never complain about pulling autographs in blasters.

I like these inserts that allow us to see players in multiple unis from their career. I also pulled George's base card.

This was a fun box.  More fun than I expected actually.  Great pull of base cards and that auto was icing on the cake.  Plus it's a design I like.  That is a win in my book.

BREAKDOWN:
36 – Total Cards
11 – RC
3 – Starlight Parallels
1 – Shining Stars
1 – Career Lineage
1 – Instant Impact
1 - Trophy Collection Signature

Random Wax: 2021 Score Football

 2021 Score Football: I'm a big Elway fan and this is a great photo from Super Bowl XXXIII.  I didn't even realize it until after I scanned it and got a closer look.  Love Archambeau coming at Elway while he gets the ball past the defender with a smile.  Even though he took out my Falcons in that game I haven't disowned him.  And you gotta love this card.

Not a bad design. I do wish the borders weren't quite so white but I can live with it.

Surtain has had a really good year for the Broncos with four interceptions so far while Newsome and Lance haven't seen the field much this season.

I like the idea behind these inserts even if I have to see so many Buckeye and Crimson Tide players on them.

I like the Score Team inserts and I can't complain with any of these guys.  

Some nice Tom Terrific pulls.

J.J. Watt now plays with the Cardinals but has been hit with injuries this season.

Aaron Donald's second appearance this go around.  Fun pack.  Plenty of variety and a good pull.

BREAKDOWN:
40 – Total Cards
6 – RC
5 – Retired Greats
4 – Score Team
3 – Next Level
3 – Red Parallel
2 – Game Face
2 – Collegiate Champion
1 – 3D
1 – Throwback Rookie

2020-2021 Chronicles Basketball Hanger Box

2020-2021 Chronicles Basketball: A new year and some new basketball cards...whoo hoo!  I hope everyone had a fun and safe New Years.  These showed up on the shelves a few weekends ago but figured I'd share today.  Chronicles has plenty of variety and lots of rookies.  I historically liked the Crusade look so pulling a Dame from the brand is great. Even if the Blazers, and Lillard, are struggling Dame is still fun to watch.

Even though I could have easily read the box I assumed these were 2021-2022 cards but nope.  Must be one of the products hit hard with all the delays.  Really good pull in this box.  Lillard makes another appearance next to Steph and Joel Embiid.

Lots of youngsters here with 20 RC cards including the crème of the crop in LeMelo Ball.

That Wiseman is a green parallel which looks pretty cool in hand.  

Fun box of cards.  I like the base Chronicles, Threads, Classic and Crusade cards.  The Classic and green parallels are exclusive to hanger boxes.  Happy New Year!

BREAKDOWN:

30 – Total Cards

20 – RC

5 – Chronicles

4 – Classic

4 – Playbook

3 – Panini

3 - Prestige

3 – Green Parallel

2 - Essentials

2 – Luminance

1 – XR

1 – Crusade

1 – Donruss

1 – Marquee

1 – Rated Rookie

 

2021 Favorite Cards

 It's that time of the year again where I agonize of my favorite cards of the year.  These can be cards I've featured on the blog no matter how I came about owning them.  This is always so much fun but is so hard.  This non-sport entry takes the top spot for 2021.  How can you beat Frankenstein smoking and taking a shot?  You can't!  This masterpiece was one of the Universal Monsters of the Silver Screen cards I showed off on Halloween.

Football was a tough call but I landed on this Retro Series Earl Campbell from a hanger box of 2020 Donruss Football. It's Earl Campbell, that Oiler uni, and the colors on this card all work so well for me. 

It's great when emotions are caught on cards.  In wrestling it may be a little more scripted but I truly believe these guys are loving the moment.  This 2019 Summerlam All-Stars card of Triple H flexing like a son of a gun is a great card.

This slick looking 1986 Throwback came out of a 2021 Topps Ronald Acuna Jr. tin.  You can feel Yadi in this photo.  That look.  A great player with great intensity.  The card itself looks really good with primary colors of the team name and his chest protector.  And the tats!  If you didn't know who Yadi was and saw this photo you'd want him behind the plate for your team.

This 2012 Press Pass Carl Edwards shows a young Carl Edwards.  Something about seeing him enjoy himself in a scene that would play out throughout his great career.  Him celebrating a win standing in the window of his car.

Upper Deck does photography so well.  I may not be a huge hockey fan but I love seeing their cards every year.  This year's top spot in hockey goes to Thatcher Demko on this 2020-2021 Upper Deck offering. 

 Everyone have a safe and Happy New Year!

Black Widow

Black Widow:  Didn't know what to expect from this movie.  Did we need a prequel with Black Widow?  I really like her character from the movies so why not?  I'd heard the movie was good but didn't seem to wow anyone.  I get it but I did enjoy the movie.  The characters really made the movie for me.  I already liked Black Widow and you add in her family and it gets even more fun.  We know Black Widows dies in the Avengers movies so what does this movie do for us?  It provides some fun background to her character's family who should all be used in a future series.  Her sister Yelena and mother Melina are Black Widows and her father Alexei is Russian hero? Red Guardian.  All three would work well in a series focused in Russia.  That said the post credit scenes do give us a glimpse of where they may show up later.  If you like Marvel watch this movie.  It is good.  Maybe it doesn't blow your socks off but I don't think you'll be sorry you did.  And David Harbour was my favorite as Red Guardian while Yelena is setup to be just as good as Natasha.

Natasha Romanoff and her sister Yelena Belova

Red Guardian (Alexei)

Red Notice

 

Red Notice came out on Netflix last month and looked fun.  It was.  It's not going to win any academy awards but it's a movie you can just sit back and enjoy with some popcorn.  It brings together Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot and The Rock.  Johnson plays an FBI profiler chasing an art thief played by Reynolds and the fun begins.  There's a bit of over the top fun at times but that is the appeal.  You don't have to get wrapped up in this being serious.  It's great seeing Gal Gadot outside of her Wonder Woman character and she shines.  You'll get a lot of what you expect from Reynolds and Johnson but I'm okay with that in a movie like this.  I say give it a shot if you are at all interested.