Random Wax: 2019 Score Football

2019 Score Football:  Hard not to know I'm a huge fan of this set and its retro design.  We'll kick this one off with Tom Brady on a Fantasy Stars insert.  Who in 2019 had any idea Tom Terrific would leave the Pats soon after only to win a Super Bowl with the Bucs.  Crazy!

While I love the base design the majority of this post will be dedicated to inserts.  I'm a big fan of the Captains inserts. Anything with retro unis is good as well.  

Another TB12 appearance.

There's that base design I love.

A little "shiny" flavor to these Signal Callers inserts. 

The Epix are pretty popular and these two guy make them all the better.  Fun pack of cards.  Picked these up a year ago and finally getting around to sharing.  Enjoy week three of the NFL.

BREAKDOWN:
40 – Total Cards
6 – RC
3 – Red Parallel
2 – Epix
2 – All-Hands
2 – 2019 Draft
2 – Fantasy Stars
2 – Signal Callers
1 – Captains
1 – Throwbacks
1 – Huddle Up

2020-2021 Select Basketball Hanger Box

 2020-2021 Select Basketball: Was really waffling on picking one of these up due to the price point but my love of basketball cards got the best of me.  This hanger box turned out to be a LaMelo Ball "hot pack" with him making three appearances.  I won't complain about that and one of them will go in Colbey's stack.  This card is from the Premier Level subset and is my favorite design of the three.

I'm not a huge shiny card guy but the design on these are a bit better than most.  Not being all silver helps a lot.  Select has subsets and the design on these three is from the Concourse subset.

The Zion is from the Courtside subset and it and the Vucevic are Shimmer Prizm parallels.  The Campazzo is a Green, White, Purple, parallel.  I like the colors on these and they look good in hand.

Overall this was a good box.  I won't pick up more due to the price point.  Would have liked more veteran stars as well.  Still some fun cards.

BREAKDOWN:
20 - Total Cards
12 – Concourse
8 – RC
4 – Shimmer Prizms
1 – Numbers
1 – Courtside
1 – Green, White, Purple Parallel

1992-1993 Upper Deck Basketball

1992-1993 Upper Deck Basketball: Not a favorite Upper Deck design of mine but this pack did have some All-Star Game cards with actual game photos which I love.  Not only that but the GOAT was on one of them with John Stockton, Hakeem, Karl Malone, Dan Majerle, and Sean Elliott making an appearance.  Great photo and card.

Trail Blazers great Clyde Drexler including MJ watching him score in the All-Star Game.  Jordan was not a fan of Drexler so he could not be happy about that.

The base card pull wasn't anything special.  Where is the team logo?  How hard is it?  There's plenty of room and would have given the cards a better look. This pack was one of five I purchased off eBay from different older sets.  Found a buyer with good variety for single packs and for a the price of a few blasters I was able to get some packs I wanted.

The other Grant  brother on this insert (Harvey).  It has an artsy feel to it which is okay.  Lloyd Daniels had a promising first year with San Antonio but drugs derailed any chance of success he had.  

Jay Humphries really had a solid career.  I don't why but I always liked Frank Brickowski.  Maybe it was that last name.  Fun pack of cards.  Kevin Johnson on one of those great Upper Deck art cards is a nice way to finish this up.  

 BREAKDOWN:
15 – Total Cards
2 – All-Star Game
1 – Checklist
1 – Team Card
1 – Game Face
1 – Top Prospect

Random Wax: 2020 Absolute Football

2020 Absolute Football:  Great having football back on Sundays.  I'm watching football on the couch in my Warrick Dunn Falcons jersey.  We'll kick off this pack with Tua who is looking to take his game, and the Dolphins, to the next level.  I'm curious what he can do.  If he can succeed he'll be another of the nice young quarterbacks the NFL has going for it.

These base cards of veterans look a bit different from the rookie cards. They are both very similar but it's nice to have them look similar yet different from each other.  I know Todd Gurley isn't playing at the moment but I'm still a big fan and was really hoping his year in Atlanta would be something of a comeback.  That never materialized.

Plenty of rookies in these packs as they almost made up half the cards (9 of 20).

