Random Wax: 2022 Topps Archives Blaster

 2022 Archives: I've seen this Griffey Jr. photo before and I've never cared for it.  Not sure why but it's not for me.  Still, he's a legend and I like him as much as anyone else.  If he stayed healthy you have to believe he chases Hank Aaron's 714 home runs.

This design isn't necessarily a favorite of mine but no complaints about these 3B studs and a PC guy of mine in Uncle Larry.

Greatness.  Not only the card back but one of the best hitters the league has ever known in Tony Gwynn.  Career .338 hitter?  Crazy.

I like Goldy and Mookie is still great even if he isn't a Red Sox now.

If only saves were on here as well.  Amazing career and one of my favorite Braves of all-time.

Never a big fan of '87 Topps but there are worse out there.  Some good photos here including that Longoria even though it's a head and shoulders type.

A career Pittsburgh Pirate, Mazeroski was a 8X Gold Glove winner and won two World Series rings with the Buccos.

Hunter Greene earned his first all-star appearance this year and Jeremy Pena had his time in the sun as the ALCS and World Series MVP during the Houston Astros 2022 World Series run.

Not a Big Foil card guy. 

More retired greats.  Feels like every Ozzie card should show him on defense.

Amazing players, all in different ways.

Braves win, Braves win!  Such a great and surprising World Series run.  Since then, the Phillies and this Bryce Harper guy have stood in Atlanta's way.  I really like Archives, and this was a fun box.

BREAKDOWN:

56 – Total Cards

20 – Retired Greats

19 – 1963

17 – 1987

17 – 1978

10 – RC

 3 – Big Foil

1 - 1961 Topps MVP

1 – 1955 Topps Scoop

1 - 1992 Topps Major League Debut

Random Wax: 2021-2022 Chronicles Basketball

21-22 Chronicles:  Dame and the Bucks struggled this past season.  While I hated seeing him leave Portland I do hope him and Giannis figure it out.  Minnesota struggled their first year with Gobert so there is hope year one was just a bump in the road.  Dame also had a slightly better second half of the season which gives Milwaukee fans hope.

Solid pull of veterans in this pack.  Jaylen Brown looks that much better than he already did when I purchased this pack in 2022.  Since then, he's added an NBA Championship and a max contract (5yr/$304M) to his resume.

Plenty of different designs in this set.  That Playbook design is one I like even without a logo.

Cade Cunningham also got a max deal this offseason, albeit a max rookie extension (5yr/$224M).  Feels like if Golden State was truly all in, they'd be fine trading their young talent including Moses Moody.    

Solid Phoenix design on that Davion Mitchell card.  He was recently traded to Toronto.  Bones Hyland is now with the Clippers who need all the help they can get now that Paul George is gone.

Cade Cunningham hot pack?  Atlanta Hawks' management didn't return my calls and Trae Young is still on the team.  We'll see if they can get better, but this offseason didn't show a path that makes that happen.

BREAKDOWN:

30 – Total Cards

23 – RC

6 – Chronicles

4 - Score

4 – Green Parallel

3 – Playoffs

3 – Absolute

3 - Luminance

2 - XR

2 – Threads

2 – Prestige

1 – Crusade

1 – Phoenix

1 – Marquee

1 - Essentials

1 – Red Parallel

1 – Rated Rookie

Random Wax: 1994 Ted Williams Roger Staubach's NFL 3 Packs

1994 Roger Staubach: This is the last of these which I've been sharing over the last year and a half plus.  I'll really miss these. One of my favorite sets.  We'll kick it off with Jack Lambert who looks like he wants to kick somebody's butt.  Has to be before the first snap.  His uniform is way too clean.  His trophy case is filled to the brim and man did he scare the heck out of opponents.  Big fan.

Love all the all-time greats we get in this set.  Many from past generations you'll never see again on cardboard.  The design is so simple but it works.  The players take center stage.  Love the muted Buck Buchanan photo showing the missing tooth.  Screams a tough guy in the trenches.

The inserts let us see some of the greats on other cards.  Three amazing QBs here in nice photos. We have Etched in Stone and Golden Arms.

They had no idea of the legacy Bret Favre would leave when this Dawning of a Legacy card was made.  He had just finished the third season of his Hall of Fame career.  The POGs are great additions to the set in card form.

A few players I'd never heard of like Andy Robustelli.  Props to anyone who knew of this defensive stalwart from the 50s and 60s.  Six-time All-Pro by the way and nice photo.

I enjoy seeing the coaches get their due on these Chalkboard Legends inserts.

These are great cards and players.  So much fun and so many memories.  Wish we could see more sets like this one.  We'll end it with some of the great arms, and legs, from the game.

