2021 Topps Heritage High Number Blaster with Autograph

2021 High Numbers:  Great autograph pull in this blaster which is showing up on shelves at a discounted price.  It's a nice on card signature to boot.  Gerrit Cole has battled injuries this season but for his career he is 150-77 with 3.18 ERA.  Amazing career.  

I'm not that high on Heritage as I'm not a huge fan of the all the older designs or the non-action photos.  The standard 2021 Heritage release was more entertaining.  The variety sets it apart from these cards.  As these hit the 80s I'll be more on board..

Great hitting backstop.

Shane McClanahan has had a solid career with the Rays.

This set contains stars not in the earlier set, rookies and players with new teams.  That Trey Mancini is a Chrome Refractor or Chrome Variation #/999...I think.  I repeat, I think, because I can't find any card #/999 on the checklists.  

Some inserts and a Topps All-Star Rookie Cup.  Sure thought Jo Adell would be something big or at least hoped he would be.  I like the vibe on that Rookie Performers card.  Now and Then is nice as well. Tony Gonsolin will miss all of the 2024 season after Tommy John surgery but otherwise has had a solid career.

Stephen Strasburg was the World Series MVP helping the Nationals win their only Championship in 2019.

This box is obviously highlighted by the autograph.  Not sure I'll pick up more of these or the other discounted Heritage boxes, but this one will make me think twice when I do see them.

BREAKDOWN:
72 – Total Cards
18 – RC
2 – SP
1 – Now and Then
1 – Rookie Performers
1 – All-Star Rookie Cup
1 – Real One Autograph
1 – Chrome Refractor #/999

2023-2024 Mosaic Basketball Blaster

23-24 Mosaic: Jimmy Butler no longer has the great hair.  Still his Basketball-Reference page has the hair he came out with as a joke for picture prior to the 2022-2023 season.  Classic.

Here we have two City Edition cards which makes up 20 of the 300-card base set.  That LeBron is a Green Mosaic Parallel while the Step Curry is a base card.  It scans darker but that is almost all silver.  You can see those blue lines in spots and that's where the color is.  Jalen Brunson shows up on a   Orange Fluorescent Mosaic #/25.  Great start to the box.

Brandin Podziemski looks like a steal at the 19th pick of the 2023 NBA Draft for Golden State.  Scoot Henderson, the #3 pick in that draft had an uneven season but showed some promise down the stretch.

Three Thunder Road inserts.  The first is a Silver Parallel, then a standard issue, and then a Green Mosaic Parallel.  Can't complain about pulling two Shai cards.

Not sure about the Elevate inserts.  That Green Parallel is appropriate for NBA Champion Al Horford, a favorite of mine.  

The backs are fine.  We get some decent color and commentary.  Not a shiny card guy, but I lean towards this brand amongst that genre of cards.  This year's design maybe isn't my favorite, but we'll see if it grows on me.  Would have liked to see more color on the fronts.

I can see me grabbing another box of these but only time will tell.  There are a total of 10 all-time greats making up the last 10 cards of the set.  Always fun seeing the retired greats and I do like Timmy.

BREAKDOWN:
36 – Total Cards
4 – City Edition
4 – Green Mosaic Parallel
3 – RC
3 – Thunder Road
1 – Elevate
1 – NBA Greats
1 – Silver Parallel
1 - Orange Fluorescent Mosaic #/25

Random Wax: 1991 Upper Deck Football (3 Packs)

91 Upper Deck:  Dan Marino needs no introduction.  Neither should these great checklist cards with the cool art.

Not just a good design but also some really good photography in this set. 

Nice MVP cards.  I don't remember Wayne Haddix either, but he did make the Pro Bowl in 1990 though he only played four seasons in the NFL.  Dennis Byrd would be paralyzed a year later playing against the Chiefs and would die in an auto accident in 2016.

The Icky Shuffle with a photo bomb by Boomer.  Randall McDaniel looks impressed.

Mark Duper was my favorite of the Mark brothers (Mark Clayton being the other).  Christian Okoye was a punishing runner while Gary Clark was a great receiver and won two Championships with Washington.

More checklist greatness and a nice Aerial Threats card.

So many greats of the game in this set.  Love these cards and they are so much fun.

BREAKDOWN:
36 – Total Cards
4 – Team MVP
3 – Team Checklist
1 - Checklist
1 – Aerial Threats

Random Wax: Kayou Hero Series Battle Series 1 Legend Booster– 3 Packs

Kayou Battle Series 1:  Purchased a bunch of these last year and I'll show off three more packs today.  The MR cards are the next to most rare from the different types of cards you can pull.

