Random Wax: 2025-2026 Topps Basketball

25-26 Topps:   Kevin Durant is nothing short of amazing.  One of the best scorers in his era, if not the best, he could shoot from anywhere on the court and is just a baller.  So happy I was able to see this guy play and he ain't done yet.  He was 37 years old last season but still scored 26 points per game while shooting 41% from deep.  He's led the league in scoring 4X in his 18-year career.

Happy Tyrese Haliburton will return from injury this year.  Last time we saw him, he was hurt in the 2025 NBA Finals against the Thunder.  He only played 7 minutes in game 7 before getting hurt.  Man, we wanted to see that game with a healthy Haliburton.

Walter Clayton Jr. averages 7 points and 4 assists per game for the Utah Jazz.  The Jazz have made plenty of moves and look to make a big move this next season.  Should be fun to watch.

Everyone's excited about Dylan Harper and the San Antonio Spurs who made it to the NBA Finals this year.

Jaren Jackson Jr. is one of those new pieces in Utah meant to take them to the next level.  

Nice Checklist card.  Neither Zaccharie Risacher (Mavericks) nor Trae Young (Wizards) are still with the Hawks as have both been traded.

Big man Alex Sarr took a step forward this year averaging 16 and 7 for the Wizards in 2025-2026.

My other Checklist.

Guard love.  One of the all-time greats in Chris Paul, shooter Trey Murphy and Kyrie who can do so much.

All-time greats!  Always a favorite of mine.  Nice pull with KG and Dirk Nowitzki.

8-Bit Ballers is an okay insert.  Not really my thing but Topps is doing a retro thing which is fine.  Great pack of cards.

BREAKDOWN:
36 – Total Cards
4 – Retired Greats
3 – RC
2 - Checklist
2 – Generation Now
1 – 8-Bit Ballers

Random Wax: 2024-2025 Donruss Basketball

 24-25 Donruss: Jayson Tatum, on this smooth looking Magicians insert, only played 16 regular season games after coming back from injury.  He's only 27, and with Jaylen Brown now a 76er, the team is his again.  No reason to think he won't get back to his past self and Boston will continue to be a top team in the East.

Two key Oklahoma City Thunder players who helped the Thunder to their first championship in OKC just two years ago.

Youngsters.  McCain is also a member of the Thunder now.  Great X-Pectations are nice looking cards.  Donovan Clingan should be a big part of any future success the Trail Blazers will have.  He averaged a double-double last season.

Kyle Lowry was a star in Toronto for 9 seasons and helped bring them their only championship in 2019.  They will retire his number this upcoming season after he retired in the offseason.

Some good-looking photos.

Jamal Murray, on a Holo Green Laser Parallel, earned his first All-Star apparance this past season.  Easy to forget he missed the entire 2021-2022 season due to an ACL injury.

BREAKDOWN:

30 – Total Cards

4 – Rated Rookie

2 – Holo Green Laser Parallel

1 - Magicians

1 – Great X-Pectations

Random Wax: 2023-2024 Donruss Basketball

23-24 Donruss:  De'Aaron Fox caught grief during the NBA Finals, and deserved for the most part, but he's really good.  He has career averages of 21 PPG and 6 APG.

Great pull in this pack.  KAT is now a Knick and a champion!  This is a pack I picked up two years ago.

Brandon Miller had another good year with Charlotte averaging 20/4/3 in his 3rd season.  The Hornets seem like they are ready to go to the next level.

Wow, did this pack hit.  I like that SGA photo.  He won his second MVP this past season.

I'm a big fan of New Zealander Steven Adams and that's a great looking Green Laser Holo Parallel.

BREAKDOWN:
30 – Total Cards
3 – Rated Rookie
2 – Green Laser Holo
1 – The Rookies

Random Wax: 1991-1992 SkyBox Basketball - 3 Packs

91-92 SkyBox:  Karl Malone was nothing short of a beast.  The Mailman played 19 seasons and had career averages of 25/10/3 with 2 MVP trophies and 14 All-NBA selections.  He was also a 4X All-Defensive team member.  He was also incredibly durable playing 80 or more games in 17 of those seasons.  And you can add 193 playoff games, averaging 41 minutes per playoff game, on top of that.  That's amazing.  

Big man love!  Moses Malone's played 3 season in Atlanta and average 16 and 10 with the Hawks.  Another unicorn, Moses played 21 seasons leading the league in rebounding 6X and 7X leading the league in offensive rebounds.  He still holds the all-time offensive rebounding average for a career with 5.1 per game.  He was also a 3X MVP and 8X All-NBA.  Crazy great career. 

Three All-Rookie cards and all three were solid players.  Derrick Coleman was a big man with a soft touch.  He averaged 16 and 9 for his career and was a 2X All-NBA selection.

I like cards like this giving us highlights from the season.

A couple of my all-time favorite players in Larry Smith and Trent Tucker and I really like Terry Cummings as well.  Like Moses, Smith was a great offensive rebounder.  He once led the league in offensive rebounds and had a career average of 3.9, good for 8th all-time.

