Random Wax: 2021 Score Football

2021 Score Football:  Doesn't sound like Kyler Murray's status in Arizona is exactly settled yet.  It sounds like the Cardinals want to keep him long term but we're just not getting a good feeling about Murray's long term commitment.

This set has 400 base cards so packs can be hit and miss but the variety in these packs keep ya coming back. 

Great insert.  Wish it had more color but retired greats together like this is a big win.

Lots of rookies.  Gives me a chance to show off those great Michigan jerseys.  Collins had a solid first season at WR for Houston while Trey Lance and Jaret Patterson are still competing for time on the field.

Kuechly is an all-time favorite of mine so this was a nice pull while the Next Level Stats inserts are good looking cards and keeps the Murray theme going.

Retired greats!  You know I love 'em on new cardboard and Score is one of the few sets where they are easily found.  Fun pack of cards.

BREAKDOWN:
40 – Total Cards
7 – Retired Greats
6 – RC
4 – Next Level
3 – Game Face
3 – Score Team
3 – Red Parallel
1 – 3D
1 – Throwback Rookie
1 – Collegiate Champion

2021-2022 Contenders Basketball Blaster with Autograph

2021-2022 Contenders Basketball:  I was happy to find this on the local shelves since I'm a Contenders fan.  I'll kick this off with Kawhi Leonard, my favorite player in the NBA.  I know he was injured this year but he is only 30 so I'm hoping he can come back to be the dominant force he's always been.  Just gotta stay healthy and be on the court.

I think I still like last year's design better than this one even with that smaller photo last season.  This year's design brings back the background behind the player which I like.  Last year's didn't have it but it worked.  One hundred base cards here which means a pretty good pull especially in a blaster.  These three help highlight how good it can be.

Kessler Edwards is my auto from this blaster.  Never complain about pulling autos but this guy has a long ways to go to make this card a great pull.  Mitchell on the other hand had a solid season with the Kings averaging 11 ppg and 4 apg.  I like that Miami Heat jersey on this card.  More so than when I saw it on television.  

A couple Giannis cards help highlight the International Ticket inserts which also included a retired great.  I always liked AK-47.  So good defensively.

Many thought Embiid should have been the MVP this year.  I'm on board with Jokic winning but you have to think Embiid will grab one of those in his career.  Love seeing big men dominating in the league.

The backs have a good visual appeal with lots of color.  But I'll never understand why we are still seeing total stats on NBA cards.  Everything is about per game average in the NBA and the numbers we see here should reflect that.

This was a fun box.  Lots of good players and a brand I'm a fan of.  I've got some packs of these I'll show off in the future and I  think I'll grab more if I see them in the wild.

BREAKDOWN:

40 – Total Cards

2 – Red Game Ticket 

2 – Game Night Ticket

2 – International Ticket

1 – Retired Great

1 – 2021 Draft Class

1 – Rookie Ticket Autograph

2022 WWE Prizm Blaster

2022 Prizm WWE: Grabbed a few of these blasters at Wal-Mart and second guessed myself instantly. The price was $34.98 per.  I assumed they were in the twenty-something range.  They were hot for a New York minute so even the secondary market isn't that hot if I want to offload them.  So I opened one and I'm still thinking on the others.  I really liked this Prizmatic Entrances insert.  Prizm never shows that well in scans but the full bleed color top portion of the card really pops in hand.  And Charlotte makes everything look good...right?

The base set checklist is pretty strong at 200 cards in Panini's initial WWE Prism release.  It includes wrestlers across the platforms as well as retired greats.  Still trying to figure out what they were going for with Undertaker.  I guess I can kind of get it but I'm not sure it works for me.

I think I like the design, but I feel they could have done better.  I'm not a shiny card guy so the finer points on them are sometimes lost on me.

I like how the Gold insert scanned more than I like it in hand.  The background and border is more silver than I'd like.  I saw photos online that made them look like they had a black background and pretty cool.  Next Level are pretty nice and colorful.  And a nice looking Dusty Rhodes card.  So many fun memories of this guy.  

