A Bizarre Card

Another Roddy Piper insert card in the pack today. This one was an interesting match, and really probably not an angle we would we run again today due to the homophobic overtones. Definitely something out of the attitude era, this brawl saw a wreck with a car and a match ending in the ring later (the backstage part was taped before, and the match itself picked up heading to the ring accordingly).

Not a fan of the taped matches as it must kill the mood for the live crowd at these events.



Yeah - probably know this guy if you have seen any wrestling in the last 15 years, or any of the movies he was in (personally, I enjoyed his voice on Ferdinand, as did my son who thought it was hilarious).



The Rusev tank entrance at Wrestlemania was big, but wasn't great - just big. Probably would have gone over well if it was on Rusev Day, but this was before the first Rusev Day.

8 pack, 56 cards, 179 points.

Bella Hot Pack

On occasion, packs just work out this way, that the inserts align...



I find it interesting that, for the Wrestlemania Roster inserts, the women have a different firework background colour compared to the men. Not sure the reason (blue for boys and pink for girls?), but I like them both.

The Bellas, as businesswomen, have done an amazing job building themselves, their brand and the related empire. As wrestlers, meh - never really did much for me. They were a fairly big deal during their time, though it was a low in terms of women's wrestling in my opinion.



Another case of 4 new and 1 dupe with the base cards, but love the theme of the Brock cards....Brock Smash! I remember the car smash though, it was a bit wild as far as pieces going everywhere - a little overzealous of Brock, but it did make it feel more real.

7 pack, 49 cards, 155 points.

The Dream Continues

I guess it is appropriate that, given I got the bronze parallel of the Dusty tribute card, that today we follow up with an insert of the man...



It is cards like this that remind me of watching wrestling in my childhood - and reminding me how old I am getting. I remember SummerSlan 1989 for this match and the title victory by Dusty. Looking back at his WWE career, I don't know if they were trying to make the run for Dusty difficult with the big polka dots, compared to the more serious son a plumber in WCW, but he did well despite the character.

This also means we have met the odds for the box - 1 in 6 pack odds for the Dustry Tryibue, ROck Tribute, Roddy Tribute and Immortal insert, so will be interesting to see if I get another (really, there should be maybe one more given the odds).



Our Wrestlemania roster insert is half of The Bar!



With the base cards, I actually pick up a duplicate with the Finn Balor card. I didn't have too many of the base cards, but this was one.This was during his rise and run to the NXT title.

6 pack, 42 cards, 136 points.

Remembering the Dream

Dusty Rhodes - The American Dream. I can go on about his accomplishments in the ring, but it really seemed to be his accomplishments as a teacher and mentor that many superstars talk about today. He was a force in NXT for a time, working with developmental talent, a lot of whom is on the main roster of WWE today.



The tribute with all the stars out is standard for big time players, and Dusty was one. A shame the card happened to come out of the pack with a dinged corner, but it is in my collection regardless, and not going anywhere. The bronze parallel I think, works better than the base version, given the dark black on the card anyway.



Yeah - followed up with The Rock which, going on my point the other day, current Rock has no current hair, except if you count the eyebrows.



With the base cards, almost looks like one of the Immortal insert cards for the Undertaker given the pic was taken post match with the purple lights on in the ring.

5 pack, 35 cards, 114 points.

Left my two cents down here so I didn't spoil this for anyone - Super Bowl quick comments below including spoilers!

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Super Bowl LIII was yesterday, and I didn't watch any of it. Sounds like I won based on the game reports and halftime show reviews. I think I heard the Rams were only the second team to ever go through a Super Bowl game without a touchdown, and 13-3 isn't exactly lighting the game up in general.

Another year of football done though - hope, for those who watched, it wasn't as painful as it sounded.

This pack is...

Awe-some...

The Miz has been one of my favourite wrestlers since before he won and cashed in Money In The Bank. As part of MNM, he was okay, but didn't really wow me until he left John Morrison (ie. Johnny Nitro, Johnny Impact - but not Johnny Wrestling). I think you could see the effort all along, but it wasn't until he went solo and found himself a more solid character, that he came into his own.

I love the fact that he was able to main event Wrestlemania, and defeat John Cena - never can take that away from him. Even now, his character works well to tick people off, but yet, as a fan, I can only applaud his effort and say he deserves and has worked for all he has been able to accomplish. Honestly, he has to be considered one of the greatest Intercontinental Champions of all time.

Five more base card adds which are exciting and highlighted by NXT Bliss!

We then end with a Rock Tribute which highlights his third Championship win. These sets are nice to also be able to show the evolution of his hair and how it has left over the years.

4 pack, 28 cards, 93 points.

Separately, I went by 401games to pick up a few packs of the newest Magic set - Ravnica Allegiance. With three packs, I got two different artwork ones to keep, and one pack to open.

The unopened packs...


So let's take a look and crack the third and see if we either get something worth trading back in, or better yet a nice artifact or two.



It has been a while since I have seen some straight beasts - no abilities, just power and defense, in the same pack. Here we have Feral Maaka and Axebane Beast.



I don't mind all of the token inserts these days, especially when they are nicely done like the Beast here.



Here we have the single artifact in the pack. A lowly common which I can probably get for a quarter or less. Oh well, not the greatest outcome for the pack - no big dollar cards, no foil and a single common artifact, but you can't win them all.

If you collect flag cards...

Theme collecting is an interesting thought. Instead of caring about sport, or subject of material, just collecting for a theme - be it mustaches, blowing bubbles, photo bombs, or in the case of today's example - flags!

Some simple ones come to mind, such as the Opening Day baseball cards as many show flags opened on the field, or otherwise - but I can't even imagine how you would have to look at all the cards or sets to figure out what you would need for such a collection. If you didn't glimpse at all the cards in some fashion, it would be hard to pick out cards like...



I got a bronze parallel version here, but even the base, would be hard to know from the name of the card that there is a whopping big flag on the front, but there it is!

As for the base cards...



Personally - The New Day card is best here - personally, just enjoy seeing how much fun those guys are having these days with the gimmick and hanging out together.



Happy Rusev Day!



WWE Immortals is a fighting game which basically supes up the wrestling characters into a make believe Street Fighter-esque game. The Viper - obviously Randy Orton - looks much scarier than even Randy does....interesting cards, but not an insert set I would really care about.

3 pack, 21 cards, 69 points.

Going All In

Today's pack stars with a little Staaaaah-dust.


It's a shame Cody didn't find his stride in WWE, but he has done well on the independents since leaving WWE. Again, I haven't followed it much, but I know in large part, he has been able to go after his goals of wrestling who he wants and having the experiences he wants.



Here's the first Roddy Piper tribute card which come one every six packs. This may not be the most memorable part of the 1992 Royal Rumble, but was a big moment for Roddy.



The Architect - I like this pic a bit better than Bray's from yesterday.



We end with a few more new base cards are a nice one of Becky and Sasha from their time in NXT.

Overall, a solid pack with the Roddy tribute today.

2 pack, 14 cards, 45 points.