Friday, June 30, 2023

Camon Avengers Battle of Vengeance Box Set Cards (5 Packs)

Camon Avengers Battle of Vengeance Box Set:  Recently got turned on to these licensed cards from China.  My first post was Kayou Marvel cards.  Finding information on these cards can still be somewhat tough, and confusing, but that first link at least helps with the checklists.
Overall I like the Kayou cards more but I like these.  This set gives you plenty of variety in terms of art for major characters from Marvel.
Those letters in the bottom right denote the variation.  The variations are: R, SR, SSR, HR, SGR, LR, UR, MR, and CR in that order from most common to the most rare.  The art on these Iron Man are sharp.
MWW-040 is the card number.  About the only thing on the cards that make sense though it does say Camon in the bottom right which is helpful.  These are game cards so those numbers mean something.  Just don't ask me what.
Most of the art is standard versions of the characters we know.  Whereas the Kayou cards gave you looks from the Avengers movies that we've come to know and love.
I like that Ultron card.  
These have the character's name on the front where Kayou cards don't.  In that set it would have been nice because there were characters I couldn't name.  You can look them up of course but it's more fun if you see it right there on the card.
I really like Black Widow. so these were nice pulls.  Like that first one the most.  Good looking Hulk as well to end it.  These are fun.  I'll have more to share over time.  The grandsons enjoy them as well.  With not many Marvel or DC cards out there these do a great job of filling the void.

BREAKDOWN:
40 – Total Cards (5 Packs)
11 – SR
1 - SSR

 

Tuesday, June 27, 2023

Random Wax: 2021 Topps Baseball

2021 Topps: Ronald Acuna Jr. is having a great year.  The Braves are as well.  Hope they can both keep it going.  Acuna is highlighted here on Topps 70 Years of Baseball insert.

Bryce Harper has dealt with injuries again this season but seems on track now hitting .291 in 44 games.

Great photo.  Glad Topps gives us photos like this on the Team cards.
This was a small 16 card pack but my pull was strong.  Vlad is healthy again and the Blue Jays will need his big bat if they are to make the playoffs.

BREAKDOWN:
16 – Total Cards
1 – RC
1 – Team Card
1 – 1952 Topps Redux
1 - 70 Years of Topps Baseball



 

Sunday, June 25, 2023

2022 NASCAR Chronicles

2022 Chronicles:  Somehow I've had 2022 NASCAR Chronicles for almost a year but haven't posted any.  Here we go.  We'll kick it off with The King, Richard Petty.  Not sure how I feel about XR but Petty is always a good pull.  NASCAR starts back up today after taking Father's Day off.  NBC also takes over TV coverage for the second half of the season.
Chronicles is all about variety.  They have plenty of "shiny card" inclusions.  I actually like all three of these.  Contenders is a favorite of mine as is Crusade.
Here we have a couple of Phoenix cards as well as a Titanium.  None of these wow me.
Here we have Magnitude, Donruss and Clear Vision cards.  I wish Magnitude had something else going on with that card.  Donruss is kinda blah but I do like Clear Vision.
Zenith are ok.  I think the Obsidian cards are bit better even if they are busy.  Fun pulling an auto.  Jeremy Clements is an Xfinity lifer who's 38 now with two wins to his name.  To race for that long is a testament do his driving skills even if he hasn't made it to the Cup Series.
We see the base card design.  It's solid.  Not great but good.  Like many of these, including the Absolute design I would like to see the car number added to the fronts.  Or something to help round them out.  That Dale Jr. is a Spectrum which is okay.
We'll start a run of Chase Elliott cards.  He's one of the drivers I'm a fan of today so no complaints from me.  Overdrive doesn't do it for me and the Pinnacle feels like a Pinnacle card to me but is somewhat bland.
Pedal to the Metal and Black cards are nice cards.  We get to see the cars these guys race and it adds another dimension to the cards which is nice.  Fun pack of cards.  
BREAKDOWN:
25 – Total Cards
5 – Green Parallel
2 – XR
2 - Phoenix
2 - Overdrive
2 – Magnitude
2 – Clearly Donruss
2 – Optic Contenders
1 – Black
1 – Zenith
1 - Limited
1 - Spectra
1 – Crusade
1 - Pinnacle
1 - Absolute
1 – Obsidian
1 – Titanium
1 - Chronicles
1 – Clear Vision
1 – Pedal to the Metal
1 – Absolute Autographs




