2026 NASCAR Playoffs - The Chase - Set

 NASCAR's playoffs are set.  Last night at Daytona was thrilling as Ryan Preece won the race to make it into the playoffs eliminating Shave Van Gisbergen.  Amazing to watch and so much fun.  The first Chase race is next Sunday in Darlington with 10 races in the playoff schedule.  I have two drivers I'm a fan of in The Chase, Chase Elliott and Bubba Wallace, and pop's driver is Kyle Larson. I feel you can make a case for any of the top 9 drivers or so.  If I was a betting man, I'd probably go with Ryan Blaney.

NASCAR's playoffs are now called The Chase.  16 drivers with the #1 driver starting with a 25-point advantage over the next driver.  Subsequent drivers are 5 points behind the previous driver.  We saw some pretty big point swings during the regular season which surprised folks so there are plenty of drivers with a shot and I expect some craziness and lots of fun.  

Random Wax: 2024-2025 Donruss Basketball

 24-25 Donruss: Jayson Tatum, on this smooth looking Magicians insert, only played 16 regular season games after coming back from injury.  He's only 27, and with Jaylen Brown now a 76er, the team is his again.  No reason to think he won't get back to his past self and Boston will continue to be a top team in the East.

Two key Oklahoma City Thunder players who helped the Thunder to their first championship in OKC just two years ago.

Youngsters.  McCain is also a member of the Thunder now.  Great X-Pectations are nice looking cards.  Donovan Clingan should be a big part of any future success the Trail Blazers will have.  He averaged a double-double last season.

Kyle Lowry was a star in Toronto for 9 seasons and helped bring them their only championship in 2019.  They will retire his number this upcoming season after he retired in the offseason.

Some good-looking photos.

Jamal Murray, on a Holo Green Laser Parallel, earned his first All-Star apparance this past season.  Easy to forget he missed the entire 2021-2022 season due to an ACL injury.

BREAKDOWN:

30 – Total Cards

4 – Rated Rookie

2 – Holo Green Laser Parallel

1 - Magicians

1 – Great X-Pectations

Random Wax: 2025 Topps Baseball Hanger Box

2025 Topps:   Vlad and the Blue Jays have struggled this season.  Not sure what happened to his power but I hope he can find it again. He's been such a great hitter before this season.

Bryce Harper's averaged has dropped a little but he still gets on base at a good clip and is hitting dingers.  He's also been healthy this season.

Photos on Team Cards like this one are so much fun.

Youngsters.

I really like the Diamante Parallels exclusive to hanger boxes.

Some good photography.

Justin Verlander has said he'll hang it up after this season.  3X Cy Young, 2X ERA, MVP, Rookie of the Year, Triple Crown, 10X All-Star.

Topps 35th Anniversary cards and a First Pitch insert.  I like both and enjoy seeing Tatum on a card with local ties.

All good-looking cards with a couple of alternate unis.

Skubal is now a Dodger.  Man, it feels like they are going to be next to impossible to beat again in October.

Great Stars of MLB pulls.

BREAKDOWN:
59 – Total Cards
11 – RC
4 – Stars of MLB
3 - Checklist
2 - Diamante Foil
2 – League Leaders
1 – First Pitch
1 – Team Card
1 – Future Stars
1 – Topps 35th Anniversary

Random Wax: 2023 Kayou DC Glory of the Universe Collection

DC Glory of the Universe: The first Shazam movie was really good.  I wish we'd been able to see him in the greater DC movie universe with other heroes.  Yesterday I posted about the Crisis on Infinite Earths animated movies, so this felt like a good post to do in tandem.

I'm a big fan of these cards.  They are thick stock with really good-looking art.  Lots to like here.

Storyboard cards which I like.

More Storyboard cards as well as a Wonder Woman Rally card.  Rally cards have Justice League members and the words in the bottom right spell out "You Can't Save The World Alone" when you have all six cards.  I like 'em.

A Plot card which gives us cards from across the DC movies.