BREAKDOWN:

30 – Cards

3 – Dawning of a Legacy

3 – Chalkboard Legends

2 - Checklists

2 – Pogs

2 – Golden Arms

1 – Etched in Stone

Despicable Me 4 (2024)

Despicable Me 4:  Saw this one yesterday with the grandsons.  I liked it.  They did too but it wasn't their favorite from the series.  There's a new bad guy, Maxime Le Mal, a new member of the Gru family, and plenty of Minions.  It did feel like there might be too much going on and they were forced into getting screen time for some characters.  Still I was entertained.  

Star Wars: The Acolyte Season 1 NO SPOILERS

The Acolyte:  This one was a heck of a ride.  This series started out a big slow, but it was fun and gave us some great characters.  It also had some big surprises though not necessarily at the end.  I like The Acolyte.  I didn't agree with all the story threads and still have some questions about some characters, but I can say that about any of the Star War serires of movies.  The series is set in the High Republic era which has been expanded upon in books and comics.  I'm curious where it goes from here.  It's setup for a second season but one hasn't been confirmed yet.  I loved the duels we saw.  They got that right and I also think they did with the "bad guy".  I don't want to say too much though.  I want to see other's thoughts.  There was a lot to this series and I know there are options all over the place. 

Jedi Jecki Lon, Jedi Yord Fandar, Jedi Master Sol, and Osha

Baseball Card Highlights from Affordable Breaks Stack

I received a large stack of baseball cards from Affordable Breaks.  Colby does a great job at keeping the breaks affordable and fun.  We'll kick off this stack with Jason Varitek.  A career Red Sox, he's a favorite of mine from those teams that finally brought this generation of Boston fans a World Series Championship.  This 2023 Stadium Club red parallel is a great looking card and photo from winning the '04 World Series.

I'll show off highlights from my stack.  I always get the Red Sox if available as well as other teams who may have players I collect.  Tim Wakefield is a favorite all-time Boston Red Sox so it's always great to get cards of his.  RIP

Not sure how I snagged this one but always happy to get a Ryno card.

I like Big Leage Baseball.

Who doesn't love the photos Stadium Club gives us?  I'm pretty sure I had that championship shirt back in the day.

I'm a Kirby Puckett guy so I don't hesitate to pick the Twins when given the chance of pulling him.  I like the angle of that last photo.  Something different.

He also does breaks of new products from time to time.  I'm a Tatis Jr. and Jose Altuve guy so San Diego and Houston are grabbed at times.

I'm a fan of some of the Angels from this timeframe and I really like the unis from that era.  Great look on Chili Davis' face.

I liked these A's teams with Rickey, Stewart and Eck particular favorites of mine.

Maddux and Clemens?  Win!

Upper Deck showing they can think outside of the box for photos as well.  I like the Ted Willams picture.

Some Topps Archives which is a favorite brand of mine.  That Yoshida is a two-sided card with Ichiro on the back.

I always enjoy getting these stacks in the mail.  This is only a very small sampling but lots of fun.

2023-2024 Contenders Basketball Blaster with Autograph

23-24 Contenders:  We'll kick it off with Joel Embiid who's currently getting ready for the Olympics with the rest of Team USA.  Another disappointing season for him (injuries) and the 76ers (early playoff exit) but Embiid is really one of the best in the league when healthy.  Philadelphia added Paul George, Caleb Martin, Eric Gordon and Kyle Lowry this offseason.  I'm not saying that puts them at Boston or New York's level but I could easily see them as the #3 seed in the Eastern Conference next season assuming good health.

This is my first look at this year's Contenders set and I like it more than 2022-2023 Contenders.  This year there's more color and the arrangement of information on the card fronts isn't as compact.  I know many aren't as big a fan of the Contenders blueprint but it works for me.

Rookie offerings as well.  That Taylor Hendricks is a Red Parallel.  Scoot Henderson was the #3 overall pick to Portland but stuggled last season.  He did show more promise in the second half of the season.  The Trail Blazers have a logjam at guard and might still make a move prior to the season.

Ricky Council IV didn't turn any heads in Philly but did have a solid rookie campaign.  I like the Game Night Tickets.  Different enough to add some good variety.  I really like the Rookie Stallions inserts.  The Warriors drafted well getting Brandin Podziemski in the first round of last year's draft.

The backs look pretty good.  Plenty of color and the stats we're used to.  As a reminder the SEC/ROW/SEAT are the players weight, height and jersey number respectively.

Pretty good checklist for the Historic Draft Class inserts.  I'm not a Paul Pierce guy but it's always fun pulling retired greats.

Fun box of cards.  I purchased a box of fat packs so you'll see more of these.  We'll end it with some favorite players of mine.  That Sabonis is a Bronze Parallel.

BREAKDOWN:
40 – Total Cards
7 – RC
2 – Game Night Ticket
1 – Draft Class
1 – Red Parallel
1 – Retired Great
1 – Bronze Parallel
1 – Rookie Stallions
1 – Historic Draft Class
1 – Rookie Ticket Autograph