Random Wax: 2024-2025 Donruss Basketball

24-25 Donruss:  Giannis is such an amazing player.  He is 31, 2X MVP, 9X All-NBA, 5X All-Defensive, and a Defensive Player of the Year winner.  His talents really are freakish.  He is so athletic and at his size he is almost unstoppable when he gets going downhill.  This card is one of two Holo Green Laser Parallels I pulled. 

This is a pretty good Donruss set and a great pull in this pack.  Shai is having another amazing year while Anthony Edwards, Georgia Bulldog alum, is having maybe his best season in the NBA.

Alex Sarr has taken a nice leap forward this season averaging 19 PPG for the Wizards.

Kristaps Porzingis has helped the Hawks to a winning record this season and challenging for a playoff spot in the competitive Eastern Conference.

Payton Pritchard is having a career year with Boston with plenty of playing time available as the Celtics deal with injuries and traded off key players in the offseason.

Jamal Murray is having a great year and may get his first All-Star nod.  He's averaging 24 PPG shooting 46% from three.

BREAKDOWN:
30 – Total Cards
5 – Rated Rookie
2 – Holo Green Laser Parallels
1 – Bomb Squad

Frasier TV Series (1993–2004)

Frasier:  I did a rewatch of Frazier.  I'd watch some or all of an episode before going to sleep.  I enjoy doing that with comfort watches like this.  Frasier ran 11 seasons and for good reason.  I like to say I've watched the series before including plenty of reruns but there was much of this show that I didn't remember.  Nothing wrong with that.  I enjoyed it all.  It really is a good series.  It feels like awkward moment after awkward moment which makes it fun.  I enjoyed the Niles and Dafney storyline the most as Niles falls for her even though being married.  This eventually leads to them falling for each other.  Lots of fun here.  I'm glad I went back and watched it in its entirety.  I feel like there was much I hadn't seen.  Again, lots of fun.  Not a top 10 all-time for me but this is a series I really like.  I've already started a rewatch of Cheers.  An all-time favorite I'm really enjoying it and will post something once I complete it.

Random Wax: 1994 Ted Williams Baseball 4 Packs

1994 Ted Williams:  Hall of Famer Eddie Matthews was a 12X All-Star.  He led the league in home run 3X, walks 3X and OBP 1X.  He finished his career with 512 home runs and won a World Series title with the Milwaukee Braves and with the Detroit Tigers.

Ted Williams himself as well as catching great and fan favorite Gary Carter sporting those great Expo unis and Juan Marichal.  If you are saying "wow those names are hard to read" you aren't wrong.  Even in hand they are very challenging.

Youngsters appear on Dawning of a Legacy (Cliff Floyd and Tim Salmon only) and The Campaign cards.

We get Negro League cards as well as a nice-looking checklist card which is a Dan Gardiner Collection (#54063).

The backs highlight the best five seasons of a player's career.  I do like these.

Goin North highlights players as they readied to start their MLB careers.  I like these as you don't always get to see players from this era in their minor league unis.

Mike Schmidt Swingin' for the Fences, Women of Baseball and Etched in Stone.  The latter looks at highlights of a player's career.

Frank Howard, Gil Hodges, Nellie Fox and Walter Johnson.  It's fun showing off these cards.  So many players we aren't used to seeing on modern cardboard.

BREAKDOWN:
48 – Total Cards
6 – The Campaign
5 – Negro Leagues
2 - Checklist
2 – Women of Baseball
2 – Dawning of a Legacy
1 – Etched in Stone
1 – Swinging for the Fences
1 – Dan Gardiner Collection (#54063)

 

2023 Mosaic Football

2023 Mosaic:  Joey Bosa is one of the great push rushers in the league.  Injuries robbed him of too much playing time but he is a 5X Pro Bowl selection and has registered 10+ sacks in four seasons.

Some running back love.  Jonathan Taylor is having a crazy good year.  He leads the league in most rushing categories.  Austin Ekeler, on that Silver Parallel (I think), is with the Commanders now while Josh Jacobs is in Green Bay.

