Random Wax: 2025-2026 Topps Basketball Hanger Box

25-26 Topps:   Cooper Flagg was the 2025-2026 NBA Rookie of the Year averaging 21 PPG, 6 RPG and 4 APG.  This Diamante Parallel which is exclusive to hanger boxes.  NBA starts tonight!

Great pull in this box. SGA won his second consecutive MVP award.  He and the Thunder will play at San Antonio tonight in a rematch of the Western Conference Finals.

One of my checklist cards.  I'm a big Domantis Sabonis fan so this was a fun pull for me.  I like that photo.

Dylan Harper was 4th in Rookie of the Year voting and a big part of the Spurs' run to the NBA Finals.

Kon Kneuppel really was clutch and gave Cooper Flagg a run for the Rookie of the Year award, coming in 2nd place receiving 44 of the 100 1st place votes.  He averaged 18/5/3 while shooting 42% for the Hornets.

Another Dylan Harper pull on this 1980-1981 Topps Basketball card.  We also have a Rainbow Foil Parallel and another Diamante Parallel.

Generation Now inserts are fine.

Paolo Banchero on a very colorful and sharp looking Power Players insert.  He averaged 22 PPG, a career high 8 RPG, and 5 APG last season.

DeMar DeRozan is now with the Denver Nuggets and another of my favorite players in the league.  He's 16th on the all-time points list.

KAT is one of the newly minted 2025-2026 NBA Champions.

Checklist card.

Great box of cards and so much fun.  I love retired greats and these are definitely some of the all-time greats.  George Gervin could flat out score.  The 4X scoring champ averaged 25.1 points per game for his career, good for 14th all-time.  He was also a 7X All-NBA, 2X All-NBA, 12X All-Star, and a member of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team.

BREAKDOWN:

59 – Total Cards

12 – RC

4 - Checklist

4 – Retired Greats

2 – 8-Bit Ballers

2 – Diamante Parallels

1 – Power Players

1 – Generation Now

1 – Rainbow Foil Parallel

1 – Clutch City Prospects

1 - 1980-1981 Topps Basketball

Portland Trail Blazers 2026-2027 Season Preview

 

The Portland Trail Blazers also had a good season surprisingly winning 42 game and had a playoff play-in win over Phoenix.  They lost in the first round to San Antonio 4-1, but it still exceeded the expectation going into the season.  Already expecting Damian Lillard back from injury, they swung big in the offseason trading for Ja Morant.  

I'm not a fan of his addition.  The backcourt already had Lillard, Shaedon Sharpe and Scott Henderson.  Sharpe is out 6 months with injury but Lillard and Morant next to each other doesn't feel like a win.  Neither is defensively gifted and both are small.  And the team still doesn't know who Scoot Henderson is even though he had a good playoff series.  Deni Avdija took a huge leap last season earning an All-Star nod and giving them a solid scoring threat in the front court.  Donovan Clingan continues to improve which is needed as surprise first round pick Yang Hansen had a horrible first season.  Jrue Holiday and Toumani Camara were also solid.

Where this leaves the team for the upcoming season is something I haven't figured out yet.  There's plenty of optimism about a Ja Morant reboot in Portland, but I have such a hard time seeing it work.   What I need to see is how the offense works together and whether or not they can play consistent defense.  And does Scoot Henderson's game advance any with most of the guard minutes taken up?  It's a lot to ask for from this team.  And they also have a first-time head coach in Micah Nori.  Still, I like a lot of the individual part and I'm really curious as to how it looks when they actually get on the court.  Good news is I think they can compete with the lower tier of teams in the Western Conference.  I still think 40 games is doable even if it is a step back.  

Atlanta Hawks 2026-2027 Season Preview

The 2025-2026 Atlanta Hawks were a success.   They had their most wins (46) since 2015-2016 and won the Southeast division.  Jalen Johnson had his best season yet averaging 22/10/7 and new Hawk Nickeil Alexander-Walker was the real deal averaging 20 points per game while shooting 39% from 3.  CJ McCollum was the big pickup in the Trae Young deal and fits in great.  Jonathan Kuminga and Dyson Daniels rounded out a solid rotation.

In the offseason they brought in Lu Dort and Aaron Wiggins, both formerly of OKC.  They are really good depth adds and Dort is an excellent defender.  Their biggest question going into this season is the interior defense and center.   Onyeka Okongwu is fine at center but not the rim defender you want.

