Seinfeld Television Series (1989–1998) Rewatch

 Seinfeld: I recently rewatched the Seinfeld series and just wanted to share a few thoughts.  I did this over time and would usually watch an episode prior to going to sleep.  With 172 episodes it took some time, but I found myself looking forward to watching them each night.  I enjoyed Seinfeld when it came out, and I still do today, and that is even after watching reruns for years once it went into syndication.  

Some of my favorite episodes include The Contest, The Comeback, The Hamptons, and The Opposite.  I'm sure I'm forgetting many more.  In my memory, I didn't like the heavily criticized finale when it originally aired (and I don't think I'd seen it since).  I'll say this time around I was fine with it.  Not sure what changed but something did.  There were so many ongoing plot lines and characters that were fun too.  Watching it through and giving each episode my full attention, it was much more enjoyable than just having it on in the background.  It's also easier to catch the nods back to past episodes.  I'm glad I did this.  I really like Seinfeld, and it was really fun to do a rewatch of the entire run.  And I'm on to my next rewatch...

2025 Topps Baseball Hanger Box with Autograph

 2025 Topps: I normally have a base card as the first card for the initial post of a set, but how could I not post this sweet looking 1990 Topps Baseball Autograph Ozzie Smith.  Not quite sure what I'll do with it but sales on eBay make think I may go that direction.  Great looking card, really nice auto and a great pull to start off the 2025 baseball card season.

I like this year's design.  May not rank up there all-time but I like some of the elements they give us.  The ball field showing their position, the nice sized logo, and even the team's name which took some time to warm up to.

Youngsters as always get the RC treatment.  Spencer Schwellenbach started 21 games for the Braves going 8-7 with a 3.35 ERA.  Great first season.  

We get all the stats we want so these are always a win.  I like player information and write-up as well.  Nice big logo and easy to read card number.  I'm in on these backs.

Here we have a Holo Foil Parallel, a Clayton Kershaw 1990 Topps Baseball insert and a Diamante Foil Parallel of Matt Olson.  I really like the Diamante parallel which may be hanger box exclusives but I'm not sure of that.

One of my Team Card pulls.  Team statistical leaders are found on the backs but somehow Topps still doesn't give us the actual numbers the leaders put up for their team, only their names.  Fail.  But the fronts are fine.

Some of the photos really stand out like that J.P. Crawford but overall we get pretty good photography from Topps.

I like the Leage Leaders cards.  We get photos, numbers and player names for the top three on the fronts.  And the league logo, American League in this case, and really like it.

Something about the All-Star Rookie Cup is always fun.  Some fun going on on the Checklist Card highlighted by some Guardians shenanigans.  I like the design on the Call to the Hall cards and loved that I pulled Rickey.  RIP.

The backs of the League Leaders cards are just as fun.  More photos, numbers, more leaders, color, league logo.  Good job Topps.

Some impressive hurlers from the 2024 season.

Some fun horizonal offerings are found in this set as always.

There are four Stars of MLB inserts in each hanger box.  I really like the look of these.  Felt like the designs the last few years had gotten stale but these pop with color.  Great pull as well.  Just wow.  This box was so much fun.  Love seeing the new designs and of course the stars in this box help.

BREAKDOWN:
59 – Total Cards
10 – RC
4 – Team Cards
4 – Stars of MLB
2 – Checklists
2 - Diamante Foil
1 – Holo Foil
1 – Rookie Cup
1 – Call to the Hall
1 – League Leaders
1 – 1990 Topps Baseball
1 - 1990 Topps Baseball Autograph

Random Wax: 2024 Donruss NASCAR Hobby Box - 6 Packs with Relics

2024 Donruss:  We go racing today as the 2025 NASCAR season starts at Daytona.  Dale Jr. is still very relevant in the sport today.  His company Dirty Mo Media has many media efforts including podcasts and he will be an announcer for TNT and Amazon Prime in 2025.  He will be on 10 races I think during the summer months.

As part of this set we get Retro '91 cards.  Not a favorite design of mine but maybe a car number or some type of logo would help.  Lots of parallels in this set including this Purple Parallel #/99 of Dale Jr.

The Car cards are fun.  We get to see the sponsors.  I do wish we could see more action here.  Maybe add some "Track Action" inserts showing spins, wrecks or major moments from the sport.

The base design is a bit meh to me.  The tire tracks do work but the gray and lines just don't work.  Give me a little car, a car number, or some type of logo and maybe this works better.  Just kind of bland as is.

I like Unleashed which goes vertical in 2024.  Again, the cards I'm showing off today are from six packs from my 2024 hobby box.

My two Red Parallel Suited Up Swatches.  Christopher Bell was 5th in the 2025 standings, and it was his third year being in the top 5.  Alex Labbe drove a total of 10 races in the Xfinity series and NASCAR Canada series.  

Nice combo cards with Production Line inserts where we get to see both the driver and car as well as pertinent stat like 93 wins for one of the all-time greats, Jeff Gordon which is 3rd all-time.

We get a Red Xplosion Parallel #/99 on one of my two Dominators inserts.  The Retro Series logo does say Retro, but I'd like to see something else on the card to help us get that feel.

