2023 Christmas Goodies

Christmas is always fun and Santa Claus blessed me more than I deserve.  For maybe the first time ever, everything I received was on my list.  I was really excited to receive all these.  I've opened the random cards and watched the Justice Society: World War II animated movie while I've started reading volume 1 of Justice League.  Boba Fett's ship (Micro GalaxyZ) came from my grandsons and it'll be added to my modest Boba Fett collection once I receive the custom stand I ordered.  Shirts are always appreciated and Kawhi is my favorite NBA player.  Motley Crue is a favorite band of mine and the Dr. Feelgood album is my favorite of theirs.  Just lots of silly fun stuff .  It's more enjoyable watching everyone else open their gifts but also seeing the joy they get from giving.  Everyone have a fun New Year's Eve!

Random Wax: 2021 Chronicles Football

2021 Chronicles:   Over a year since I posted one of these packs.  This Kyle Pitts rookie looked much different in 2021.  Before we knew how bad the Falcons' QB situation would be...for so long.

Some excellent veterans on these Chronicles base cards.

The Trey Lance rookies have a totally different feel to them now as well.  Who woulda thunk it would go down hill so quickly for him.

Another rookie who doesn't look the same 2 years later.  At least we get a retired great!  Not a favorite Pinnacle design for me though.

Small pack so we'll show off some backs as well.  

More great veterans.  It was a nice pack and good trip down memory lane even if those RCs didn't quite pan out.

BREAKDOWN:
15 – Total Cards
8 - Chronicles
2 – Panini
2 – Pinnacle
1 – Luminance
1 – Clear Vision
1 – Gold Parallel
1 – Retired Great
1 – Gridiron Kings

2023 Favorite Cards

Annual Favorite Cards:  Huge challenge for me this year as I look at my favorite cards from the year.  Cards shown today are from any blog post in 2023 no matter the year the card is from.  I'll show off my favorites from each sport as well as a non-sport entry.  Speaking of, this Stranger Things Upside Down insert is my favorite card of the year.  I know it doesn't scan well but I really like it. That combined with the fact Eddie is a character I really like from the show and this is maybe his shining moment in the series.  As such it gets the nod as #1 from 2023.  This one was appropriately posted in October.

I went back and forth between this one and Eddie for tops on the year.  This is from an April post of 2020-2021 Hoops.  I love the emotion and the photo.  There were other good cards to choose from but this card made it an easy choice as the best basketball card of the year.

This one barely edged two others competing for the top football card.  I really like the photo.  This is from 2021 Score which I posted in May.  In contrast to Saquon's athletic play, the player and coach in the background have no interest in what is going on.

Another card with great emotion, this Asuka card from a post in August is pretty cool.  The photo and emotion paint a great picture.  Not a surprise it is the #1 WWE card from the year.

In March I took a second look at 2021 Donruss NASCAR hobby box.  In the post I showcased this nice-looking Dominators insert of Brad Keselowski.  For winning the race, drivers receive a lobster which he shows off in the photo.  The mask he's wearing also takes us back to 2020 and the infamous look.  I like the look on this card and the lobster helping it be the #1 NASCAR card from the blog this year.

From a July post is this 2022 Juan Soto which has a nicely timed photo.  He's already celebrating with the bat flip while the fans and players watch the ball fly.

This '90-'91 Score Hockey card posted in October gets the top sport for the year in hockey.  I hope to post more hockey in 2024.  This card has cool photography magic going on.

Cards and the blog has been good to me this year.  Lots of fun.  I've gotten a little more organized and will continue to work on that in 2024.  I also hit 51 followers.  Not a lot to some but I'm very happy and very thankful for those who take the time.  Be safe tonight and have a Happy New Year!   

2001-2002 Fleer Ultra Basketball

01-02 Fleer Ultra: A pack I purchased last year.  I love busting old hoops wax.  Traded in his prime from Charlotte to Miami, Zo was a staple for the Heat for 11 seasons winning a championship with them in 2005-2006.

November 3, 1995: Traded by the Charlotte Hornets with LeRon Ellis and Pete Myers to the Miami Heat for Matt Geiger, Khalid Reeves, Glen Rice and a 1996 1st round draft pick (Tony Delk was later selected)

Unfortunately this pack was a brick. So lots of damage on almost every card.  The design is okay but the foil doesn't scan well.  There is a logo in the center between the first and last names.  Kind of bland design to me but there is plenty of room for the photos which are good.

I like the backs, even sans a logo.  You get all the stats and a decent write-up as well as a new photo.

I won't say Keith Van Horn was underrated but the man could shoot and score.  Defense wasn't his thing though.  Jamal Mashburn was even better.  He averaged 20+ points a game for four straight seasons as a hornet before a knee injury cut his career short at age 31.

Plenty of good players in this small pack.  I enjoyed it.  These guys were all solid and bring back plenty of fun memories.  No breakdown today.  There were 10 total cards in the pack with no inserts or special cards.

