2021-2022 NBA Stickers

 21-22 NBA Stickers: Purchased this pack over three years ago and I'll share for the first time today.  Usually found these at Dollar Tree or Target.  I like these Playoffs cards.  This photo is really good too.  So many good players.  Maybe Donovan Mitchell is trying to get a rebound or a get a crazy shot up.

Hawks hot pack with 3X 6th Man of the Year Lou Williams as well as De'Andre Hunter who was traded to the Cavs at the deadline this last season.

Nice caricature card of NBA Champion Luguentz Dort.  He's also a really good defender making the 2024-2025 All-Defensive team and has become an excellent three-point shooter.  Stickers are always fun even if they are bit of an outlier with my collecting.

BREAKDOWN:
5 – Stickers
1 – Card
1 – Playoffs
1 – Caricature

Superman (NO SPOILERS)

Superman was really good.  A friend describes it as a comic book movie, and I think that's a great way to describe it.  So much fun.  I enjoyed all the characters and Lex Luthor was a good villain.  The other DC characters were great including Guy Gardner (Green Lantern) and Mr. Terrific.  The movie didn't bog us down with an origin story though it's touched on throughout the movie.  You jump right into the action, and they do a good job of letting the plot and characters explain where things stand.  Just very few qualms.  It's very enjoyable and it feels like it can setup so much more.

And Krypto is done really well and a fun character.

Gladiator II

 

Gladiator II: I finally got around to watching this one with pop.  We really enjoyed it.  The movie does a good job tying in what came before while allowing us to enjoy the new characters and story.  Gladiator II has the same tone as the original movie which I'm a huge fan of.  This one does a good job keeping the story going.  I'll keep it short and sweet but obviously I recommend this one.

Random Wax: 1991 Fleer Baseball (4 Packs)

1991 Fleer:   Bo Jackson needs no introduction no matter where he goes.  When I think of him, I think about how much fun it was to watch him play whether it be in baseball, football or in commercials.

It is a gawdy set but one I really like.  Even if I have to wear sunglasses to properly enjoy it.  Really nice Mike Scioscia photo.

Who doesn't love Fleer's stickers and the backs?  Great large Red Sox logo sticker for me and on the back the all-time stat leaders in four categories.  Stats weren't that easily available back in the day so seeing things like this on cards was something I really love.

My Superstar Special pull.  We enjoy thinking of The Hawk as a Montreal Expo but the did play six season as a Cubbie.

I always liked Brett Butler and his speed as and the way Benito Santiago setup as a catcher when nobody was on base.

The backs are good with lots and lots of stats including the minor leagues and a headshot.

Really good Bert Blyleven photo.  He was born in Zeist, Nederlands and won two world championships with the '79 Pirates and the '87 Twins.

Fun pack of cards and so many good players including Luis Gonzalez who played his first full season with Houston in 1991.

BREAKDOWN:

60 – Total Cards

4 – Stickers

1 – Super Star Specials

Random Wax: 2024-2025 Hoops Winter Blaster

24-25 Hoops:  Feels like LaMelo Ball and the Hornets are stuck in mediocracy.  They were very busy after the season ended but I'm not sure how much they'll move the needle.  It'll be interesting to see how they do next season.

Shai and the Thunder are reveling in their championship while the Hawks made some big strides including picking up Kristaps Porzingis this offseason.  LeBron and the Lakers seem stuck in neutral with cap issues leaving them little flexibility.  With this winter offering from Hoops, we get plenty of snow.  That sounds great now that we are in the dog days of summer.

Stephon Castle was the Rookie of the Year after averaging 14/3/4 per game.  Alexandre Sarr and Zach Edey each had good rookie seasons.

These feel a little different, and better, with the snow but they could have done more to make them feel like a greeting card.

The always popular Hoops Tribute cards.  The Dr. J is one of my favorite cards from this set.

Good looking Arriving Now cards.  Kyle Filipowski had a solid rookie year and shows up on this hoops Hopeful Relic.

I love that Jerami Grant photo.  Brook Lopez is on the move taking his talents to the Clippers.

