2024-25 Panini NBA Hoops Value Pack

Greetings!

Hope everyone is doing well.  We're right in the middle of the NBA Playoffs, and it's been quite surprising so far.  The Lakers didn't benefit from that stunning Luka Doncic trade, injuries to Stephen Curry and Jayson Tatum resulted in early exits for the Warriors and Celtics, Damian Lillard's long-term injury may lead to Giannis leaving Milwaukee, and Aaron Gordon had two game winners.  

Now there's a realistic possibility that the Finals could be between those TV-rating powerhouses, Indiana and Oklahoma!  Playoffs!

NBA Hoops was released back in January, but I didn't see it in the big box stores till about a month ago.  Kinda embarrassing when the poster boy's no longer wearing the same uniform when packs are popping up in stores.  Sure no one saw the trade coming, but I still think the visual would sting less if the set was released at the start of the NBA season.

30 cards for seven bucks.  Let's see what I got:

#77 - Derrick White

#273 - Nikola Durisic (RC)

#120 - Spencer Dinwiddie

#278 - Harrison Ingram (RC)

We start off with a nice shot of Derrick White's drive to the basket.  Hoops still uses the small transaction text to denote the change in teams.  I kinda like that more that photoshopping a new uniform on.

#296 - Shaquille O’Neal

#248 - Tristan da Silva (RC)

#44 - Kyle Anderson

#263 - Tyler Smith (RC)

Shaq shows up on the Hoops Tribute subset.  I'm cool with tributes, but I get confused if a current player or Rookie appears in it.  Tribute implies honoring a legendary player.  Nikola Jokic will be legendary, but not yet.

#112 - Kelly Oubre Jr.

#207 - Josh Hart 

#228 - Dereck Lively II

#223 - Naz Reid

There's 300 cards in the set.  Rookies start at #231 and Hoops Tribute starts at #281.  Here's the checklist if you're interested.

#113 - Jaren Jackson Jr.

#91 - De’Andre Hunter

#103 - Brook Lopez

#197 - Bol Bol

I personally enjoy the Hoops and Donruss releases because the pictures taken are from games, so there's a chance of showing other players on the card.  Panini has too many chromey single player sets.

And, common, it's Bol Bol!

#59 - Andrew Wiggins

#217 - Josh Giddey

#72 - Taylor Hendricks

#214 - Jimmy Butler

Yes, white lettering on a yellow background is real hard on the eyes.  And that game winner from Josh Giddey will live in Bulls fans' memories forever!

#50 - Keyonte George

#80 - DeMar DeRozan

#94 - Franz Wagner

#74 - Norman Powell

While DeMar has moved on to the Kings, his back-to-back buzzer beaters from 2021 and 2022 will also live forever in the minds of Bulls fans.

#149 - Miles Bridges

#118 - Gary Trent Jr. (Purple Parallel)

#222 - Duncan Robinson (Teal Explosion Parallel)

#6 - Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Pure Players)

There's so many parallels, I'm only guessing on these 2.  They're not numbered, so there's that.  Newly minted MVP SGA has his Thunder up 2-0 on the Timberwolves.

#2 - Johnny Furphy (Arriving Now)

#51 - Donte DiVincenzo (Base Premium)

Last card in the pack is what I think they call a Base Premium.  It could also be an Opti-Chrome card, who knows.

Here's some backs because Memorial Day:

How exciting.

Anyway, that's the pack.  Hoops is usually a solid release and overall, it doesn't disappoint.  Have a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend everyone, and thanks for reading!

2023 Topps Star Wars Chrome

Greetings!

Happy Star Wars Day!  If I made the setting right, this is going up at 5:25, as in May 25, the release date of the original Star Wars!

In the history of APTBNL, there have only been 3 posts to celebrate the day (there's a fourth, but it was posted a day late).  Knowing I had to post something quick if I wanted to make it in time, I remembered I grabbed a couple packs the last time I was at my local-ish LCS.  Good thing I remembered where I stashed it:

Andor's sad that it costs 3 bucks a pack, but I got 2 packs anyway, because Chrome.  I'm not sure if this was a retail pack or if the LCS opened up some blasters in the hopes of selling the cards easier, but here's what I got:

#84 - Omega

#97 - The Mandalorian

So yeah, it's shiny, but unfortunately it's character profiles and not cool movie scenes and "pew pew" action shots.

Omega's part of Clone Force 99, which was a part of The Bad Batch tv show.  I haven't gotten around to seeing that show yet, thus the "who this is" reaction I had when I saw the card.  I'm sure most everyone's heard of the Mandalorian.

#8 - The Grand Inquisitor

#87 - Luke Skywalker

The Grand Inquisitor first appeared in the Star Wars Rebels show, but this card shows his appearance in the Obi-Wan Kenobi show.  I'm pretty sure they pulled the Luke image from The Mandalorian, although it could be from Return of the Jedi.

Here's a couple of backs from Pack 1:

And here's the checklist if anyone's interested.

Moving on to Pack 2:

#69 - Rey

#80 - Nien Nunb

Here's a couple of more familiar names for those who don't watch the Star Wars tv shows.  Did you know that Nien Nunb died towards the end of Episode 9?  I don't remember that.

#90 - Fennec Shand

#95 - Tusken Warrior

Ming-Na Wen played Fennec Shand in the Book of Boba Fett tv show.  That show could have been better.

There was a fifth card in the pack!  The force was with me that day indeed!

#6 - Obi-Wan Kenobi (Refractor)

I'm assuming this is a base refractor since it's not numbered.  I also don't know if packs with refractors have an extra card, but it's cool to get some refractory shiny goodness.

Here's a couple more backs for you:

See?  The card back doesn't lie.  It's like a movie cop dying a couple days before his retirement.

Anyway, those are the packs.  Kinda of a let down since it's not shots from the movies, but Chrome is Chrome.  Until next time, May the Fourth be with you, and thanks for reading!