Random Wax: 1988 Fleer Baseball (3 Packs)

 1988 Fleer: Bo Jackson's career was short, but it was still amazing.  His athleticism, his arm, his speed, his power, his fun.  He was an all-time great even when stats won't back that up.

Wally Joyner was a 1X All-Star and 1X Home Run Derby champion.  His best season came with the Padres when he hit .327 for them in 1997.  He ended his career hitting .289 with a .362 OBP and just over 2,000 hits.  

Doyle Alexander pitched for 19 seasons winning 194 games while notching a 3.76 ERA.  Three times he had 17 wins in season and in 1989, his final year in the league, he had 18 losses with a 4.44 ERA.

Chris Gwynn hit .300 one year for the Royals in 306 plate appearances.  He had a total of 263 hits across 10 seasons.

The stickers were great.  'Nuff said.

And they came with great information on the back.

These are the last three packs from the box I purchased late in 2021.  I'm a fan of this set and showing off the cards has been so much fun.  We'll end it with Dave Stewart who is a PC guy of mine.  He has the look of a guy who just knows.  What he knows, I'm not sure of, but still.  3X World Champion and a World Series MVP right there.

BREAKDOWN:
45 – Total Cards (3 Packs)
3 - Stickers
1 - Checklist
1 – SuperStar Specials
1 – Major League Prospects

2025 Score Football Blaster

2025 Score:  Drake Maye and the Patriots, while they didn't come out of nowhere, they did surprise us.  Maye took his game to another level and is a huge part of why New England will be in the Super Bowl.  I really like these Throwbacks inserts.  \

Some running back love.  I like this design.  It has that Score feel and I like the helmet.  McCaffrey is my favorite player in the league today, and I have a soft spot for running backs and all three of these are excellent backs.  James Cook led the league in rushing with 1,621 yards and added 12 touchdowns.  McCaffrey had an amazing season with over 2100 yards from scrimmage and 17 total touchdowns.

Quite a few rookies in blasters.  Ashton Jeanty stood out.  He had almost 1,000 yards in his rookie year.  Jalon Walker also had a good year with 5.5 sacks.

This relic is a Stars of the NFL Jerseys insert. It's not bad and I like seeing veterans on relics.

Retired greats!  I always find these fun and all three of these are players I like.  Brian Urhlacher's hometown of Lovington, NM is only 20 minutes from where I grew up.

I enjoy Celebration inserts and this year's design is one I like.

I'm a fan of First Ballot inserts as well.  Anything highlighting players in the Hall is good with me.   League Leaders are always fun and great to look back on years later.  That Troy Franklin is a Stars Parallel #/499.  I like the look.

Sack Attack is another one I like.  Score hits the mark on a lot of their inserts.

I like Anniversary Rookies.  They have a good look and are a nod to past designs.  Travis Hunter played in 7 games and had 28 receptions while also playing defense (no interceptions).

Ladd McConkey is still a big part of the Chargers offense but couldn't replicate the numbers from his excellent rookie season.

I like the backs.  Lots of color and we also get a different photo from what we see on the front.

Georgia Bulldog alum Brock Bowers dealt with injuries this season, but he will be a big part of the offense next year when presumed #1 pick Fernando Mendoza joins the team.

Bryce Young and the Panthers made the playoffs, and it took the Rams the entirety of their playoff game to get past them.

More amazing, retired greats.

You know I like these, so we'll end it with more Throwbacks and Seattle, who'll be meeting the Patriots in the Super Bowl today.  Enjoy the game!

BREAKDOWN:
90 – Total Cards
25 - RC
9 – Retired Greats
6 – Throwbacks
5 – Celebration
3 – League Leaders
2 – Sack Attack
2 – Anniversary Rookies
1 – First Ballot
1 – Stars Parallel #/499
1 - Stars of the NFL Jerseys

Random Wax: 2025-2026 Topps Basketball

25-26 Topps:  I know I continually sing Nikola Jokic's praises, but this guy is amazing.  Don't take him for granted.  We are truly seeing one of the all-time greats in the game play.  He's 29 and won't play forever.  Don't take my word for it.  Watch him.  And he is fun to watch.  He's averaging 29 PPG, 12 RPG and 10 APG this season.  For the second year in a row.

