SCF Official Review: 2008 Playoff Prime Cuts IV

[Enigma]

First and foremost, thanks to our wonderful sponsors at Donruss/Playoff for providing this box to us at SCF.



2008 Playoff Prime Cuts IV
1 pack
7 cards
4 auto or memorabilia cards
MSRP: $225-$240

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

Commons (100) - #’d to 249.

Rookies Signatures (50) - #’d to 299 or less.
Rookies Materials Jerseys (50) - #’d to 199 or less.
Rookies Materials Bats (50) - #’d to 199 or less.
Rookies Signature Materials Jerseys (50) - #’d to 299 or less.
Rookies Signature Materials Bats (50) - #’d to 299 or less.

Century (150) - Insert with 3 levels, #’d to 50 or less.
Century Signatures (100) - Autograph insert with 4 levels, #’d to 99 or less.

Prime Cuts Bats (100) - #'d to 99 or less.
Prime Cuts Bats Signatures (100) - #’d to 49 or less.

Prime Cuts Jerseys (6) - 6 levels, including signature and prime versions. #d to 99 or less.

Prime Cuts Material Combos (100) - 3 levels, including signature and prime versions. #’d to 99 or less.

Icons (50) - 23 levels, including signature, material, and prime versions. #’d to 99 or less.
Icons Material Combos (50) - 3 levels, including prime and signature versions. #’d to 99 or less.

Timeline (50) - 19 levels, including signature, material, and prime versions. #’d to 99 or less.
Timeline Material Combos (50) - 3 levels, including signature and prime versions. #’d to 99 or less.
Timeline Trios Materials (50) - 13 levels, including signature and prime versions. #’d to 99 or less.
Timeline Quad Materials (50) - 6 levels, including signature and prime versions. #’d to 99 or less.

Colossal (25) - 16 levels, including signature, material, and prime versions. #’d to 99 or less.

Material Combos (10) - #’d to 99 or less.
Material Combos Prime (10) - #’d to 25 or less.

Material Triples (10) - #’d to 99 or less.
Material Triples Prime (10) - #’d to 25 or less.

Material Quads (10) - #’d to 99 or less.
Material Quads Prime (10) - #’d to 25 or less.

Signature Combos (10) - #’d to 99 or less.
Signature Trios (10) - #’d to 99 or less.
Signature Quads (5) - #’d to 99 or less.

Souvenir Cuts (25) - #’d to 250 or less.
Souvenir Stadium Cuts (10) - #’d to 250 or less.

Biography (35) - 4 levels, including material, signature, and prime versions. #’d to 99 or less.

Leaf Limited Phenoms (25) - #’d to 99 or less.

Playoff Contenders Rookies (25) - #’d to 99 or less.

VIDEO BREAK



Base 2/100 - 2%
Dupes - 0



Prime Cuts IV's base set is limited to 449 of each base card. At the top of the card, you find the set logo in the right corner. Along the sides, the border takes the appearance of an old piece of paper. The player's picture bursts through the middle as the full body photos are larger than the background. The player's team name and position can be found running vertically on the left side. At the bottom, you find the players name.

Base (2) /249 - Bob Gibson, Joe Jackson

There are a few insert sets in this release. The one we pulled was Biography. The card denotes a specific event that happen in the profiled player's career. The top of the card names the set with the player's photo in the top left corner. Across the middle, next to the photo, is the name of the event. The bottom lists the player's position, a time line with the year of the event in bold and with a larger font than the other years, and finally the team. The player's name can be found vertically along the right side of the card. The back of the card recaps the event that took place.

Biography (1) - George Brett (non-numbered)



There are many auto and memorabilia set to be found in Prime Cuts IV. We will highlight the ones we pulled.

The Playoff Contenders Rookie Autos mirror what the cards from the football set release are expected to look like. There are 25 subjects in this set. The set name is at the top with the words "Rookie Ticket" in the right corner. The word "ROOKIE" is spelled in white letters across the middle of the card with the player serving as the back drop. Below that is the player's auto with his name and position at the bottom.

Playoff Contenders Auto (1) - Rafael Rodriguez (non-numbered)

Some of the sets are a mirror of the base set. Such is the case with the Prime Cuts Bats Series. There are 100 cards in the series with varying print runs. The card looks exactly like the base card other having the piece of bat at the bottom of the card.

