A Set Building Attempt

 

Let's take advantage of there actually being Hoops retail on the shelves at Wally World, and see what I can knock off the base set.

Looks like there will be 6 fewer rookies that I need. Best of all, there are some pretty big names in there. I'd shipped my previous Wagner off to a Wolverines collector in Ann Arbor, so it is nice to get a  dupe of that one. In addition, #1 pick Cunningham and Dosunmu are all having notable rookie seasons, so those are good to bump off as well.

Other than those pictured above, no new base card content over the two packs. 

But there are inserts, and since the ones in retail tend to differ from the ones in hobby, I know those will be needed.

Here's the first batch. Slam magazine cards can be found in hobby, but the other 3 are new. Looks like somebody really liked the airplane motif for some of them, but it has been a fairly common one for the Arriving Now over the past few years. Skyview returns to Hoops for the first time since the 90s, and with a more appropriate design than the rather generic one from last time. Finally, there's one of those promised Teal Explosion parallels, which will be bound for Ann Arbor.

A couple different ones here. I can't complain about any Lebron appearance. Tre Mann isn't quite the Thunder rookie you want to see, but it is a good enough design, and the design is perfectly fine. And at least this Teal Explosion is a keeper, and the design works nicely with the photo.

There you have it!