Random Wax: 2021 Contenders Draft Picks Blaster with Autograph

2021 Draft Picks:  Patrick Mahomes is one of the best we've ever seen.  Kansas City knew they wanted him but didn't know he'd be a 2X MVP, 3X Super Bowl MVP, 2X All-Pro when they traded a 2018 1st round pick (22nd overall subsequently traded, Rashaan Evans), 2017 1st round pick (27th overall, Tre'Davious White) and 2017 3rd round pick (91st overall subsequently traded, John Johnson) to the Buffalo Bills to move and take Mahomes.  Maybe we'll be having another conversation like this in some years after this draft.

This was a great box.  I really like the design; the college unis and I'm a Contenders fan.

Fields hasn't really panned out, but I do like this Front-Row Seats card.  The horizontal look, college logo and design work for me.

Legendary Contenders is fun, but I'd prefer color photos.  That Cam Akers is a Red Game Ticket Parallel.  I like the Draft Class card design.

More greats from the league.  The backs are fine for what they are.  Josh Allen showing his wheels.

Unfortunately, Austin Watkins never played in the NFL.  Still, I'm extremely happy with my pull in this box.  I purchased it in June of 2021.  Just now getting around to posting it.  We'll end it with more greatness in The Goat, Tom Terrific in his great maize and blue Michigan uni.  Enjoy the draft!

BREAKDOWN:

42 – Total Cards

2 – Legendary

2 – Red Parallel Game Ticket

1 – Retired Great

1 – 2021 Draft Class

1 – Front Row Seats

1 – Red Parallel College Ticket Autograph

Random Wax: 2021 Contenders Draft Picks Football

2021 Draft Picks:  Rob Gronkowski had a Hall of Fame but was just as easy to like for the fun he brought to the game on and off the field.  He was a 4 x All-Pro and 4 x Super Bowl winner.

I've really had this pack since November of 2011 and never showed it off.  This pack only had 18 cards but wow, what a pull.  Jefferson and Watt are studs and Hurts, while having a down year is still a top QB in the league.

The Draft Class inserts are nice with the colors matching the unis.  Legendary Contenders inserts are ok but I'm not a big fan of the black and white photos.  Michael Carter's last year in the league was 2023.  And oh, what a difference three years makes for DeShaun Watson on this Game Ticket Purple Parallel. 

I'm a big Todd Gurley fan so he was a fun pull.  Singletary and Ridley are still farily prominent players in the league.  Maybe the best part of these is seeing players in their college unis.  I'm a big fan.

I didn't know Phillip Rivers played at Stanford.  It's fun seeing these cards and thinking of where some of these player's careers have gone.

BREAKDOWN:

18 – Total Cards

1 – Legendary

1 – Draft Class

1 – Game Ticket Purple Parallel

Random Wax: 2021 Contenders Draft Picks Football

 

2021 Contenders Draft Picks: I wouldn't say Baker Mayfield is relevant again but he is a 2023 starter, won that game, and the reigning Nickelodeon Valuable Player (NVP).  It's on his reference page so it has to be a thing.  Just saying. 

Two years removed from this set being released and Kirk Cousins maybe has more credibility than Russell Wilson?  Injuries has taken the wind out of his Leonard's sails but he was great during those first four years of his career.

I'm a Todd Gurley fan.  I know the end of his career didn't go well but I'll take this Game Ticket Purple Parallel.

These horizontal Front-Row Seats inserts allow Panini to show off some photography.  The officer in the background cheering on the play is great.

Love the college unis on these and this set has a good look to it.  A bit different from other Contenders designs because we get to see photos with backgrounds.  Kamara is another example of how quickly things change.  

BREAKDOWN:

18 – Total Cards

1 – Front Row Seats

1 – Draft Class Purple Parallel

1 – Game Ticket Purple Parallel

Random Wax: 2020-2021 Contenders Draft Picks Basketball

 2020-2021 Contenders Draft Picks Basketball: Another pack from November.  Tonight is the draft where every team has hope they might find that next star to help put their team over the top.  Trae Young is that guy for the Atlanta Hawks.  Young, drafted by Dallas, was traded to the Hawks who originally drafted Doncic.  The Hawks used the Mavs' first round pick they received to draft Cam Reddish (still a work in progress).

Definitely good pulls in these packs.  The set size isn't that large with 50 base cards, each having a photo variation.

Great seeing retired greats as part of the set.  Front Row Seat and Winning Ticket are inserts.

Mascots also get some love in this set.  Again plenty of stars to be had in these packs.  Fun pack and here's to hoping everyone's team finds "that guy" in tonight's draft.  

BREAKDOWN:
18 - Total Cards
2 – Winning Ticket
2 – Game Ticket Green Parallel 
1 – Mascot
1 – Front Row Seat

Random Wax: 2020-2021 Contenders Draft Picks with an Auto

2020-2021 Contenders Draft Picks Basketball:  This is one of the packs I found in the wild back in Novermber.  The NBA Finals kicks off tonight so I had to do some basketball.  I'll be rooting for the Bucks but the fact that Phoenix has never won a title makes them tough to root against.  We'll kick this pack off with Kawhi who is a PC guy.  Would have been nice to see what the Clip's series with the Suns looked like with a healthy Leonard.

