Wednesday 30 October 2013

Raptors Tip-off Tonight - So Let's Bust Some Hoops

I'm from the belief that a season hasn't really started until your favourite team has played at least one regular season game. So, for me, it officially starts tonight when the Raptors tip off. To celebrate, a jumbo pack of Hoops awaited me at the LCS. Time to dig in!

Thabo Sefolosha - From the first card = enjoyment file, here's Hoops' entry. It's not someone from my favourite teams, but it is an interesting photo. Still, it is kinda hard to have a dull photo on a basketball card.
Kyrie Irving - Hey, the cover boy!
Lance Stephenson
Deron Williams - A nice photo from near the rim.
Kevin Love
Carlos Boozer
Derrick Williams - This might be the dullest of the in-game photos.
Otto Porter RC - There's a lot of these staged shots for rookies in this set. It beats photoshopping.
Norris Cole - Flat top power!
DeJuan Blair - Must resist urge to post every interesting action photo. You can also see the updated team in the upper right of the card, both with the logo and the microscopic print.
JJ Redick - This is a typical posed shots, used sometimes for rookies and guys on their way to new teams. Again, it beats photoshopping.
Eric Bledsoe
Manu Ginobli
Jeff Green - My first Celtic!
Ben Gordon
Marcus Camby - He was a Raptor for about 5 minutes this off-season.
Greg Monroe
Omer Asik
Damian Lillard - The reigning top rookie.
Kyle Lowry - My first Raptor!
Ray McCallum RC
Wesley Matthews
Elton Brand
Richard Jefferson
Glen Rice Jr. RC
Darius Miller - First look at the Pelicans logo on a card.
Tobias Harris
Bradley Beal - I might as well include a scan of the back as well. Just like the Score Hockey - bland, but legible and with full stats.
Authentics - DeShawn Stevenson - WOO-HOO! A hit! Mind you, he's not an active player at this point, but a hit is a hit, and he's had a good career with a championship to his name.
Action Shots - Damian Lillard
Action Shots - Manu Ginobli - Easily my least favourite among the inserts. Aren't the non-rookie/traded base cards action shots as well? The Lillard will probably be heading guilt-free to Cards on Cards at some point.
Dreams - Reggie Jackson
Dreams - Brandon Knight - A nice insert set with the focus on younger players.
Board Members - Blake Griffin
Board Members - Marcin Gortat - Shots from directly above for the top rebounders? Cool!
Class Action - Mitch Richmond
Class Action - Sam Cassell - A focus on previous drafts. If not for the following subset, this one would easily be my favourite.
Hall of Fame Heroes - Joe Dumars
Hall of Fame Heroes - Gary Payton - A great addition with an interesting variety of HoFers. There are some of the expected (Wilt, Dr. J) and some you wouldn't (Adrian Dantley, Artis Gilmore, Drazen Petrovic)
Courtside - Stephen Curry
Courtside - Carmelo Anthony - I'd complain about another generic insert set, but the low shot and full bleed photos make this one I might chase down. No Raptors in it, but I'll be looking to pull the Rondo.
Spark Plugs - Terrence Ross - WOO-HOO! A Raptor! And an insert set that looks like the type of card you'd get with a fill-up at the local gas station.
Spark Plugs - Jared Dudley
Gold Parallel - Tyreke Evans
Gold Parallel - Maurice Harkless
Gold Parallel - Arnett Moultrie
Gold Parallel - Quincy Acy - WOO-HOO! The third Raptor in the pack. And a good enough opportunity to showcase one of these parallels.
Gold Parallel - Tony Allen
Red Back Parallel - Danny Granger
Red Back Parallel - Paul Pierce - And a good enough card to highlight these parallels. So, if I build the set, and don't pull the regular base, I can store these 18 to a page and it would look OK.
Red Back Parallel - Chase Budinger

A fun pack with some really great photos. I can see myself trying to put this together while waiting for 2014's baseball releases.

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