Prime Cuts Bats (1) - Steve Carlton /29

With the similar background/border look of the Biography insert set, Timeline also features a player denoted for an event in a particular year. The Timeline series has 50 subjects. There are four types of Timeline card:

Timeline
Timeline Combos
Timeline Trios
Timeline Quads

The set's name is located at the top in the middle of the card. It has a yellow background with a decorative border. The insert set's name is vertical on the left of the card with the player's photo on the right. The middle has the name of the team and the year being honored. The memorabilia pieces (in this case, 4 as it's a quad) are depicted using the player's nickname. At the bottom is the player's name. The back of the card details the reason the player is being honored on the card.

Timeline Quads (1) - Orlando Cepeda Quad Bat /99



Each pack/box contained one encased card. The encased card can come from any of the Auto or Memorabilia sets in this release. Ours came from the rookie sets. Those sets include:

Rookies Signatures
Rookies Materials Jerseys
Rookies Materials Bats
Rookies Signature Materials Jerseys
Rookies Signature Materials Bats

There are 50 young future stars highlighted in these cards. The cards are numbered as an extension to the base set. The card is designed exactly like the base card and mirrors the Prime Cuts Bats series. The exception is the auto is placed above the memorabilia swatch. The case is sealed by the company and has a tamper proof Prime Cuts sticker across the top. This certifies the card was packaged by the company and has not been switched out.

Rookies Signature Materials Jerseys (1) - Rick Porcello /249

Final Ratings (Out of 5):
Base set: 3.5/5
Fun: 5/5
Overall design: 4/5
Value: 2.5/5
Re-buy: 2.5/5

Overall: 17.5/25 (70%)

Playoff Prime Cuts IV had a huge amount of anticipation and hype behind it before it released. I have to admit, I was psyched about the opportunity to open this product. The thrill was there to see what it would reveal. Sadly, it did not meet my expectations.

I like the design of the base cards. It's clean and crisp and the pictures come to life. However, only getting two per box is a drag. I understand this is a limited series, but if there's 100 base cards in the set, you would have to get lucky and buy 50 boxes to have a chance to complete it on your own. If you cannot complete a set from a case of a product, there's not enough base cards distributed per box in my opinion.

I realize there's only so many memorabilia pieces to go around, but as a consumer, dropping well over $200 a box and getting two bat cards (one of which is a quad bat) is painful. I will refrain from talking about the secondary market, but from a collector's standpoint, bat cards are not highly sought after. And having cards with multi bat pieces is not the way to go to appease to collector/consumer.

Most high end products will always be hit or miss and as collector, we realize that each time we purchase a pack, box or case. That's part of the fun and excitement of busting product. But if we are expected to spend these amounts for these products, why not work hard to see what appeals to the collectors and gear the product accordingly.

Now, I'm not completely sour on the product. There are many bright spots. I like the idea of the encased rookie. Playoff does the work for us as any collector would put it in a case of their own anyway. It's a great 50 card chase set that everyone can enjoy.

I'm a huge fan of information being posted on cards. It gives a sense of history that can be passed down. For instance, most people born in the last quarter-century probably doesn't know much about the famous Pine Tar incident in 1983. Imagine a person pulling that card and reading about what took place. Even better, an older person/collector can retell the story of what took place that day and the history behind it.

Once again, I'd like to thank our fine sponsors at Donruss/Playoff for providing us with this box and the opportunity to review it.

[TheTGB]

I think it's a great review but I have to agree with the bat card thoughts. Also, I noticed you put down the versions of each of the cards, is there a patch version at all for the rooks or retired/hofers?

Again, like the past Donruss product I'm not a fan of the clear stickers on the card. If it had a set area where it was easy to read the autographs, I would be happy with the clear stickers but over the color of the card makes it hard to make out. It's not that hard in the one we pulled, but I'm sure it will be harder on others.

As always, Donruss is top of the class when it comes to card designs and the encased rookie autographs are really nice.

[andrewcstein]

The fact that a guy like Rafael Rodriguez is in a $200 pack is the very reason I haven't bought any of this.

[gladdyontherise]

That breaks seems awesome to me! PORCELLO Auto/jsy!!!

[RenegadeLonghorn]

Tough break. Nice looking review as always.

[mattdile3]

I don't believe there's always one encased ROOKIE card. I think there is just one GUARANTEED encased card, whether it is a HOF'er, Rookie, Legend, etc.

[Crater_Satori]

Nice review Tony, I am sorry the break wasn't a good as hoped for.

[mattdile3]

What happens to most of the hits? I haven't seen any of the "hits" in any contests or anything yet. I could be wrong though. Just curious. Or are they going in the CC store?

[spuds1961]

Nice review Tony sorry the break didn't live up to your expectations.Take care Steve

[Captngeetch]

Thanx for he review Tony...I hope the VIP Box proves to be the one with the Hits !