2017 Score Football Cards

I like the 2017 Score football cards despite a somewhat busy front. I like the color, team logo and the border.  It all works while not leaving me with the feeling it is at the expense of the photo.  The backs are also nice.  Plenty of color with a photo, logo, minimal stats and write-up.  Lots to like here for me.  I'll definitely pick up some more when I get the chance.  The Christmas season has put a cramp in my card buying budget, all for the greater good of course, but maybe Santa Claus will throw a pack or two into my stocking.  

There were 40 cards in this pack and there were plenty of inserts.  There were 13 different inserts in this pack so if you like those this may be a good set for you.  

I like the Drive Team insert that had three legends from the Miami Dolphins - Bob Griese Larry Csonka, and Paul Warfield. Not always a fan of these because the photos can be small but I liked this card - a quick nod to great players from a team's past.  I did think the Color Rush cards could be done differently.  These are mostly white cards which seems to me takes away from the whole supposed color theme.  Not sure why but I'm also a fan of the Huddle Up card.  

BREAKDOWN:

40 – Total Cards

7 – RC (1 – Showcase)

2 – Color Rush

2 – Signal Caller (1 – Retired Legend)

1 – Huddle Up

1 – Big Man on Campus

1 – Scorecard

1 – Red

1 – No Fly Zone

1 – Drive Team

1 – Reflections

1 – NFL Draft

1 – Hype

1 – Round Numbers

1 – Standout Numbers

Christmas Swag

As always Santa Claus was good to me.  My daughters picked me up a Green Lantern coffee mug (my favorite comic book character) and the Star Wars: The Jedi Path and Book of Sith Deluxe box set. I'm a huge Star Wars guy and I've read most of the books but had never gotten around to picking these up so these were a great gift. My sister sent me Stormtrooper bubble bath.  While my grandsons will get to enjoy the bubble bath, Stormtroopers are my favorites characters in the Star Wars universe so another good call.  A Power Rangers t-shirt from our dog is a nod to the three year-old grandson who, along with his baby brother and my wife, received matching shirts.  He is a big fan.  The big gift was a Roku TV.  I've got it all setup and online.  I'm a little new to the who TV app thing but I'll get there. It is a cool TV that gives me many more options over the older flat screen I had.  I hope Santy Claus was good to everyone else as well and a late Merry Christmas to you all!

2017 Panini Prestige Football

We have a few football games today so let's look at the 2017 Panini Prestige football cards.  There were 40 cards in this pack.  These are nice cards.  There is plenty of room on the fronts for full bleed photos which I really like.  The Prestige logo and player's name and team don't take away much from a nice looking front.  The backs are colored in the team color and has the typical write-up and minimal stats.  Not bad but nothing to write home about.  Five different inserts within the pack.  I like the inserts and with Panini having the college rights the photos of incoming rookies are nice.  I wouldn't normally lean towards cards like the Phenomenal Athletes but I like this Jamaal Charles card.  It may just be all the red.  Maybe with another player and color I think otherwise but I like it.  Overall a good pack with some good stars and and cards.  I like it and will definitely picks up singles from this set if I have the opportunity. 

BREAKDOWN:

40 – Total Cards

5 – RC

1 – Xtra Points Blue

1 – Blue Chips Prospects

1 – Phenomenal Athletes

1 – Alma Maters

1 – Stars of the NFL

2017-2018 Upper Deck Hockey

Haven't had a chance to pick any hockey until I saw packs of the 2017-2018 Upper Deck Hockey at a local Target.  The pack normally comes with eight cards but I hit with a Game Jersey insert.  Nice pull as these can be hard to get.  It isn't a money maker but still a good hit for a retail pack.  I normally enjoy Upper Deck offerings and these are nice cards.  I really like the photo of William Nylander from the Winter Classic game.  Big game in the sport and great to see it captured.  The team logos on the front are foil which is not something I'm big on but they aren't bad here.  The fronts leave plenty of room for the great photos which is always a big plus.  The backs are nice and colorful with a bit of dead space but still good looking backs.  Another solid nice looking effort from Upper Deck.  As I just don't have much room for adding more sports and cards to my collecting efforts, I probably won't grab another pack of these but I look forward to Upper Deck hockey every year nonetheless.   

