Hell House LLC II: The Abaddon Hotel and Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire Movies

Hell House LLC II and III:  I really enjoy the original Hell House LLC.  I finally got around to watching the sequels.  They definitely don't live up to the original but there are some good parts and they both pay attention homage to their predecessor(s).  They would have been just fine for what they are but the endings didn't stick the landing. HHII went with an odd story choice, andwhile not straying from the original story, it just made it awkward in my opinion.  The ending of HHIII was similar but add in some shots that looked like they were shot by high schoolers and it really took away from what positives the film might have had.  The first film was pretty straight forward and enjoyable in its simplicity.  There are good parts to these as well but I just can't recommend them.

2022 Topps Gallery Blaster

2022 Topps Gallery:  Divisional round baseball starts today and this guy and the Braves take on the Phillies.  Can't wait.  Acuna was injured and missed the playoffs last season.  Hoping he can help propel the Braves to the next round.  It'll depend as much on pitching as anything but the Braves' offense can definitely score runs.  This is a Masterstrokes insert found 1:18 packs.

I like this year's design and some of the photos used.  The Bogaerts photo is probably my favorite.  That Lindor is one of the four Printer Proof parallels found in blasters.  Other than printing Printer Proof on the card I don't know what it gets you.

Plenty of rookies cards in these boxes as well.  Had to share Aaron Ashby and those glasses.  Good look.  He's the nephew of Andy Ashby.

A couple of Next Wave inserts and that Kershaw is a Rainbow Foil parallel.  I like the Next Wave look.

Another fun photo.  Abreu looking like he could step off the field in the 70s and right on to a dance floor.

Love retired greats in these and I'm a big Kirby fan so it is a nice pull.

The backs are a bit different from the norm on cards but I'm okay with that as it adds to the old school feel of these.

McClanahan and the Rays were eliminated from the playoffs in a fun series this weekend.  McClanahan took the loss in his only appearance going seven innings and giving up two earned runs.  You'll normally take that in any game but the Guardians won the game on a walk off homerun.

Fun box of cards.  I probably won't pick any more up except for singles I come across.  Pretty good design and good photos.  Let's go Braves!

BREAKDOWN:

28 – Total Cards

11 – RC

4 – Printer Proof

2 – Next Wave

2 – Rainbow Foil

2 – Retired Greats

1 - Masterstrokes

Batman: The Long Halloween Deluxe Edition

The Long Halloween:  I'm a fan of this Batman comic arc.  This deluxe edition is parts one and two of the animated take on the story.  Parts one and two were originally sold separately.  It is a good adaptation.  They make choices for the sake of animation like they do with any story that is done but overall it is a good job.  Splitting it into two parts was a must as there is so much to tell.  It isn't going to be the most action packed animated movie you'll watch but it is good who done it that involves a big part of the Batman Universe.  I do think I figured out who the killer was fairly early but I was never sure.  

The characters I enjoyed the most were Harvey Dent, Catwoman and Batman.  Not a huge suprise as they get the most screen time aside from Gordon but I like the characters.  Most of the villains are done well too but don't as much time to shine.  A few get more time than others and stand out including Calendar Man and Poison Ivy.  This is a must see for anyone that's a fan of Batman and DC animated movies should see this one.  DC does a good job bring stories to the screen in animated form.

SYNOPSIS:

Taking place during Batman 's early days of crime fighting, The Long Halloween tells the story of a mysterious killer named Holiday, who murders people on holidays, one each month.

2021 Select Football

2021 Select Football:  Been skipping over this one for some time due to the price.  Finally gave in on a pack.  We'll kick it off with Barry Sanders, one of the top runners of all-time.  I'm very happy I got to watch him play.  So much fun to watch.  This card is the one Base Club Level card I pulled (#201-300).

The design, of which there are multiple, are good ones for shiny cards.  These are Concourse cards (#1-100).  Probably my favorite of the three designs I found.  Good pull including these great receivers.

These are Premier cards (#101-200).  Design is maybe my least favorite of the three but no huge complaints about it.

Plenty of die cut parallel cards as well.  I'm not a die cut card guy but I know they'll appeal to many.

