2025 Score-a-Treat Football (20 Packs)

2025 Score-a-Treat:  Halloween is this Friday, so this is a perfect time to debut this scary offering.  Jonathan Taylor is having another really good season as are the surprising Colts.  

These utilize the 2025 Score design as the base for the Halloween inspired cards.  Decent design.  The border is basically the same as last year which is disappointing.  

We get plenty of rookies as well as they make up 20 of the 60 cards pulled.

These are sold in "bundles" which have 40 packs with 3 cards in each pack.  Easy cards to include when giving out candy on Halloween.

I like the backs though nothing here says Halloween.  At least Panini's basketball Halloween cards gave us a spooky vibe on the back too.

My big complaint is the lack of variety.  Last season's design gave us plenty of bat and pumpkin options.  Bat parallels were basically half your pull.  This season's set has the base pumpkin look and three parallels: #/399 Bats, #/99 Trick-or-Treat, or the new #/31 Webs.  And I didn't get one parallel in the entire bundle.  Fail Panini, fail.

I always love the retired greats and Joe Cribbs is a player I remember well from growing up rooting for the Bills.  His stats won't blow you away but he was a fun player to Buffalo fans.  Kellen Winslow has always been a fan favorite of mine as well as so many others.  A great tight end.  Hope you enjoyed our spooky beginning to Halloween week!

BREAKDOWN:

60 – Total Cards

20 - RC

4 – Retired Greats

COMC Tom Glavine Pickups

 Tom Glavine knows a thing or two about playing in the World Series.  This patch commemorates the 1995 World Series.  He was the series MVP pitching 14 innings to a 1.29 ERA including 8 scoreless innings in a Game 7 1-0 shutout.  Hard to come up much bigger in that moment.  The scan doesn't do this card any justice.

2014 Topps Update Series - World Series MVP Patches

I purchased this lot from COMC in 2022 as part of a bigger order.  So many great cards.  That 2017 All-Star is my favorite of these three cards.  Even though it's not an action shot I remember that look from Glavine so well.  Tom Glavine is one of my top 5 all-time favorite players.  

2019 Topps - 1984 Topps Baseball
2017 Topps New Era - 1987 30th Anniversary
2019 Topps - 1984 Topps Baseball All -Stars

I normally try to block out the New York Mets days, but I like that photo.
2017 Topps - All -Time All -Stars
2016 Upper Deck National Convention - Prominent Cuts
2008 Upper Deck

We need more Highlights cards like this.  2007 was Glavine's last year in New York and went 13-8 in his age 41season.  He ended his career with 305 wins, 2X Cy Young, 10X All-Star, 1995 World Series MVP, 4X Silver Slugger and of course induction into the MLB Hall of Fame.

2008 Upper Deck Season Highlights

So many fun cards and designs amongst all of these.   This 2014 Topps Archives below is maybe my favorite of this lot.  That 1980 design has always been one I really like even without a team logo.  Enjoy the World Series!

2018 Topps - 1983 Topps

2009 Upper Deck 20th Anniversary Retrospective

2018 Topps Archives

2014 Topps Archives

2025 World Series: Los Angeles Dodgers at Toronto Blue Jays

 We get Los Angeles and Toronto in the 2025 World Series.  I think this could be a really good series.  I know LA is 9-1 in this post season and their starters are coming off a dominant sweep of the Brewers in the NLCS.  But the Blue Jays are a good team.  You don't win 94 games by accident.  The key for both teams is to get past the starters in my opinion.  The Dodgers have the advantage starting Yamamoto, Glasnow, Snell and Ohtani. But the Blue Jays' offense is really good, and it showed in beating the Yankees in the Division Series and beating the Mariners in the ALCS.  It's led by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. who is having an outstanding playoffs.  Overall the Toronto offense has been solid.  I think this is the key.  Can that offense get to the LA starters?  I'm hoping for a Blue Jays win, continued good hitting from Vlad, and a good series.

2025 NBA Fandom

 

My brother-in-law got me into the NBA in the late 70s, early 80s.  It started with the Statis Pro Basketball board game and playing basketball.  This was a time when the NBA Finals were played on tape delay until 1982 so seeing the players names really cemented them for me.  We played that game a lot.

Starting in 1979 games were on cable and I was able to start seeing the games consistently.  I was hooked. This weekend I purchased the NBA League Pass.  A first for me.  The grandsons are showing interest in the NBA.  I've already toyed with getting a subscription so maybe this helps grow their fandom.  I subscribed to Hoops and Basketball Digest magazines for the longest time.  Loved both of those.

I also played basketball for a hot second in junior high but I did play a ton of intramural basketball in junior college and in the Air Force.  My knees will attest to that.  ;)

My favorite teams are the Atlanta Hawks and Portland Trail Blazers.  I grew up on TBS, so I became a fan of everything Atlanta.  Somehow, and I still don't remember how, I became a fan of Portland even before that.  Doesn't matter I'm a true fan of both.  Portland won a championship but I can't claim being a fan at the time.  I think I remember it but.  Still I love that team.  My favorite players from each team are Dominique Wilkins and Damian Lillard.