Star Wars: The Last Jedi - NO SPOILERS

Loved it. It was a big adventure. Tons of action and many twists and turns I didn't see coming. The 2 1/2 hours just flew by. I hope everyone else enjoys it as much as I did. I'll leave it at that and can't wait to hear what everyone else thinks.

Doctor Strange Movie

Another movie I caught up with this last weekend was Doctor Strange.  This was huge when it was released last year and now I know why.  It is a very good movie.  I've always read comics and as a kid I like Dr. Strange's look but just couldn't get into his comics.  The whole magic thing can be a tough subject and it just wasn't one that I was able to wrap my head around.  Back to the movie they did this very well.  I was worried the whole movie would look like the crazy world shifting scenes you saw in the trailers and that I'd be nauseous the entire time.  Good news - I wasn't.  Marvel was able to incorporate our world and the magical realms well making it easy to watch and to comprehend.  The visuals are awesome.  The graphics can really make you believe what is happening on the screen.  And the characters are fun and easy to relate to helping you get behind this movie.  If you haven't seen this movie I say take a look.  It's on Netflix so it is easy to find. 

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2

So I'm a little late in watching Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2.  I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed the first installment but I have to admit I've never watched it a second time.  Again I really enjoyed it but it hasn't resonated with me as other comic movies have.  I was bit under the weather this last weekend so catching up on some movies seemed like a good idea.  I enjoyed this movie.  Not as much as the first one but it was entertaining which is all you can ever ask for right?  A few new characters were introduced, we now have baby Groot and supporting characters of old take a bigger role.  Action and comedy are definitely the calling cards of these movies and they did a good job making it fun.  All good stuff and I'm glad I finally watched this movie  

2017 Panini Football Cards

I've had these 2017 Panini Football cards for a while but wanted to share.  These are nice looking cards.  The in card frame of the player photos is a bit different me but I'm willing to work with it.  The photos are nice but wouldn't have minded seeing more of it.  The backs are pretty simplistic but nice and colorful.  Would have liked at least one stat line but I am ok with these overall.  The inserts were nice as well.  So while I like the cards I won't say I was overly excited about but have no complaints.  Confusing enough?  Maybe I'm still trying to figure out how much I like them.  Either way I'll settle on I like them and will probably grab more packs and we'll see what I think then.     

Card Show Baseball Singles

I also grabbed baseball cards at the card show.  I think this is a nice looking Hank Aaron card from Topps that I hadn't seen before..  I really dig the uniform so this was a win for me.  There are always plenty of baseball card bins to dig through so it is always tough for me as I could spend all day.  I was able to get pick up some favorite players and found some cards which I've never seen before which is always fun.  

Yadi always seems to have nice looking cards and these will be good adds to my collection.  Jim Rice is another all-time favorite and this is a card I didn't have.  

The Diamond King cards are nice cards and I was really happy to pick up some favorite players from the brand.  

Never seen these cards before so I grabbed quite a few.  Only showing a few here but they have a great look featuring plenty of all-time greats and some who were great in the World Series.  Fun find.  

Not a big Heritage guy but that won't keep me from picking up some personal favorites.  I really like this Altuve card.  

Card Show Football Singles

I'm a big Elway fan so these were easy decisions.

I picked up some singles as always at the card show I attended last month and just wanted to show them off.  I could probably spend all day looking through the cheap card boxes but luckily I always attend with a friend which means I can't loiter quite as much as I'd like.  

A few players that are current favorites of mine.

 Freeman is another current player high on my list of favorites.  While I like Barry I don't really collect him but couldn't pass on these two cards which I really liked. 

1991 Fleer Stars 'n Stripes Football

This is the 1991 Fleer Stars 'n Stripes football set.  Another set I did not know existed until just lately and is the second and last of the Stars 'n Stripes brand.  I really like the design of this set.  Where as the 1990 set was a little tough on the eyes this one has a redesigned small Stars 'n Stripes logo  and smaller borders allowing the subtle designs to look great and not overwhelming.  Nice big photos are also a plus.  They are no cards highlighting the Pro Bowl which is a bit of a disappointment as the 1990 set was centered entirely around the Pro Bowl.  There are 140 cards in this set and it is definitely star heavy.  Rookie cards of players still in their college jerseys are a nice subset though helmet logos are airbrushed out.  The backs are similar to the Fleer football cards of the era and are ones which I enjoy.  It is a great blast from the past as well as a nice looking set.  Always fun to find sets that excite you and that you never knew anything about.  It takes some digging on eBay to find but the set is affordable considering the punch it packs.  This one definitely didn't disappoint.  Happy football day!   