In order the tiers of cards you can pull they go R, SR, SSR, HR, SGR, LR, UR, MR, and CR in that order from most common to the rarest.  These are a bit shiny in hand but are thin like a playing card.  The corners are even rounded like playing cards.  I really do enjoy these.

These are based on the MCU characters which drew me to these.  Actual cards for the movies are much more expensive.  I like the Valkryie card.  All three of these are SR.

These headshots are nice too, especially the Nebula card.  Not many misses in the set.  Not sure what to call that Red R of Iron Man.  Maybe it's a Red parallel.  More detailed information is hard to find but the checklists can be found here.

These are really fun, and the grandsons are fans too.  Not a ton of really affordable Marvel universe cards out there but these help fill that void.

BREAKDOWN:

18 – Total Cards (3 Packs)

7 – SR

1 - MR

  

2022 Topps Angels Team Set (Blister)

2022 Topps:  I think I picked these up in Wal-Mart.  It was May 2022 and while I'd normally only grab Atlanta and Boston I couldn't pass Ohtani and Trout as well.  Picking up this team set also gives you the chance to get both Ohtanis at once.  And while I pulled multiple Ohtani inserts from this set, I never got a base card so this was a win.

I had pulled a 2022 Trout before, but I'll never complain about more Mike Trout on cardboard...or on the field.  DANG those injuries that he can't get past.

Shame Ohtani and the Angels never had any real success.  Los Angeles spent a lot of money trying but injuries, lack of young players developing, and some bad moves doomed them.

I like those old school Angels unis.

Luis Rengifo has developed into a nice hitter.  Not great but good.

Is he waiting for the ball to come in from an outfield throw?  Stretching?  We'll never know.

Jo Adell was one of those players who was thought to be a big star in the making but never got there.  Raisel Iglesias on the other hand came from Cincy as an established dominant closer but the Angels just weren't that good and moved him to the Braves.

Fun pack of cards and the $6 or $8 I paid for this pack was probably an overpay but the Ohtani and Trout cards are keepers for me.

BREAKDOWN:

Total Cards - 17

Random Wax: 2021-2022 Illusions Basketball

21-22 Illusions:  This is a good-looking Damian Lillard card.  In 12 seasons he's been an All-Star eight times, a 7X All-NBA selection and a member of the NBA 75th Anniversary team.

These look better in hand and I like Illusions as a brand.  This was a small pack I picked up in January of last year.  Dame was the highlight but it's a solid pull considering how small it was. 

Jason Kidd averaged 8 assists a game in his 2011 age 37 season when he helped the Mavericks win their only Championship.  That was his only time winning the title as well and he'd play two more seasons after that.  Retired greats are fun inclusions here.  That Mike Conley is an Orange Parallel.  Trey Murphy averaged 14 points per game last season and is a great shooter from 3.

Not sure about the Operation Detonation inserts but Dejounte Murray is an excellent player.  Since this card he was traded to the Atlanta Hawks and then to New Orleans this offseason.  He continues to play well and I hope continues with the Pelicans.

BREAKDOWN:
12 – Total Cards
2 – RC
2 – Orange Parallel
1 – Retired Great
1 – Operation Detonation

Random Wax: 1991 Pro Set Football Series 1 4 Packs

1991 Pro Set:  This Joe Montana NFC All-Pro card is a great way to start.  I love this subset and I think the art here is great.  I didn't care for him back in the day as he carved up the Falcons every season but dang was he great.  His decision making and accuracy would make him a great QB in today's offenses.  

Another solid design from Pro Set, it did lack a team logo.  Still, it's a classic and has so many great players.

Award Winners, 1990 Replay and Referee cards.  Jerry Markbreit really stands out in my mind as an NFL official.  Not the only one that stands out in the set but he's a step above the rest.

Some kicker and horizontal love.  Washington would win the 1991 Super Bowl.

Fun Burt Grossman photo.  Bruce Armstrong was a great tackle.

Not a lot of World League player or coach names stand out but they were a fun league.

Jerry Glanville was just fun, if not a good head coach while George Seifert did a good job inheriting a great team - he didn't screw it up.  Wayne Fontes actually took the Lions to the playoffs four times (one playoff win) in his nine seasons with Detroit but was never a head coach again.

These are all Dallas Public Service Announcement cards even though Troy Aikman is the only Dallas player in the set.

More NFC All-Pro and art greatness.

I really like Jim Everett but I'm not really sure why.  At least this Super Bowl Replay card was a positive for Buffalo in the game.  Still, the set is hard to look at.

BREAKDOWN:

60 – Total Cards

5 – Officials

4 – Coaches

4 – All-NFC Team

4 – World League

3 – Dallas Public Service Announcement

2 – 1990 Replay

1 - Milestone

1 – Award Winner

1 – Super Bowl XXV Replay