Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (NO SPOILERS)

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom: Got to see this in my local small-town theater.  In fact, I had the theater this was shown in to my self.  I liked it.  I think it is better than the first.  But it wasn't what I expected.  I thought it would be a bit darker and on a bigger scale.  I do like different elements of the movie.  Aquaman, Ocean Master, Black Manta.  All great characters.  But how some things played out weren't as good as I hoped.  Maybe that is just on me.  I really like Jason Mamoa's take on Aquaman.  I think it'll be hard to beat but I think this is the last we'll see as Aquaman.  This movie basically closes out the DC movie universe as we know it.  Again, I liked it.  In my mind I expected something a little different.  I hope it does well and look forward to hearing what others think.  

 

A Boy Called Christmas (2021)

A Boy Called Christmas:  This is an origin story of Father Christmas.  Not one I'm familiar with but it was a good watch.  Not sure I'll add it to my Christmas movie rotation but it was worth checking out.  

 

Random Wax: 2022 Topps Baseball Archives Blaster

2022 Archives:  We'll kick off this Archives blaster with one of the greatest to play third base.  Eddie Matthews was a 12-time all-star and won two World Series Championships.  One with the Milwaukee Braves (1957) and one with Detroit (1968) as a reserve. He was top five in MVP voting twice and batted .271/.376/.509 with 512 home runs across 17 seasons.

Plenty to show off in this box including reigning National League MVP Ronald Acuna, now Padre Xander Bogaerts and the recently retired Adam Wainwright.

Rodriguez had a great second season to his career.  Here we have the '78, '87 and '63 designs.

Big Foil.

Love all the retired greats in this set. Pedro is a personal favorite and Johnny Bench always looks good on cards.

Dave Winfield could hit, play defense and won a Championship in Toronto of all places.

That Rickey is a Major League Debut card.  We also have a Silver Parallel #/99 and a 1961 Cy Young insert.

1955 Topps Scoop.  Love this photo from the home run derby.

I really like the Bo Bichette card.  Good photo and overall it really works for me.

Really nice-looking Greetings card.  I like all the elements that go into this card, and it stands out.

Fun box of cards.  Archives normally is.  Hoping Mike Trout can get healthy and back to the stud he's been in the past.  Even if it is without Ohtani.

BREAKDOWN:
56 – Total Cards
18 – 1978
17 – 1987
17 – 1963
13 – RC
13 – Retired Greats
3 – Big Foil
1 – Greetings
1 – ’55 Topps Scoops
1 – Silver Parallel #/99
1 – 1961 Topps Cy Young
1 - 1992 Topps Major League Debut

2022 NFL Stickers (3 Packs)

2022 NFL Stickers: These are always fun even if I don't have a practical use for them. McCaffrey is having a great season for San Francisco.  He's already notched a combined 17 touchdowns on the year.  Also my favorite player in the league.

571 stickers in this set so It's hard to tell who you'll pull but overall no complaints from me.  Who knows what is going on with Justin Tucker but I'm digging it.  As a kid I'd use some of my lunch money to buy a pack on my way to junior high.  Never did fill one those sticker books completely.

My foil inserts.  The foil doesn't do much for me but I'm okay with them at the same time.

Chubb and Watson have been injured this year but somehow the Browns are still in contention for a playoff spot.  These three are the cards that fall one per pack.

Donald is a great way to end this one.  "Only" six sacks so far this year but nobody wants to see this dude opposite them on Sunday.

BREAKDOWN:

15 – Stickers

3 – Cards

2 – Foil

1 – Team Logo

 

2023 Topps Star Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi Blaster

 2023 Obi-Wan Cards:  I really enjoyed the Obi-Wan Kenobi Disney+ series.  We'll kick these cards off with the man himself.  Ewan McGregor made Obi-Wan one of my favorite characters in the Star Wars.  Probably #2 just behind Boba Fett.  I like this photo and a good way to start.

The base design is good.  Not great but good.  These are on the thinner more common card stock Topps uses for most of their Star Wars sets. Not the thicker stock they use when going for the classic vibe.

The cards do a good job taking us back to key parts of the series which includes the Inquisitors.  On the right are Fifth Brother and Third Sister.  These are the main protagonists in the story though I won't say they overshadowed Darth Vader. 

Some of the blue parallels.  I'm not a fan of how the backgrounds are masked by the color.

Heroes inserts are good looking cards and an easy way of showing us the good guys.

I really like the Original Art Reprint inserts.

More Original Art Reprint inserts.  The Darth Vader is a Manufactured Patch relic.

Red (#/99) and purple parallels.

A couple of Darth Vader and the Inquisitorius inserts, which I like, as well as a Creatures and Aliens card.

Plenty of good moments from the series help make up these cards.  Purge troopers have a cool look to them. I also like the Inquisitors who make a good foil for the good guys.  I do enjoy these cards.  Won't be finishing up the set or anything but I do like them. 

BREAKDOWN:
61 – Total Cards
10 – Heroes
6 – Blue Parallels
3 – Poster Art
3 – Purple Parallels
2 – Droids
2 – Concept Art
2 – Creatures and Aliens
2 – Darth Vader and the Inquisitorius
1 – Red Parallel #/99
1 - Manufactured Patch

Random Wax: 2021-2022 Chronicles Basketball

21-22 Chronicles:  This is a fun set. I really like this card of Dame.  Unfortunately, he's a Milwaukee Buck now but I'll always have the memories. And his Trail Blazer shirzee.

Chronicles always has lots of variety and youngsters but we'll kick it off with the base design and some veterans.  Tyrese Haliburton is having a great season for the Pacers.  He was part of the trade that sent Domantas Sabonis to the Kings.

Scottie Barnes is averaging almost 20PPG and 10RPG for the Raptors as he's taken on a bigger role with the team.

Like I said, plenty of young players in this set.

Suggs is a solid player for the surprising Orlando Magic.  Maybe it shouldn't be a surprise with all the nice young talent they've accrued through the draft over the past few seasons.

Fun pack and a great pull in my opinion. De'Aaron Fox is having a terrific season for the Kings,  Averaging 30 PPG and 6+ APG.

BREAKDOWN:
30 – Total Cards
20 – RC
5 – Base
4 – Score
4 – Luminance
3 – Threads
3 - Absolute
3 – Playbook
3 – Green Parallel
2 - Prestige
2 – Marquee
1 – XR
1 – Honors
1 – Crusade
1 – Essentials

Random Wax: 2023 Donruss Baseball

 2023 Donruss:  Really nice Retro 1990 card made all the better by Ken Griffey Jr.  Spoiler alert, it's not my last card in this pack of The Kid.  As a reminder Panini no longer holds a license with the MLBPA, so no current big leaguers in this set.

The lack of logos is one thing but that combined with this design makes it a rough set for me.  The inclusion of retired greats does help soften the blow some.

That middle card is a Holo Orange parallel.

That Mike Mussina is a Holo Blue parallel.  Pulling Smoltz was fun on a Retro 1990 design.

Lots of retired greats.  Loving it.

Marvels are fun inserts.  I like the Diamond Kings design this year.  Better than most years.  That Holo Red parallel is #/2023.  And one more Griffey Jr. as promised.

BREAKDOWN:
30 – Total Cards
20 – Retired Greats
6 – Retro 1990
6 – Rated Prospect
3 – Diamond Kings
3 – Holo Orange Parallels
1 – Marvels
1 – Holo Blue Parallel
1 – Holo Red Parallel #/2023