Random Wax: 2022-2023 Chronicles Basketball Blaster

 22-23 Chronicles:  KD and the Suns are figuring things out.  John Wall hasn't been healthy, but KD and Devin Booker are playing well as are the Suns.  If they can stay healthy I think Phoenix can be dangerous in playoffs.

Cade Cunningham is the lone bright spot for the Pistons.  Anthony Edwards and the T-Wolves are playing great defense and Trae Young is filling up the stat sheet again but he has to shoot consistently.  That Edwards is a Hoops Premium.

Banchero hot box!  I pull a lot of Banchero which is good.  He and Orlando are off to a hot start this season.

Ryan Braun and the Nuggets are reigning champions in the league.

Lots of young players in this set.

Plenty of shiny card designs in this set.

Fun box with so much variety.  Good pull too.

BREAKDOWN:

42 – Total Cards

35 – RC

6 – Absolute

6 – Luminance

5 - Vertex

5 – Pink Parallels

4 – XR

4 – Chronicles

4 – Rookies & Stars

3 - Prestige

3 - Esentials

3 – Marquee

1 - Pinnacle

1 – Dynagon

1 – Base Hoops Premium

Random Wax: 1990 Donruss Baseball (3 Packs)

 1990 Donruss: These are always fun to share.  Loved Eckersley.  He was originally a starter with the Red Sox but made his name as a dominant closer in the second half of his career.  

I love all-star cards and these are really good with the logo.  These players were all prominent in their time and of course Trammel is a Hall of Fame inductee. 

Never cared for the design of these MVP cards.  Nice photo of Tim Raines as an Expo.

Donruss only had recent year stats but it's better than none.  This card shows his transition not only from the Cubs to the A's but from a starter to a reliever.  A's really didn't give up anything for him.

Nice Rated Rookie pulls.  That Deion photo feels so out of place.  One he's a Yankee, and two there's no energy in that photo. 

Another great reliever in Dan Quisenberry to help end this post.  Loved his underhand delivery.  Ellis Burks is a favorite of mine as is those older Diamond Kings cards.  Lots of fun memories in these packs.

BREAKDOWN:
45 – Total Cards (3 Packs)
3 – Puzzle
2 – MVP
2 – All-Star
2 – Rated Rookie
2 – Diamond Kings

Random Wax: 1991 Upper Deck Football (3 Packs)

1991 Upper Deck: We'll do three more packs of one of my favorite football sets of all-time.  Bruce Smith kicks it off.  He was an amazing player who helped the Bills to four straight Super Bowls.  He was the anchor on that defense and finished his career with 200 sacks, #1 all-time.

So many memories in these packs.  Andre Rison will always be remembered as an Atlanta Falcon but won a Super Bowl with the Packers after being waived by Jacksonville, and picked up by Green Bay, during the 1996 season.

Great insert pulls here.  Season Leaders are great and the checklist Barry card is too cool.

Williams once had 14 sacks in game and had 82.5 on his career.

Team MVP gives us another chance to see star players from each team.

Great cards and lots of fun.  Really enjoy these cards.

BREAKDOWN:
36 – Total Cards
5 – Team MVP
3 – Team Checklist
2 – Season Leaders

Andor Television Series (2022)

Andor: This one's been out a while but I did watch it earlier this year.  I wasn't sure about this one so I wasn't in a hurry.  I really enjoyed it.  Not the typical Star Wars story.  This is the backstory for Cassian, a main character in Star Wars Rogue One.  I will say it isn't a fast-paced show but the story draws you in.  Plenty of good characters and story threads to keep you wanting more.  I won't' try to over analyze the series but it has a nice Star Wars feel to it even if it doesn't play out in the worlds were more familiar with.  If you haven't watched this one, give it a try.

2023-2024 Hoops Blaster

23-24 Hoops:  Hoops hit the retail shelves recently and as always I'm excited to pick some up.  I'll admit Shai Gilgeous-Alexander snuck up on me and I thought he'd be a flash in the pan.  Boy was I wrong.  He is a great player and proves it nightly on the court.

There are 300 cards in this base set which includes 50 rookie cards and 20 Hoops Tribute cards.  I do like the base design.  Works for a Hoops design. It's not real complicated and works for me.  I'm very happy with my pull in this blaster which included my favorite player in the league, Kawhi Leonard.

