Black Adam (NO SPOILERS:

 Black Adam:  Thanks to our small town theater I got to see this one last night.  I've really been looking forward to it and I really enjoyed it.  That said it is flawed and I'm probably easier on movies than most.  First and foremost The Rock is a great Black Adam.  He's perfect for this character.  He's menacing and he wasn't over the top at all.  The rest of the cast and characters were good as well.  But the movie made things too easy or just ignored things that made you go hmmm.  Reviews have not been kind.  

I really did like Hawkman and Dr. Fate - also nailed the casting.  The other lead characters were really good too.  The Justice Society has many great heroes I hope to see in the future.  Black Adam's origin was fine.  The fighty fighty was good. The protagonist was fine but really didn't get much time to shine.  Again it was really the story that let us down.  But it was entertaining I think they were really close.  The two hours flew by for me.  Can't wait to see Black Adam in future movies assuming it goes that way.  There is a mid-credits scene to hang around for.

Random Wax: 2020 Topps Gallery

2020 Gallery:  Perfect pack for today as Manny Machado and the San Diego Padres are battling Philadelphia to see who goes to the World Series out of the National League.  I'm pulling for the Padres now that the Braves are out.  I'd love to see the Padres win their first championship.

I picked up this pack of two years ago and just now posting!  That's how it can work around Nothing If Not Random.  Perfect timing in posting it with this with the Machado and Hoskins cards.  The art sometimes works and sometimes doesn't in this set. Jury is still out on these two.

Nice insert and I think we can say the apprentice has learned a thing or two from the master.  He's 46-16 with a 3.02 ERA in his Dodger career.

Sean Murphy had a good year (.250, 18 HR/66 RBI) while Yamaguchi hasn't made it back to the majors after a brief rough stint in 2020.

Dustin May may have struggled this year but it's the first sub par year for the youngster.  And who doesn't root for that hair to come running out of the bullpen every night.  I really like this one.  Not sure about that art on the Syndegaard card.  Just off to me.

BREAKDOWN:
12 – Total Cards
5 – RC
2 – Wood Parallel
1 – Master & Apprentice

1993 SkyBox The Nightmare Before Christmas

 SkyBox The Nightmare Before Christmas:  Time to start with some Halloween themed cards and this movie is a favorite of mine.  It's animated in a cool way, fun characters and a great story.  

The backs are good.  A truncated version of the photo on the front and a good write-up.  Not just movie quotes but also some context to help set the scene.

Base cards are all horizontal.  The design is good though I'd would have liked some type of logo or movie name to set it off.  Otherwise, plenty of room for the screenshot.  These shots are maybe a bit tougher as you don't get any main characters but with the write-ups on the back they tell a good story.

I don't tire of this movie.  So many good characters.  Sally is a fan favorite and the love story between her and Jack is a favorite part of the film for many.

Great visuals and when you get scenes with lots of color they really stand out.  I like this one quite a bit as it shows of the animation style really well.

Jack of course is the star and it's easy to get caught up with his desire to explore other worlds.  Then he can't wait to be Santa Claus in Halloweentown while bringing the spirit of Christmas with him.

This is the back of one of the character cards.  This of course is Dr. Finklestein. Fun pack of cards.  I think having the entire set would be cool as reading through the backs as you go through them would be akin to watching the movie.

The Front

BREAKDOWN:
8 – Total Cards
1 – Character Card

2022-2023 Fantasy Basketball Team Quick Look

I don't think I've ever done this before but thought I'd give it a shot.  I was introduced to fantasy sports in the 90's and been hooked ever since.  I'm the commissioner in the football, basketball and baseball leagues I'm in.  I'm also in a hockey league but I'm not the commish there.  To my team, Fast Break.  I like the makeup overall.  Curry and Young were keepers which is a great start.  Zach Lavine is great, and Deandre Ayton, and Julius Randle are also really good.  I'm not a fan of Randle but if the Knicks bounce back his stats might as well.

Capela and Murray will round out my starting lineup.  Murray was injured last season but no reason to think he won't fill up the box score again.  After that you just don't know.  You hope for good seasons from the rest but you never know.  Westbrook is a huge unknown.  Even with his issues he should be a solid contributor.  Assuming he plays. If things don't work in LA that gamble could go South for me.  I like John Wall.  He should getsplenty of assists and grab some points as well.  Johnson, Hunter, Huerter and White are all good players but who knows what their seasons look like.  

My Draft

I'm not a Randle guy but I felt compelled to pick him as I needed another big and it seemed like a drop off after him.  I was surprised Murray dropped to the 7th round but with his injury last year I'm sure many hesitated.  I really liked Wall and White as late picks.  When I look at other teams it always seems like they are better.  No real buyer's remorse here but I'm not that sure where I'll sit early on.  Just a bit of fun in this post.  Steph Curry will help kick things off tonight so I'm hoping for a nice start to the season.