Always fun finding retired greats.  Here we have two of the main reasons the St. Louis Rams had one one of the greatest offenses in NFL history.  "Greatest Show On Turf"

The backs are a bit plain but we do have some color.  These are hte backs to the different subsets - Concourse, Premier, and Club - that I pulled.  I didn't pull cards from the Field Level or XRC subsets.

I won't grab more of these but that's mostly because of the price point.  Maybe look for some singles over time.  Fun pack of cards.

BREAKDOWN:

20 – Total Cards

12 – Base Concourse

7 – RC

6 – Base Premier Level

5 – Die Cut Parallel

3 – Retired Greats

2 – Prizm

1 – Hidden Talents

1 – Base Club Level

1999-2000 Fleer Tradition Basketball

99-00 Fleer Tradition:  The start of the NBA season is two weeks away and I'm getting excited.  Today is one a few different packs I grabbed off eBay recently.  Pretty happy with these and they are really fun.  Hakeem was great even in these unis.  Okay the unis are kind of fun so no real complaints.  This is one of the four red parallels I pulled.

Hakeem really made this pack but there are plenty of others I have fun memories of.  Davis and those great Pacers teams and Keith Van Horn who was a part of one of those Nets teams who made it to the Finals.

Look at those crazy good stats!  Love the backs of these cards. you get a different photo and career stats, lots of color.  Well done Fleer.  Well done.  And this is a great photo.

The Rookie Sensations inserts are okay.  Cuttino Mobley averaged 16 PPG for his career.  I never would have guessed that.  Nice Rasheed pull and who didn't like those Grizzlies jerseys and Big Country himself, Bryant Reeves.

I'll always sing this guy's praises.  Yes, he couldn't spell defense, but he was a scoring machine and a marksman from the arc.   Dale Ellis would have been the same in today's game.  This was a Roundball Collection parallel.  Fun pack of cards and great memories.

BREAKDOWN:
10 – Total Cards
4 – Red Parallel
1 – Rookie Sensations
1 – Roundball Collection

Random Wax: 2022 Donruss NASCAR

2022 Donruss NASCAR:  The NASCAR playoffs are in full force and this guy is in the middle of it.  Today they are in Talladega today and Denny is sixth in the standings.  This Contenders card is a good looking card.

Kyle Larson has to be one of the favorites to win it all.  He's the reigning champ is currently fourth in points.  Speaking of playoffs my favorite truck driver Zane Smith is currently third in the standings with only three races to go.  And yeah still don't like this design.

All three of these guys know something about winning.  Fun seeing Jeff Gordon on wax again.  This retro '81 design is not one I really care for and they didn't do much of anything to try and jazz it up.

My man Kyle Busch has been eliminated from the playoffs and now looks forward to his new team next year.  He'll move from the Joe Gibbs team to Richard Childress Racing in 2023.  Jr. isn't driving anymore but luckily, we can hear him both in the booth as well as on his work with Dirty Mo Media.  Great watch.

Young drivers getting their time to shine on cardboard. 

Not really a classic looking "Donruss Kings" design but I'm still good with this one.

I like the Under the Lights cards.  This was a fun pack with a pretty good pull.  Panini does a good job with variety in this brand which keeps it interesting.  I really like the Action Packed cards.  No, they aren't raised like the classic Action Packed we're used to.  But a good look.

BREAKDOWN:

30 – Total Cards

9 – Retro 1981

6 – Retired Greats

4 – Race Kings

3 – Carolina Blue Parallel

2 – Optic

2 – Rated Rookie

1 - Contenders

1 – Victory Laps

1 – Action Packed

1 – Under the Lights

The Munsters (2022)

 The Munsters: I'm a huge fan of this series so I was cautiously excited about the new Rob Zombie take of this classic family.  Bottom line is it was good.  Not real good.  Not great.  But good.  I really enjoyed what they did with the characters.  They are likable and add to the movie.  They are true to the original characters while Rob Zombie put his own twist on them.  Herman was my favorite.

My issues were more along the lines of the story.  It was slow in the beginning but finally picked up and then finished strong in my opinion.  Overall I think we could see more movies based on these characters.  With a better story these characters could really shine.  I do recommend the movie but I'm sure there'll be mixed reviews.