Random Wax: 2022-2023 Donruss Basketball

22-23 Donruss:  Dame and the Blazers have started off the year well.  Still a long way to go but it's been fun so far.  The 7X All-NBA, 9X All-Star and 75th Anniversary Team member rejoined Portland after playing in Milwaukee for two seasons.

This is a solid design I like and there's some good photography to boot.  Jrue Holiday is a Portland Trail Blazer as well, after being part of the trade sending Dame to the Bucks in 2023.  He's won a championship with the Bucks and the Celtics.  He's also been selected to the All-Defensive Team 6X.

Jalen Williams is a big part of the Thunder and their success and their 2024-2025 Championship.  He's averaged 18 points per game shooting 37% from deep in his 5 seasons in OKC.

My inserts. I like the look on the Complete Players design.  Franchise Features isn't bad either. Trae Young is now a part of the new look Wizards and Kawhi is back in Toronto where he helped them win their only championship.

My Green Laser Holo Parallel.  I picked this pack up as part of a recent Wal-Mart online purchase.

Fun pack of cards and a pretty good pull.  Some favorite players for me as well and lots of fun remembering what was in 2022-2023.  RJ Barrett is another big piece of that Raptors team.

BREAKDOWN:

30 – Total Cards

3 – Rated Rookie

1 – Complete Players

1 – Franchise Features

1 – Green Laser Holo Parallel

Random Wax: 2018 Donruss NASCAR Blaster with Relic

2018 Donruss:   Rusty Wallace is my favorite all-time driver, and also a 1X Champion (1989).  He's 12th on the all-time wins list with 55 and was top 10 in the NASCAR standings 17X.  NASCAR is at Martinsville today in the playoff's next to last race, with the final Championship race next week.

Not a big fan of the '85 retro design but it is fine here.  We have 2 Name Variations with Dale Jr and Happy Harvick.  Tony Stewart is 3X NASCAR Champion while Kevin Harvick won 1 Championship.

We have multiple photos of drivers which is nice, and we also have a Name Variation for Brad Keselowski.  He recently said he is leaving the RFK racing team, which he is a co-owner of, after this season.  He is a 1X NASCAR Champion.

I really like these car cards.  Great looking photo of 2020 NASCAR Champion Chase Elliott's car.

I like the Race Kings cards in this set with the car and the driver.  Sadly, 2X Champion Kyle Busch passed away unexpectantly earlier this year from illness while still an active driver.

This base design is solid.

One of my favorite drivers, Zane Smith as a youngster on this Next in Line insert.  We also have a Racing Relic and Masters of the Track Xplosion Parallel #/99.

Joey Logano's classic Pennzoil look.  He's a 3X NASCAR champion.

Martin Truex Jr, the 2017 NASCAR Champion.  Rated Rookie William Byron who is in the playoffs this year.

And retired greats.  Bobby Labonte won the NASCAR Championship in 2000.  His brother Terry Labonte won 2 Championships.  Fun box of cards.  Can't wait for these final 2 races of this season.

BREAKDOWN:
60 – Total Cards
15 – Retro 1985
8 – Race Kings
6 - Cars
6 – Legends
5 – Nickname Variation
2 – Rated Rookie
1 - Classics
1 – Next in Line
1 – Racing Relics
1 – Master of the Track
1 – Xplosion Parallel #/99
1 – Red Foil Parallel #/299

Halloween-Horror-Spooky Movies Watched This Season

 I do enjoy this time of the year.  I watch as many of these movies and/or series as I can.  Some were watched throughout the year.  It had been some time since I last watched Skeleton Key starring Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands and Peter Sarsgaard.  Lots of suspense and it just keeps the creepy vibe going.  I really like twist at the end.  This is a movie you enjoy watching a second time knowing the end because you see it with such a different eye.

Plenty of good movies on the list below and a few that I will never see again.  Movies marked with an "*" are movies I watched for the first time.  Amongst the first-time watches, Sinners was my favorite.  Have a great, safe and fun Halloween!

Scream 7

Sinners*

Legend of Boggy Creek

Friday the 13th 2

Friday the 13th 3

Marvel Zombies*

MaXXXine*

I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025)*

V/H/S*

Skeleton Key

The Fog

The Village

Scream 7

Scream 7:  I'm a big fan of the Scream franchise and really enjoyed this one.  Neve Campbell and Courtney Cox are back and take on big roles in the movie.  In ways it felt more like the original than some of the others but that isn't a knock on the other movies in the franchise.  Bottom line is I enjoyed this movie.  It'll has twists and turns which played into many of the rumors leading into the movie's release.  I really liked Isabel May's part in the movie as well.  I say give this one a watch.

