Official Review: 2008 Leaf Limited

**~~sch1tz0fr3nik~~** · 11-12-2008, 04:22 PM

2008 Donruss Leaf Limited Football

The Video Break! My First:

Release Date: Oct 29, 2008
Pack SRP: $10.00 Box
Master Configuration: 5 cards, 16 packs, 16 boxes
Direct Configuration: 5 cards, 16 packs, 8 boxes

PER BOX ITEMS
4 Autograph or Memorabilia
2 Legends
2 Phenoms
1 Bronze Spotlight
1 Silver Spotlight
1 Team Trademarks

And 4 others of the following:
Inserts or parallels
Legends
Phenoms
Team Trademarks

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
Limited Rookie Phenoms Featuring:
Darren McFadden, Matt Ryan, DeSean Jackson, Chad Henne, Limas Sweed, Malcolm Kelly
* Also look for limited college versions.
Limited Legends Featuring:
Bart Starr, Bo Jackson, Red Grange, Doak Walker, Jim Thorpe, Johnny Unitas, Joe Montana, Reggie White, Sammy Baugh, Walter Payton
Limited Cuts Featuring Cut Signatures:
Tom Fears, Sid Luckman, Jim Brown, Hank Stram, Otto Graham
Limited Slideshow Featuring:
Features actual photographic slides from the NFL Rookie Photo Shoot. The unique slides are all one-of-ones and feature an ON-CARD autograph.
Lettermen Featuring:
34 Rookies and 6 Veterans make up this 40 card insert set which include signed jersey nameplates from the 34 Rookies Premiere attendees along with 6 veterans.

CARD SETS

Common (100) Leaf Limited’s star-laden Base set features the premier performers in the National Football League set on metallized film board.
Legends (100) The NFL’s legends are featured and numbered to 499 or less.
Phenoms (100) The NFL’s most exciting young rookies are featured and numbered to 999 or less.
Phenoms Signatures (100) Serial #'d to 299 or less.
Bronze Spotlight (300) Parallel to the base serial #'d to 125 or less.
Silver Spotlight (300) Parallel to the base serial #'d to 99 or less.
Gold Spotlight (300) Parallel to the base serial #'d to 49 or less.
Platinum Spotlight (300)Parallel to the base serial 1.
Monikers Gold (100) Parallel to the base featuring an autograph. Serial #'d to 10 or less.
Monikers Platinum (300) Parallel to the base featuring an autograph. Seriabnl #'d 1.
Limited Threads (200) The league’s elite players are featured with jersey swatches and serial #'d to 100 or less.
Limited Threads Prime Jersey # (200) Serial #'d to 100 or less.
Limited Threads Prime (200) Serial #'d to 50 or less.
Limited Threads Prime Team Logo (200) Serial #'d to 25 or less.
Limited Threads Super Prime (200) Serial #'d to 1.
Material Phenoms RC (34) Featuring an autograph and a prime swatch of an event-worn jersey. Serial #'d to 99 or less.
Material Phenoms Silver Spotlight Jersey # (34) Serial #'d to 49 or less.
Material Phenoms Gold Spotlight Team Logo (34) Serial #'d to 25 or less.
Material Phenoms Platinum Spotlight NFL Shield (34) Serial #'d to 1.
Phenoms College (16) The NFL’s most exciting young rookies are featured; this parallel displays a prime college jersey and an autograph. Serial #'d to 99 or less.
Phenoms College Silver Spotlight (16) Serial #'d to 50 or less.
Phenoms College Gold Spotlight (16) Serial #'d to 25 or less.
Phenoms College Platinum Spotlight (16) Serial #'d to 1.
Limited Cuts (25) This unique insert concept presents autographs from the NFL’s most recognizable names – both past and present - on double rainbow film board and is serial #'d to 100 or less.
Material Monikers Jersey #s (50) Serial #'d to 99 or less.
Material Monikers Jersey #s Prime (50) Serial #'d to 50 or less.
Team Trademarks (40) The premier players in the NFL are featured with their respective team and serial #'d to 999.
Team Trademarks Holofoil (40) Serial #'d to 100 or less.
Team Trademarks Materials (40) Serial #'d to 100 or less.
Team Trademarks Materials Team Logo (40) Serial #'d to 50 or less.
Team Trademarks Materials Prime (40) Serial #'d to 50 or less.
Team Trademarks Signature Materials Prime (40) Serial #'d to 25 or less.
Banner Season (25) Insert with parallel some featuring one game used/worn jersey swatch and an autograph. Serial #'d to 999 or less.
Banner Season Holofoil (25) Serial #'d to 100 or less.
Banner Season Materials (25) Serial #'d to 100 or less.
Banner Season Signature Materials (25) Serial #'d to 25 or less.
Banner Season Prime Materials (25) Serial #'d to 25 or less.
Banner Season Signature Prime Materials (25) Serial #'d to 25 or less.
Team Threads Combos (10) Serial #'d to 100 or less.
Team Threads Combos Prime (10) Serial #'d to 25 or less.
Team Thread Triples (10) Serial #'d to 100 or less.
Team Threads Triples Prime (10) Serial #'d to 25 or less.
Team Threads Quads (10) Serial #'d to 100 or less.
Team Threads Quads Prime (10) Serial #'d to 25 or less.
Prime Pairings (27) This simply astounding insert set highlights football legends and current stars with autographs on two and three players per card. Serial #'d to 75 or less.
Jumbo (25) Insert with cards highlighted with jumbo swatches and is serial #'d to 50 or less.
Jumbo Signatures (25) Serial #'d to 25 or less.
Jumbo Prime (25) Serial #'d to 10 or less.
Jumbo Prime Signatures (25) Serial #'d to 5 or less.
Jumbo Jersey #s (25) Serial #'d to 50 or less.
Jumbo Jersey #s Signatures (25) Serial #'d to 25 or less.
Jumbo Jersey #s Prime (25) Serial #'d to 10 or less.
Jumbo Jersey #s Prime Signatures (25) Serial #'d to 5 or less.
Jumbo Team Logo (25) Serial #'d to 50 or less.
Jumbo Team Logo Signatures (25) Serial #'d to 25 or less.
Jumbo Team Logo Prime (25) Serial #'d to 10 or less.
Jumbo Team Logo Prime Signatures (25) Serial #'d to 5 or less.
Limited Slideshow (34) This insert includes actual photographic slides from the NFL Rookie Photo Shoot. The unique slides are all one-of-ones and feature an ON-CARD autograph. Serial #'d to 50 or less.
Matching Numbers (20) Football’s finest players that shared the same number/position make up this insert of two swatches of game-worn jersey. Serial #'d to 100 or less.
Matching Numbers Prime (20) Serial #'d to 25 or less.
Matching Positions (20) Serial #'d to 100 or less.
Matching Positions Prime (20) Serial #'d to 25 or less.
Rookie Jumbo (34) Serial #'d to 50 or less.
Rookie Jumbo Signatures (34) Serial #'d to 15 or less.
Rookie Jumbo Prime (34) Serial #'d to 10 or less.
Rookie Jumbo Prime Signatures (34) Serial #'d to 5 or less.
Rookie Jumbo Jersey #s (34) Serial #'d to 50 or less.
Rookie Jumbo Jersey #s Signatures (34) Serial #'d to 15 or less.
Rookie Jumbo Jersey #s Prime (34) Serial #'d to 10 or less.
Rookie Jumbo Jersey#s Prime Signatures (34) Serial #'d to 10 or less.
Rookie Jumbo Team Logo (34) Serial #'d to 50 or less.
Rookie Jumbo Team Logo Signatures (34) Serial #'d to 15 or less.
Rookie Jumbo Team Logo Prime (34) Serial #'d to 10 or less.
Rookie Jumbo Team Logo Prime Signatures (34) Serial #'d to 5 or less.
Lettermen (40) This insert featuring one signed ON-CARD letter swatch from the nameplate and serial #’d to 20 or less. The number of nameplates will be the total number of letters in the player’s last name.

