Random Wax: 1984 Donruss Baseball

Tonight is game 6 of the World Series. I'm a huge 1984 Donruss fan so I was really looking forward to this pack.  Very solid pack with Jim Palmer, Cecil Cooper, Mike Scott, Darrell Porter, John Tudor, and Terry Francona.  There were 15 cards and 1 Duke Snider puzzle card.  I am working towards a complete set of the '84 Donruss and I need many of these.  Great fun once again.   

Random Wax: 1983 Donruss Baseball

Game 5 of the World Series tonight and another baseball wax pack.  This 1983 Donruss pack wasn't bad.  It had 15 cards and 1 Ty Cobb puzzle piece.  The Reggie Jackson, Cecil Cooper, and Willie Stargell Diamond King cards are definitely the highlights. There are other solid pulls including Howard Johnson, Lou Whitaker, Tim Foli, and Ron Davis. I like the design and Diamond Kings are a big time plus for me as I love those cards.  More fun.  Enjoy.  

Random Wax: 1983 Fleer Baseball

The Astros are up 2-1 in the World Series and I'm sharing another pack I picked up at the show.  This was a 1983 Fleer pack.  I like the simple design but wish they had done a different border color.  There were 15 cards plus one sticker. My pull is highlighted by Rickey Henderson.  That one goes right into the personal collection.  After Rickey it is a little thin though I am happy with the Downing, Scioscia, and Gedman cards.  The Scioscia card really stands out with a great action shot which is not the norm in this set.  I always liked Fleer stickers.  What I didn't remember is these stickers have the 1982 home game stats for the team on the back.  Nice bonus for a sticker card.  Again ripping packs is all about the fun and this brought back some good memories.  

Random Wax: 1982 Donruss Baseball

Game 3 of the World Series is tonight and I'll look at another wax pack picked up at the show.  These aren't bad looking cards for their age.  I will say my pull was anything but appealing though.  A few players I like but only one card out of the bunch that I will keep.  Still it is all about the fun and I always enjoy ripping these old packs and "waxing" nostalgic.  Get it?  Sorry...  There were 15 cards and one puzzle piece in the pack.  Rick Mahler is someone I grew up watching with my Braves so I'd say he was my favorite here.  The Herr and Landreaux cards also bring back memories.  Enjoy. 

Random Wax: 1982 Fleer Wax Pack

Grabbed this pack of 1982 Fleer baseball at the sports show last weekend.  Always fun to open these. I was really happy with the Ozzie and Rickey pulls.  Overall it was pretty fun.  This isn't my favorite Fleer set but it is a decent design. I'll share the rest of the packs I grabbed at the show during the days the World Series games are scheduled.  There were 15 cards and one sticker in the pack. 

2017 Topps Stadium Club Hobby Box

In honor of the World Series starting tonight let's do some baseball!  I fell in love the 2017 Topps Stadium Club cards the first time I picked them up so I grabbed a hobby box at a local show.  My earlier review can be found here.  I'm very happy with my box and the pull.  I wish the two autographs, which are two per box, were better but who am I to complain.  I just love these cards and the photos on them.  I also had a great pull.  Many of all-time favorite Red Sox to include Yaz, Jason Varitek and David Ortiz are among plenty of others who will go in my personal collection.  I could go on and on but won't take up too much space.  I think the Mark McGwire card is my favorite and there were plenty of other cards I would have enjoyed scanning in but I need to make this a manageable post.  I hope you like.

BREAKDOWN:

128 - Total Cards (16 Packs/8 Cards Per)

19 - Retired Players

5 - Gold Foil

2 - Black Foil

2 - Black Shiny

2 - Scoreless Streak

2 - Beam Team (1 numbered to 99)

2 - Power Zone

1 - Contact Sheet

1 - Black & White

  

2015 Topps Star Wars: Journey to The Force Awakens Trading Cards

Topps has once again put out a "Journey to..." card set for the upcoming Star Wars movie.  This time we get Star Wars: Journey to The Force Awakens cards.  Definitely not my favorite cards but I do like them.  There were six cards in the pack.  Four were base cards.  Two of those were parallels - Jabba Slime Green Starfield (1:1 packs) and Lightsaber Neon Red Starfield (1:6 packs).  The other cards were a Choose Your Destiny card and character sticker card.  I think these are nice compliments to the movies while not giving away any spoilers.  I look forward more to the actual set for the movie itself but these are a nice diversion until those come out.  

