Box Break: 2022 Panini WWE Revolution

 

Panini's second WWE trading card release in 2022 happened to be the Revolution brand. I have to admit that I wasn't too thrilled with the news. I was still looking for WWE Prizm at retail and having mixed results so one one hand it was nice to have something else to chase. Hobby boxes weren't cheap (as expected), but the price didn't hold for very long before boxes could be had for as cheap as $65.00. The boxes don't guarantee an autograph so I'm guessing the speculators or flippers bypassed this product all to together.

I was familiar with the Revolution brand thanks to their NBA & NFL licenses. The design even showed up in 2021 Chronicles (baseball) as an insert set. I've never been wild on the design or the parallels, but I've seen some cool/wild inserts and designs. After paying my bills associated with hosting my breaks, I had enough to grab a box during a Labor Day sale so I thought I'd take a chance. My oldest daughter enjoys opening wrestling card boxes/packs with me so I thought if nothing else it'd be fun for the two of us.

Here you have two examples of the base card design. It features a silver sheen holographic background with colored waves and angles layered on top. Black, Red, Gold are the main foil colors used on the front. The wrestler's name and the Revolution logo are in gold foil.

The back of the card features the same photo from the back, but outlined with white and a think black border. There is a bio box that lists where the wrestler is from and little about their in-ring career or persona.

PROS:

* The design actually works, much better for WWE than for traditional sports

* Most of the photos used are great action shots. The photo of Indi Hartwell has to be my favorite photo of her on any of her cards thus far released.

* A small and manageable set at just 150 cards

* A good mixture of main roster talent, NXT 2.0 and Hall of Famers

CONS:

* The photo is duplicated on the back

* At just 5 cards per pack & 8 packs per Hobby box, it won't be easy (or cheap) to build the set unless you have help in the trade department

* No guaranteed hits

The Astro parallel seemed to be the most common as we pulled 3 from our box. The Astro cards feature small stars in the holographic silver background. In a very welcome move, Panini actually listed the parallel name underneath the card number on the rear of the card. I hope they continue to do this for all of their releases moving forward.

Groove parallels have small "disco" balls if you will scattered across the background of the card. This card of Doudrop was the only Groove parallel pulled. Not my favorite parallel if I'm being honest.

Fractal parallels have a "cracked ice" look across the back o the card. This technology or design has been used by several card companies over the years and isn't something I care for. I know some collectors love these type of parallels, but for me they are just "meh".

Angular parallels are probably my favorite thus far, I just like how the angled pattern in the background of the card meshes with the main design. The teal foil is also a nice touch. These cards are numbered out of /199. Jacy here is 144/199.

Lava parallels are one of the toughest to pull as these are numbered to just 10 copies. These have a angled sheen in the background that kinda looks like lava...hence the name of the parallel. I was shocked to pull this 10/10 Bret Hart card.

Looking at the checklist on TCDB.com, there are also Cosmic, Cubic, Galactic and Sunburst parallels of the 150 card base set. Good luck if you are chasing these for your favorite wrestler.

 

There are a few insert sets, but again with the small pack out of Hobby boxes you'll probably only pull a few. We ended up with 4 inserts I believe, including this Shock Wave card of Sasha Banks. Like with the base cards, inserts also have several different parallels to chase. While I don't mind parallels of the base set, making additional parallels of inserts is a bit much for my taste.

Speaking of insert parallels, we ended up with a Sunburst parallel of the Becky Lynch Supernova insert. The base design of the Supernova card is pretty cool in its own right, but the Sunburst version looks equally cool. I would have like to have seen a Sunburst parallel for one of the base cards. This Sunburst parallel is numbered 95/99.

I'm rather fond of these trippy looking Vortex inserts. I can only imagine some of the various parallels that exist make this design look even more wild.

The one insert set that wasn't represented in my box was the die-cut Liftoff! The few I've seen from this set look great.

Overall I enjoyed ripping this box. I wish there were more cards/packs per each box as it didn't take by maybe 10 minutes to rip the whole box. I was pleased with the cards in hand however. They scanned surprisingly well, but they still look much better in hand. Even though each box didn't yield many cards, I'd be prepared to buy another as I'd love to build this set. I don't believe I pulled any doubles, but I have plenty of other wrestling cards listed on my TDCB profile so if you are a user there and want to work up a trade, hit me up...my user ID is flywheels.

2022 Topps Now - #688 Vaughn Grissom

  

When the Braves' second baseman, Ozzie Albies, went down with an injury a lot of Braves fans weren't sure what would happen next. Backup veteran, Orlando Arcia would eventually take Ozzie's place in the line up, however when he too went down with injury the Braves looked to their minor league system for an answer.

