Random Wax: 2020 Illusions Football

2020 Illusions:  Overall I like this brand.  This pack is almost three years old and I'm finally getting around to sharing it.  And Mahomes is as good as any other to start with.

One of the nice things about these are that the fronts have two different photos.  The prominent photo in the front and the muted photo in the back which has a head and shoulders shot with their helmet off most of the time.  That Elliott is an orange parallel.

Three years ago we had no idea what drama would befall Deshaun Watson.  Watt was already a defensive stud by this time in his career.

The Commanders didn't pick up their option on Chase Young's contract so this season will be a contract year for him.  I like him and hope he can stay healthy and maybe return to his dominant form.

Good pack of cards and a nice pull.  I always enjoy looking back at these.  They look good and you never know how things have changed since these were printed.  Glad to see Jackson finally get his deal done.  Now we'll see what the Ravens can do with that behind them.

BREAKDOWN:
20 – Total Cards
8 – RC
2 – Orange Parallel
1 – Shining Stars

Mace Windu Clone Wars Black Series Action Figure

We'll end the day with his Mace Windu Clone Wars Black Series figure.  I'm a big fan of The Clone Wars Animated Series and Mace Windu so this was a no brainer.  

The Clone Wars figures showcase Jedi wearing armor which is something I like.  They did well on the face sculpt as well and see Samuel L. Jackson when you look at him.

Really good detail on the figure and he has his familiar purple bladed lightsaber.  

His Jedi robes are cloth while everything underneath is plastic.  Gives him a good look and feel.  

I do like this figure. He has a look from the series that I like and they did well with the detail.  

The Book of Boba Fett Television Series

TBOBF: Held off on this one until today.  It doesn't hurt any less than when I finished the series some time ago.  Beware there are some spoilers ahead.  Boba Fett has been my favorite character since I grew up with the original Star Wars.  This series didn't do him justice.  The Tusken Raider arc was really good start to the series.  It does the Tuskens right by giving them an appropriate storyline.  But when Boba returns to Tantooine it goes downhill.  There were really good characters and moments but they couldn't hold up the show as a whole.  

I really liked his "right hand gal" in Fennec Shand, the Wookie Krrsantan, as well as the Gamorrean guards, and Dokk Strassi.  In the middle of the series an episode is stolen by The Mandalorian.  It was a cool episode but it didn't belong here.  Then there was a biker gang that was way too bright (think Power Rangers) for the series.  And they ended it with Boba Fett riding a Rancor which came off as hokey.  They've done so well with The Mandalorian so it's hard to figure out how they went so wrong here.

This could have been a really good series.  It started off so well with the escape from the Sarlacc pit and the Tusken Raiders.  The rest of the show just didn't have as much grit to it.  I don't mind Boba Fett without his helmet as much as others as we've seen not every Mandalorian is the same.  But he needed to be more badass and we didn't get that.  I'll definitely watch season two if one is released with the hopes that they figured things out. Unfortunately season one fell short of my expectations.

2022 Topps The Book of Boba Fett Blaster

 

2022 Topps Book of Boba Fett:  I'll share my thoughts on the TV series a bit later but for now we'll look at some cards.  Here we of course have Boba Fett and Fennec Shand.

The design for me is fine.  I like the colors and simplicity.  I do feel like the logo could have been somewhere else or maybe included "Book of Boba Fett".  As you'd expect you'll get mostly screen grabs on the base cards.  The Tusken Raiders really do shine in the series and look cool on the cards as well.

One of the Arsenal inserts.  Allows for more photos and you get a description of the weapon on the back.

Heroes and Villains and Aliens and Creatures inserts.  Nothing wrong with character cards and more background on them.  Krrsantan was a good character and seems to be a favorite amongst fans.

Concept Art insert showing off Cad Bane.  He's a fun character in the Star Wars universe so seeing him on cardboard is nice.  And this card looks cool.

Bad guys.

Yeah, Boba Fett riding a rancor...  Krrsantan is cool.  Not necessarily a hero but he has some redeeming qualities.  And everyone loves Wookies.

The backs are good in providing context for the card fronts.  No complaints and there is that logo I'd like to see on the front.

Manufactured relics can be hit or miss.  I really like the look of this one.  "Boba" with the Mando design inside it makes it look cool.

A look back at one of the sadder scenes in Star Wars.  And we'll finish it off with a look an Ahsoka Tano.  Always enjoy seeing her either on screen or on cards.  Fun box of cards.  Not sure I'll try to get a complete set but I do like what I saw in this blaster.