2021-2022 Chronicles Basketball Blaster

21-22 Chronicles:  Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors start the defense of their championship title tonight.  The Warriors were really good with Jordan Poole emerging as a great option and Klay Thompson returning from injury.  Curry was his normal excellent self and was a part of the MVP conversation.  Hard not to like this guy and he's favorite of mine.

These are the "base" Chronicles cards.  Okay design missing a team logo.  Former Georgia Bulldog Anthony Edwards is a favorite current player of mine.  Can't wait to see how the Hawks do with newbie to the team Dejounte Murray.  He's really good but how he and Trae Young co exist will be the key to the Hawks' success.

Good pull in this box but I think the Steph, KD and the Giannis cards all came from the last pack so I was beginning to wonder.  The Absolute is one of my favorite designs.  Marquee isn't bad either. 

Tons of young players in this set.  Nothing wrong with that.  You just have to know going in.  I'm good with the Hometown Heroes cards which are a shiny card type.

I don't know who Sandro Mamukelashvili is but if he looks like that the entire time he plays I want him on my team.  That look on his face.  

More youngsters.  Good shot at pulling the top rookies like Cade Cunningham in these boxes.

Barnes was another of the top rookies last season.  I really like the Essentials and Playbook designs.

Fun box of cards.  Looking forward to the season and I'm really curious, like everyone else, what Zion is in his return to the court.  We'll end it with a nice Giannis.

BREAKDOWN:

42 – Total Cards

30 - RC

6 – Absolute

6 - Chronicles

6 – Pink Parallel

4 – XR

4 – Essentials

4 – Rookies & Stars

3 - Threads

3 - Marquee

3 – Playbook

3 – Luminance

1 – Hometown Heroes

2022-2023 Portland Trail Blazers Quick Look

 Last season did not go as planned for the Trail Blazers.  Lillard only played 29 games due to injury, the GM was fired during the season, CJ McCollum was traded and the team only won 27 games, their worst in over 20 years.  Damian Lillard, Anfernee Simons, and Jusuf Nurkic signed new deals in the offseason.  The Lillard extension was huge as there were lots of rumors of him possibly leaving.  Simons is expected to fill McCollum's shoes.  In the draft the Blazer chose Shaedon Sharpe and Jabari Walker.  Jerami Grant and Gary Payton II joined the team as free agents.

This team will win more than 27 games this year.  How much they contend will depend on Lillard being the Lillard of old and how the new pieces in the lineup work.  I really don't know what that looks like.  Fans have had hope for Simons for years.  He did well last year with both Lillard and McCollum not playing.  What does his game look like with Dame playing?  I really like the Grant and Payton editions.  Grant can score playing SF or PF.  Payton is a great defender.  

Coach Chancey Billups has his work cut out for him.  Lots of change means figuring out how this team works together.  The starting five should be fun to watch if they all live up to expectations.  I worry about depth but most teams do.  These big contracts the starters and elite players demand make it tough.  Still the Trail Blazers are trying.  They went different.  It looks like they could be better than the Terry Stotts era teams long term but this first season could go one of many ways.  Should be fun and nerve wracking for us Portland fans.

2022-2023 Atlanta Hawks Quick Look

The 2021-2022 Atlanta Hawks, coming off an Eastern Conference Championship appearance, went 43-39 and were booted in the first round of the playoffs by Miami four games to one.  The Hawks basically ran back the same team hoping for the same results and it didn't work.  The team looked lost for much of the season.  The signed John Collins to a huge contract but it didn't fill up the stat sheet or equate to wins.  He's really athletic but that only gets you so far.  Lots of guys who could get you 10-17 points a night but no clear number two star on this team and Trae Young couldn't carry them.

In the offseason they made a pitch for KD but ended up getting rising star Dejounte Murray from the Spurs.  He's a great defender who put up amazing numbers last season (21ppg, 8rbg, 9apg).  Trae Young doesn't do defense so this is a big addition.  The other big move was moving Kevin Huerter to the Kings for Justin Holiday and Maurice Harkless.  This move saves them money in the long run but did not make the team better.  And it really confused me.  I love the addition of Murray but losing Huerter makes the offseason very uneven.

Coach Nate McMillan now has to get two ball centric guards to share.  He also needs to get more from John Collins while making the role players better too.  Does De'Andre Hunter have another gear?  This team has to get better defensively and be more well-rounded on the offensive end.  Sure Murray will help but as a team they have to be really efficient and have others who can give them big points when needed.  I think Atlanta is better but the East has some really good teams at the top.  If they are the number seven seed they'll be doing good and a number six seed will be a really good year.  I'm not convinced they are there yet looking at the other teams in the conference but I can have hope.