The first 100 in the set are horizonal cards.

This is another cool looking card with that background.  Good job on the photo.

My Green Pulsar pull.

The backs are fine with a repeat of the front photo.  

Decent Prizm debut for Panini.  Wrestling always lends to good photos and I think they did a decent job of getting good photos on cardboard.  I'll end it with a fun Bayley photo on this Fearless insert.  

BREAKDOWN:
24 – Total Cards
4 – Retired Greats
3 – RC
1 - Gold
1 - Fearless
1 – Next Level
1 – Green Pulsar
1 – Prizmatic Entrances

2021 Topps Opening Day Hobby Box (Part Deux)

2021 Topps Opening Day:  This is actually only me second 2021 Opening Day post and I'm a big fan of the brand.  I grab a hobby box every year and this is the second of me showing it off that box of cards.  Kick it off with this stud who took his talents to LA.  He's off to a good start with the Dodgers hitting .302.

With Opening Day's smaller checklist you'll normally get a good pull.

Young players are still a big part of the brand.

Who doesn't love the mascots?

More youngsters.  Gonsolin has had a good short career with the Dodgers and has an excellent 1.33 ERA over 27 innings this year.  Bart is struggling this year while Kyle Lewis hasn't played due to injury.

Blue Foil Opening Day parallel.

This is a fun insert that gets us a look at retired greats which I'm always on board with.

Always up for getting Justin May's hair into a post.

Not my favorite Opening Day insert design but they are usually fun designs.

Plenty of star power in my box.

Some decent photos as well. 

I never get tired of this card.  Always fun for me even with the micro text Topps went with last year.

BREAKDOWN: 
252 – Total Cards
47 - RC
18 – Future Stars
14 – Retired Greats
12 – Mascot
12 – Legends of Baseball
7 – Team Opening Day
6 – Outstanding Opening Day
5 – All-Star Rookie Cup
4 – Blue Foil Opening Day Edition
2 – All-Star Rookie Cup/RC

1991-1992 Hoops Basketball

91-92 Hoops: We'll break out one of the packs I purchased on eBay last year.  I like this set.  The design is overly great but the set as a whole is fun.  The memories alone are worth it but there are also plenty of inserts though unless you are opening an entire box you may not find many.

Pretty solid pull in this pack with plenty of good big men including Vlade Divac and Brad Daugherty.  Daughtery is an owner in NASCAR as well as an analyst now.  Elliott was a smooth scorer for the Spurs.

Great coaches.

This guy was soooo good on defense.  You may not have looked for a bucket from him but he could anchor your defense like few others ever have.

More good bigs.  Smits is the more well known than the others as he starred for the Pacers on those really good 90s teams.  Donaldson was a big guy who shot for a high percentage every year while Schintzius just had great hair.  More than enough reason to be shown off here.  Love old basketball packs and this one is no different.

BREAKDOWN:
 15 – Total Cards
4 – Coach
1 – Checklist

 

Random Wax: 1990 Score Football

1990 Score Football:  This set was a total of 660 cards over two series so those who like meaty sets will love this one.  It also means these packs may or may not have good hits.  We'll kick it off with a Hall of Famer.

The design is pretty straight forward.  I'm okay with it but where is the team logo?  Why wouldn't you get it in there somewhere?

Oh...here is it is.  They put a helmet on the back of these pretty cool backs.  Maybe there aren't enough stats but this is a good looking back.  A different photo, lots of color, that helmet, and plenty of information.

Overall this is one of those packs that brings back more memories than great hits.  Testaverde's years in Tampa Bay were very forgettable.  He lost 2/3 of the games he started and his touchdowns to interceptions was a horrible 77 to 112.  Still he had better days ahead of him and played until age 44 when he started six games for Carolina.

BREAKDOWN:
15 – Total Cards
1 – Super Bowl Trivia