BLACK FRIDAY COMC PICKUPS - PART 51: FINEST

I HAVE A LOVE HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH FINEST. I HATE THAT IT'S SO EXPENSIVE AND HARD TO FIND BUT I LOVE THE WONKY DESIGNS THEY TRY AND FAIL TO PULL OFF. HERE'S A CARD FROM A SET THAT WAS WILDLY UNPOPULAR WHEN IT CAME OUT BUT I LOVED EVERY BIT OF IT. FROM THE GOOFY RETRO DESIGN TO THE FACT THAT IT IS CHEAP AS HELL NOW

2021 TOPPS FINEST DOMINIQUE WILKINS

THIS SET WAS SO FUN WHEN IT WAS FIRST RELEASED BECAUSE EVERYONE WAS SO EXCITED THAT TOPPS WAS BACK IN THE BASKETBALL GAME AND THEN WHEN IT WAS RELEASED IT WAS A BUNCH OF OLDER DUDES IN STREET CLOTHES, SUITS AND THE OCCASIONAL FUR COAT AND ALL THE NOOBS WHO JUMPED ON FLIPPING CARDS DURING THE LOCKDOWN WERE ALL HORRIBLY ANGRY AND CONFUSED. OH MAN, DID THIS SET GET SOME HATE ON THE INTERWEBS. THE HATERS CAN CRY FOREVER, THIS SET IS AMAZING. 1) IT'S ON FINEST CHROMY STOCK 2) IT'S GOT A COOL FAKE 90S VAPORWAVE DESIGN THAT GOES EXTREMELY WELL WITH THE FINEST CHROMY STOCK 3) IT'S BASICALLY A 1991 STUDIO SET FOR BASKETBALL. AND OH MY GOD, THE CHECKLIST IS INSANE. EVERY STAR, KINDA STAR, AND GUY WHO WAS HYPED ENOUGH TO GET INTO A BUNCH OF INSERTS SETS IN THE NINETIES AND EARLY 00S WHO IS NOT CONTRACTUALLY FORBIDDEN FROM BEING IN THIS SET IS IN THIS SET. IN RETROSPECT I SHOULD HAVE ALSO PICKED UP THE VINCE CARTER AND DIKEMBE CARDS BUT I SETTLED ON GETTING THE PLAYER WHO HAS HIS OWN BINDER ON MY BOOKSHELF

DOMINIQUE PRETTY MUCH IS THE HAWKS IDENTITY AT THIS POINT. HE'S THE BEST PLAYER IN FRANCHISE HISTORY UNTIL TRAE CATCHES UP. HE'S BOB RATHBURN'S WINGMAN ON THE HAWKS TV BROADCASTS. IT IS ILLEGAL TO PUT TOGETHER A PACKAGE OF NBA DUNKS WITHOUT SHOWING OFF A TOMAHAWK. HE'S LITERALLY THE HUMAN HIGHLIGHT FILM. IF YOU SAY 'NAME A HAWKS PLAYER' TO A RANDO ON THE STREET MORE LIKELY THAN NOT THE PEOPLE WHO DON'T THINK YOU MEAN THE SEAHAWKS OR BLACKHAWKS ARE GONNA SAY NIQUE. A GREAT CARD FOR A GREAT PLAYER. I HAVE MY WILKINS BINDER ORGANIZED BY TEAM. THERE'S BULLDOGS CARDS IN THE FRONT, A WHOLE BUNCH OF HAWKS CARDS IN THE MIDDLE AND SOME USA BASKETBALL, CLIPPERS, CELTICS AND SPURS CARDS AT THE END. I STILL HAVE NEVER SEEN AN ORLANDO MAGIC DOMINIQUE CARD AND I DOUBT IT EXISTS AT THIS POINT UNLESS IT'S SOME ODDBALL AUTOGRAPH IN A RECENT PANINI SET. NOW I HAVE NIQUE IN HIS BROADCASTER UNIFORM, A NICE CAP TO A NICE BINDER

MOAR MANDATORY RONALD AND TRAE

I POSTED TODAY'S COMC PICKUP OUT OF ORDER SO INSTEAD LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT A RONALD AND TRAE PAIR I GOT AT THE LCS A LOOOONG TIME AGO AND STUMBLED UPON WHILE SORTING

2019 FINEST RONALD ACUÑA JR.

HOLY FRIJOLES THIS IS A GOOD LOOKING CARD. THE TEAM COLORS POP, THERE'S A GOOD LOOKING PHOTO AND THE SWOOSHY ELEMENTS OF THE DESIGN FIT PERFECTLY WITH RONALD'S SWING. IT'S SO GORGEOUS I FORSOOK MY USUAL DOLLAR LIMIT AND PAID A BUCK TWENTY-FIVE FOR THIS ONE. WHICH IS HONESTLY A BARGAIN, I REMEMBER WHEN EVERY BASE ACUÑA CARD WAS FIVE BUCKS AT THE CARD SHOWS. DON'T EVEN ASK ABOUT A ROOKIE CARD, HOO DOGGIE. NOW THAT THERE ARE A HALF YEARS WORTH OF RONALD CARDS OUT THERE THINGS HAVE CALMED DOWN A BIT. BUT NOT MUCH ESPECIALLY WITH THE YEAR HE'S HAVING

