A perennial favorite among rookie collectors is the Leaf Rookies and Stars brand, and this year Donruss / Playoff produces a quality product at a great price point that may make this release a hobby darling in 2008. The set contains 100 base cards of about 3-4 “star” players from each of the 32 NFL teams.

The base checklist is typical of any standard release, but there are a few notable names missing. Not to be a Titans homer, but Vince Young is featured in this set and he hasn’t played since week 1. In the meantime Kerry Collins has guided the Titans to an undefeated season but is nowhere to be found. There are many examples of this in the base set. For example, one will find the Bronco’s Brandon Stokley in the set, but Brandon Marshall is not included.

The base set is easy to complete from one single box. This one had 8 duplicates total. The look and feel of the base set is very nice. They have a smell that reminds me of the same high-gloss finish of the 1991 Topps Stadium Club release. (I know there are some out there that still remember this distinctive aroma.) The design is fairly no frills; it’s kind of mechanical looking with sharp edges and clean lines. The background doesn’t overpower the player images and for the most part the shots seem to catch the players’ action well. The card backs are also clean and uncluttered. It has a quality blurb from the 2007 season of each player and it lists the physical stats and round in which the player was drafted. It also lists the college each player attended, however they used a font that is extremely small, making it difficult to read without holding the card very close.

Another negative aspect of the card back in my opinion is the terrible choice of fonts used for the cards’ numbering in the set. It is a very rounded font that makes most numbers actually look like upside down letters. While building the set, I lost my place several times and incorrectly sorted cards because of how tricky this font is on the eyes. For example, the number 50 card of Tony Gonzalez looks more like the word “SO” which is quite confusing when collating these things. (Who even puts sets together anyway besides me and Budman?)

On to the part that most people care about: “the hits.” Each box is supposed to contain 4 hits plus a dozen or so inserts and numbered rookies. The packs are equipped with dummy cards to prevent pack searching which is a plus. There is a 15 card insert set called “Elements” which are not serial numbered. This box yielded one – Card 111 Devin Hester. The Elements inserts feature players against backdrops of different weather conditions – snow in the case of Hester. The card looks like the “Elements” were photoshopped in to me, but they really look much better than the actual base card background’s black dot theme. I think if the whole set had used these burred out backgrounds within the white frames it would have been a very eye pleasing release – similar to UD Masterpieces.

I received 4 base rookie cards each numbered to 999 (Jonathan Hefney, Jordon Dizon, Darius Reynaud, Tim Hightower). The box also contained two parallel rookies: a sharp looking silver longevity Sedrick Ellis numbered to 249 and the best looking card of the whole break – a Longevity Holofoil of Mike Jenkins numbered to 99. There were also two veteran parallels: a longevity Larry Fitzgerald #’d to 249 and a Reggie Bush Longevity Holofoil numbered 17/25.

The rookie parallels I found to be rather pedestrian. This box contained a total of three numbered inserts one was a dual “Studio Rookies” of Rashard Mendenhall and Limas Sweed numbered to a scant 1000 copies. There is room on the card for an autograph sticker, but without it there is a large empty space that makes you feel like “this would have been awesome had it been signed.” I received a holofoil version of the Studio Rookies Darren McFadden, but it was numbered to 500 taking away much of the prestige of the holofoil rarity that made the Reggie Bush appealing. Lastly, there was a Holofoil Harry Douglas Cross Training Insert numbered to 500. It’s strikes me as a card destined for a quarter box somewhere down the line. It also looks quite strange because the set design makes him appear to have either been sawed in half like David Blaine or have the longest torso in the history of man (see scans).

Whew… for those of you I haven’t put to sleep – the “real” hits left a bit to be desired, but were adequate. As far as memorabilia cards and autographs go this set is very long on rookies and short on stars – which makes the product name a little misleading. I would say of the “Gold Stars” jersey card checklist I pulled the best possible veteran: Eli Manning. My Eli Manning had the Gold Holofoil look to it and was numbered to 250, but it was a dull, boring grey pants swatch. Other available jersey cards include: Vince Young, Chad Johnson, Brandon Jacobs, Santonio Holmes, Jerious Norwood and a few other veterans, but players who are by no means stars. There are two memorabilia subsets where you do have the chance to find a Peyton Manning or LaDanian Tomlinson jersey, patch or autograph in this release. Brett Favre is not featured on any memorabilia or autograph card. Though Adrian Peterson adorns both the product box and pack packaging, he only appears in one memorabilia card.

The next hit was a Rashard Mendenhall Studio Rookies Materials Jersey Card. It was a straight-forward, black jersey swatch of the Steelers rookie and it was numbered to 250 also. The third memorabilia card was a Studio Rookies Dual Jersey of Jamall Charles and Glen Dorsey of the KC Chiefs. The two swatches were both red, even worn pieces from the Rookie Premier Photoshoot. The card is numbered to 250 also.

The real saving grace for this box break was a true rookie, SP Rookie Signatures Ray Rice Auto numbered to 105 (See scan above). These cards feature a manufactured patch with the Team, NFL or College Logo and the players autograph. This one was rather low numbered, but was not a parallel – I am presuming that it will be an SP.

