Random Wax: 2019-2020 Contenders Basketball

2019-2020 Contenders Basketball:  Contenders is a favorite of mine and I happened to have this pack just waiting to be posted...and boom there's a Jimmy Butler card.  I've always been a Jimmy Butler fan.  Something about his hair.  And his play.  He's just a gritty guy who can play defense and hoop.  His stats from his first year in Miami won't wow ya but what he's help do with the team will.  

They'll try to be the foil to the Lakers in this year's NBA Finals which starts tonight!

Kevin Durant and Kyle Lowry both know something about winning an NBA title.  Rumor has it Victor Oladipo wants out of Indiana.  It'll be interesting to see what that leads too.

Another key to the Miami Heat is Bam Adebayo.  The third year player is only 22 and has been huge in the playoffs. You have to like the Celtics who have some young stars, including Jaylen Brown, who could help them challenge in the Eastern conference for years to come.

Aaron Gordon is a PC guy for me.  He hasn't had that break out year just yet but I'm hoping next season is it.  Devin Booker is a star in the league and played extremely well in the NBA "bubble".  

This Miami Heat legend knows a thing or two about winning championships.  Three championships to be exact.  This was a great pack and the NBA has been so much fun this year.  We'll end it with one of my favorite players in the league, probably the best shooter in the league and someone else who knows how to bring home the title.

BREAKDOWN:

22 – Total Cards

1 – Green Parallel

1 – 2019 Draft Class

1 – Winning Ticket

1 – Front Row Seat 

1991-1992 Pro Set Hockey

1991-1992 Pro Set Hockey:  We might crown a new Stanley Cup Champion tonight so another pack of hockey seems appropriate.  Great way to start is with Brett Hull.  

Plenty of stars in the pack.  

I don't remember these cards back in the day.  The design is pretty simple but nice.

Award winner cards are always great inclusions in sets.  We need more of them.  A photo of when they received it is a bonus.

The backs are pretty nice with a few seasons worth of stats and plenty of color along with the write ups.

This was a fun pack of cards.  Good design and players I know.  

BREAKDOWN:

15 – Total Cards

2 – Award Winner

1 – All-Star

 

 

2001 Upper Deck Vintage Football

2001 Upper Deck Vintage Football: This is a set I wasn't familiar with but was part of an eBay purchase of football packs.  This card alone made picking this pack up worth it.  That is Drew Brees being as cool as it gets in this photo.  I love this card.  Brees in a Chargers uni and him looking like a boss as a rookie.

Doug Flutie would start 16 games for the Chargers in 2001 but went 5-11.  Brees was limited to 221 yards on 27 attempts with one touchdown.  I always like League Leaders cards and Marvin Harrison is an all-time great.

The backs have an old school Topps feel to them but which means plenty of stats which is good.  Travis Henry had two excellent years for the Bills but like too many running backs, injuries shortened his career and productivity.  

Kick returner extraordinaire Brian Mitchell.  Seems like Upper Deck could have used team colors on these instead of just red and blue.  Maybe the set loses some of that old school feel if they do that.  Not complaining.  Just an observation.  

This was a really fun pack.  Maybe some inserts would help I'm good as is.  Drew Brees alone had me going wow.  The Emmitt Smith card was another great pull.  Even get to see him about to bring in a pass which is not something you see him do much on cardboard.  Of course it looks like he was in pre-game warmups when he did it.  I'd definitely do another pack of these.

BREAKDOWN:

10 – Total Cards

1 – League Leaders

Random Wax: 2020 Bowman Baseball

 2020 Bowman Baseball: Had this pack since June but haven't posted any baseball for a while.  End of the season is this weekend and then we have the new playoff system.  Should be interesting all around.  I'm just happy we got the season in.  This pack was pretty strong with the young Blue Jays stars headlining it.  Bichette has had a good year but has had to battle through injuries. 

Bowman is of course focuses on the prospects most of which I haven't heard of nor will I know for some time.  That said I have heard of Bobby Witt Jr.  But don't ask me any questions about him.  

And more young players.  Hopefully in a few years we know about all these guys.  

This is one of six chrome cards in the pack.  A favorite of many collectors the hope is to get the key players on these. 

Veteran players also have a presence here but they aren't why most folks are picking up Bowman packs.  Good pull in this pack and we'll wait and see how the careers of these guys play out.  Bowman posts are fun to look back at in three years.  Speaking of, I also pulled a Bowman Vlad Jr. back in 2017.

BREAKDOWN:

29 – Total Cards

6 – Chrome

5 – 1st Bowman

5 – Camo Parallel

4 – RC

1 – Rookie Favorites

1 – Bowman Top Prospects

1991-1992 Pro Set Platinum Hockey

1991-1992 Pro Set Platinum Hockey: Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals is tonight so we'll take a look at some more hockey.  I don't remember this set but do remember buying a ton of Pro Set Platinum football back in the day.  I liked the no border minimalistic design.  I'm not quite as big a fan nowadays but I do appreciate what they were going for.  Grant Fuhr is a Hall of Famer who played 18 seasons and won four Stanley Cup Championships with Edmonton.  I'm a huge fan of the Maple Leafs' jerseys by the way.