What SCF Pulled:
70/100 Base Cards - 70% of the set
0 Dupes(well Played Donruss!)

Pretty good base design. Follows along the lines of previous years designs. I personally like how well the player stands out in contrast to the design, no background clutter to disctract you. However, the back of the card looks pretty much like any other moderatly priced Leaf product, could use a small picture of the player. The back does include previous years stats, and career stats, along with a little tidbit about the player.

2 of the base Legends numbered subset cards were pulled. These Legends look identicle to the base vetran card, but with a transparent "LEGEND" banner across the middle and are numbered /499 on the backside. The player photo for these are black and white, something that is way too common for legends in recent years. Would love to see more Colored photos of the legends who made the game what it is today.
#166 - Ollie Matson 469/499, #167 - Ozzie Newsome 292/499

We pulled 2 base rookies from this box, right on average. The rookies look similar to the vetran base, other than the rainbow foil on the front and numbering to 999 on the reverse.
#220 - Craig Steltz 717/999, #240 - Jalen Parmele 656/999

The next parallel we pulled was the Spotlight Bronze version. There is a noticeable difference between these and the base, rainbow foiling, "SPOTLIGHT" printed at the top of the card, and a bronze tint to the boarders. These are all numbered to 125 and include all base cards(vets, legends and rookies). We were lucky enough to pull both a rookie and a legend bronze spotlight from this box.
#143 - Jim Otto 111/125, #243 - Jaymar Johnson 27/125

Now there wasent a silver spotlight in this box, but we did pull a gold spotlight. Like the bronze spotlight, these have a rainbow foil front and the word "SPOTLIGHT" at the top, the big difference is the gold tint to the card. With only 49 of each gold spotlight parallel being printed they make for a tough rewarding pull. Once again, we were lucky enough to pull a Rookie!
#293 - Terrance Wheatley 40/49

