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.

 

Random Wax: 1988 Fleer Baseball (3 Packs)

 1988 Fleer: Bo Jackson's career was short, but it was still amazing.  His athleticism, his arm, his speed, his power, his fun.  He was an all-time great even when stats won't back that up.

Wally Joyner was a 1X All-Star and 1X Home Run Derby champion.  His best season came with the Padres when he hit .327 for them in 1997.  He ended his career hitting .289 with a .362 OBP and just over 2,000 hits.  

Doyle Alexander pitched for 19 seasons winning 194 games while notching a 3.76 ERA.  Three times he had 17 wins in season and in 1989, his final year in the league, he had 18 losses with a 4.44 ERA.

Chris Gwynn hit .300 one year for the Royals in 306 plate appearances.  He had a total of 263 hits across 10 seasons.

The stickers were great.  'Nuff said.

And they came with great information on the back.

These are the last three packs from the box I purchased late in 2021.  I'm a fan of this set and showing off the cards has been so much fun.  We'll end it with Dave Stewart who is a PC guy of mine.  He has the look of a guy who just knows.  What he knows, I'm not sure of, but still.  3X World Champion and a World Series MVP right there.

BREAKDOWN:
45 – Total Cards (3 Packs)
3 - Stickers
1 - Checklist
1 – SuperStar Specials
1 – Major League Prospects

2025 Score Football Blaster

2025 Score:  Drake Maye and the Patriots, while they didn't come out of nowhere, they did surprise us.  Maye took his game to another level and is a huge part of why New England will be in the Super Bowl.  I really like these Throwbacks inserts.  \

Some running back love.  I like this design.  It has that Score feel and I like the helmet.  McCaffrey is my favorite player in the league today, and I have a soft spot for running backs and all three of these are excellent backs.  James Cook led the league in rushing with 1,621 yards and added 12 touchdowns.  McCaffrey had an amazing season with over 2100 yards from scrimmage and 17 total touchdowns.

Quite a few rookies in blasters.  Ashton Jeanty stood out.  He had almost 1,000 yards in his rookie year.  Jalon Walker also had a good year with 5.5 sacks.

This relic is a Stars of the NFL Jerseys insert. It's not bad and I like seeing veterans on relics.

Retired greats!  I always find these fun and all three of these are players I like.  Brian Urhlacher's hometown of Lovington, NM is only 20 minutes from where I grew up.

I enjoy Celebration inserts and this year's design is one I like.

I'm a fan of First Ballot inserts as well.  Anything highlighting players in the Hall is good with me.   League Leaders are always fun and great to look back on years later.  That Troy Franklin is a Stars Parallel #/499.  I like the look.

Sack Attack is another one I like.  Score hits the mark on a lot of their inserts.

I like Anniversary Rookies.  They have a good look and are a nod to past designs.  Travis Hunter played in 7 games and had 28 receptions while also playing defense (no interceptions).

Ladd McConkey is still a big part of the Chargers offense but couldn't replicate the numbers from his excellent rookie season.

I like the backs.  Lots of color and we also get a different photo from what we see on the front.

Georgia Bulldog alum Brock Bowers dealt with injuries this season, but he will be a big part of the offense next year when presumed #1 pick Fernando Mendoza joins the team.

Bryce Young and the Panthers made the playoffs, and it took the Rams the entirety of their playoff game to get past them.

More amazing, retired greats.

You know I like these, so we'll end it with more Throwbacks and Seattle, who'll be meeting the Patriots in the Super Bowl today.  Enjoy the game!

BREAKDOWN:
90 – Total Cards
25 - RC
9 – Retired Greats
6 – Throwbacks
5 – Celebration
3 – League Leaders
2 – Sack Attack
2 – Anniversary Rookies
1 – First Ballot
1 – Stars Parallel #/499
1 - Stars of the NFL Jerseys