Star Wars: The Acolyte Season 1 NO SPOILERS

The Acolyte:  This one was a heck of a ride.  This series started out a big slow, but it was fun and gave us some great characters.  It also had some big surprises though not necessarily at the end.  I like The Acolyte.  I didn't agree with all the story threads and still have some questions about some characters, but I can say that about any of the Star War serires of movies.  The series is set in the High Republic era which has been expanded upon in books and comics.  I'm curious where it goes from here.  It's setup for a second season but one hasn't been confirmed yet.  I loved the duels we saw.  They got that right and I also think they did with the "bad guy".  I don't want to say too much though.  I want to see other's thoughts.  There was a lot to this series and I know there are options all over the place. 

Jedi Jecki Lon, Jedi Yord Fandar, Jedi Master Sol, and Osha

Baseball Card Highlights from Affordable Breaks Stack

I received a large stack of baseball cards from Affordable Breaks.  Colby does a great job at keeping the breaks affordable and fun.  We'll kick off this stack with Jason Varitek.  A career Red Sox, he's a favorite of mine from those teams that finally brought this generation of Boston fans a World Series Championship.  This 2023 Stadium Club red parallel is a great looking card and photo from winning the '04 World Series.

I'll show off highlights from my stack.  I always get the Red Sox if available as well as other teams who may have players I collect.  Tim Wakefield is a favorite all-time Boston Red Sox so it's always great to get cards of his.  RIP

Not sure how I snagged this one but always happy to get a Ryno card.

I like Big Leage Baseball.

Who doesn't love the photos Stadium Club gives us?  I'm pretty sure I had that championship shirt back in the day.

I'm a Kirby Puckett guy so I don't hesitate to pick the Twins when given the chance of pulling him.  I like the angle of that last photo.  Something different.

He also does breaks of new products from time to time.  I'm a Tatis Jr. and Jose Altuve guy so San Diego and Houston are grabbed at times.

I'm a fan of some of the Angels from this timeframe and I really like the unis from that era.  Great look on Chili Davis' face.

I liked these A's teams with Rickey, Stewart and Eck particular favorites of mine.

Maddux and Clemens?  Win!

Upper Deck showing they can think outside of the box for photos as well.  I like the Ted Willams picture.

Some Topps Archives which is a favorite brand of mine.  That Yoshida is a two-sided card with Ichiro on the back.

I always enjoy getting these stacks in the mail.  This is only a very small sampling but lots of fun.

2023-2024 Contenders Basketball Blaster with Autograph

23-24 Contenders:  We'll kick it off with Joel Embiid who's currently getting ready for the Olympics with the rest of Team USA.  Another disappointing season for him (injuries) and the 76ers (early playoff exit) but Embiid is really one of the best in the league when healthy.  Philadelphia added Paul George, Caleb Martin, Eric Gordon and Kyle Lowry this offseason.  I'm not saying that puts them at Boston or New York's level but I could easily see them as the #3 seed in the Eastern Conference next season assuming good health.

This is my first look at this year's Contenders set and I like it more than 2022-2023 Contenders.  This year there's more color and the arrangement of information on the card fronts isn't as compact.  I know many aren't as big a fan of the Contenders blueprint but it works for me.

Rookie offerings as well.  That Taylor Hendricks is a Red Parallel.  Scoot Henderson was the #3 overall pick to Portland but stuggled last season.  He did show more promise in the second half of the season.  The Trail Blazers have a logjam at guard and might still make a move prior to the season.

Ricky Council IV didn't turn any heads in Philly but did have a solid rookie campaign.  I like the Game Night Tickets.  Different enough to add some good variety.  I really like the Rookie Stallions inserts.  The Warriors drafted well getting Brandin Podziemski in the first round of last year's draft.

The backs look pretty good.  Plenty of color and the stats we're used to.  As a reminder the SEC/ROW/SEAT are the players weight, height and jersey number respectively.

Pretty good checklist for the Historic Draft Class inserts.  I'm not a Paul Pierce guy but it's always fun pulling retired greats.

Fun box of cards.  I purchased a box of fat packs so you'll see more of these.  We'll end it with some favorite players of mine.  That Sabonis is a Bronze Parallel.

BREAKDOWN:
40 – Total Cards
7 – RC
2 – Game Night Ticket
1 – Draft Class
1 – Red Parallel
1 – Retired Great
1 – Bronze Parallel
1 – Rookie Stallions
1 – Historic Draft Class
1 – Rookie Ticket Autograph

Longmire TV Series (2012-2017)

Longmire:  Pop and I finished the Longmire TV series which followed a Wyoming county sheriff, his office and world around him.  We enjoyed the heck out this show.  It's a throwback.  It blends series we were used to in the 80s and what you'd expect from a modern series.   We loved the characters, the story, and, at times, craziness.  Overall, this feels a bit like a throwback series.  Straightforward with great characters.  Most folks will immediately recognize Katee Sackhoff of Mandalorian fame as Bo-Katan Kryze.  She's a deputy sherriff and key player in the show.  Not much else I can say about this one.  It's not the standard TV series we see today.  It's good.  And it's fun.  And not overly complicated.  Highly recommended. 