2017 Topps Star Wars Galactic Files Reborn Trading Cards

Was finally able to grab a pack of the 2017 Star Wars Galactic Files Reborn cards from a local target.  The base set of 200 cards is divided among the eight films and two animated series with each movie/series having unique numbering.  There were six cards in the pack.  Five were characters from the movies and animated series with one being an orange parallel.  The other was a vehicle card (insert).  I like these cards.  The front is fairly simple but the design is nice.  I like the background on the fronts which gives the cards a nice look and I enjoy these much more than than the boring Star Wars Card Trader Physical Trading Cards we saw from Topps last year.  The backs are fine with nice write-ups as well as ratings for certain characteristics (intelligence, diplomacy, etc.).  The base sets can be found for under $20 on eBay so I'll probably pick up the set at some point.  Glad I was able to pick these up and show them off. 

2017 Topps Fire Baseball

This is the first time I've seen Topps Fire in baseball so I had to pick up a pack of the 2017 Topps Fire baseball cards.  There were 12 cards in the pack.  They are colorful like their cousins the Topps Fire football cards.  Looks like there  are a few different colors that dominate the base cards to include a yellow that I really can't get into .     

There were 10 base cards and I believe the Adrian Beltre card is a Blue Chip exclusive to the fat packs which is what I purchased.  I almost think the Jackie Robinson is a parallel but I can't figure it out.  It is glossier/shinier than the others but I can't tell what it is. The inserts were a Nolan Ryan moniker card and a Edwin Encarnacion walk off card.  I like the concept of both cards especially the walk off.    

The backs are pretty simplistic with not much going on.  I was happy with my pull grabbing Jose Altuve and Beltre who will both go in my personal collection. 

 Do I like them?  Not near as much as the football cards I've seen from this brand.  These are just ok and I won't be buying any more unless it is singles I run across.  Hopefully this will give others a decent look and they can decide on their own if they want to dive in to the Topps Fire baseball cards.  

Blade Runner 2049 Review (Minor Spoilers?)

We caught Blade Runner 2049 on opening night.  I have not seen the original so I went into this blind.  I think it was a good movie.  I liked the story which was easy to pick up on even without seeing the original.  The visuals and cinematography was also great.  They are really appealing which help draw you into the world they've created.  Ryan Gosling and Ana de Armas are the stars of the movie for me playing K and Joi, his artificial intelligence companion.  They were great.  Harrison Ford is not in the movie as much as you may believe from the trailer.  That isn't a bad thing per se.  His character is fine and serves it's purpose.  He didn't need to be in it any longer.  

There were some negatives for me but none mean the movie wasn't good.  It was long!  Two hours forty-five minutes.  Not only that but the pacing is slow.  Combined that makes for a long movie that felt like a long movie.  It was like they wanted to make each scene an event or overly dramatic - and too long.  Gosling's character K is also a little devoid of emotion so dialogue at times seemed like a first read through of the script as opposed to actual acting.  Take my look at the movie for what it is worth.  For a different perspective our 23 year-old son really enjoyed it.  I would think that if you enjoyed the first movie you'll want to see this movie and would probably enjoy it.  

2016 Panini Super Bowl 50 Commemorative Football Cards

The 2016 Panini Super Bowl 50 Commemorative Football set contains 21 cards.  10 each Broncos and Panther cards as well as a Super Bowl 50 card. 

 I really like the design on these cards.  Nice fully bleed photos, player names and the Super Bowl 50 logo.  The cards aren't numbered which is odd but I the biggest of deals.  

I really think the Super Bowl card (left) could have been so much more.  Big logo, football with the logo, stadium in the background, throw some players in there too, or about anything else and it would be something. As is the only thing I like is the football.  With the logo it is a good looking ball.  The rest is pretty bland.  The backs have a quick write-up and stats on the players.  That is only one card though and do like this set and I'll be searching for more Super Bowl oriented sets.