Wandavision

Wandavision:  This has been out since last year but I'll still warn folks there'll be spoilers in this post.  Wanda Maximoff, AKA, The Scarlett Witch, has taken over a small town as she deals with her own demons.  In taking over the town she and her husband, Vision, and family live in what is now like a 50s 60s sittcom where everything is simple and campy.  Kind of funny but things of course go haywire.  In the end you find out someone helped push Wanda over the edge into creating her own world and taking over the town.  So the show isn't bad.  It's actually well done.  That said...we have to suspend belief in any of the solo Marvel film right?  A superhero takes on the bad guy or gal on their own and none of the other Avengers or heroes show up to help.  But this one screamed bringing in the big guys to help out.  She's extremely powerful and just took over a town!  They vaguely try to explain it away but that is huge.  But hey if we want to keep this as a standalone venture sobeit.  There are plenty of good characters and the campiness sets a tone we're not used to.  It's a dark series no matter what the background looks like.  No matter how much it looks like Leave it to Beaver.  It's worth the watch and shows Marvel isn't scared about thinking outside the box.   This one also sets up the new Dr. Strange movie which I'll talk about tomorrow.  Curious as to what everyone else thought.

Obi-Wan Kenobi TV Series (No Spoilers)

Kenobi:  This one's been out a few months now and I finished it over the weekend.  As a big Star Wars fan I'm always worried I'll be let down by these shows.  This one did not disappoint.  Really, they could have done this as a movie which could have led into a series.  Too much to do just two hours but Obi-Wan would have been fun on the big screen.  I love Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan Kenobi.  Set after the prequels the Empire hasn't given up on chasing down jedi and of course Kenobi is big on the list.  If you haven't watched other series or the animated shows you'll be introduced to Inquisitors who aren't Sith but are force sensitve and hunt the Jedi.  Pretty cool characters.  Most characters you'd expect to be associated with Kenobi do make an appearance here to include a few surprises.  Some were only referenced but give us fans hope for future appearances.  I got where they were going with the show and enjoyed it.  Always small things you can knit pick but nothing that keeps me up at night.

1999 Inkworks Planet of the Apes Archives

1999 Planet of the Apes Archives: I'm a big fan of the Planet of the Apes including both the original movie series and the latest iteration.  A few of the early movies weren't that good but still a fun memory from my childhood.  They'd pop on TV from time to time and it made my week.  This is an iconic scene but I wish they had used a different shot from the scene.

Fun to see some of the renderings of what they came up with in initial designs for movies.  Each of the first two movies get 18 cards a piece while the final three have nine each in this set.

The base set is 90 cards.   I didn't pull any inserts but some of these are labeled like subsets like this In Production card.  I like the backs.  Decent color, design and write-up.  Nova...I may not remember that much about Beneath the Planet of the Apes but I remember Linda Harrison as Nova...for obvious reasons.  Autographs are possible as well but neither Charlton Heston nor Roddy McDowall were amongst those.

I admit that my memories of the sequels has waned as I don't watch those anymore.  They just aren't as good or do I have a real connection to them.  I saw the original many more times and I remember the series more than the sequels.  And when I see parts of the sequels it makes me in no hurry to rewatch them.  But these cards are still fun. I also enjoy the modern day takes on this franchise.

BREAKDOWN:
8 - Total Cards

 

2021 Chronicles Football Blaster

2021 Chronicles Football:  These showed up on the shelf right after the 2022 Chronicles Draft Picks Football that I showed off last Sunday.  We'll kick it off with Patrick Mahomes who is always a great way to start.  We all had him and the Chiefs ready to go on a run of Super Bowl wins.  Just shows how hard it is to win it all in the league.  Won't be any easier this year without Tyreke Hill for him and the Chiefs.

The base cards aren't bad.  Not exciting per se but solid.  That little helmet needs a little team logo on it though.  That McCaffrey is a pink parallel.  Wish they had chosen another color.  I'm not a pink parallel guy.

These are all see through, clear, acetate? cards?  You get the idea.  I hope.  Magnitude, Clear Vision and Playoff Momentum.  The Playoff are my favorite amongst these with a hint of color in the background and the big team logo.

I'm ok with the Panini design.  The Gridiron Kings don't work with white borders in my opinion.  And way too much white on the prestige design this year which I've been consistent in saying.

This set is more my thing as opposed to the Draft Picks set.  I like my veterans.

Flux, Luminance, and Dynagon cards.  I'm meh on all of these.