BREAKDOWN:
61 – Total Cards
8 – Blue Parallel
4 – Heroes & Villains
3 – Concept Art
2 – Purple Parallel
2 – Aliens & Creatures
1 – Arsenal
1 - Manufactured Medallion Relic

2022-2023 Contenders Basketball Blaster with 1/1

 

22-23 Contenders Basketball: These hit the shelves last week so I grabbed a couple of blasters.  This first one delivered well with a 1/1 I'll show off below.  We'll kick it off with Paul George who is an amazing player at both ends of the court.  Unfortunately, injuries have robbed him over the years of way too many games and hasn't played more than 56 games in any of his four seasons with the Clippers.  Still the six-time All-NBA and four-time All-Defensive player can still be a game changer on the court.

Similar to the 2022 Contenders Football I'm good with the design but I'd still like a bit more ingenuity for this brand.  I like Contenders but they need to think outside the box.  Really happy to see two of my favorite players here in Dame and Domantas Sabonis.  No complains with any Luka pull of course.

Rookies show up in inserts.  I like the Rookie Stallions inserts.  Would have been nice if the muted photo in the background was different from the color photo but still a good look. I like the Draft Class cards as well.

This set has a 100 base card set so you should get a good pull in most packs and boxes.  My second blaster was loaded compared to this one but still no complaints here.

That Rookie Swatch of Christian Braun is a 1/1 Tag parallel.  I didn't realize that until after I did the scan.  One/One is written out next to his left arm.  That Markelle Fultz is a red parallel though it doesn't show.  Game Night Tickets show off great nights by players.

The backs are fine sans the lack of more stats.

Sec = Weight/Sec = Heigh in Inches/Seat = Uni#.  Love the Historic Draft Class.  Retired Greats are always welcome and showing off their being drafted is fun.  And who doesn't like Chuck?  I really enjoyed this box.  Really enjoying the NBA playoffs right now so this find was exciting and timely.

BREAKDOWN:

40 – Total Cards

2 –Red Parallels

2 – Rookie Stallions

1 – RC

1 – Draft Class

1 – Retired Great

1 – Game Night Ticket

1 – Historic Draft Class

1 - Rookie Ticket Swatch Tag 1/1

2022 Zenith Football

2022 Zenith:  Plenty of new football to show off in the last week with the NFL Draft occurring.  We'll keep the new football going with Zenith.  I don't remember 2020 and 2021 Zenith so this year's offering is my first look at Zenith.  Kick it off with Josh Allen.  Allen went 7th overall in the 2018 draft.  So many teams would like a redo with that draft.  Neither Allen, nor Lamar Jackson who wasn't picked to the end of the first round, would make it past the first two picks.

I'm okay with the design though it feels a bit goofy.  Can get pretty repetitive really quickly as well.  But I'm not complaining.  Just won't be a go to for me.  The base set is 200 cards with 100 of those being rookies.

Rookies have a drastically different design.  I like it.  Has a Donruss vibe to it.  Would have liked to see the team log to set it off though.

The backs are fine.  Won't win any awards but they're colorful and not unappealing.

Rookie Wave and Revolution inserts.  I'm good with both of these.  The wave thing is different but at least I get the wave reference here.  They used wave in one of Panini's other brands but with zero context making it confusing.

I have another pack of these I'll show off someday but I don't know if I'll pick up more of this one.  Just doesn't stand out enough to me and there are way too many other options on the shelf right now.

BREAKDOWN:
30 – Total Cards
7 – RC
3 – Red Zone Parallels
1 – Revolution
1 – Rookie Wave

2022 Donruss Football

2022 Donruss Football:  Dreams start this week with the 2023 NFL draft.  This is my first look at 2022 Donruss which has hit the shelves.  2021 Donruss was horrible and this is a much better design.  We'll kick it off with one of the best receivers in the league.

I do like this year's design.  It makes sense to me and is appealing to look at.  I do think more than one insert per pack would help with variety but Donruss is a meaty set at 300 base cards so set builders may appreciate less inserts.

Drake Jackson had the best season amongst this lot of youngsters.  He had three sacks across 15 games for the 49ers.

The backs are fine.  Duplicate photo is lazy but plenty of color and we see the logo again.

Love the retired greats in this set.  That Press Proof blue parallel works well with the old school Rams unis.  No complaints with either of these greats.

Good pack of cards.  I was happy with my first look at 2022 Design.  Some favorite players and the design were winners for me. Good luck to your teams tonight.

BREAKDOWN:

30 – Total Cards

5 – Retired Greats

4 – Rated Rookie

4 – Press Proof Blue Parallels

1 – Dominators