Josh Giddey is having his best season as a pro.  He's averaging 18 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists a game.  Not sure Topps did him right with this photo but it's a good story for him.

Love the horizontal cards Topps gives us.

These three haven't made a big mark on the NBA yet, but it's only their rookie seasons.

Tre Johnson is having a solid rookie season averaging double-digits for the Washington Wizards.  I like the Clutch City Prospects inserts.

This pack was a Christmas gift and I'm always happy with basketball cards.

Great looking Checklist card.

Retired greats are always fun.  And we get Oso Ighodaro on a Topps 45th Anniversary card which is a nod to the 1980-1981 Topps Basketball set.

Another good-looking Checklist card.  It'll go into my Brook Lopez collection with a nice Giannis photobomb.

An 8-Bit Baller insert for Klay Thompson.  Not a favorite of mine but I'm okay with what they are going for.  Anthony Edwards, on another checklist card, and the Minnesota Timberwolves have been a bit uneven this season but have shown they can win against the best teams in the league.  A Georgia Bulldogs alum, Edwards is having another great season.

BREAKDOWN:

36 – Total Cards

6 - Checklist

5 – RC

4 – Retired Greats

1 – 8-Bit Ballers

1 – Foil Parallel

1 – Clutch City Prospects

1 – Topps 45th Anniversary

Donruss Baseball 1991

1991 Donruss:  Dwight Gooden had issues early in his career but still managed 16 seasons.  His 11 with the Mets were very productive pitching to a 157-85 record with a 3.10 ERA.  He didn't have an ERA under 4.67 with any other team.  He won one Cy Young and won a championship with the Mets and the Yankees.

Pretty good pull in this pack including World Series MVP and Hall of Famer, Alan Trammel. Parker is also in the Hall and Dwight Evans had a 20-year career including 19 with the Red Sox.

After 1991, Sammy Sosa would be traded to the Chicago Cubs with Ken Patterson for George Bell.

These backs don't have all the stats we want but it's solid including stats from the last 5 seasons and career highlights.

This design isn't bad but not my favorite Donruss look.  11X Gold Glove winner Omar Vizquel early in his career with the Mariners.  He had 2,877 hits for his career.

The backs of the All-Star cards are nice giving us actual All-Star Game stats as well as career highlights.  I always like All-Star cards, and I especially liked when Donruss put the American League and National League logos on them.  Great look.

BREAKDOWN:
16 – Total Cards
1 – All-Star
1 – Rated Rookie

Random Wax: 2023 Donruss Football

2023 Score:  Trevor Lawrence had one of his best seasons going 13-4 with the Jaguars as they won the AFC South.  A bit of a surprise from the Jags who haven't seen this kind of success during Larence's career.  I am hoping we see more consistency from him moving forward.

Jason Kelce is a 6X All-Pro and one of those guys it's easy to like.  It was tough seeing George Kittle go down with an Achilles injury in the playoffs.  I'm know he'll be back those are never fun.  Maxx Crosby had another double-digit sack season.

Tre Tucker had 57 receptions for the Raiders this season, standing out amongst these three.

This design is okay but not a favorite of mine.  Feels like I've seen similar designs a lot in the past few years from Panini.

Some love for the defense.  All three are studs.

Nice Amon-Ra St. Brown photo.  Not a bad Gridiron Kings design.  Overall, a fun pack with a good pull.

BREAKDOWN:
30 – Total Cards
4 – Rated Rookie
4 – Press Proof Blue Parallel
1 – Gridiron Kings

The Fantastic Four: First Steps

 The Fantastic Four: First Steps: Finally got around to watching this one. In the back of my head, for some reason, I don't think I really wanted to like it.  But I did.  It's a good movie.  I like how the characters, the actors, the plot and how it fits into the Marvel cinematic universe.  It also explained, or I think it did, some of the upcoming Marvel cinematic universe choices. 

The movie's focus is the Fantastic Four as an already established superhero team.  You'll note the retro feel, which is really, really cool and it's critical in how they fit into the Marvel universe.  As seen in the trailer, we also get Silver Surfer and Galactus.  I like both.  There are always cinematic choices when you do these comic characters.  I don't agree with all of them, but I like and enjoyed the movie as did my youngest grandson.  I recommend the movie.  Good stuff.