Not sure what this season brings, but the expectations are higher.  What to do with Trae Young is no longer hanging over the team.  50 wins should be obtainable.  The East has really good teams at the top but the Jaylen Brown trade leaves some unknowns.  I'm looking forward to this season and what they can do on the court.  More excellence from Johnson and the team taking the next step is what Hawks fans are wanting and expecting.

Random Wax: 2024 Score-a-Treat Football (20 Packs)

2024 Score-a-Treat:  Patrick Mahomes really is scary.  The 3X Super Bowl Champion and 2X MVP is only 31 which is young in NFL quarterback years.  It's been nice to see him bounce back this season after being injured last season.

Some defensive love with some of the best in the game today.  These cards are lots of fun.  I enjoy spooky season and the NFL so this is the best of both worlds.  Good design.

Bo Nix has done really well as the starting QB in Denver and much more is expected from that young man.  Brian Thomas had a great rookie year but hasn't been able to recreate that magic since then.  With a name like Kool-Aid I had high hopes for the corner in New Orleans but it doesn't seem like it is to be.

And we get retired greats like we do in the Score base set.  Jeff Saturday was a 2X 1st Team All-Pro, 6X Pro Bowl selection and won a Super Bowl with the Colts.

The backs are just as fun.  Plenty of color and Halloween graphics to keep up the spooky vibes.  These cards came in "bundles" which had 40 packs with 3 cards per pack.

More greats of the game from today and years past.  Roger Staubach didn't start his career until after serving in the Navy and wasn't a full-time starter until age 29.  He is 6th all-time in starting quarterback winning percentage and led the league in passer rating 4X in his career while winning 2X Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys.

BREAKDOWN:
60 – Total Cards
29 – Bat Parallel
20 – RC (Rising Stars)
8 – Retired Greats

The Legend of Boggy Creek

 The Legend of Boggy Creek is one that I'll always remember from my childhood.  It was released in 1972 but I'm sure I watched in the mid '70s on KTLA.  And man, it scared me.  I was under 10 so that makes sense.  This watch was personal wanting to revisit a movie that made a big impression on me.  As an adult, is it that scary?  No.  But it was a fun walk back through time.

The movie itself centers around a bigfoot esque creature that terrorizes locals in Arkansas.  The movie shows both encounters with the "Fouke monster" as well as "eyewitness" interviews similar to a docudrama.  I did like some of the low-budget cinematography and how they built the story up.  I'm not saying I recommend this one, but I did want to put it out there for my nostalgia if nothing else.

Random Wax: 1986 Fleer Baseball

1986 Fleer: Brewers to the World Series!  Hall of Famer Robin Yount played 20 seasons with the Milwaukee Brewers taking home the MVP trophy 2X.  He also played in the postseason twice averaging .344, a .442 OBP, while hitting 1 home run and 7 RBIs.  This included a .414 average, .452 OBP 1 home run and 6 runs batted in in 7 World Series games.  Crazy good playoff stats.

I like this Lance Parrish photo.  He batted .278 with 1 home run and 2 runs batted in the World Series as the backstop for the Detroit Tigers while winning the 1984 World Series.  He was also a 3X Gold Glove award winner, 8X All-Star, and 6X Silver Slugger.  Excellent career.

We love these stickers and in 1986 Fleer gave us pennants as well as the circle sticker.

The backs gave us plenty of stats including the minor leagues.  We also see the back of the sticker with some fun art and fact.

More catcher love here including Darrell Porter.  Porter, a 4X All-Star, played in the World Series with both the Royals and the Cardinals.  In 1982 he was the NLCS MVP and the World Series MVP.  Fun pack of cards with plenty of good memories.

BREAKDOWN:
15 – Total Cards
1 – Sticker

V/H/S

V/H/S is a 2012 horror movie that follows men who are paid to retrieve/steal a VHS tape.  While doing that they view some of the tapes which show gruesome tales unfold.  All the while they are in their own horror movie unbeknownst to them.  V/H/S is alright.  The shaky camera was a bit shaky at times, but the stories were fine though I would have appreciated a more creepy vibe at times.  There are 9 movies in the V/H/S lineage including a new 2026 release (V/H/S/Mixtape).  I didn't see enough in V/H/S to make me want to watch more of this series this year but I can see myself watching the subsequent movies over the years.