Season Highlights card.

I do like these.  Plenty of color and we get the driver and car on the card fronts.  FedEx will not be a NASCAR sponsor for the first time in forever.  This is a big loss for the #11 Denny Hamlin team who has had FedEx as a sponsor for a long time.

We'll end this post with a Burning Rubber insert which gives me some of the action I'm wanting to see and this really cool looking Black Velocity Prizm Optic Parallel #/39 of Rajah Caruth.  Caruth finished 7th in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2024.  Enjoy the race today.  I'm excited for the season to start!

BREAKDOWN:
48 – Total Cards
16 – Retired Greats
6 – Optic
3 – Season Highlights
2 – Cars
2 – Race Kings
2 – Dominators
2 – Suited Up Swatches Red
1 – Unleashed
1 – Rated Rookie
1 – Burning Rubber
1 – Production Line
1 – Purple Parallel #/99
1 – Red Xplosion Parallel #/99
1 - Black Velocity Prizm Optic Parallel #/39

Captain America: Brave New World - NO SPOILERS

Brave New World: Saw this one last night with the son and the grandsons, 10 and 7.  I was pleasantly surprised.  I didn't have low expectations per se, but hero movies have been a lot of hit or miss lately with the emphasis on miss.  Outside of Deadpool-Wolverine this is one of the better Marvel movies in years.  It has plenty of nods to the Edward Norton Hulk movies and some characters that aren't household words.  But the movie and characters work.  It is a good story, and I was entertained.  I am a Falcon fan from when I was a kid, but I try to look at these objectively and I think this one is worth watching.  I will say it could use more fighty fighty and more of the "big red guy" and the grandsons would agree on that point.  I look forward to hearing what others think.

Hawkeye Television Series (2021) (Character Spoilers)

 Hawkeye: I didn't jump on this one when it came out in 2021 but I was pleasantly surprised when I watched this one over the course of a week this month.  There are six episodes that center on newcomer Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner).  We get a few other characters from the Marvel universe including Yelena Belova and Kingpin.  For whatever reason, I thought the series concentrated on Kate Bishop, and while she is a big focus, this truly is about both her and Hawkeye.  Maybe I thought this one was geared towards a younger audience, and it is, but I liked it.  Steinfeld and Renner were good together and the rest of the cast were just as good.  Not a whodunnit but it's a good Marvel show.  The ending was a bit cheesy, but I liked it as well.

  

2024-2025 Hoops Basketball Blaster

24-25 Hoops:  Kyrie's head is still spinning after Luka was traded last week.  Gotta figure Dallas will do what they can to resign/extend him in the offseason.  They'll need him and in theory he's a good pairing with Anthony Davis.  In all this should be good for Kyrie Irving even if it doesn't net him a championship.

I'm not sure about the design.  Overall, it is fine but there's not enough room for the photo.  It has a Hoops vibe but a little redesign and they could have nailed it.  Zach Lavine is now in Sacramento with former teammate DeMar DeRozan, after the trade that sent De'Aaron Fox to the Spurs.

The rookie base cards are pretty simple, but I like them.  That background works for me.  Still needs more room for the photo.

The Rookie Greetings inserts can be fun but this doesn't scream "greeting card".  Something in the background that says "travel" or "tourist" would have helped.

Arriving now is fine.  That Zach Edey is a Holo Parallel version of Arriving Now.  SkyView is one I like the more I look at it.

The backs while looking a bit different are the same ole backs in actuality.  That Mata Buzelis is a Purple Parallel.  There are 300 cards in this set with plenty of inserts.

These are three of the Premium Stock cards that come one per pack.  They are fine and I'm sure a favorite of shiny card fans.

Luka is a winner in the madness that was last week.  He'll be star of the Lakers franchise moving forward, assuming he extends with them.  The Lakers are the NBA mecca, so he'll be fine.  Pure Players isn't a favorite of mine, but I'll take a Steph Curry pull any day.  That Tim Duncan is a Hoops Tribute card and that subset has five retired greats in it.

This Julius Erving Hoops Tribute card is my favorite of the box.  To me it screams SkyBox but I'm not complaining.  I like the photo and the colors.  It works.  I'll definitely grab more of this over time.

BREAKDOWN:
90 – Total Cards
20 – RC
6 – Premium Stock
5 – Hoops Tribute
2 - Skyview
2 – Blue Parallel
2 – Arriving Now
2 – Rookie Greetings
1 – Pure Players
1 – Holo Parallel
1 – Purple Parallel

Random Wax: 2022 Topps Heritage

2022 Heritage: All I want for Christmas is a healthy Mike Trout season. 

The rest of this pack was a bit hit and miss.  Hoskins has taken his talents to Milwaukee where he still has power but hitting for average not so much.

I like the Heritage retro look more when we get action or game photos like this Josiah Gray card.

Three tightly cropped headshots.  Sean Murphy and many of the Braves had down seasons in 2024.  

Some more good-looking action photos and lots of greatness on the back of the Mike Trout card.  1st or 2nd in MVP voting seven times!  Crazy good.

 BREAKDOWN:
20 – Total Cards
3 – RC
1 – Rookie Cup
1 – New Age Performers