A few inserts and a Boomer Esiason sighting.  Not only that but in a Cardinals uni.  Didn't see that coming.  Pulled PC guy Christian McCaffrey which is always nice.  Good pull and good looking cards makes for a fun pack.

BREAKDOWN:

20 – Total Cards

9 – RC

3 – Green Parallels

1 – Red Zone

1 – Flashback

1 – Retired Great

Zack Snyder's Justice League

Zack Snyder's Justice League: Finally got around to watching this one.  I really wanted to not like it.  I mean sure anyone can improve on a movie when: 1) they know what everyone disliked about the original, 2) can put out a four hour movie and 3) and seemingly have no restrictions put on you but the movie execs.  I wasn't as annoyed as others about the original but I understood the complaints.  Snyder did a good job and it was enjoyable to watch.

Zach Snyder did a good job providing more background on the characters, providing more depth to the plot, and letting the characters shine.  In the end the good guys still win.  Darkseid is still out there and a huge threat.  This really could set up the world, including Amazons, Atlanteans, men, etc. in an epic battle to save the world.  I guess we'll never see that.  The battle near the beginning of the movie with all the different factions saving the earth, including a Green Lantern, was more fun this go around. There's also a fun new character added to the film later on.

Cons would be all the wistful music and slow motion scenes especially early on.  I was ready to quit the movie 30 minutes in.  There are still some wonky graphics.  All the added goodness didn't really change anything.  And what is the payoff?  It doesn't seem to be lead to another Justice League film.  Maybe some of the solo films coming up will help lead to something but there is nothing but silence from D.C. Also seemed like the movie was over before it actually ended.  

Bottom line is I liked this.  As a movie?  No.  As an excellent TV series yes.  It has that feeling to it and it took me three sittings to watch all of the movie.  Maybe it is also really good as two movies.  Worked for Marvel.  D.C. is moving forward with plenty of movies but we don't see Superman or Wonder Woman anytime soon (that I can tell).  Seems plenty disjointed.  It's no secret D.C. has screwed up their movie strategy but you have to think they can learn from this and turn it around. 

2020-2021 Prizm Basketball

2020-2021 Prizm Basketball: I'm not a shiny card buy but I do like picking up a pack of Prizm basketball when I can.  Didn't expect to see these in the wild but excited to.  We'll kick it off with King James in a really nice horizontal photo. Maybe the Lebron photo could have been bigger in frame but I think him being a bit smaller gives it a bigger presence if that makes any sense.

A very nice LaMelo Ball pull.  That Gilgeous-Alexander is a green parallel.  

Love that we find retired greats in the set.  KG is a fun favorite to find.  The one thing I look forward to in these packs are the Red, White and Blue parallels which are favorites of mine. 

The backs are fine though it is nothing to write home about.  The photo is the same as on the front.

I liked this pack.  LeBron and LaMelo were great pulls but when I was opening the pack I was thinking I wanted a Red, White and Blue Domantas Sabonis and BOOM there he is.  

BREAKDOWN:
12 – Total Cards
3 - RC
3 -  Red, White & Blue Parallel
1 – Retired Great
1 – Green Parallel
1 – Instant Impact

Random Wax: 2019 Illusions Football Blaster

2019 Illusions Football:  The first Sunday of football is so much fun.  I'll be in front of the TV all day and I still have hope the Falcons and Bills will have good seasons.  I'm a big fan of this set.  Doesn't seem like something I'd normally go for but they are nice in hand.  Let's kick this off with the man himself Patrick Mahomes II.

A nice trio of running backs though Melvin Gordon is now in Denver and had a good year for the Broncos averaging 4.6 yards per carry.  Barkley is coming back from injury and Derrick Henry is just a stud.  He's on one of the Emerald parallels I pulled.

These guys all had a tough 2020 season though Deebo Samuel could have a bounce back year if he can stay healthy.

First year the NFL will be without Drew Brees in forever.  The Saints won't be the same that is for sure.  

I'm not a big fan of the Clear Shots which is an acetate see through card though I know they are cool to some collectors.  Grabbed a relic with this Great Expectations card.  He had a great year for the Washington Football Team.  I probably had no clue who this guy was in 2019 or even July of last year when I found this pack. Great way to kick off Sunday, week one.

Tom Terrific...nuff said...

