Random Wax: 2020-2021 Illusions Basketball

20-21 Illusions: Hope everyone is enjoying the tourney so we'll keep the basketball coming.  Rose is in the twilight of his career but he was an MVP in only his third season though injuries soon stole his explosiveness.

Tobias Harris isn't the player he once was.  With Harden on the team it feels like he gets lost in the mix.  Kyrie is Kyrie.  We'll see how the Dallas experiment goes.  Dallas has struggled early after his arrival.  And Ben Simmons seems like a guy who'll never find his way.  Shame.

An orange parallel here.  Aleskej Pojusevski is a guy I've never heard of but has averaged 8 points a game for the Thunder over three seasons.  Campazzo and Maledon are still not prominent players for their teams.

Lauri Markkanen has always been a nice stretch 4 but dude found another gear with the Utah Jazz.  He wowed at the All-Star game and is averaging 24 PPG, 8 RPG while shooting 40% on seven three point attempts a game.  Chris Paul doesn't look like himself this year.  Time may have caught up to him.  He's not as involved in the game and I've seen teams pretty much not guard him.  Don't want to miss Porter and Johnson who are bothing having really good years.  Fun pack of cards!

BREAKDOWN:

15 – Total Cards

3 – RC

1 – Orange Parallel

2021-2022 Chronicles Draft Picks Basketball

21-22 Chronicles Draft Picks:  I found these scans on my computer but no breakdown for them.  Still, they seem appropriate for today with the first round of March Madness kicking off.  Suggs is so-so for Orlando.  They have lots of young talent and he'll need to step up his game to stick out.

I enjoy the variety of Chronicles and did pick up a few blaster of the standard 21-22 Chronicles basketball as well which I've posted.  Jalen green is a star for the struggling Rockets while Barnes has done well in Toronto.

Franz Wagner has done well in Orlando.  I'm a Michigan guy but I'll admit how well he's done in the NBA has been a pleasant surprise for me.  Panini did a good job on this throwback Hoops design.

I like the look of these Luminance cards.

Davion Mitchell plays behind De'Aaron Fox with Kings and hasn't really shined yet.

These Rated Rookies aren't bad.  Suggs is the highlight here.  The design is okay with me.

I really enjoy seeing those Razorback unis and can say that about many of the college uniforms here.  Fun cards and good luck with your brackets!  

Random Wax: 2020-2021 Chronicles Basketball

20-21 Chronicles:  Selection Sunday so let's do some Hoops.  Plenty of this one on the shelf back in the day and I like the variety.  We'll kick it off with Giannis who is having another season for the Milwaukee Bucks who are battling it out with the Boston Celtics for the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference.

This set is heavy on rookies.  Bane is a legit star for the Grizzlies averaging 21/5/4 while shooting 41% from deep.  Stewart may not be a star but is a solid big man for the Pistons.  That Honors is a good-looking card.  Bane's uni works well with the colors and design.

Haliburton is another guy who is a rising star earning his first all-star bid this year averaging 20 points and 10 assists with Indiana.  I like that first card shown here.

All three of these guys are greats in the league.  Morant is going through a rough patch but on the court he's a stud.  If feels like Trae Young really needs to figure it out under new coach Quin Snyder.  He can already fill up a stat sheet but needs to be more.  And LeBron is historically great at his age but is dealing with an injury.

I love Dame.  My Blazers are struggling but it isn't his fault.  Luka and Durant have had trades significantly impact this season.  It'll be interesting to see both situations play out.  Wow this was a great pack of cards.  I bought this pack 1 1/2 years ago and you never know how those young players will look when I finally get around to posting them.  The rookies in this pack and the strong veteran pulls made this a winner.

BREAKDOWN:

30 – Total Cards

20 – RC

5 – Chronicles

4 – Panini

4 - Classic

4 – Luminance

3 – Prestige

3 - Playbook

3 – Green Parallel

2 – XR

2 – Threads

1 – Honors

1 - Marquee

1 – Essentials

Random Wax: 2021 Topps Heritage Hanger Box

2021 Heritage:   We'll keep the Jose Altuve thing going this week with a Heritage hanger box.  Altuve was a guy you thought, early in his career, had a good shot to get to 3000 hits early in his career.  He can still do it, especially if he plays late into his 30s.  He turns 33 in a few months and has batted .307 over his career now sitting at 1935 hits.  Feels like 2020 really hurt his chances.  2035 hits would feel like he was in a better position to get there.

Always rooted for Jackie Bradley Jr.  While he provided good defense, he was never consistent at the plate.  A couple of pitchers who anyone would want on the mound for their team.  Big difference is Justin Verlander is still doing it at high level including a Cy Young at age 39 last season.  Amazing.

Nice looking League Leaders inserts.

McMahon is still looking for consistency but has shown he can hit the long ball.  Love World Series highlights.  The Flashbacks are pretty cool as well.

This design is ok but not something I'm excited about.  I'm just not a fan of many of these older designs.  Probably not in the majority in that opinion.

Plenty of In Action inserts in this box as well as star power.  Cutch is a favorite of mine which helped my pull.  Fun box of cards and good way to start off a Friday.

BREAKDOWN:
35 – Total Cards
8 – In Action
1 – Rookies
1 – Flashbacks
1 – World Series
1 – League Leaders

Random Wax: 2021 Donruss Baseball

2021 Donruss: Not a big fan of this design but I did pick it up when it came out.  Let's start with a nickname variation.  Quite a few variations in this set so you have to be on your toes. Jose Altuve and the Houston Astros have been so dominant in recent years and picked up their second championship last year.

