Random Wax: 2021 Donruss NASCAR

2021 Donruss NASCAR: Pop and I are headed to the truck race today just outside St. Louis.  Excited to get to enjoy our first race in a few years.  Tomorrow we'll get to see the Cup race.  We'll kick off this pack with Bubba Wallace who had success in the truck series ranking third in 2014.  The races this weekend are at World Wide Technology Raceway, which by chance, are sponsors on Bubba's race suit in this photo.

Donruss has done a really good job with this set the last few years.  Plenty of variety with the base cards and inserts and having a nice mix of retired greats.  Zane Smith is my favorite driver in the truck series and already has three wins this season.  Would be great to see him win another one today.  Also found out he'll be subbing for a driver tomorrow in the Cup race.  Hope he has a good day and can stay out of trouble.

Aero Package is a great looking insert.

My retired greats from this pack include my all-time favorite drive Rusty Wallace on a sweet Retro Series insert.  Can't complain about pulling "The King" Richard Petty either.

Kyle Busch is my favorite current driver.  He's already won a race this year to extend his streak to 18 straight seasons tying the legendary Richard Petty.

Contenders is a favorite of mine and it's fun finding them included here.  I also enjoy the Race Kings inserts.  Great pack of cards.  Donruss is always fun.  Can't wait for the race today.

Ty Gibbs is only 19 and I think a rising star in the sport but he got on the bad side of folks this year after striking another driver while the driver was taking off his helmet.

BREAKDOWN:
30 – Total Cards
8 – Retro 1988
4 – Race Kings
3 – Retired Great
3 – Carolina Blue Parallels
2 – Optic
1 – Classics
1 – Car Card
1 – Contenders
1 – Retro Series
1 – Rated Rookie
1 – Aero Package
1 – Silver Parallel

 

NBA Finals: Celtics @ Warriors

The NBA Finals start today so I'll show of some Steph Curry and Jayson Tatum cards I've recently pulled and give you my thoughts on the series.  Golden State is so good this year.  They got Klay back, Jordan Poole became a great third option, Andrew Wiggins has come up good in the playoffs and they are for the most part healthy.  Their offense is so fun to watch and will be hard to beat.

Love these Slam inserts.  Tatum and the Celts found their groove later in the season.  This team is built on defense and defense travels.  Will it be enough to stop the Warriors?  Miami isn't an offensive juggernaut so it's hard to compare the matchups.  Boston does have a really good offense and Golden State isn't exactly the best defensive team in the league.  Picking up Derrick White in season was a great move as well giving them depth.  This team won't roll over.

That second Tatum is a holiday parallel from a blaster.  Wish Panini had gone a bit heavier with the snowflakes.  This really should be a great matchup.  An excellent defensive team versus a great offense.  Seems like a fun series.

Still, someone has to win and I have to think Golden State has the edge.  The Warriors aren't unbeatable but I'm not sold that a defense, even as good and the Celtics', can stop them.

I'm going with Golden State in six.  Maybe we'll get a seven game series but that seems like a lot to ask for.

Steph Curry and Al Horford are two of my favorite players in the league so it'll be tough to watch but consistently this playoff run I've found myself rooting for the Warriors.  No matter who wins they'll deserve it.  Both are great teams and this should be a good series.
 

Random Wax: 2020-2021 Hoops Basketball

2020-2021 Hoops:  Finals start tonight so here we go.  This guy will make a huge difference in how this plays out.  He's playing crazy good this playoff season.

I had better pulls in packs but Steph, LeBron, Beal and a Giannis insert help bail this one out.  Lavine had another really good year and will be a free agent at age 26 this offseason.  He should be in high demand.   

LaMelo was the big chase in this set.  He had a great year two in the league and at age 20 is poised to be a star for years to come.

Always enjoy Lights Camera Action inserts.

A few guys that don't get to be shown off very often.

I like these inserts.  Just needed a bit more pizzaz for a "Vanity Plate".  Playoffs have been great so far so I'm excited for some more good play this series. 

BREAKDOWN:

30 – Total Cards

6 – RC

1 – Arriving Now

1 – Vanity Plates

1 – Teal Explosion

1 – Lights Camera Action

Random Wax: 2021 Score Football

2021 Score Football:  Doesn't sound like Kyler Murray's status in Arizona is exactly settled yet.  It sounds like the Cardinals want to keep him long term but we're just not getting a good feeling about Murray's long term commitment.

This set has 400 base cards so packs can be hit and miss but the variety in these packs keep ya coming back. 

Great insert.  Wish it had more color but retired greats together like this is a big win.

Lots of rookies.  Gives me a chance to show off those great Michigan jerseys.  Collins had a solid first season at WR for Houston while Trey Lance and Jaret Patterson are still competing for time on the field.

Kuechly is an all-time favorite of mine so this was a nice pull while the Next Level Stats inserts are good looking cards and keeps the Murray theme going.