Overall, I feel like in the long run this product is a great buy for the money. If one is buying this product with hopes of pulling a big name “star” auto patch for a chance to make a quick buck, I would move along to another product. This release, though modestly priced at about $75-95 delivers some great rookies with high potential values down the road (See 2001: LaDanian Tomlinson $400, 2003: Tony Romo $900, 2004: Eli Manning $200). If you’re into rookies and don’t mind holding on to them for a while, this is a really fun product. Choosing between this and other recent Playoff releases, I believe I would choose Leaf Rookies and Stars over Leaf Certified and Leaf Limited this year.

Overall, I give this product a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Front and Back of the base cards. Note the tiny college print and the odd upside down LL’s for the numbering.

These are the different base set parallels from the break. The Hester is from the Elements subset.

Base, Longevity and Longevity Holofoil Parallel Rookies

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Topps apparently took notice as well, and signed Paul on to produce sketch cards for the recent release of Topps Updates & Highlights, which features one-of-one sketch cards from a number of different artists.

Some of Paul’s work can already be found on eBay.  Also, the artists got some "return cards" of their own–artwork that they sent in to have created as a card, but not distributed into packs.

You can see all of Paul’s work HERE .

Below are some of his return cards that he shared with us:

The deal will last through May of 2011, giving Topps a stranglehold on the sport for the next three years. Topps is clearly looking to cash in on what’s becoming a huge industry. The upcoming UFC 91 on November 15th, which will feature Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture versus Brock Lesnar, is predicted to be the UFC’s biggest event ever.

As part of the deal, the UFC will provide Topps with memorabilia including match-used gloves and pieces of the UFC octagon. Who knows, perhaps a piece of the mat with blood on it will carry a premium.

Among the fighters that will be included are Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Matt Hughes, Brock Lesnar, Royce Gracie, Forrest Griffin and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson.

Topps announced that the first set will launch in early 2009.

Why? Mainly because of one elusive card–Larry Johnson.

Jon first started this set after he some boxes of Press Pass and landed most of the big names in the first couple boxes, players like Carson Palmer, Willis McGahee and Anquan Boldon. Loving the on-card autos, the big college logos, and the overall feel of the set, Jon decided to try to put the entire set together.

“As I began my reintroduction to the hobby, Press Pass’s ‘College Only’ theme really caught my attention,” Jon remembers. “I wasn’t aware such a product existed, and when I busted a few boxes, I was hooked.”

He embarked on the journey, having no idea just how long it would take. Ultimately, it took him a little over five years to complete the set, but half of that time was looking for the Larry Johnson auto.

“I was able to track down silver and gold parallel versions, seemingly rarer, but no luck on the bronze, until out of desperation, I e-mailed Press Pass customer service.” Jon was simply looking for verification that this card was short-printed, or whatever information they could provide that might explain the rarity that this card had become to him.

In a customer service move by Press Pass that displayed a collector friendly attitude rarely seen by any of the big companies, Joh was told that they had found the card he was looking for and would send it to him. Press Pass didn’t charge him anything, just simply helped him finish the set.

Now that he’s got the set together, Jon plans to display it somehow. Being a sixty-four card set, it’s a lot of cards to display. “For now it sits in a box in my closet,” he says. “Selling it as a whole is out of the question. And really, it’s probably not worth all that much, but it means a lot to me. Plus, it reminds me of some great collegiate players who were electric to watch but maybe just didn’t have what it took to be an everyday NFL’er.”

As Jon said, this set may not be the most valuable, but he put a lot of effort into putting the set together, and the manner in which he was able to finish it certainly makes for a great story.

Upper Deck inserted its Palin parody card into random packs of SP Authentic Baseball.  The card featuresPalin, wearing a tiara, commandeering a dogsled on the Whitehouse front lawn being pulled by a couple pitbulls as she holds a fishing rod.  Packed in her sled are a hockey stickand a fishing net, and a moose looks on in the background.

The Upper Deck Presidential Predictors also features Joe Biden card depicted as Washington Senators pitcher Walter Johnson leaning against a railing at the ballpark.

Topps kept it a bit more simplistic, inserting two cards with the Topps standard issue design — one featuring a photo of Sarah Palin from her beauty queen days and one as she looks today.  The release of these cards is apparently a continuance of the 12-card insert set “Campaign 2008″ released in 2008 Topps earlier this year that did not include the Republican VP hopeful.  The beauty queen photo card will be a limited release, and both cards can be found in 2008 Topps Updates & Highlights.

Highlighting the items featured in Day One will be Charles White’s 1979 Heisman Trophy.  Wouldn’t that look nice on your mantle?

Though Mastro is still accepting consignments for this event, also featured will be a Jim Brown 1960’s Cleveland Browns game worn jersey, a Johnny Unitas 1971 Baltimore Colts game worn jersey and a Bart Starr Green Bay Packers game worn helmet.

Mastro Auctions just recently sold the Honus Wagner T206 at an auction run in conjunction with the National Sports Collector’s Convention in Chicago for $1.35 million.

In addition to getting your card numbered, Topps will also include a free pack of hobby football cards.  All cards will be accepted until March 31st 2009.  Cards should be sent to:

The Topps Company
ATTN: Consumer Relations
401 York Ave.
Duryea, PA 18642

The complete list of cards with corresponding sequential numbering can be found here.