Random Wax: 2021-2022 Hoops Blaster

21-22 Hoops: LaMelo Ball is good.  He and the Hornets seem to be on the upswing.  They have a solid team with surprise rookie Kon Knueppel really helping them this season.  When I was young, I subscribed to Slam magazine, and I have always liked these inserts.  Good job Hoops.

KAT is now a Knick and in a really good photo here.  The Phoenix Suns are a surprise team this year after trading away KD in the offseason and we get LaMelo's base card.  This design has always been a solid Hoops look.

Evan Mobley has developed into an excellent big man for the Cavs and is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year.

Lights, Camera, Action are favorites of mine and the only horizontal options in Hoops.

A Purple and a Blue Parallel.  De'Aaron fox is great at getting to the basket with his speed and here he gets a nice photo.  Jalen Green is now a Phoenix Sun.

I picked up this blaster in 2022 and I'm just getting around to sharing it.  Yep, 'Melo was a Trail Blazer for two seasons before ending his career in LA.  Chris Paul recently announced his retirement after a Hall of Fame career.

Skyview, Class of 2021, and Pure Players inserts.  Plenty of variety in Hoops which is always good.  I like the Class of 2021 inserts design.  

Another good-looking Lights, Camera, Action insert.  Pascal Siakam has since become an Indiana Pacer helping them get to the NBA Finals last season.

A fun box of cards and lots of good photos.  I enjoy going through these after time has gone by and seeing what a difference 4 years can make in this instance.

BREAKDOWN:
88 – Total Cards
11 – RC
2 – Blue Parallel
2 – Purple Parallel
2 – Lights Camera Action
1 – Slam
1 – Skyview
1 – Pure Players
1 – Arriving Now
1 – Class of 2021

2026 Topps Baseball Hanger Box

2026 Topps:   Paul Skenes has been nothing short of great in his short career.  He has a 1.96 ERA through his first two years, a Cy Young and an ERA title.

I really like the design on this set.  No arguments with most of Topps' choices.  I haven't been this excited about a design in a while.  Great photo for Clayton Kershaw who retired after a Hall of Fame career.

Youngsters in the sports.  Matt Shaw had a solid first season with the Chicago Cubs hitting 13 home runs.

Maybe the greatest pitcher of his era.

1991 Topps Baseball, Diamante Parallel (Hanger Box exclusive) and a Profiles by Ken Griffey Jr.  I've always liked the Diamante look.  The others are okay but don't really move the needle for me.  James Wood struck out a league leading 221 times last season but had 31 dingers as well.

This Green Parallel Big Ticket Player insert is a good-looking card and is #/99.

Fun photos like these are always something I look forward to.

I really enjoy League Leader cards, and these are nice.  I do wish they had the season (2026) somewhere on the fronts.

I like that the borders aren't white all around the card, the team logo is prominent, the player's name is easy to read, and even the abbreviated team name in the corner.  Many small details along with the cloth/stitch look really work for me.

Crazy amazing start to his career.

I like the design on this year's Stars of MLB as well with team colors in the background being a nice bonus.

These team cards are done well with the exception that they don't give individual stat numbers for the team leaders.  Such an easy fix but Topps keeps omitting those.  We end it with a Titans of the Game.  I'm not sure about the design but I'm always up for an Ohtani pull.  Great box of cards and lots of fun.

BREAKDOWN:
59 – Total Cards
13 – RC
2 – Diamante Foil
2 – All-Star Rookie Cup
2 – 1991 Topps Baseball
1 – Team Card
1 – Future Stars
1 – Retired Great
1 – League Leaders
1 – Big Ticket Player
1 – Stars of MLB
1 – Titans of the Game
1 – Green Parallel #/99
1 – Profiles by Ken Griffey Jr.

2025 Donruss NASCAR 4 Hobby Box Packs with Relic

2025 Donruss:  The Daytona 500 today marks the start of the 2026 NASCAR season.  Denny Hamlin finished second in the 2025 season missing out on the championship with a heartbreaking loss at the end of the final race.  He's now tied for 10th all-time with 60 career wins.

Three of the better drivers at the Cup level which is the top tier in the sport.  Bubba Wallace and Chase Elliott are two of my favorites in NASCAR.  Elliott is a 1X Champion and has finished top 10 in the standings in 9 of his 10 full-time Cup seasons.

The backs are colorful but with no stats or different photo it's hard to get too excited about them.

Three of my Optic pulls.  They are the same designs and photos of the base cards.  That Riley Herbst is a Red Parallel #/199.