Retired greats!  You know I love 'em on new cardboard and Score is one of the few sets where they are easily found.  Fun pack of cards.

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

2021-2022 Contenders Basketball Blaster with Autograph

2021-2022 Contenders Basketball:  I was happy to find this on the local shelves since I'm a Contenders fan.  I'll kick this off with Kawhi Leonard, my favorite player in the NBA.  I know he was injured this year but he is only 30 so I'm hoping he can come back to be the dominant force he's always been.  Just gotta stay healthy and be on the court.

I think I still like last year's design better than this one even with that smaller photo last season.  This year's design brings back the background behind the player which I like.  Last year's didn't have it but it worked.  One hundred base cards here which means a pretty good pull especially in a blaster.  These three help highlight how good it can be.

Kessler Edwards is my auto from this blaster.  Never complain about pulling autos but this guy has a long ways to go to make this card a great pull.  Mitchell on the other hand had a solid season with the Kings averaging 11 ppg and 4 apg.  I like that Miami Heat jersey on this card.  More so than when I saw it on television.  

A couple Giannis cards help highlight the International Ticket inserts which also included a retired great.  I always liked AK-47.  So good defensively.

Many thought Embiid should have been the MVP this year.  I'm on board with Jokic winning but you have to think Embiid will grab one of those in his career.  Love seeing big men dominating in the league.

The backs have a good visual appeal with lots of color.  But I'll never understand why we are still seeing total stats on NBA cards.  Everything is about per game average in the NBA and the numbers we see here should reflect that.

This was a fun box.  Lots of good players and a brand I'm a fan of.  I've got some packs of these I'll show off in the future and I  think I'll grab more if I see them in the wild.

BREAKDOWN:

40 – Total Cards

2 – Red Game Ticket 

2 – Game Night Ticket

2 – International Ticket

1 – Retired Great

1 – 2021 Draft Class

1 – Rookie Ticket Autograph

2022 WWE Prizm Blaster

2022 Prizm WWE: Grabbed a few of these blasters at Wal-Mart and second guessed myself instantly. The price was $34.98 per.  I assumed they were in the twenty-something range.  They were hot for a New York minute so even the secondary market isn't that hot if I want to offload them.  So I opened one and I'm still thinking on the others.  I really liked this Prizmatic Entrances insert.  Prizm never shows that well in scans but the full bleed color top portion of the card really pops in hand.  And Charlotte makes everything look good...right?

The base set checklist is pretty strong at 200 cards in Panini's initial WWE Prism release.  It includes wrestlers across the platforms as well as retired greats.  Still trying to figure out what they were going for with Undertaker.  I guess I can kind of get it but I'm not sure it works for me.

I think I like the design, but I feel they could have done better.  I'm not a shiny card guy so the finer points on them are sometimes lost on me.

I like how the Gold insert scanned more than I like it in hand.  The background and border is more silver than I'd like.  I saw photos online that made them look like they had a black background and pretty cool.  Next Level are pretty nice and colorful.  And a nice looking Dusty Rhodes card.  So many fun memories of this guy.  

The first 100 in the set are horizonal cards.

This is another cool looking card with that background.  Good job on the photo.

My Green Pulsar pull.

The backs are fine with a repeat of the front photo.  

Decent Prizm debut for Panini.  Wrestling always lends to good photos and I think they did a decent job of getting good photos on cardboard.  I'll end it with a fun Bayley photo on this Fearless insert.  

BREAKDOWN:
24 – Total Cards
4 – Retired Greats
3 – RC
1 - Gold
1 - Fearless
1 – Next Level
1 – Green Pulsar
1 – Prizmatic Entrances

2021 Topps Opening Day Hobby Box (Part Deux)

2021 Topps Opening Day:  This is actually only me second 2021 Opening Day post and I'm a big fan of the brand.  I grab a hobby box every year and this is the second of me showing it off that box of cards.  Kick it off with this stud who took his talents to LA.  He's off to a good start with the Dodgers hitting .302.

With Opening Day's smaller checklist you'll normally get a good pull.

Young players are still a big part of the brand.

Who doesn't love the mascots?

More youngsters.  Gonsolin has had a good short career with the Dodgers and has an excellent 1.33 ERA over 27 innings this year.  Bart is struggling this year while Kyle Lewis hasn't played due to injury.

Blue Foil Opening Day parallel.

This is a fun insert that gets us a look at retired greats which I'm always on board with.

Always up for getting Justin May's hair into a post.

Not my favorite Opening Day insert design but they are usually fun designs.

Plenty of star power in my box.

Some decent photos as well. 

I never get tired of this card.  Always fun for me even with the micro text Topps went with last year.

BREAKDOWN: 
252 – Total Cards
47 - RC
18 – Future Stars
14 – Retired Greats
12 – Mascot
12 – Legends of Baseball
7 – Team Opening Day
6 – Outstanding Opening Day
5 – All-Star Rookie Cup
4 – Blue Foil Opening Day Edition
2 – All-Star Rookie Cup/RC