On August 10th, Vaughn Grissom made his MLB debut at Fenway Park. He was promoted from AA, the second player this season on the team to receive the call up. For some young players the bright lights of the big stage can be too much, but not for Grissom. The 21 year old collected his first career hit and a home run in his debut. He also stole a bag during the game, making him the youngest player in MLB history to hit a home run and still a base in their debut game. The Braves would go on to win the game against the Red Sox 8-4.

With Topps giving this card the Call-Up designation means his true rookie cards won't be seen until 2023 Topps Series 1. I hate having to wait that long to get more cards of Vaughn, but the way he's been playing at least he has a good chance at receiving another Topps Now card before the 2022 season wraps up!

TCBD Trade Completed w/ Too Many Verlanders

While I may not be as active on the blog and the trades via the blog have all but shriveled up, that doesn't mean that I'm not still making trades online. All of my trading now consists with the aid of the awesome resource site of Trading Card Database. Not only can I track my collection there, but also easily facilitate trades. One recently completed trade was with Dennis from Too Many Verlanders.

I've been pretty busy lately and fell behind on my TCDB activity, including pouring over the details of the trade Dennis proposed to me, but I'm pretty sure he tossed in these various Braves cards just because he's a swell guy. I love the 3 MLB Showdown cards, oddball stuff like this is what makes collecting fun. The Ryan Klesko jersey was a nice surprise, as was the Bowman Chrome Xfractor auto...even if I have no idea who the player is!

6 more cards for the Vladimir Guerrero PC. All but 2 of these are super shiny and one of the others is a super cool Topps HD card!

The next PC Dennis filled update is that of Brian Jordan. Being a two sport star, I mainly focus on his baseball playing days so it was nice to receive 9 new cards. This season Brian has taken on more opportunities with Bally Sports' coverage of Atlanta Braves cards, stepping in the booth from time to time to call the game w/ Chip Carey. I've heard some people think he talks about himself too much on the telecasts, but I enjoy what he brings to the table.

Kevin Seitzer is a relatively new PC of mine and I've been overwhelmed by the response after I got my want list updated on TCDB. Seitzer is the current hitting coach of the Atlanta Braves and is a part of the offensive numbers the Braves have been putting up.

For Atlanta Braves' fans Sid Bream's historic slide into home plate during the 1991 NLCS will forever be etched into our hearts and minds, but my PC of Sid isn't because of that play or that he played for the Braves, but that is a fellow believer of the Christian faith. Sid routinely inscribed various Bible verses with his autographs, which I do own a few. Sid has been one of those guys I already had a good many cards of, but recently decided to pump up the PC by adding every card of his that I didn't already own to my TCDB want lists. Yet another player I've received a lot of in recent months via TCDB trades.

When I was first getting into collecting I heard a lot about Darryl Strawberry. As time would pass his name would stay in the news, but usually for the wrong reasons. Darryl will be the first to admit he's made some bad decisions, but it seems that life is behind him now. I may be a little late in starting a collection, but it's been a fun ride thus far since I added more of his cards to my TCDB want lists.

Ray Durham played ball at a local rival high school of mine in my hometown of Charlotte, NC. Like some of the players I collect, I just casually collected him, putting aside cards of his as I'd pull them from packs or find them at shows. I'm grateful for these 5 new cards, especially the Finest. First things first however, that protective peeling on the Finest card has got to go!!

I've got a pretty good size PC of the ageless wonder, Julio Franco, yet Dennis was able to find 4 cards off my want lists for me. Again, that Finest covering will be peeled!

While I'm moving away from building modern sets, there are enough other sets I'm working on and all of these cards above will help fill holes. The Sportflics Double Take is a much welcome addition...I'm such a sucker for lenticular cards.

Speaking of Finest cards, I decided to try and build the 1997 set (for whatever reason) even though I knew it wouldn't be the easiest task. While I've been able to cobble together some cards, I welcome the opportunity to obtain more!

While baseball is my main jam, I am excited to see my Carolina Panthers take the field this Sunday against the Browns. That said I was happy to add 4 new Panthers to the collection, along with a new Mike Glennon to my NC State alumni collection.

I can't say thank you to Dennis enough for proposing a trade to me. It was one of the largest trades I've pulled off in awhile, but I'm glad we each had things the other could use. If you've not taken the time to familiarize yourself w/ the Trading Card Database platform, you really ought to as it's a great site that helps bring collectors together.