Myles Murphy is a sometime starter with the Bengals while Forbes is now with the Rams and having his best season in the pros.

I like the Elevate design and I'm always a fan of Hall of Fame cards and retired greats including Michael Vick on this Epic Performers card.

More retired greats including LT on a Green Parallel.  Fun pack that I somehow never got around to sharing until today.

BREAKDOWN:
15 – Total Cards
5 – Retired Greats
3 – RC
3 – Camo Pink Parallel
1 – Elevate
1 – Hall of Fame
1 – Green Parallel
1 – Epic Performers
1 – Silver Parallel

Random Wax: Kayou Hero Series Battle Series 1 Legend Booster– 3 Packs

Kayou Series 1:   I've always been a fan of Black Panther, and I remember buying a Black Panther hat in a mall back in the mid-nineties.  I think it was a Kansas City mall.  Wish I still had it.  I really liked the first movie as well.  The last one was didn't do a whole lot for me.

These China made game cards are thin in the mode of playing cards.  I like the design.  No clue about playing the game.  All about the cards themselves to me.  At a time when it's tough to find affordable Marvel cards these are a good option.

In order the tiers of cards you can pull they go R, SR, SSR, HR, SGR, LR, UR, MR, and CR in that order from most common to the rarest.  It's not easy to find info on these cards.

These are licensed and based off the Marvel movie universe during the height of its popularity.  I'm a fan of most of those movies so that works for me.  Purchased my boxes off AliExpress.

I love Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow.  She was so much fun while kicking butt and taking names.  I think the Black Widow movie is underrated.  Florence Pugh is doing a great job picking up the Black Widow mantle as Yelena Belova.

BREAKDOWN:

18 – Total Cards (3 Packs)

5 – SR

2 – SSR

 

Random Wax: 2024-2025 Hoops Basketball

24-25 Hoops:   Anthony Edwards, Georgia Bulldogs alum, is having a great season with the Timberwolves.  Minnesota hasn't figured it out but as long as they have Edwards, they'll have a chance to win.  He's averaging 28, 4 and 3 this season while shooting 39% from long range.  Great photo too.

Jayson Tatum is out for the year with injury but that is still a good photo.  Brandon Miller is dealing with injuries this season and the Hornets, while an interesting team, continue to struggle.  And Jonathan Kuminga drama continues in Golden State.

I'm still not sure who Zacchaire Risacher is as a player and the Hawks are probably struggling with the same question.  That's tough for a #1 overall pick for both the player and the team.

I like all of these photos.

Ja Morant on a Skyview insert as well as a Green Parallel and a Teal Explosion Parallel.

Nikola Jokic is still the most fun player to watch in the NBA and the best player in the league.

BREAKDOWN:
30 – Total Cards
7 – RC
2 – Skyview
2 – Skyview
1 – Arriving Now
1 – Hoops Tribute
1 – Green Parallel
1 – Premium Stock
1 – Teal Explosion Parallel

Random Wax: 1988 Fleer Baseball (3 Packs)

1988 Fleer:  Wade Boggs was a great hitter winning 5 batting titles ending his career with just over 3,000 hits and a .310 batting average.  He had a crazy stretch early in his career where he hit .357 or better 4 out of 5 seasons.

Oh the power in these three greats of the game!  We know McGwire and Bonds won't make the Hall of Fame but the Crime Dog did.  He finished his career with a .284 batting average, 493 home runs, and 2,490 hits.  He twice led the league in homers and once in OPS.

The backs of the stickers were informative for fans who didn't have the internet at their disposal 27 years ago.

More big names from the era.  Benito Santiago was a 5X All-Star, 3X All-Star, 4X Silver Slugger, and a NLCS MVP.

Teddy Higuera didn't start his MLB career until he was 27, but was 94-64 with a 3.61 ERA before injuries ended his career.  Fun cards and memories as always.

BREAKDOWN:
45 – Total Cards (3 Packs)
3 - Stickers
1 – Checklist