I pulled one of the Ball brothers just not the one everyone is chasing.  I'll be curious where his career goes.  He's a restricted free agent I think and I'm not sure what to think of him at this point.  

Plenty of veteran star power in the pack too.  These guys look so young and I guess they were.  Almost unrecognizable. 

One of the two autos I pulled in the packs I grabbed at the time.  Zeke had a minimal role with Denver this year but it looked like he played OK given the limited opportunity.

More vets to round out the pack.  You can never complain when you pull an auto and with the base set at only 100 total cards (50 with a photo variation of each) you're gonna get some good players in these packs.   We'll end it with Zion.  Enjoy game one tonight!

BREAKDOWN:
18 – Total Cards
2 – Winning Ticket
2 – Game Ticket Green Parallel 
1 – 2020 Draft Class
1 – Red Game Ticket Auto #/99

2020-2021 Contenders Draft Picks Basketball Blaster with an Autograph

 2020-2021 Contenders Draft Picks Basketball:  NBA draft is tonight so now is the perfect time to show these off.  Found these the beginning of the month.  It's been a long time since I've seen basketball cards on the shelf.  I didn't buy them all but I did pick up some packs as well as this blaster.  I'll show the packs off over time.  I'll start with the one rookie from last year who might be hotter than Zion himself.  I really like the Ja Morant is from a small school like Murray State.

This set lets us see current players and some NBA hopefuls in the college unis.  I really enjoy that about these sets. The base set is only 50 cards strong but each of these have a variation with a different photo.  Not sure why they just don't make the base set 100 cards with each player getting two cards but I guess the variations are somewhat tougher to get in theory.  I screwed up and didn't determine how many variations I received in this box.  ugh.  Variations are noted on the backs with a "V".  Makes it nice and easy.

I did pull a Red Cracked Ice Autograph #/23.  Nice variation on the autos.  Hard to tell if Ty-Shon Alexander will get drafted but obviously that would help this card quite a bit.  We'll find out tonight.  I also pulled an auto in one of the packs I'll be showing off at a later time.

I really like the inclusion of mascots this year and though they are a Blue rival the Michigan State Spartans have a great mascot in Sparty.  That Ben Simmons is a red parallel.  I like seeing retired greats but I'd prefer color photos.  Won't get too picky though.

Of course those players hoping to hear their name tonight are here but in smaller amounts in the insert sets.

The Contenders brand is a favorite of mine.  For some it gets repetitive.  This year's design is pretty good but not my favorite.  The backs are nice too giving us the school logo which I like seeing.  The "V" for variation cards would be right next to where the "23" is on this card back.  As a reminder the Sec/Row/Seat are the player's weight/height(feetinches)/jersey number respectively.  Fun box and good pull.  I'm looking forward to seeing how the draft plays out tonight.  And I don't remember ever seeing James Harden in his college uni. 

BREAKDOWN:

42 – Total Cards

5 – Winning Ticket

3 – Game Ticket Red Parallel

3 – Front Row Seat

2 – Mascots

2 – Retired Greats

1 - Red Cracked Ice Auto /23

1 – Red Winning Ticket Parallel

 

2020 Contenders Draft Picks Football Blaster w/2 Auto

2020 Contenders Draft Picks Football:  More new product on the shelf this morning so I didn't hesitate with picking up a blaster that guarantees two autos.  I'll kick it off with Emmitt here.  First thing I noticed was this year's offering has fewer retired greats.  That was a big draw of this set for me so that's a letdown.  Still I thought this Emmitt has a nice photo and is a good way to start things off.  

If you are looking for actual 2020 rookies or potential rookies those are only found in the inserts.  

Neither of these autos were names I'm familiar with but at least they were both drafted.  Cincy (7th rnd) and Baltimore (3rd rnd) respectively.  Nothing worse than pulling those undrafted guys so this at least gives me some hope one or both will turn out to be something.

I like the design on that 2020 Draft Class.  The Travis Kelce is a Draft Blue Foil parallel though the blue doesn't show at all in the scan.  

To the design on these I'm OK with it but not my favorite design.  The photos seem small with the bottom info taking up too much room.  I'm a Contenders fan overall but this one is a bit too busy for me.  My favorite Football Contenders Draft Picks is the 2018 Set.  Those cards almost had an art quality to them.  Last year's was good as well.

A quick refresher on the numbers:  Section = Weight  Row = Height  Seat = Jersey Number

The backs are fine but not great.  The photo is the same as the front but I'm fine with it.  You do need a magnifying glass to read the stats.  I like the large logo.

This box was OK but I'm not sold on it overall as a product.  I'll probably grab more but I won't go nuts.  I'll end this on a high note with Tom Terrific on my favorite card from the box.

BACKGROUND:

42 – Total Cards
2 – Retired Greats
2 – Game Day Tickets
2 – College Ticket Autographs
1 – Legacy
1 – Draft Class
1 – Draft Blue Foil
1 – 2020 Draft Class