Walt Longmire is played by Australian actor Robert Taylor.

A Martinex is the owner of a local casino and nemesis of Walt.  I really liked his character.

Lou Diamond Phillips plays Walt's best friend.  He's prominent throughout the series.  Zahn McClarnon plays reservation police chief Mathias.  Both are really good in the series.
   

Random Wax: 2023 Donruss Football

 2023 Donruss:  We'll kick off this pack with A-Aron in his Jets uni which he wore for such a short time.  We're all curious if the Rodgers-Jets marriage will work.  It stunk that he was injured for basically the entire 2023 season.

The design on this Donruss offering is okay but won't' go down as a favorite of mine.  I look forward to seeing what Derrick Henry will do in Baltimore this season.  He led the league in rushing attempts for the fourth time in his career last year.

The backs aren't exciting but okay.  I like the back of the Legend Series though one line of stats would have really helped.  I was gifted this eight-card pack for Christmas.

For a small pack I think I did well.  Luke Kuechly is a favorite of mine, so he was a fun pull.

BREAKDOWN:
8 – Total Cards
1 – Rated Rookie
1 – Legends Series

2023 Upper Deck Spider-Man No Way Home Card Blaster

Upper Deck Spider-Man No Way Home:  I didn't know these were out there and picked up this blaster online.  I'm glad I did.  They are some sharp cards.  Of course Spider-Man gets to kick things off.

As expected, we get plenty of screen grabs from the movie.  I really enjoyed the movie and I think these do a good job portraying showing off key scenes.  The design maybe takes up too much space along the borders but overall I like it including the logo.

These are the Ensemble insert cards.  They highlight the actors playing the characters which is simplistic but something I like.

My Red and Blue Parallel and a great screen shot.

The backs are fine with a decent synopsis of what's going on on the front of the card.

Some of the horizontal offerings.

A Behind the Scenes insert. I like the these.

More cool looking cards.

More Ensemble inserts.

These are fun.  If you like the movie you'll like these.  This Conception Deception insert of Doc Ock is maybe my favorite card.  I'm a fan of the movie version Doc Ock and it's a cool card.  If I was to do complete sets for movies, this is one I'd do.

BREAKDOWN:
36 – Total Cards
6 - Ensemble
3 – Blue Parallel
1 – Behind the Scenes
1 – Conception Perception
1 - Red & Blue Foil Parallel

2024 Bowman Baseball Blaster

2024 Bowman:  Freddie Freeman is flirting with hitting .300 again this season which he's done eight times in the previous 14 seasons.

Texas representing.  Alvarez and Altuve are having excellent seasons while Max Scherzer has been limited due to injuries.  I like the design this year.  The photos are cropped pretty tight on the players but the players blend into the borders which helps maximize photo quality.

Feeling old as I see more players like Homer Bush Jr.  I didn't realize it has been so long since his father was in the league - 2004.  The youngsters have a minor design difference to set them off from veterans.  The team logo, player position and Bowman logo are on opposite sides of the card.  I've always liked that.

1st Bowman cards including a Chrome offering.

The Top 100 inserts aren't bad but not a favorite of mine.

I really like the Rookie of the Year Favorites cards.  We also get a Green Pattern Parallel and Purple Pattern Parallel which is #/199.

I like the backs even if we don't get career stats.  The Resume, Skills, and Up Close write-ups work for me.

Luis Arraez and Christian Yelich are having good seasons again this year though Arraez is now a Padre.

RC cards as well. 

The Chrome cards are good takes on the base cards.  I'm not a Chrome guy but no complaints from me.  Pitchers were almost non-existent amongst prospects in this box.  Weird.

I really like both of these inserts - Bowman AI and Prospect Power Up.  Color serves Chrome well but the design is pretty cool as well.

Acuna hot box!  Yes, they are all brothers.

Fun box of cards.  I like the design and I thought I had a pretty good pull.  Don't ask me which prospects are the ones to look out for.  I'll just let them age and figure it out then.

BREAKDOWN:

72 – Total Cards

18 – Chrome

13 – RC

13 – 1st Bowman

2 – Bowman Top 100

2 – Green Pattern Parallel

1 – Bowman AI

1 – Prospect Power Up

1 – Rookie of the Year Favorites

1 – Purple Pattern Parallel #/199