Good pull and most designs were okay to me.  This Tom "Terrific" helps make my pull a win and this box fun.

BREAKDOWN:
42 – Total Cards
22 – Chronicles
15 – RC
5 – Pink Parallel
4 – Prestige
4 – Gridiron Kings
3 – Playoff Momentum
2 – Panini
2 – Magnitude
1 - Flux
1 – Dynagon
1 - Duplicate
1 – Luminance
1 – Clear Vision

Random Wax: 2020-2021 Contenders Basketball

20-21 Contenders Basketball:  We'll kick off this pack with all-time great Dallas Maverick and hall of famer  Dirk Nowitzki.  Fun looking back at how good he was and I loved that he brought an NBA championship to Dallas.  Especially doing it beating the Heat.

These packs always have fun pulls.  Jimmy Butler is a favorite of mine in the league today.  Donovan Mitchell may be on the way out of Utah.  I think he is very underrated which is easy to happen playing on the Jazz.

Embiid will get another shot with James Harden after he resigned.  I'm really curious to see how good those two can be together.  Say what you will about Harden but when he's invested and healthy he is great.  Oladipo resigned with the Heat this offseason.

Fun pack and good pull.  That short checklist helps to make sure of that.  Last but not least is Jayson Tatum who helped the Celtics get to the NBA Finals before being outmatched by the Warriors.

BREAKDOWN:
22 – Total Cards
1 – Retired Great
1 – Red Parallel
1 – Game Night
1 – 2020 Draft Class
1 – Green Game Ticket Parallel

Green Lantern MetaX Game Cards

Green Lantern MetaX:  We'll keep the Green Lantern theme going this week.  Picked these two packs up last year when they were on the shelves.  I don't play the game but I'm a big Green Lantern fan and enjoy the art.  I've looked at cards from a few of the different MetaX games over the years.  We'll kick it off with Hal Jordan, the greatest GL of all-time.

A couple more Hal Jordan cards and a group shots of all the different lanterns as seen in the some of the great GL stories.

Carol Ferris, on and off love interest of Hal Jordan...and villain.  So many great characters in this universe including the Red Lanterns.  As you've probably guessed they are bad.  Really bad.

Blackest Night was another huge story arc for GL where dead heroes were reincarnated as villains.  Firestorm is my second favorite DC hero so his card had to make an appearance. Even if it is in his dead form.

There are "rare" cards that can be found in these packs but as the world as my witness I can't figure them out.  It's maddening.  I think I pulled one.  I'll never know.  Just saying.  I do like these cards.  I'm a nerd and love the art and of course the characters and that goes for all the different MetaX sets they've released (that I've seen).  The checklist can be found here and we'll end it with GL Sinestro who would go on to be the biggest enemy the GL Corps has ever seen.

BREAKDOWN:
24 – Total Cards (Two Packs)
1 – Rare?

Green Lantern: Beware My Power (NO SPOILERS)

Green Lantern: Beware My Power:  I haven't watched many of the DC animated movies lately but DC normally does them well.  I'm a big Green Lantern fan so I made the leap and picked this one up.  Glad I did.  I really enjoyed it.  This is an origin tale for John Stewart, one of the most popular Green Lanterns, who for the most part is the Green Lantern in the Justice League these days.  While Hal Jordan is widely known as the greatest Green Lantern of all-time John Stewart may be the most popular.  This movie is really good.  I like the cast of characters that includes Green Arrow, and Hawkgirl, both of which are favorites of mine.  Normal Lantern foe, and former green ring slinger, Sinestro, plays the foil.  The movie will work you through the Rann-Thanagar War in a simplified way which makes it easy to catch up.  

What happens?  Stewart gets his ring, galactic issues require him to help the Justice League, and off they go.  Green Arrow is his initial partner who is apropos considering GL/GA have a long history of being partners in the comic books.  Along the way Hawkgirl and others join the adventure to include some surprises.  Sinestro and his band of baddies hamper their efforts along the way.  Most of this and more is played out in the trailer.  These are normally standalone movies and while a few of DC's animated movies may tie into others this will not be one of those best I can tell.  Again I enjoyed the movie.  Are there some plot holes?  Sure.  But I recommend this for anyone considering it and it's worth the watch.  I picked this up at Wallyworld and it is rated PG-13.  People are shown dyeing in the movie and of course there is violence, so it's not made for young kids.  Has me wanting to watch more of the DC animated movies which I'll see if it's something I make happen.