Random Wax: 2025 Donruss NASCAR 4 Hobby Box Packs with Relic

2025 Donruss:  Kevin Harvick is one of the all-time greats in the sport.  He finished his career with 60 wins, 1 championship and finished top five in the season standings 5 times.  He's also a really good announcer and his podcast is a fun watch.  NASCAR is in Charlotte tonight for the Coca-Cola 600.

Ty Gibbs on this Red & Blue Parallel.  He got his first career win this season and has been very consistent after a rough start to the season.  Overall, this design doesn't do much for me and I find this year's set boring.  The 2026 set is supposed to bump up the card totals and hopefully bring back some of the fun.

The backs are fine but without a different photo it feels redundant.  We also need stats.  NASCAR is easy for stats.

You get one Optic per pack.  That Ricky Stenhouse Jr. is a Gold Parallel #10.

This Pedal to the Metal is #/99.  Checklist says it is a Red Parallel.  Is it really?  I do like this relic.

Coming Attractions, Season Highlights, Unleashed.  I like all three of these inserts.  That coming attraction is a Red Parallel #/99.  I like Unleashed the most but wish they had different backgrounds for different drivers or at least some variety.

That Matt Kenseth isa Red Parallel #/299.  I like that the set includes retired greats like Kenseth.  Zane Smith is one of my favorite drivers.  He's had an uneven third year of driving in the Cup Series but has seen some promising finishes.

This may appeal to some, but I don't get Spellbound.  It won't look right on a page of cards so I'm not sure what display options it would give you. 

And some Rated Rookies.  Yep, the Frankie Muniz from Malcom in the Middle.  After dominating much of the O'Reilly series (minor leagues) season last year, Connor Zilisch was the most anticipated rookie this season.

BREAKDOWN:
32 – Total Cards
5 – Rated Rookie
4 – Optic
4 – Retired Greats
3 – Red and Blue Parllel
1 - Unleashed
1 – Spellbound
1 – Gold Parallel #/10

1 - Red Parallel #/299
1 – Season Highlights
1 – Coming Attraction
1 – Pedal to the Metal Relic

2025 Donruss NASCAR 4 Hobby Box Packs with Relic

2025 Donruss:  The Daytona 500 today marks the start of the 2026 NASCAR season.  Denny Hamlin finished second in the 2025 season missing out on the championship with a heartbreaking loss at the end of the final race.  He's now tied for 10th all-time with 60 career wins.

Three of the better drivers at the Cup level which is the top tier in the sport.  Bubba Wallace and Chase Elliott are two of my favorites in NASCAR.  Elliott is a 1X Champion and has finished top 10 in the standings in 9 of his 10 full-time Cup seasons.

The backs are colorful but with no stats or different photo it's hard to get too excited about them.

Three of my Optic pulls.  They are the same designs and photos of the base cards.  That Riley Herbst is a Red Parallel #/199.

Jeff Gordon is an all-time great with 4 NASCAR Championships and 93 wins, good for 3rd all-time.  Spellbound inserts allow you to spell out a driver's last name.  There are six Gordon Spellbound inserts with different letters, photos and colors.  Okay idea but not sure how you display them as putting them in binder pages won't do anything for you.

Plenty of youngsters to go around.  Some who have only raced in the lower NASCAR levels and some who have raced some at each.

Inserts including my Suited Up relic.  I really like the Unleashed look.  I do wish there were different animals behind each driver.  I like Coming Attractions as well.

Overall, I'm pretty disappointed with this set.  The design is okay.  Nothing more.  In years past there was also a second retro design that gave mit ore variety.  There were also different photos of each driver.  Feels like Panini just phoned it in.

A couple Red and Blue Parallels and a Purple Parallel #/99.

We'll end it with a driver you either loved or hated in Darrell Waltrip.  I liked him and enjoyed him quite a bit as an announcer.  He won 3 NASCAR Championships and finished with 84 wins which is 5th all-time.  I'll show off more of these over time.

BREAKDOWN:

32 – Total Cards

6 – Retired Greats

4 – Optic

3 – Red and Blue Parallels

2 – Spellbound

1 – Unleashed

1 – Suited Up Relic

1 – Red Parallel #/199

1 – Coming Attraction

1 – Purple Parallel #/99

 

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

2025-2026 Topps Basketball Holiday Mega Box

25-26 Topps Holiday:  Merry Christmas!  Jaylen Brown is having a career year.  With all the roster turnover and injuries, he's shown he can carry a team.  Surprisingly, to me anyway, the Celtics are top 4 in the Eastern Conference and Brown is the reason why.  He's averaging 29/6/4 while shooting 36% from three.

Reminiscent of 1982 Topps the Holiday flair brings some pizzaz to the 2025 Topps Basketball design.  Great pull in this box.  Nikola Jokic is leading the league in assists and rebounds and I believe he is having another MVP season.  At age 37 Steph and KD are having historic seasons for their age.

All three of these rookies are having good years with VJ Edgecombe and Derik Queen standing out.

Topps gives us horizontal shots, and this one is tons of fun.

My parallels include Blue Metallic Glitter Parallel, Light Blue and White Glitter Parallel and Glitter Parallel.  You can feel the "glitter" as it feels sprinkled on the card.

My Holiday Relic.  Khaman Maluach is seeing minimal time on the court with the Suns.

Another great photo on that Dalton Knecht card.  Deni Avdija is having a career year in Portland averaging 25 PPG, 7 RPG, and 6 APG while shooting 36% from deep.

That Cedric Coward is my SP Image Variation that comes 1:23 packs (there are 10 packs in a Mega Box).  You get one SP per Mega Box.  An easy way to determine if you have a variation is the code on the back.  Below are the codes.

Base Set — 997
Image Variations — 039
Back Variations — 040
Hidden Elf — 042

My Oversized Diecut Ornament.  I like it.  Nice holiday design.

Some big man love.

Another nice horizontal card.

I really like that Trae Young photo and card.  And I did get a Cooper Flagg.  He's having a good first year in Dallas.  I'm glad I picked this box up.  It was fun.  I hope Santa was good to you all this Christmas.

BREAKDOWN:
100 – Total Cards
20 – RC
7 – Glitter Parallels
1 – Holiday Relic
1 – SP Image Variation (1:23)
1 – Oversized Diecut Ornament
1 - Blue Metallic Glitter Holiday 
1- Light Blue and White Glitter Holiday