BREAKDOWN:
36 – Total Cards
15 – RC
3 – Emerald Parallels
1 – Clear Shots
1 – Great Expectations Relic

Random Wax: 2020 Donruss Elite Football

2020 Donruss Elite Football:  The NFL kicks off tonight so let's look at some cards that include Tom Terrific of the World Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  I love both Brady and Mahomes so the Super Bowl was so hard to watch.  But I love that Brady, at his age, leaves the Patriots and wins it all in his first year with another team.  This guy didn't need to add to his legacy but wow this was an amazing way to start the second chapter of his career.

Pulled the Bosa Brothers and a Dalvin Cook.  Plenty of defensive stars here.  I enjoy watching Dalvin Cook.  Anytime I can see running backs do well in the league I like it.

Nice Dual Threats insert featuring Kyler Murray.  That Swagger is a multi-swatch relic.  Nice pull. 

Another defensive stalwart in Watt.  Rooke Davis-Gaither played 16 games for the Bengals starting two while grabbing two interceptions.  Tyreek Hill had another outstanding season for the AFC Champion Chiefs and pulled in 15 touchdown passes. 

I like the spellbound inserts and I know collectors enjoy grabbing them to spell out a players name.  Probably some cool displays with all the cards as well.   This pack is a good way to start the season.  Here's to hoping my fantasy team starts off just as well.  

2021 Atlanta Falcons Preview

 

The Falcons were just bad last year.  And the defense was horrible.  Just horrible.  The offense was average but had no running game leaving everything to Matt Ryan.  He can only do so much and the offense struggled to score when it needed to.  Outside of taking TE Kyle Pitts with the #4 pick in the draft Atlanta did go defense heavy the rest of the draft.  It's hard to see there being major improvement this year but they can't be as bad as last year.  I hope.  Ryan is 36 this year so you have to wonder how much longer we have of him.  I get he's not an elite quarterback but it's not like there are better options readily available.  I see them getting to six wins this year but anything past that would mean big improvements over last year.  It can happen but we'll see.  Right now I just hope for improvements.  The Falcons have to give us hope.  Go Falcons!

2021 Buffalo Bills Preview

The 2020 Buffalo Bills had a great season making it to the AFC Championship Game before falling to the Kansas City Chiefs.  Josh Allen came in to his own and was rewarded with a big contract extension.  The defense was average but with the offense as good as it was they made up for some of those deficiencies.  Hopefully the defense can improve and Josh Allen can continue to make strides.  They went defense in rounds one and two of the draft while going offensive line with their next two picks.  I like the thinking.  

Many teams seem to make one year strides.  Sustaining it is always harder.  I like Allen though and expect this season to be another good one even if they don't reach last year's mark of 13 wins.  Kansas City and Tennessee in weeks 5 and 6 will be really good tests of where they are at.  Not saying anyone before that, including week one opponent Pittsburgh, are pushovers but by that point in the season those games should show us a lot.  I like how Buffalo's schedule plays out.  They definitely have a shot at 13 wins but will need have the consistency we saw last year late in the regular season.  I'm excited to see this team in 2021.  Go Bills!

 

2019 NFL Stickers

2019 NFL Sticker:  This is a small pack of fun. This foil Saquon Barkley is the highlight.  I'm not a Giants fan but hoping this guy can come back as the dominant rusher he was prior to his injury.

The design is pretty cool.  They do a good job getting some player info onto the front of the sticker while not being too distracting.  The rest of the design is something I like as well.  The Le'Veon Bell is a card and not a sticker.  A good design and good pull made this fun.

BREAKDOWN:
4 – Stickers
1 – Foil
1 – Card

Random Wax: 2019 MLB Stickers

2019 MLB Stickers: This is a nice looking Hank Aaron sticker.  I like the photo and also like seeing a photo of a younger Aaron used for it.

I like the addition of the Home Run Derby stickers.  I really like the base design of the stickers as well.

For this set the backs of the stickers are cards.  The design isn't a favorite of mine but getting a sticker and card is a good.  The Hank Aaron made this pack a win for me.

TRADING CARDS:
4 - Total Stickers/Cards
1 - Homerun Derby
1 - 150 Years
1 - Retired Great