FINEST FRUSTRATES ME BECAUSE I LOVE THE WACKY DESIGNS BUT IT'S KINDA SCARCE AND PACKS ARE HORRIFICALLY EXPENSIVE AND THERE AREN'T A LOT OF CHEAP SINGLES FLOATING AROUND. THIS ONE'S AN EXTRA GOOD VERSION OF FINEST, IT HIT NUMBER 5 ON NIGHT OWL'S RANKINGS. I'VE BEEN TOYING WITH THE IDEA OF CUTTING BACK ON A LOT OF MY LESS-ESSENTIAL COLLECTIONS BY PUTTING TOGETHER A BINDER WITH A PAGE WORTH OF BASE CARDS PER SET FOR EACH BRAND. I SHOULD START WITH FINEST, A PAGE WITH THIS CARD SURROUNDED BY A CARD FROM THE ORIOLES, A'S, PIRATES AND ROCKIES FOR THE FULL TEAM COLOR RAINBOW WOULD LOOK FANTASTIC

2021-22 PANINI CHRONICLES XR TRAE YOUNG

BACK WHEN I WAS REVIEWING CHRONICLES DESIGNS I SAID I HAD NO IDEA WHAT AN XR WAS, WHICH TURNED OUT TO BE A FIB BECAUSE I ALREADY HAD THIS XR CARD OF TRAE. IN MY DEFENSE, I DID NOT SEE THIS AS AN XR CARD BUT AS A 'COOL SHINY TRAE' CARD. IT REALLY DOES REMIND ME OF NEWFANGLED SPX CARDS THOUGH, AND THAT'S NOT A BAD THING. THIS ONE LOOKS A LOT BETTER THAN THE BASEBALL VERSION ALTHOUGH THE RED TEAM COLOR SPLASH IS DOING A LOT OF HEAVY LIFTING. I ALSO LIKE THE RAYS RADIATING FROM TRAE AS IF HE IS A HOLY RELIC, WHICH HE IS. PATRON SAINT OF LOGO THREES

THE BACK OF THE CARD LOOKS BETTER THAN USUAL FOR PANINI, THOSE EXTRA SPLASHES OF RED AROUND THE TEXT HELPS A LOT. ANYTHING TO COVER UP ALL THAT DREARY GRAY. THE CARD NUMBER SHOCKED ME THOUGH, HOW IS A CHRONICLES SUBSET A 400 CARD SET??? TURNS OUT PANINI DOES THIS SET CHECKLIST DIFFERENTLY FROM THE BASEBALL VERSION AND KEEPS SEQUENTIALLY NUMBERING THROUGH ALL THE DIFFERENT SUBSETS MAKING A GIGANTIC 725 CARD BASE SET. I CAN'T THINK OF ANYONE WHO WOULD EVER BUILD THE THING BUT IT'S NICE THAT IS AN OPTION. THE HAWKS' SEASON IS OVER BUT THE CRAZY OFFSEASON HAS JUST BEGUN. TRADE FANTASIES ARE RUNNING WILD ON TWITTER AND IT'S NICE THAT THERE ARE SO MANY OTHER FRANCHISES OUT THERE THAT ARE JUST AS DYSFUNCTIONAL AS THE HAWKS THAT ARE STARTING TO PANIC LIKE THE MAVS, GRIZZLIES AND BUCKS. I LOOK FORWARD TO TRAE PLAYING WITH LUKA, JA AND GIANNIS ONCE THE DUST SETTLES FROM ALL THE OFFSEASON TRADES. HOPEFULLY FOR THE HAWKS 😬

Random Current Brave #4

Ahhhh... back at home again. Normal game times once more. Oh before I forget:



Free those Finest! You have no idea how much better those cards look without that crummy scratched up wordy film all over them. Now for the good stuff.

Kris Medlen could probably be in the starting rotation for half the teams in the league. He'll probably get a shot eventually this year as the Braves unofficial 6th starter Jo Jo Reyes, just got stuck on the 15 Day DL after blowing up a few days ago. Kris has some great stuff, but I'm worried the Braves are going to Mercker him since he's so valuable in the pen. The guy sure can pitch but I still am iffy about his cap choices...

This is from some Bowman set. I can't even tell them apart anymore. Now that Topps has the Pro Debut minors license they need to dump this crap in the ocean like the '52 High Numbers.