 

Christmas Holiday Movies Watched This December

 

The holidays are a fun time of the year for movies.  I always try to watch as many as I can.  It's also difficult with all the sports going on as well as family commitments.  I was able to watch the classics Rudolph and Frosty with my youngest grandson who'd never seen them.  Maybe my highlight this year.  A Christmas Carol and How the Grinch stole Christmas are my go-to Christmas movies of late though Arthur Christmas isn't far behind.  I hope everyone had a great Christmas.

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer
Frosty the Snow Man
The Grinch (2018)
Klaus
How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
The Muppets Christmas Carol
A Boy Named Christmas
Home Alone
A Christmas Carol (Patrick Stewart)
Arthur Christmas

Random Wax: 2023 Topps Holiday Mega Box

2023 Holiday Mega:  Merry Christmas!  I hope Santa was good to you today.  This is my second holiday mega box.  These are fun and this one paid for itself with this 1999 The Santa Archives insert.  The odds for these are 1:161 mega boxes.  Can't beat that and it's perfect for today.

I'm a fan of the 2023 Topps design and they did well not holding back with the holiday version.  That snow sticks out and that's what you want.  No doubt these are Topps' holiday cards.  Look at how excited Shohei is about the snow...and his gazillion dollard contract he signed with the Dodgers.

Youngsters including NL Rookie of the Year Corbin Carroll who helped the D-Backs make an improbable run to the World Series.

These are my two SP inserts from my box.  I enjoy the addition of holiday "apparel" to the photos.

My game-used relic.

No complaints with my pull.  Plenty of great players.

Ozzie and the Braves ended on a sour note after a season where they put up historic offensive numbers.  As long as their pitching staff can stay healthy there's hope they can again be a top contender in the NL.

Speaking of the Braves.  Acuna Jr. took home the season MVP but Corey Seager, more importantly, took home the World Series MVP and helped Texas win a championship.  I was happy to see them take home their first.

Hall of Fame career right there.

Die Cut Ornament insert.

Fun box of cards.  My pull was great and I enjoy the design and the holiday season.  I hope you have a fun day.

BREAKDOWN:
100 – Total Cards
30 – RC
5 – Metallic Parallel
2 – SP
1 - Relic
1 – Topps Rookie Cup
1 – Die Cut Ornament
1 – RC/Topps Rookie Cup
1 - The Santa Archives (Odds: 1:161 Mega)

2023 Donruss Football

2023 Donruss:  This one has been out a few weeks but finally picked it up this weekend.  Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles are setup to be the #2 seed in the NFC if they can win out and they have a favorable schedule.

The base design threw me off a bit and I couldn't' figure out why.  But it's the fact there is a white outline to each player in the photo.  Still a bit unsure about it.  The design overall is okay.  The colored hash marks are good but I'm not sure about the tread marks or whatever those are supposed to be.  But I think I like it.  We'll see what time has me thinking.  I like the Mahomes and Chase cards and photos.

Tank Dell was having a really good rookie season before an injury sidelined him for the rest of the season.  That card is also one of the four Press Proof Blue Parallels that come in each fat pack.  The design for these is different from the veterans.  There is an extra set of "hash marks" on each side of the border.

If you haven't seen Cameron Dicker's video promoting him for the Pro Bowl you are missing out.  Great job by him and the Chargers.  Go take a look.  300 veterans and 100 rookies make up the base cards.

The backs here are the base design, Champ is Here (spoiler alert) and the rookie base cards.  A little color on the base designs but they won't' wow you.  Need a logo on the veteran base designs.

No player positions on these cards.  They could have easily got those in there in the bottom right corner.

Always fun to get a first look at new cards.  The Champ is Here insert set is a great though the Donruss logo really didn't need to be in the middle of the championship belt.  They had plenty of options that weren't self serving.

BREAKDOWN:

30 – Total Cards

4 – Rated Rookie

4 – Press Proof Blue Parallel

1 – Champ is Here

Random Wax: 2021-2022 Illusions Basketball

21-22 Illusions:  Jayson Tatum is having another great year and could be the King of Cards come season end.  Still too early to tell but the Celtics look really good.

This is one of the small packs with only 12 cards.  I'm very happy with my pull though.  Nice variety of stars and retired greats.  That Embiid is an Orange parallel. Joel Embiid is having an even better season than last year when he won MVP honors.

The Bulls are really struggling this season as is DeRozan.  He's still one my favorites in the league.  Bradley Beal is with the Suns now and has had to deal with injuries this season.  Still don't really know what Phoenix is with him in the lineup. 

Williams is a solid young player for Memphis.

Pretty good pack of cards.  Lots of stars and some nice retired greats to round it out.

BREAKDOWN:
12 – Total Cards
2 – RC
2 – Retired Greats
1 – King of Cards
1 – Orange Parallel