Random Wax: 2024-25 Panini Haunted Hoops (20 Packs)

24-25 Haunted Hoops:   Its' Friday the 13th so let's get scary!  LeBron isn't who he once was as a player but he's 41 and still averaging 21 points per game, 5 boards and 6 assists per game.  This may be his last season, and I'll be sorry to see him go.  He's such an amazing player.  Here he is on a Hoops Tribute Slime Parallel.

That great Donovan Mitchell photo is on one of the 12 Orange (Pumpkin) parallels I pulled in these packs.  Mitchell is having a great season, but the Cavs just don't have the same magic they did last year.  Hated seeing Jimmy Butler go down for the season while KD is having an amazing age 37 season.

Ajay Mitchell and big man Kyle Filipowski have developed into solid contributors for their teams.

More Orange (Pumpkin) Parallels and one of my 6 Slime Parallels.  Michael Porter Jr. is having a really good year with his new team, Brooklyn, where he is the focus of the offense.

The backs on these are okay and I do like seeing the hint of Halloween scariness with the trees in the background and colors.

I want to see Naz Reid in the starting lineup someday.  He's a great shooting big but with Rudy Gobert entrenched in the middle for Minnesota, that isn't likely to happen anytime soon.

More Hoops Tribute inserts to finish off the post including mega stars like Luka Donci and Wemby.

BREAKDOWN:
60 – Total Cards
14 – RC
12 – Orange (Pumpkin)
6 - Slime
5 – Hoops Tribute
1 - Prospect
1 – Draft Combine

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