I pulled the man himself in my first box.  I'm sure he'll be highly sought after this year.  He's had a good rookie year but can definitely work on his shooting percentages.  He's shown flashes of what he could be in the league down the road and I know Spurs fans are excited even if the team itself is struggling to win and play defense.

More youngsters.  Marcus Sasser is the best of this trio averaging 8PPG in 17MPG for Detroit.

Wow those Arriving Now inserts are bright.  Not a favorite of mine.  Sensabaugh having a yellow jersey doesn't help.  The Rise-N-Shine relics are pretty bland.  Not much working here for me.

Pure Players is just confusing to me.  I'm actually okay with the look but the "Pure Players" with the water just really doesn't work for me.  Skyview is okay but not special.

A Dynamos insert I'm assuming is a reference to dynamite. Meh.  The backs are the normal boring black and white belts we are used to with Hoops.  That Steph Curry is a blue parallel which works well with the Warriors colors.

The Butler photo looks awkward but he is a favorite of mine.  Tatum may well be the MVP this year.  Still a long ways to go but he and the Celtics are looking good.

A couple of high flying photos and Boban.  Who doesn't love Boban?  Surprised to see him in the set but I'm glad.  I know he's a fan favorite.

Zion has been healthy!

These Hoops Tribute cards are part of the basic set and like last year, I'm sure many will think these would have been a good choice for the base design.  I wouldn't argue.  I like the design and these are favorites of mine.  It's also our only look at retired greats.  Great Vince Carter photo by the way.  Really fun box and great way to start off the season of new basketball cards.

BREAKDOWN:
90 – Total Cards
12 – RC
4 – Hoops Tribute
2 – Pure Players
2 – Blue Parallel
2 – Arriving Now
1 – Skyview
1 - Dynamos
1 – Greetings
1 – Retired Great
1 – Purple Parallel
1 – Rise-n-Shine Relic

2009 Press Pass Eclipse Blaster

2009 Press Pass Eclipse:  The NASCAR 2023 Awards Banquet is tonight so let's do some NASCAR.  We'll kick this one off with my favorite driver in the sport, Kyle Busch.  As a two-time champion he knows a thing or two about awards.

These are fun to open and see drivers what is now 14 years ago.  And look at these greats. The design is okay.  Photos stick to the head and shoulder shots for the most part.  Wouldn't have minded a bit more variety in driver photos. That Jeff Gordon is a blue parallel.

Brightest Stars highlighted up and coming stars on the track and they nailed it.  Denny Hamilin is one of the best drivers in the sport today, while Dale Jr. was/is a huge fan favorite but is now retired and an announcer.  Kurt Busch recently retired but won a championship in his career.

These Lunar Mission inserts are different.  

Pathfinders is another insert that is okay but doesn't wow me.  NASCAR and a space theme don't necessarily work together that well.

Solar System inserts are plastic cards.  Here we a Stars Over NYC insert.  Not sure why New York was important but okay.  That Carl Edwards is a Ground Control insert.  They weren't shy in shoehorning the theme into cards.

This Orbital card is one I like.  We have a good driver photo as well as being able to show off the card.  Not saying Orbital is great but I like the look.

More base cards of greats from the sport.  Harvick retired after this season and will move to the Fox Sports booth while Jeff Burton is already an announcer for NBC.

Again, a pretty good look on these Orbital inserts.

The backs aren't bad.  Never see stats on NASCAR cards which is a shame.  They have plenty of stats to share.  Still, these are good.  Nice photos with more variety.  Some of these would have played well on the front.

The rockets on the bottom of the cars just has me shaking my head.

Take Off inserts are another plastic card.  I like those and I like the Brightest Stars cards.  Great Jeff Gordon Photo.

That Burning Rubber raced used "WIN" tire is #/85.  I know I made some fun about the space themes but I really enjoyed these cards.  It's great seeing all the drivers over a decade ago on cardboard.

BREAKDOWN:
40 – Total Cards
6 – Lunar Mission
5 – Brightest Stars
4 – Blue Parallel
3 – Orbital
3 – Take Off
3 – Pathfinders
3 – Ecliptic Path (Plastic)
1 – Solar System (Plastic)
1 – Stars Over NYC
1 – Ground Control
1 – Burning Rubber Race Used “WIN” Tire #/85