23-24 Hoops:  AD is in what could be a MVP season.  He's averaging over 30 points per game and 11 rebounds per game.  Hopefully he'll stay healthy and maybe he and the surprising Lakers can be real contenders this season.

I do like the design for this set.  Good looking photos and lots of room for them to shine while still giving us the basics on the front.

I pulled a Wemby which is always the goal with 2023-2024 sets.  Gradey Dick is off to a great sophomore year in the NBA averaging ~18 points per game.  GG Jackson had a good rookie year but is out with a foot injury until January.

Anthony Black is having a good season averaging but 8 points per game, but it's that great hair that shines on this card.

Players who changed teams prior to the 2023-2024 season.

Some of my inserts.  Still not that big a fan of Dynamos.  Skyview is alright in my books though.  That Zion is a Rookie Remembrance relic.

I'm hoping former Trail Blazer, CJ McCollum is back from injury by the time this is published.  Cade Cunningham has continued to get better each of his four seasons and is again the star of the Detroit Pistons.

Chet Holmgren, of that Purple Parallel, is out with injury right now.

Hoops Tribute cards are always fun, and I got some great pulls in this box between these four.  Enjoying another fun year of NBA and these cards always help.  

 Welcome to Hogwarts: Happy Thanksgiving!  We'll kick off this post with the stars of one of the most popular book series and movies ever.  Cards like this is one reason I really like this set.  The visuals between the borders and photos really work for a Harry Potter set in my opinion.

Harry Potter is something I tend to associate with the holidays and cold weather.  It is set during the school year for the most part so it makes some sense.  The great hall with the floating candles, abundance of food and festive atmosphere fits perfect for days like today and Christmas.  I am a fan thanks to my daughter's extreme fandom rubbing off on me.

Picked up some boxes in January of this year.  They came from eBay with the listings being in German.  I get licensing is different overseas, but this is a Panini set so I'm not sure why there wasn't a US release.  And I'd think it'd do well in the US.

Overall the set really hits the marks for me.  We see the characters we love, lots of visuals associated with the movies and important moments from the series.

Whether the photos are scene grabs or promotional pics they are good.

The art visuals like that last card are cool.  I assume they were part of promotional products for the movies.

That center card is one of the inserts which aren't named.  I still don't have a complete set but I'm working on it.

2022 Heritage:  Pete Alonso will be one of the bigger free agents on the market this offseason.  The man can hit long balls.  I've always liked him, but I forgot he hit 53 as a rookie in 2019.

German Marquez is a 1X All-Star and has also won a Silver Slugger award.  Jazz Chisholm stole a career high 40 bases this season for the Marlins and Yankees.

These three didn't make a mark in the majors.  I think this was a hobby pack but I'm not sure where I would have picked it up.  This pack was scanned two years ago but I'm just now posting it.

Not the strongest pull in a pack of cards but always fun.  Nice action photo of Swanson to finish it off.

 2022 Score: Big fan of the design of these First Ballot inserts.  Color, photos, logo.  It all works for me.  Joe Montana never hurts either.

I may like the First Ballot designs but this Score base card design is not one that wows me.  It's fine but just not a favorite.  Good pull though, so I have that going for me in this pack.

But here we go with another design I like.  Sack Attack and those laces are a winner for me.

Breece Hall and Jameson Williams have been really good runnings backs in the league.

More retired greats.  It would really help if the border colors matched the team colors.  That greenish yellow on the Rice and Smith cards just really doesn't work.

I like Huddle Up and this design is good to me.  Simple but it works,  Especially the matching colors.

Aidan Hutchinson has been a beast since being drafted #2 overall in the 2022 draft.  Unfortunately he's out the rest of the season with an injury.

These are okay but I'm still figuring out how much I like The Top 100.

That Chase Edmonds is an Ellipse Parallel #/299.  

Celebration are always fun.  That Clowney is one of Purple Parallels.

90-91 SkyBox:  Patrick Ewing is a player I never really cared for but there's no denying how good he was.

These are such fun cards.  They were like nothing we'd seen before, and it seemed basketball was a great place to use the design.  Good pull as always including one of my favorite big men of all-time, Jack Sikma.  Kevin McHale had one of the uglier looking games of all-time but man he was great.

More big man love including my #2 favorite all-time player, Buck Williams.  Love the photo and graphics on Willis' card.

Ewing and his signature smile.  Kelly Tripucka always had a strong hair game.  Laimbeer fishing?  Who knew?  The photos for these backs are a big part of why this set is so good.

Johnny Moore had career averages of 7.4 assists and 2 steals per game.  Five different seasons he averaged 9 or more assists per game.  His high was 10 assists per game in the 1984-1985 season.  He also averaged 15 assists over 6 playoff games in 1983. 

This set is so much fun.  The memories hit hard for me as I'm such a fan of so many of these players.  We'll end it with a talented group of scorers who all did it in different ways.  Hornacek and Hawkins were great shooters.  Dantley was great at scoring at the rim, getting to the free throw line and had a good mid range shot.  Drexler had it all going for him.  Clyde Drexler is another player who averaged 2.0 steals per game for his career.

BREAKDOWN:
45 – Total Cards
1 – Checklist

2023 Donruss:  Four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon knows a thing or two about racing for championships.  Today NASCAR will crown the 2024 champion at the race in Phoenix.  This is a cool looking Metal Masters insert.

I really like the 1990 Donruss throwbacks in this set.  Danica Patrick is on the base design.

These Revved Up inserts are another colorful insert I like.

I enjoy the retired greats in the set.  Feels like they could have done more with the Royalty inserts.  Power Squad is pretty good.  Two Optic cards in this pack.  

This Race Kings design is not a favorite of mine but it's a play off of NASCAR's 75th Anniversary.  I get it, but it's bland.  We'll end it with Kurt Busch, another past champion who's making his third appearance in this pack.

2023 Contenders:  Dak and the Cowboys have not lived up to expectations this season.  That of course causes all kinds of commotion in Cowboy nation.  And makes for great memes.

As usual a good pull in this pack.  That Lamar Jackson is a bronze parallel.  I pulled a red parallel of him in his last pack.  I do like this design.  I know there isn't' much room for the photo but I like it.  I like getting to see the background of the photo as well which isn't always the case with Contenders.

These Draft Class Contenders cards are fun flash backs to retired greats.  The dual photos really work.

What are the odds of two Tanks on the same card?  I like it.

The 49ers are dealing with injuries to key offensive weapons and it shows.  They still have time to get into the playoff hunt and nobody is running away with the division.  They just have to weather this storm.

Lots of wide receiver love here.  Evans is injured but looked good before going out.  Diggs is fitting in well in Houston and Adams is hoping to turnaround the Jets' culture and offense.

I like the Stallions cards.  The Rookie Ticket Dual Swatch was a really good pull with Robinson and Gibbs both being excellent running backs in the league today.

But neither can stand up to King Henry.  Derrick Henry is having a monster year with Baltimore, and I love it.  Great seeing him do so well for a winning team.  Burrow is having maybe his best season, but it hasn't equated to wins for Cincy. McCaffrey has battled injuries again this year but man he's fun when he's on the field.  Great box of cards!

BREAKDOWN:
40 – Total Cards
2 – Bronze Parallel
2 – Round Numbers
2 – Draft Class Contenders
1 - Retired Great
1 – Rookie Stallions
1 – Historic Draft Class
1 – Rookie Ticket Dual Swatch