My go to sports site for basketball stats is Basketball Reference .com.  I'm a stat geek at I love how easy it is to navigate and all the great information it provides.  Hoops Rumors is my go-to for NBA news.  Online I'm in simulation leagues on the free site Pennant Chase .com.  I'm also a big NBA 2K fan and I'm already playing NBA 2K26.  I don't do all the cool things the game offers but I still really enjoy it.  I play as an all-time team vs another all-time team.  I love playing with all the legends.  I'm working to play Statis Pro Basketball again.  I really enjoy being able to play players from any era as well as keeping the stats from the games.

I have two Dominique jerseys.  The classic Hawks red jersey ('82-'92) and his Team USA jersey.  The only other basketball jersey I have is a Buck Williams Nets white jersey ('83-'90).  My favorite basketball card sets are 76-77 Topps Tall Boys, 90-91 SkyBox, 91-92 SkyBox and 91-92 Upper Deck.

My best all-time starting 5 is below...  Plenty of room to argue.  I argue with myself over this all the time.  I have Hakeem right there with Kareem.  MJ is the GOAT in my book.  I've watched him and LeBron play a lot.  And it's no knock on LeBron.  MJ is just the best player of all-time in my opinion.

My favorite players in the NBA today.  The first three are in order.  After that it's more fluid.  I think Nikola Jokic is the best player in the sport today.  He's so fun to watch.  Very smart and just seems to be good at everything he does.

My favorite players all-time.

I've been wanting to do "fandom" posts for each sport for some time now.  This is my first.  Thanks for letting me just spit ball on what is probably my favorite sport right now.  Enjoy the start of the season!

2024-25 Panini Haunted Hoops (20 Packs)

24-25 Haunted Hoops:  The NBA season starts today so let's do some new basketball cards.  Who will Luka and the Los Angeles Lakers be this season?  They should be better but will they find the defense and big man presence they sorely lacked last season.  They did pick up Deandre Ayton who is a legit center who can get them some rebounds, but we'll see how it works overall.

I really like that Giannis photo.  We also have a Slime Parallel Kevin Durant.  Not my favorite Hoops design overall but it does feel like Hoops and is a mirror image of 24-25 Hoops.  The webs added to the non-parallels are nice, but I'd like to see a bit more.

Youngsters get their time in the 325 card set.  Jared McCain had a really good rookie year, but an injury sustained last month means he'll miss the start of this season.  Still, he's looking good on the slime parallel.

Each Haunted Hoops bundle has 40 packs with 3 cards each.  There is one parallel per pack.  I wish there were more parallels or more parallels in each pack.  I do like both of the parallels.  These packs are intended as options to give trick or treaters on Halloween night.  The possible parallel pulls include:  Orange, Slime, Holo webs, Holo Bats #/399, Holo Trick-or-Treat #/99, Holo Sky #/31.

What are the odds of pulling three of the same card, with parallels?  Here we have a Holo Web Parallel, base Hoops Tribute and Orange (Pumpkin) Paralle of this Jaylen Wells Hoops Tribute card.  The parallels really help this design in my opinion.

The backs have a little flare but nothing too crazy (and there should be more).  I haven't looked at a release schedule, but this should be one of the last Panini NBA products with Topps taking over the license this month.

That Alperen Sengun is a Holo Web Parallel.  Enjoy the start of the NBA season.  I'm excited for a new year and "hope" for my Hawks and Trail Blazers.

BREAKDOWN:
60 – Total Cards
15 – RC
12 – Orange (Pumpkin)
8 – Slime
3 – Hoops Tribute
2 – Holo Web Parallel

Atlanta Hawks 2025-2026 Season Preview

The 24-25 Atlanta Hawks surprised me some by winning 40 games.  They managed to get the #8 seed but then lost two play-in games to miss the playoffs.  Trae Young led the league in assists per game, but his scoring and shooting were down.  Jalen Johnson was having a really good season but lost most of it to injury. De-Andre Hunter was traded to Cleveland for Chris LeVert.  Bogdan Bogdanovic was also traded.  Onyeka Okongwu played well after becoming the starting center and Dyson Daniels almost won Defensive Player of the Year.  

Atlanta liked what they saw and made big moves in the offseason.  Kristaps Porzingis was probably the biggest add as Boston shed salary.  Nickeil Gilgeous-Alexander is another good wing defender to pair with Daniels.  They brought in Luke Kennard to help with perimeter shooting.  They get back Jalen Johnson.  I think they have a solid starting unit and if Zaccharie Risacher can make strides, who knows.  The East isn't as stacked as it was. I expect they'll be no worse than the #8 seed but I expect them to be a better team.  They solid defenders and defense will win them games.  Trae Young must play something resembling defense though and must also do a good job getting all the new pieces and parts involved in the offense.  I'm not saying they make a run to the Finals but if they get hot at the right time, I think they could win at least one series in the playoffs.