The backs were great.  Gerald Wilkins was one of the sharpest dressed men in the league and Karl Malone was an outdoorsman and didn't disappoint.

More great highlights and two of the great shot blockers of the era.

Dee Brown with the no look dunk!  Assume this is from the 1991 Slam Dunk Contest.

The fronts o fmy Best Single Game Performance pulls.

Centennial Highlights give us game history.

Such a great set and so much fun.  Reggie Lewis was the future of the Boston Celtics before passing away too soon at the age of 27.

BREAKDOWN:

45 – Total Cards

3 – All-Rookie Team

3 – Best Single Game Performance

2 – Centennial Highlights

1 – Checklist

Random Wax: 2021-2022 Illusions Basketball

21-22 Illusions:   I know the Spurs are in a 2-0 hole, but maybe Jerry West can give them some inspiration.  He's 5th all-time in NBA scoring average in the playoffs at 29.13 PPG right behind Kevin Durant.  Jerry West played with as much determination and fire as MJ and Kobe in my opinion.  He's the only player to win the Finals MVP on a losing team (1969 NBA Finals).  He's also 7th all-time in regular season scoring average at 27.03 PPG, again right behind Kevin Durant.

Josh Giddey, on this Intriguing Players insert, is now on the Bulls.  He's coming off a year in which he averaged 17/8/9 with the Bulls.  That Trendon Watford is an Orange Parallel.

I've always liked Illusions brand for some reason, and this one had a pretty good design to it.  The set included retired greats like Dwyane Wade and I always like retired greats.

Small pack of cards I purchased back in 2022, but I liked it.  Enjoy the game tonight and hopefully the Spurs can get a win.

BREAKDOWN: 
12 – Total Cards
3 – RC
2 – Retired Great
1 – Orange Parallel
1 – Intriguing Players

Random Wax: 2024-2025 Donruss Basketball

24-25 Donruss:  Wemby had a great third season and helped the Spurs take a big leap forward this year.  We get him here on a Magicians insert.

Domantas Sabonis is on a Holo Green Laser Parallel.  KAT and the Knicks have had a really good season.  Feels like he has some ups and downs but he's so talented and maybe the best shooting big man we've seen.

Zach Edey only played 11 games this season, but he looks like he'll be a good center when he can stay healthy.

Big man love.  Dereck Lively is the only player still on the team shown.  Nurkic was in Utah this season while Horford played for the Warriors.

Jalen Johnson really took a leap this year.  He averaged 22/10/7 for the Hawks this year shooting 35% from deep.

Tyrese Maxey is one of the top guards in the NBA.  I'd be very surprised if he isn't an All-NBA selection this year.  DeMar DerRozan is now 16th on the NBA's all-time scoring list passing Tim Duncan and Oscar Robertson amongst others.

BREAKDOWN:
30 – Total Cards
5 – Rated Rookie
2 – Holo Green Laser Parallel
1 – Magicians
1 – Great X-Pectations

2025-26 Topps NBA Hoops Basketball Hanger Box

25-26 Hoops:   Jimmy Butler was having a good year until an ACL did his season in.  With Steph out a good part of the season as well, the Warriors season was doomed.  It'll be interesting to see what Golden State does in the off season.  Not sure if a to be 37 year-old Butler coming off a major injury is part of the way forward but not sure they'll be able to move him.  Either way, I'm a big Butler fan and I love this photo.

I wasn't aware Topps had a Hoops basketball brand but recently found them at Wal-Mart.  These cards have a holo/shiny vibe to them.  I know not all cards show it in the scans, but that Wagner is how all the cards look.  It's an alright design.  I'm not a fan of "shiny" cards but this is more in line with regular cards with a shiny vibe to them.

I like the Highlights subset.  Good looking cards in a horizontal design.

Youngsters including a The Buzz insert.  Ace Bailey averaged 13 points per game in his rookie campaign.  More is expected from the highly touted youngster as Utah looks to take a step forward next season.  And "Ace" is some great name game.

There are 30 cards in the All-Stars subset and I love it!  I'm not a fan of the NBA All-Star game anymore but I love cards with actual photos from the All-Star game.

A Rainbow Purple & Blue Parallel #/199, Orange Hoops Parallel, and Net 2 Net insert.  I like that purple and blue card and Net 2 Net isn't too bad either.

The back of my Steph Curry Highlights card.  There are 10 cards in this subset.

The backs are fine though there is a lack of stats.  We expect more from you Topps.  I was skeptical of these at first, but they are growing on me.  More expensive than base Topps so that factors in to these a bit. Jalen Duren had an All-Star season for the Pistons averaging 19 and 10 as one of the better bigs in the league. 

BREAKDOWN:
25 – Total Cards
3 – RC
2 – Highlights
1 – The Buzz
1 – Net 2 Net
1 – Orange Hoops
1 – Rainbow Purple & Blue #/199
1 – 2025 All-Star Game Weekend