1990 Fleer Stars 'n Stripes Football

I'm a big fan of all-star game cards so when I ran across these 1990 Fleer Stars 'n Stripes football cards I was excited.  I had never heard of this set before.  I actually thought the Pro Bowl cards were an insert set.  Picked up the set on eBay and I was surprised this set is dedicated to the Pro Bowl with the first 80 cards being Pro Bowlers and the last ten being rookies.  And they hit every player from the game with in game photos for probably 90% of the photos.  Very cool stuff. 

I'm not sure the design is something I'd normally go for but I still like the cards.  Actual photos from the game itself are the big draw for me while it is also packed with plenty of stars.  Not every photo is a homerun but considering they had just one game to get all the photos they did well.  

  I always like the helmets on the front of cards and combined with the name and position the fronts cover the important ino.  Not sure bout the barber shop borders or the Stars 'n Stripes logo but the are growing on me.

The backs are similar from what we've seen from Fleer football so no surprises.  The write-ups are topical and relevant while and additional head shot is added on the back.  I think the Barry Sanders, Jerry Rice, Howie Long, Lawrence Taylor, and Dave Krieg cards are my favorite.  Fun find and I'm excited to share these cool cards.

2017 Topps Gallery Baseball Cards

Just saw the 2017 Topps Gallery Baseball cards had come out and they looked pretty good.  Happened to see some at my local Wal-Mart so I picked up a fat pack containing 12 cards.  I'm not normally excited about fat packs that only have 12 cards but this was a good pack. The big hit was an Anthony Rizzo orange parallel numbered to 25.  I also snagged a Sandy Koufax blue parallel numbered to 99.  I also pulled a Johnny Bench Hall of Fame card and two canvas parallels which are standard for each fat pack.  I like these cards to include the backs.  The price point will probably keep me from grabbing more packs but I'll definitely chase some singles.  The fronts are fairly basic but I like art cards though I prefer full body poses more like the Bench card.  Again I'm happy and will probably trade the Rizzo and Koufax cards for something I'm looking for.   

BREAKDOWN:
12 - Total Cards
3 - RC
2 - Canvas Parallel
1 - Orange Parallel #/25
1 - Blue Parallel #/99

Blue Parallel, Canvas Parallel, Hall of Fame

Justice League Movie Review (No Spoilers)

I really enjoyed the heck out of this movie.  With DC's past films being underwhelming (sans WW) and some mixed reviews for Justice League I was a bit worried.  While I could see some of the negatives, to me they weren't at all so much that it detracted from the film.  The story, characters and acting was a plus for me.  The movie was fun, had plenty of action, and wasn't a mess.  I just enjoyed watching Justice League.  It flowed well and the movie didn't seem long at all.  My favorite part of the story was how they handled Superman but I won't go into detail. Justice League isn't perfect but it was a good watch.  I say go see it and I look forward to hearing what everyone else thinks.  

2016-17 Panini Excalibur Basketball Blaster Box

This blaster box of the 2016-2017 Excalibur Basketball cards contained 88 cards (11 packs X 8 cards each).  I like these cards.  They have nice full bleed photos that take up the majority of the front of the cards which aren't cluttered.  I didn't feel like the base cards were star heavy but there were plenty of inserts and parallels that added to the star power.  I don't usually care for die cut cards but the Coat of Arms and Storm the Castle cards were pretty cool.  The set also has retired greats which is always a big plus for me as well.  Overall I'm very happy with the variety this box had to offer and I'll definitely grab more of these cards if I get the chance.  

BREAKDOWN:

88 Total Cards – 11 Packs X 8 Cards

7 Retired Greats

10 Crusade (4 Camo)

6 Lord (Base Parallel)

2 Viscount (Base Parallel)

1 Marquis (Base Parallel #/199)

5 Jousting

2 Battlements

3 Run the Gauntlet

1 Squire

2 Coat of Arms (Diecut)

1 Storm the Gauntlet (Diecut)