I've had better pulls before but the retired greats helped this pack out.  I'll show those off later.  No offense to Miggy who'll be a first ballot Hall of Famer.

The Diamond Kings don't really thrill me but they feel better than some of the other offerings in recent years.  Dominators isn't bad.  That Tim Anderson is a red parallel.

Here we have a career stat line variation on a Retro 1987 design.  Bohm isn't showing off much power yet but has shown he can hit.

These are all fun pulls.  Love retired greats.  I will say John Smoltz looks like he was playing for the White Sox with those colors.  It really looks black and gray.

Again not a design I like but I can take some joy from the retired greats.  And Rickey really falls into that category.  Dude was fun on and off the field.

 BREAKDOWN:
30 – Total Cards
6 – Retro 1987
3 – Rated Rookie
3 – Red Parallels
3 – Diamond Kings
1 – Duplicate
1 – Nickname
1 – Dominators
1 – Career Stat Line

Random Wax: 2021 Donruss NASCAR Hobby Box (Part Deux)

2021 Donruss NASCAR:  We'll kick off my second look at my 2021 Hobby Box with former champion and current driver/owner Brad Keselowski.  Winners at New Hampshire Motor Speedway receive a lobster amongst other accolades.

This take on the '88 Donruss Baseball design is one I like.  I was late to being a fan of Kurt Busch but I am.  Unfortunately, a concussion ended his season and career late in the regular season in 2022.  He' along with Kevin Harvick are former champions.  Kurt has totaled 34 wins while Harvick has 60.  NASCAR is racing in Vegas today.  

One of my two relics from the box.  This is a Retro 88 relic.

Zane Smith drives in the truck series and is my favorite at that level.  He won the Truck Series Championship in 2022 and will drive some in the Xfinity series this year.  He also drove at Daytona two weeks ago in the Cup race placing a respectable 13th in only his second career race at the sport's top level. 

The paint schemes and sponsors are as much a part of the sport as anything.  Nice design on this Kevin Harvick car.  The flames, black paint scheme and the classic pony on the front give it a good look.

I always enjoy Race Kings.  This design is a bit blah but I've seen worse.  Chase Elliot and Bubba are two of my favorite drivers.  

These Action Packed inserts are nice.  This one is a parallel but I can't remember which one.

Dale Jr. is fun and his Dirty Mo Media does a great job covering the sport.  His TV show and podcast are great listens.  Plenty greats of the sport and others in the know are guests and Jr. as a former driver with really good insights.  Retired greats are part of what makes the set fun.

My favorite all-time driver Rusty Wallace with that Miller Lite logo he is so famous for in one of the Optic inserts.

Another great insert.  I really like these colors and design.

Parallel inserts include NASCAR Classics, Elite Series and Contenders.  I also pulled a redemption card for a Jimmie Johnson autograph.  I sold the redemption on eBay.  I enjoy 2021 Donruss NASCAR and it was fun looking back at more cards from the hobby box.  We'll end it with another Rusty Wallace.  I like that Retro Series design and Rusty with another of the sponsors he was known for.

BREAKDOWN:

192 – Total Cards

61 – Retro 1988

24 – Optic

20 – Race Kings

17 – Retired Greats

14 – Silver Parallel

10 – Rated Rookie

8 – Car Cards

5 – Retro Series

4 – NASCAR Classics

4 – Red Parallel #/299

3 - Contenders

3 – Dominators

3 – Aero Package

3 – Action Packed

3 – Blue Parallel #/199

2 – Elite Series

2 – Green Parallel #/99

1 – Retro 1988 Relic

1 – Purple Parallel #/49

1 – Holographic Parallel #/199

1 – Race Day Relic Black Parallel #/10

1 – Timeless Treasures Signatures Holo Gold #/25 (Redemption)

Random Wax: 1990-1991 Hoops Basketball (6 Packs)

90-91 Hoops:  We'll kick off this one with Reggie Miller, one of the greatest shooters of all-time.  He was fun to watch and always good for a soundbite.  Also a good analyst today.

Hard to go wrong with this set.  So many NBA greats.  Solid design.  And lots of fun.  Hall of Famer Mitch Richmond was a member of the Warriors' Run TMC and the man could he shoot.

Love the All-Star cards!  Another Reggie appearance and two of the best bigs of all-time.

Mookie in one of those great Nets jerseys.  Another great shooter in Drazen Petrovic who passed away way too young.  And the "T" of Run TMC and Hall of Fame member.

Dan Majerle would be that 3 and D guy in today's game.  Doug Moe's NBA career was delayed by being suspended due to alleged gambling contacts.  Who knew?  I enjoyed watching Jeff Malone.  I'd just call him smooth.  He didn't shoot 3s but he could shoot and he could score.  

These three are great players and great scorers.  Fun stats to look at.

Favorites of mine in Buck, Larry Smith, and Reggie Theus.  No rhyme or reason but these guys have been all-time favorites from the get-go.  I really like Larry Legend but most of that comes from after he retired.  He killed my Hawks and honestly it was hard to really get to know Larry Bird in the 80s.  NBA coverage had finally gone national but getting to really know guys or hear the cool stories that we didn't hear for years wasn't the norm yet.

BREAKDOWN:
90 – Total Cards (6 Packs)
14 – Rookie
9 – All-Star
8 – Coach