Super Cute are just that.

I haven't gotten all the insert cards.  These aren't cheap so it can be tough finishing them out.

This is the Group Portrait oversized card which come one per box.  I like seeing the team cards like this.

 There are multiple "sets within the set".  Information on Kayou, a licensed Chinese product, is so hard to find but I did find a decent checklist here.  I've also seen there are new Kayou DC cards I may try out. Ali Express is the spot to check out for these types of sets and I've had good success with them.

The Cinephile cards are favorites of mine too.  Great looking art, colors and design.

I probably enjoy the DC movies more than most and it's fun looking back at them.

I really do like this set and can see me buying more of these.  These three above are some of my favorite DC characters.

BREAKDOWN:
31 – Total Cards
10 – Plot
10 – Character
3 - Cinephile
3 – Super Cute
3 – Storyboard
1 – Rally
1 – Group Portrait

Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths - Part One Part Two Part Three

 I received this trilogy on blu-ray for Christmas last year.  Part one, part two and part three details are at those links.  The 1985 comic story arc was huge back in the day with 12 issues in the main storyline and crossed over in many other comics.  There's a lot going on in this trilogy.  I haven't read any of this story since '85 so I really had no real memory of the details.  I like that there are so many characters from the DC universe.  Always fun to see those heroes you enjoyed.  It also means there is only so much screen time for many of them.  As it expected the big three, Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman, all have ample screen time but there are many other characters who actually star here.

The BLUF is heroes meet a cosmic threat that poses a risk to all the different earths that exists.  And there are a lot.  That's cool too.  We get to see different takes on our heroes and some of our favorite takes from DC are shown on their own earths - Super Friends, Animated Batman and more.  I loved that.  

In the end there are some surprises, fun interactions, and serious moments.  I don't think young fans would enjoy this one as much as I'd want.  It's a complicated story and they might not get what's going on and be confused by multiples of heroes.  I know I was confused at times.  Overall, it's a good trilogy.  I enjoyed some parts more than others but that's not surprise.  Not sure if I should have gone back to read the Crisis on Infinite Earths maxi series before watching this take.  Might have helped.  Next up on my watch list is The Penguin season 1.

Random Wax: 2024 Topps Update

2024 Topps Update:   Freddie Freeman is having another good season as a top 5 hitter in the league.  I've always been a fan of the former Braves' first baseman.  He's 36 this season and has 2500+ hits in his career.  Maybe he doesn't get to 3,000 but I won't rule it out.  I'm rooting for him and I'm assuming he'll be a Hall of Famer once he retires.  Just nobody hitting nowadays like he has in his career.  And I like these All-Star cards.

Update can be a mixed bag focusing on youngster and players in new unis. I do like the 2024 design.

Jackson Holliday has taken a step a back this season but I'm hoping he can bounce back.

Nice looking Rookie Combo card.  And who doesn't like a Skenes pull?

Stars of MLB.  Not my favorite design but it's in line with previous ones.

Great checklist card.

We have a Royal Blue Parallel and Purple Holo Foilboard #/799.

Veteran Combo card.

Elly De La Cruz is having another good season. I enjoy seeing players with speed doing well even if his stolen bases are down this season.

BREAKDOWN:
36 – Total Cards
11 – RC
2 – Stars of MLB
2 – Veteran Combos
1 - Checklist
1 – All-Star Game
1 – Rookie Combos
1 – Royal Blue Parallel
1 - Purple Holo Foilboard #/799

The Madison

The Madison:  While my pop picked this one as our next watch, we both really enjoyed it.  Excellent writing and acting.  Kurt Russell and Michelle Pfeiffer headline this cast and it's just a good watch.  While written by Taylor Sheridan, who heads the Yellowstone family of shows and others, this series is just the opposite.  While the language is similar at times, it's not action centric.  And right or wrong I've likened it to a "chick flick".  Just a good story.  It's not a long season with only six episodes.  Season 2 has already been shot and season 3 has been picked up, so we have those to look forward to.