Portland Trail Blazers 2025-2026 Season Preview

The Portland Trail Blazers surprised by winning 15 more games in 24-25 than they did the previous season.  I wish I could explain how.  They did have solid guard play, DeAndre Ayton was a solid center, but overall this team wouldn't wow you by looking at it.  Toumani Camara did make his mark with a great second half and an All-Defensive team nod.  Scoot Henderson saw modest gains while Jerami Grant struggled.

Portland still decided to go in a different direction this season after the gains made last year.  They bought out Ayton.  Good move.  They traded Anfernee Simons for Jrue Holiday.  Trade your better shooting guard for an expensive older player (he'll be 35 this season and making $100M+ over the next three seasons)?  They bring back Damian Lillard for $31M over the next three seasons though he will be out all of 25-26.  They drafted another center though Donovan Clingan had a solid rookie season.  I'm not sure how much, if any improvement, the team can expect this season.  Sharpe has to shoot better while Portland decides if he's in their long-term plans.  Seems like they like him, but we'll see.  Can they find takers for Grant or center Robert Williams?  Can Scoot step up and be the player they envisioned when the was taken with the #3 pick?  I can see the team taking a step back.  That's rough considering they won only 31 games but I'm not sure any of the moves made them better.  We'll see.  I think this year they try to figure out what they have overall while fans are left wanting for a team that can win consistently.

 

Random Wax: 2024 Contenders Football

2025 Contenders: Ja'Marr Chase and the Bengals are struggling but he's still a dominant receiver.  I'm not sure bringing in Joe Flacco moves the needle for Cincy but at least he has weapons to throw to.

Adams is an LA Ram now while Sutton is catching balls from Bo Nix in Denver.  Green Bay and Jordan Love were NFL darlings before losing to Cleveland and tying Dallas in weeks 3 and 4.

Three inserts all highlighting youngsters.  Xavier Worthy is top of the class here on the Draft Class card.  We also get Rookie Stallions which look pretty good as well as the Round Numbers insert.

These Historic Draft Class inserts are so much fun.  Vinny Testaverde was the #1 pick of the '87 draft but Rich Gannon, taken in the 4th round by New England, arguably had the better career taking Oakland to the Super Bowl while earning All-Pro honors 2X and making 4 Pro Bowls.  Love the creamsicle unis.

I really like the look of this set.  A lot going on on the fronts, but I do think they are all good.

These are always fun.  Aiden Hutchinson, Michigan alum, is having another really good year with the Lions.  Philly has been an enigma this season and need to find consistency and their running game which was so good last year. 

BREAKDOWN:
22 – Total Cards
3 – Game Ticket Red Parallel
1 – Draft Class
1 – Red Parallel
1 – Retired Greats
1 – Rookie Stallions
1 – Round Numbers
1 – Historic Draft Class
1 – Game Ticket Bronze Parallel

 

The Black Phone (2021)

The Black Phone sequel is in theaters now, so I decided to give the original a watch and I'm glad I did.  The plot and acting are good.  I won't give too much away but it's set in the 70s amidst children being abducted and has the suspense you're looking for in this type of film.  I recommend this one.  

Random Wax: 2025 Topps Baseball Hanger Box

2025 Topps:  I don't like the Dodgers but it's hard to root against them.  I love Freddie and Mookie and so enjoy watching Ohtani.  I will root against them as they play Milwaukee though.  Freddie is 35 and has 2431 hits in his outstanding career.  Will he get to 3,000. Hard to tell as it'll take him staying healthy and playing at a high level but I'd love to see it.

Christian Yelich was with the Brewers when they last were in the NLCS in 2018.  They lost to the Dodgers that season but can get revenge in this year's NLCS.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto went 12-8 with a 2.49 ERA in his second MLB season.  As if LA needed any help.  I'll just ignore the struggles of the rest of their staff.

I like these League Leader cards.  We get player photos, stats and the league logo.  It's a win.

That Zach Eflin is a Purple Holo Parallel #/250.

I really like the Team Cards.

A Mike Piazza 1990 Topps Baseball, Diamante Foil Parallel and a nice-looking Call to the Hall insert.  Diamante parallels are nice looking in hand.

The back of a League Leaders card.  These are fun to look at and even more so in years to come.  Sale's ERA only bumped to 2.58 this season.

Team card back missing the stats for the team leaders.  Boooo Topps.  Otherwise, I like. 

Corbin Carroll led the league in triples (17) for the third season in a row.

Have to like that photo on the horizontal card.

Stars of MLB inserts. They come four to a hanger box.  I like that De La Cruz.

BREAKDOWN:

59 – Total Cards

9 – RC

4 – Stars of MLB

2 - Checklist

2 – Team Cards

2 – Future Stars

2 - Diamante Foil

2 – Retired Greats

2 – League Leaders

1 – Holo Foil

1 – Cal to the Hall

1 – 1990 Topps Baseball

1 – Purple Holo Parallel #/250