I pulled six Premium Parallels with two of them being Purple Winter Parallels.  Damian Lillard was released by the Bucks shocking the NBA world.  He's injured and not expected to play next season but can sign with any team while still collecting the remaining ~$125M left on his contract.  Crazy.

Edey averaged 9 and 8 in his rookie season for Memphis.

Pascal Siakam and the Pacers were so close to their first NBA championship.  Jackson and Harden both signed big deals with their teams this offseason.

Wemby pulls are always fun.  Even on the perplexing Pure Players inserts.  We also get SkyView and Frequent Flyers inserts.

Great pull in this box.  Plenty of stars, good rookies and personal favorites like Dame and Kawhi.

BREAKDOWN:
90 – Total Cards
18 – RC
6 – Premium Parallels
5 – Hoops Tribute
3 – Skyview
2 – Arriving Now
2 – Rookie Greetings
2 – Purple Winter Parallels
1 – Pure Players
1 – Frequent Flyers
1 – Hoops Hopeful Relic

Random Wax: 2024 Score Football

2024 Score:  As tumultuous as his career was off the field sometimes, Randy Moss was crazy great on the field including eight seasons of 1200+ receiving yards.

I like this set and the helmet on the fronts is a huge reason why.  Great look.

I get that something good probably just happened, but the photo doesn't scream "Celebration" to me.  

Rookies get their time to shine.  I hope Drake Maye continues to progress in New England.  I'd like to see him develop into a top quarterback.  Good start so far.

Hall of Fame cards are always great and appreciated, especially with the Hall of Fame logo on the front.  Random speed League Leaders card.  I'd rather see more classic league leader cards like we see in baseball or something with the classic stats we're used to.

Looks like someone is about to get pile driven into the ground...

Backs from the rookies, retired greats and current players.  I like these backs.  Lots of color. Always want more stats but these are good.

More rookies including another good rookie QB in Bo Nix on that 35th Anniversary Rookie.

This one says celebration to me.

Love retired greats in these sets.  Danny White was 62-30 as a starting quarterback winning 10 or more games four times in his career.  Fun pack of cards.

BREAKDOWN:
30 – Total Cards
10 – RC
8 – Retired Greats
3 – Potential
2 – First Ballot
2 – Celebration
2 – Red Parallel
1 – Sack Attack
1 – League Leaders
1 – 35th Anniversary Rookie

2003 Inkworks Justice League

Inkworks JL:  Still waiting for the sequel to The Batman movie.  Doesn't mean we can't show him some love nonetheless.  Even animated, he looks menacing.

Justice League ran three seasons centering around Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern (John Stewart), Flash, Martian Manhunter and Hawkgirl.  The design is pretty nice even though the side containing the name feels large.  I like it.

I like the art overall from these screen captures.  The first card here stands out to me.

Maybe a Hawkgirl hot pack.  These packs only had seven cards in each.  This is a Friends and Foes card that comes one per pack.

The backs provide us some nice background on each character as well as information specific to the show.  

I do like these.  I've never seen the series but given time and the subscription I'd really like to watch it.  Fun pack of cards.

BREAKDOWN:

7 – Total Cards

1 – Friends and Foes

Random Wax: 2024 Topps Stadium Club

2024 Stadium Club:  Robin Yount not only was a 2X MVP, had 3,185 hits and hit 285 over 20 seasons but he also had strong hair game.

I really like this Evan Longoria photo.  Longoria really had a strong career that spanned 16 seasons.

The Pink Foil Parallels really don't do much for me.  Plenty of good photos in this set which is what we're used to from Stadium Club.

Yamamoto is having another good season for the Dodgers.  Wilyer Abreu Chrome and Red Foil Parallel pulls.  Red parallels I like.  He's also having a really good season in Boston.

Marte is having a great year for the D-Backs.  I really like him.

More retired great which are really fun.  The retired greats in this set really came in team bunches.  Especially in the blasters where you might pull 4-5 retired greats from the same team.  Another fun pack of cards.

TRADING CARDS:
15 – Total Cards
3 – RC
3 – Pink Foil
3 – Retired Greats
1 - Chrome
1 – Red Foil
1 – Special Forces