There's not too many Non-auto/memorabilia inserts in leaf limited, which most view as a positive thing.
The first insert I will review are the Banner Season inserts. Good idea behind this set, highlighting a player from 2007 who had an outstanding year. This is a 25 card set with some great stars in it. Each card is color coated to the respective team the highlighted player is on, a nice change from the "uniform" insert sets. These cards are all numbered to 999, which seems to be a commmon thing this year. In my opinion, these cards just dont stand out enough, too much of 1 color on the card just drowns out the photo. In this box we ended up getting 2 of this insert.
#BSM-17 - Tom Brady 119/999, #BSM-23 - Tony Gonzalez 304/999

The 2nd insert set in Leaf Limited this year is the Team Trademarks. This is a 40 card set which features some great legends and a few Current stars who have made a name for themselves and their respective teams. These "base" versions of this insert set are far from appealing to me. The Banner design covers up nearly 25% of the player, right at the numbers. More of the bottom half of the player is shown than the upper. I know this opens up room for the Auto'd and Game Used versions, but it leaves the most common version lacking.
#T-39 - Willie Lanier 644/999

Now Onto the Game Used!

The first Game Used set I will start with is the Limited Threads parallel Set. This set is comprise of 200 cards, Current NFL Veterans and Legends, each card has a jersey swatch right above the team name. Each Limited Thread card is Numbered /100 and would be a fun challenging set to attempt to complete. In this box 2 were pulled.
#9 - Mark Clayton 44/100 White Swatch, #154 - Lee Roy Selmon 94/100 Creamsicle Swatch

An Upgrade to the Limited Threads set is Limited Threads Prime numbered to 50. Like the previously mentioned jersey set, this is a parallel of the base set and has 200 cards, the main differences are that these have Prime swatches, have a rainbow foil front and are numbered to 50. This particular card has a VERY nice patch in it.
#61 - Laurence Maroney 31/50 Red/Grey/White Swatch

This next jersey I was not sure exactly what it was, as there is only a basic card number(7), or set name on the card. I have come to the conclusion that it must be the Team Trademarks Team Logo Jersey set /50. That is my one knock agaisnt this set. Overall its a decent looking set. The jersey swatch area is cut out in the design of the team logo.
#7 - DeAngelo Williams 13/50 Blue Swatch
Picture In Post Below Due to 10 Picture Limit

The last game used that was pulled was a Team Leaders jersey numbered to 100. I already went over my thoughts on the "base" version of this set. The swatch on these make it a little more appealing. Its always nice to get a legend's game used, which your more likely to pull in this set of 40 cards.
#T-7 - Raymond Berry 31/100 Blue Swatch
Picture In Post Below Due to 10 Picture Limit

Sch1tz0's Thoughts:
This was a fun box to open. I was not sure how I would feel about Leaf Limited changing from 1 stacked pack to a box of 16 packs, but it let the fun span out over time. I may have not pulled an Autograph from this box, but 5 jerseys, one of which was a nice patch, kinda made up for it.
There was an excellent coalation of base cards, not 1 double out of the 70 base set cards, Donruss got that right! The memorablia sets are(for the most part) attractive and eye catching.
The main things I'd like to see improved in the future would be the use of color photography for the legends(if availible) and the "base" insert set's overall blandness.

I probably will buy more of this product, and would suggest to others that its a worthy purchase!

Final Ratings (out of 5):

Base Set – 4/5
Fun – 5/5
Overall Design – 4/5
Value – 4/5
Rebuy – 4/5

Total = 21/25

I would like to thank Donruss Playoff L.P. for providing www.SportsCardForum.com this box for review.

Look for these cards to make their way into Contests, CC Store, and the 08 Leaf Limited Base Request Thread!

**~~sch1tz0fr3nik~~** · 11-12-2008, 04:22 PM

This next jersey I was not sure exactly what it was, as there is only a basic card number(7), or set name on the card. I have come to the conclusion that it must be the Team Trademarks Team Logo Jersey set /50. That is my one knock agaisnt this set. Overall its a decent looking set. The jersey swatch area is cut out in the design of the team logo.
#7 - DeAngelo Williams 13/50 Blue Swatch

The last game used that was pulled was a Team Leaders jersey numbered to 100. I already went over my thoughts on the "base" version of this set. The swatch on these make it a little more appealing. Its always nice to get a legend's game used, which your more likely to pull in this set of 40 cards.
#T-7 - Raymond Berry 31/100 Blue Swatch

**andrewcstein** · 11-12-2008, 04:25 PM

Nice Review!

I wish Donruss would come back to baseball full time...

**~~sch1tz0fr3nik~~** · 11-12-2008, 04:27 PM

Your not the only Andrew...Some of the best sets were by Donruss

**TheTGB** · 11-12-2008, 04:52 PM

Looks great as Leaf Limited always has no matter what sport. Go Bucs :)

**garnett_21** · 11-12-2008, 04:52 PM

Sweet break and even sweeter review! I'd say the Maroney was the big pull of the box! Thanks Donruss!

**~~sch1tz0fr3nik~~** · 11-12-2008, 05:27 PM

Leaf Limited is pretty fun, but for the Price Hike for more packs, but basically the same amount of hits, could be worked on.

Also, Fixed a Scan error...Forgot the Mark Clayton Jersey with the Lee Roy Selmon