This is a fun pack but the lack of names on the front makes it a big challenge for me.

The backs are fun with nice big full body photos.  Not having stats is a negative.  Not sure why they went with color only for the Pat Elynuik photo but it is a good change of pace. 

I'm definitely enjoying these old hockey packs.  I have to do a bit of research but it is fun seeing these players, jerseys and teams, some of which aren't around any more.  Enjoy the game tonight.

 BREAKDOWN:

12 – Total Cards

1990-1991 Score Hockey

1990-1991 Score Hockey:  The Stanley Cup Finals is underway with the Dallas Stars leading 1-0 over the Tampa Bay Lightning.  Game 2 is tonight and I'd like to see Tampa Bay win the series for no good reason.  Both teams have one championship in their history.  This pack starts off with Hall of Famer Joe Sakic who won two Stanley Cup Championships with the Colorado Avalanche.  

The fronts are fairly bland really but there is something about them I like.  The small stripes, the little players representing each position.  It just works for me.  And what about that phase photography (just made that up) on those All-Star Cards.  The backs are nice as well though more stats through the years would be cool. 

Young players? Check..  Most important here is that while Darryl Sydor's career was good he won a Stanley Cup Championship with both Dallas and Tampa Bay.  How about that?  

This was a fun pack.  Gretzky or Lemieux would have been a lot more fun but this was good.  Especially after learning that little nugget about Darryl Sydor.  I'll have more hockey as the Stanley up progresses. 

BREAKDOWN:

15 – Total Cards

3 – NHL Prospect

2 – All-Star

1 – 1st Round Draft Pick

Random Wax: 2018 Score Football

 

2018 Score Football: I think I've had this for over a year now and I found it at a reduced price.  Can't beat that for a Mahomes rookie.  I really like Patrick Mahomes and was happy for him and the Chiefs last year.  Unfortunately he's made these packs pricey, even it this isn't his rookie, and won't be found in value bins anymore.

Star power?  Plenty to be had here in the base cards.

More and more stars...

When you open a Score pack you know you are getting plenty of inserts.  The Color Rush and Captains are favorites of mine.

Rookies are a big part of these as well.  As one of the first sets of the year you get to see these guys in their college unis.  Only bad thing is trying to sort them by team.  I have to look so many of them up.  It's worth it to see them in their college gear.

Did I say there were lots of inserts?  You won't get bored with Score.  If there is something you don't like there is plenty of variety to enjoy.  Fun pack for sure.  I'd enjoy ripping some of this again if I ever got the chance. 

BREAKDOWN:

40 – Total Cards

6 - RC

2 – 2018 Draft

2 – Captains

2 – Red Parallel

2 – Signal Callers

1 – Scoreboard

1 – Huddle Up

1 – Fantasy Stars

1 – Huddle Up

1 – Color Rush

1 – Sidelines

1 – All-Hands Team

1 – Scorecard Parallel

  

Random Wax: 2019-2020 Donruss Basketball

 2019-2020 Donruss Basketball:  NBA Conference Championships are underway with Denver-L.A. tipping off game one of their series tonight.  No I didn't mug someone for these cards.  This pack has been sitting in the queue for quite a while.  LeBron is a great start to this pack though somewhere inside me I'm rooting for Denver in their series.

James Harden is out of the playoffs and with no coach.  Andrew Wiggins probably can't wait for next season which will be his first full season with the team which should be fully healthy.

Parallels and inserts are are always fun.  My parallel includes a Hawk while it will be great to see what Kevin Durant can do in Brooklyn which is already a good team.  The Joker!  Dude has been great in the playoffs and is fun to watch. I really hope Denver makes the Western Conference Finals a good series but the Lakers will probably have none of it.  

Thunder had a great year considering they lost Paul George.  And they still have a ton of LA Clipper 1st round draft picks moving forward.  

Five Rated Rookies in this pack.  These young guys are hoping they'll be in the playoffs soon.  I'm so enjoying the NBA right now and bummed I can't just go pick up basketball card packs at the store.  This one was fun and luckily I still have basketball cards to share as we continue the quest to crown a champ.

BREAKDOWN:

30 – Total Cards

5 – Rated Rookie

1 – Changing Stripes

1 – Complete Players

1 – Green Holo Parallel

1991-1992 Score Hockey

1991-1992 Score Hockey:  This is a set I don't remember but it was a fun pack.  I like some of the elements but a team logo in place of the team name would have been nice.  Purple as a set design color?  Not one I'd pick but I'm OK with it here.  Jaromir Jagr is a great card to kick this off with.

He wasn't the only star power.  Plenty of it found in this pack.

I pulled a Calgary Flame and he is one Flames fans will never forget.  He helped Calgary win the Stanley Cup Championship in 1988-1989 going 16-6 in the playoffs.  The backs of these cards are pretty nice.  Something Score always seemed to do a good job with.

I enjoyed these cards and I can't complain with my pull.  I call this a win.  The NHL playoffs are in their conference championship series so it won't be too much longer and a new team will be hosting Lord Stanley's Cup. 

BREAKDOWN:  15 - Total Cards