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.