Random Wax: 2024-25 Panini Haunted Hoops (4 Packs)

24-25 Haunted Hoops:   Steph Curry is starting his 18th season. He averaged 26 points and shot 39% from deep in his age 37 season last year.

RJ Barrett and the Raptors will have Kawhi Leonard on board this season.  I'll be curious if that helps the Raptors take the next step.  Barrett has averaged almost 19 points per game over his seven seasons.  We have a Pumpkin and a Slime Parallel here.  I like the parallels.  There are also Holo Bats, Holo Sky, Holo Treats and Holo Webs parallels.

The backs have some spookiness to them as well.  It's definitely scary how good Steph still is at this age.

I'm a Domantas Sabonis fan and I'm hoping he'll have a bounce back year after being injured last season.  He led the league in rebounding 3 seasons in a row before being hurt last year.

BREAKDOWN:
12 – Total Cards
3 – Pumpkin Parallel
1 – Slime Parallel

2026 Score-a-Treat Multi-Sport (20 Packs)

2026 Score-a-Treat:   Ray Lewis is about as scary as any player out there.  He was a 7X 1st Team All-Pro.  For reference, the all-time leaders, Jerry Rice and Otto Graham, had 10X 1st Team All-Pro selections and Tom Brady, for all his greatness, was only selected 3X.

Not having a license in any of the major sports didn't scare Panini off from releasing a set specific to the Halloween season.  In this set you'll see baseball, basketball, boxing and football cards.  Here we have a Holo Bones Parallel #/149, Pumpkins Parallel, and Holo Webs Parallel.

Plenty of retired greats in this set and we get Calvin Johnson on a Slime Parallel.  I'm not usually a fan of sets with no team logos but I picked these up since they were new, they are cheap, and they are Halloween themed.  That Dan Fouts card is a base card with white borders.  He led the league in passing yards 4 straight seasons and passing yards per game for 6 seasons.

NIL players are a big part of the set including 19 of the 60 cads from these packs.  We also see RC cards.  Plenty of youngsters across the sports.

Monster Bash cards are one of the subsets.  Not sure how much I feel "monster bash" with this design.  I think they could have hammered that home better.

These cards are sold in a "bundle" like Panini's previous Halloween themed sets.  There are 40 packs per bundle with 3 cards in each set.

The design overall is fine.  I wish every card had a Halloween type of border but still these are okay.  I didn't see these at Wal-Mart so I did grab two bundles on eBay.  I'll share these in the upcoming years in 20-pack increments.

Haunted House is the other subset and I like these.  We get a haunted house in the background which gives us a good visual.  These are fun cards for the price and theme, and perfect for October.

BREAKDOWN:
60 – Total Cards
19 – NIL
12 – Monster Bash
8 – Pumpkin Parallel
7 – Slime Parallel
7 – Haunted House
4 - RC
3 – Holo Webs Parallels 
1 – Holo Skeletons Parallel #/149

Random Wax: 2023-2024 Haunted Hoops - 5 Packs

23-24 Haunted Hoops:   Anthony Edwards is only 25 and already a 2X All-NBA selectee.  He's averaging 24/5/4 on 36% long range shooting in his 6-season career.  I can't wait to see what the T-Wolves look like with newest addition LaMelo Ball.

Chris Paul retired after last season.  His 21-season Hall of Fame career saw him be a 11X All-NBA selection leading the league in assists 5X and steals 6X.  He was also a 9X All-Defensive Team member.  These cards are sold in "bundles" which have 20 packs with 3 cards per pack.

Jeremy Sochan saw his time on the court dwindle in San Antonio after being an All-Rookie selection and was traded to the New York mid-season.  While he only averaged 2 points a game for the Knicks, he did take home a championship ring.  We see Slime and Orange parallels here.  Slime is my favorite.  Orange is a bit dull. 

Trae Young will play his first full season with the Washington Wizards who also acquired Anthony Davis and selected AJ Dybantsa with the #1 pick in the NBA draft.  These are always fun cards and perfect for the season.

BREAKDOWN:
15 – Total Cards
3 – Orange
2 – RC
2 – Slime
1 – Rising Stars