Jeff Gordon is an all-time great with 4 NASCAR Championships and 93 wins, good for 3rd all-time.  Spellbound inserts allow you to spell out a driver's last name.  There are six Gordon Spellbound inserts with different letters, photos and colors.  Okay idea but not sure how you display them as putting them in binder pages won't do anything for you.

Plenty of youngsters to go around.  Some who have only raced in the lower NASCAR levels and some who have raced some at each.

Inserts including my Suited Up relic.  I really like the Unleashed look.  I do wish there were different animals behind each driver.  I like Coming Attractions as well.

Overall, I'm pretty disappointed with this set.  The design is okay.  Nothing more.  In years past there was also a second retro design that gave mit ore variety.  There were also different photos of each driver.  Feels like Panini just phoned it in.

A couple Red and Blue Parallels and a Purple Parallel #/99.

We'll end it with a driver you either loved or hated in Darrell Waltrip.  I liked him and enjoyed him quite a bit as an announcer.  He won 3 NASCAR Championships and finished with 84 wins which is 5th all-time.  I'll show off more of these over time.

BREAKDOWN:

32 – Total Cards

6 – Retired Greats

4 – Optic

3 – Red and Blue Parallels

2 – Spellbound

1 – Unleashed

1 – Suited Up Relic

1 – Red Parallel #/199

1 – Coming Attraction

1 – Purple Parallel #/99

 

Star Wars The Black Series Imperial Praetorian Guard Action Figure

We'll do some Star Wars action figure love today.  This Black Series Imperial Praetorian Guard have a cool look.  Maybe it's the red armor or the cool weapons and vibe but there is something about them.  A good addition to the Black Series line of figures.

This Praetorian Guard is designed to resemble the guards seen in Star Wars: The Mandalorian but are also seen in Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi protecting Supreme Leader Snoke.  The first iteration of these guards is the Imperial Royal Guards who protect Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi.  That's where I got hooked on the look and coolness of these specialized guards.

This guy is pretty straightforward. They come with a glaive and a chain whip I believe.  It is called a sword in the action figure description but that is not a sword.

Overall, I'm happy with the figure.  The robe is cloth.  They are fairly poseable.  Has cool weapons.  The helmet is reminiscent of Clone Troopers.  

This guy is fun and I'm glad I got the opportunity to show him off.  The red also goes along with the day.  I hope everyone has a good Valentine's Day.

  

Random Wax: 2024-25 Panini Haunted Hoops (20 Packs)

24-25 Haunted Hoops:   Its' Friday the 13th so let's get scary!  LeBron isn't who he once was as a player but he's 41 and still averaging 21 points per game, 5 boards and 6 assists per game.  This may be his last season, and I'll be sorry to see him go.  He's such an amazing player.  Here he is on a Hoops Tribute Slime Parallel.

That great Donovan Mitchell photo is on one of the 12 Orange (Pumpkin) parallels I pulled in these packs.  Mitchell is having a great season, but the Cavs just don't have the same magic they did last year.  Hated seeing Jimmy Butler go down for the season while KD is having an amazing age 37 season.

Ajay Mitchell and big man Kyle Filipowski have developed into solid contributors for their teams.

More Orange (Pumpkin) Parallels and one of my 6 Slime Parallels.  Michael Porter Jr. is having a really good year with his new team, Brooklyn, where he is the focus of the offense.

The backs on these are okay and I do like seeing the hint of Halloween scariness with the trees in the background and colors.

I want to see Naz Reid in the starting lineup someday.  He's a great shooting big but with Rudy Gobert entrenched in the middle for Minnesota, that isn't likely to happen anytime soon.

More Hoops Tribute inserts to finish off the post including mega stars like Luka Donci and Wemby.

BREAKDOWN:
60 – Total Cards
14 – RC
12 – Orange (Pumpkin)
6 - Slime
5 – Hoops Tribute
1 - Prospect
1 – Draft Combine

Earnhardt Amazon Prime Documentary Series (2025)

Earnhardt is a good documentary series done on Amazon Prime last year.   Tons of good information in these four episodes.  I'm sure most of it is out there but seeing it all here in one piece and done as well as it was really made it a good watch.  It follows his early life to when he passed during the Talladega race.  Dale Jr. plays a big part of the documentary which makes sense.  His sister Kelly is a good part of it as well.  Competitors, teammates, crew, and family help round it out.  I thought Jr., Kelly, and Darrel Waltrip stood out but everyone who was in it did a good job.  His on-track accolades are highlighted as well as his struggles and his family life too.  Lots of insight into who he was.  Very enjoyable.  I think each episode is about 1 hour long.  

Today starts the 2026 NASCAR season in earnest as the Daytona Speedweek kicks off with the two duels tonight.  The Daytona 500 is 2:30 EST on Sunday.  This week's Daytona schedule is here.