Retail Catch-Up

 

This is as good a day as any to catch up on some of the retail packs I've had around for the past few months and show off some of the contents. At 80 cards worth, scanning everything seems like busy work.

I'll go in order of release, meaning Diamond Kings leads the way!

Definitely a solid start with the first card out!

So many legends in this, I thought this was actually a 2023 release.

They've borrowed a theme from Court Kings for this one - with there being multiple levels of rookies, and the levels being more SPd at higher levels. Terry is the #1, Smith is #2 and Nootbar is #3.

And here's those two parallels advertised on the packs. In the interesting (for me) collation, the second level rookies provided both the Jays and Mets content in the pack.

Over to basketball:

First card out is a Raptors legend!

You have your choice of how they handle team changes. Posed photo? Or "Now With"? I'll note that I had these all scanned before Brown arrived in Toronto in the Siakam trade. 

For some oddball collation - three straight Sacramento Kings cards, albeit only one of which has a uniform that matches their logo.

Cover boy content among the rookies!

I didn't get one of the advertised Pink Laser parallels (not surprising, it looks like they're /50), but here's a green one.

While I did start the pack with a Raptors legend in another team colours, I did land one of a legend in the team's colours. Bomb Squad might not be the mega-rare Kaboom insert (which I don't think is even in Donruss), but it still is a pretty nice looking addition to the team collection.

Finally a 2023 release!

Best first card out of the three packs. At least when my various PCs are considered. 

In an interesting bit of collation, the next four cards were all from the legends portion of the set. This is the first time Byner has appeared on a base card in ages. I'm not sure if I'd choose Cleveland as the team for him, since he still google auto-completes with 'fumble'. The fan of 'girls who aren't too bright' is another one I didn't expect to see either.

Here's someone making his professional cardboard debut. That's always interesting, at least to me, when that doesn't happen in a football player's rookie season. At least Panini didn't stick the RC logo on it.

I do like that they've done something different this year with the design, moving away from the diagonal bars of years past. The font that makes it seem like this card is of John Metchie JJJ should probably have been reconsidered.

The rookies. Richardson is the big name in this group, even after his injury.

The advertised parallels showing up resumes with this pack. Here are the sunbursts.

Finally, the insert. I realize that Chandler Jones' off-field actions are problematic, but to see that memorable moment preserved on cardboard with Mac Jones' "Yup, that's me. You're probably wondering how" freeze frame is hilarious. The 'For the Record' insert set has both Josh Allen and Gabriel Davis making an appearance from the same play.

And yes, I definitely want both cards.

There you have it!