Friday, June 23, 2023

2023 Topps Series 2 Hanger Box

 2023 Topps S2:  My first look at Series 2 where we get to see updated photos of players as well as youngsters and players in their new unis.  We'll kick it off with Xander Bogaerts.  A great player, it was hard to see him leave Boston.  He was a part of two championship teams during his time in Boston.
Players with their new teams.  Justin Turner is the only one of these three doing well this season though I think Matt Carpenter's mustache still has game.
Anthony Volpe is the new hotness amongst rookie cards so this was a nice pull.
Nice when Topps goes outside the box with their photos as in this picture of the Tampa Bay Rays celebrating the post season.
More youngsters.
Here we have a Checklist, World Baseball Classic insert as well was a 1988 Topps Baseball.  I like the WBC card.  Helps that he is a Boston Red Sox.
Lots of blue going on with these three.  Had to get a Greinke card in here.  He's a favorite of mine.
These are nice looking cards but not the star power I'd like to see.
Another team card.
Three nice looking photos and we end it with another San Diego Padre.  I like this year's design but I may not look for any more Series 2 cards.  Just not my thing per se.  

BREAKDOWN:
67 – Total Cards
12 – RC
5 – Future Stars
4 – Team Cards
4 – Stars of MLB
1 – Checklist
1 – 1988 Topps Baseball
1 – World Baseball Classic



Thursday, June 22, 2023

Random Wax: 1990-1991 Hoops Basketball (6 Packs)

90-91 Hoops:  The NBA draft is tonight.  Dreams for fans will start as their teams try to find "the guy" who will take their team to next level.  Magic was that guy for the Los Angeles Lakers.
The pulls in these packs are always a win.  Here we have my all-time favorite player with Nique, to go with Larry Legend and The Mailman.  That Nique photo is a classic.
We love actual all-star game photos.  We need more of these.
Dennis Rodman went on to a Hall of Fame career but Danny Ferry probably had the better style as a rookie.  Though Dennis would go on to redefine "style" with some of his outfits during his career.
Love the coaching cards as well.
The backs are great giving us all the stats we want including college and all-star game stats.  Bravo Hoops bravo.
Ralph Sampson and Trent Tucker are favorites of mine while I also like Jeff Hornacek.  I would love to see Hornacek and Tucker shoot in today's game.  Sampson's career wasn't what it could have been due to injuries but he had a short fun run with the Rockets and Hakeem as part of the Twin Towers.
So many great memories of all these guys.  I watched all the NBA I could back in the day.  Still love the league but the 80s and early 90s will always be special to me.


BREAKDOWN:
90 – Total Cards (6 Packs)
9 – Coach
7 – All-Star
6 –Rookie
1 – Award


Monday, June 19, 2023

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Across the Spider-Verse: Really enjoyed this movie.  No need to go into spoilers but I can say me and the grandsons enjoyed this latest Spider-Verse offering.  I liked how they developed Miles and Gwen.  A bit more depth to each and it's really fun when they are together.  Multiverses can be tricky but it's handled pretty well.  All the supporting characters didn't feel overwhelming.  You'll want to watch Into the Spider-Verse before watching this one otherwise you might be lost.  It was tough for the boys (8 and 6) to follow as it's a bit complicated for their ages.  But they loved all the different Spideys they got to see and were able to follow along enough to have a great time.  A few curse words are also sprinkled in.  I recommend it to all who are thinking about seeing the movie and I can't wait to see what is next.




Sunday, June 18, 2023

Star Wars 40th Anniversary Return of the Jedi The Black Series 6" Stormtrooper

 ROTJ Stormtrooper:  I've always loved stormtroopers since I first saw them on the big screen as a kid in the 70s.  I still have multiples of the originals and some Hasbro Star Sars Black Series figures which I really enjoy.  These OG stormtroopers aren't always easy to find so I jumped on five of these when they were announced.  That background is from the Darth Vader Legacy Pack my sister got me for my birthday some years back.
He's a fun looking figure and really looks good in hand.
Probably not much different than different iterations of the figure but I'm just happy to have another one in hand.  Can't have enough of these guys.
The backs are what we come to expect with stormtroopers.  He's not the most easy to stand.  Not sure exactly why but it seems to stem from the feet.  Maybe too narrow?  They look fine and really I'm not complaining.
I'm overall pretty happy.  He can be a bit stiff when posing him but that armor lends to those issues.
That shoulder pad got a bit loose when putting him in a shooting pose.  Didn't take much to get it back to its normal position.
As I said I picked up five of the figures.  Two each will go to the grandsons.  All the classic stormtroopers they have have broken, mostly at the elbow. They'll be excited to see a couple of additions added to their pile of ever-growing Star Wars figures.
One will sit on my shelf and just look awesome.  Enjoy your Sunday.