Gridiron Gear hasn't been around as long as some other Donruss brands, but it's starting to form an identity for itself entering its third season. The 2007 set is once again built on a foundation of Rookie Gridiron Gems, supplemented by both new and returning autograph and memorabilia inserts that combine to fall three per box on average.
Hobby boxes of 2007 Donruss Gridiron Gear Football contain 18 packs of five cards each with a suggested retail price of $6.00 per pack.
Common Cards
While last season's base card design showcased some unusual stripes, the 2007 set shows off 100 NFL veterans on a much cleaner, simpler design. The photos have no borders on the top or sides, and they fade out ever so slightly as they merge into the team-colored bar that contains the player and team info on the bottom. The info bar also appears like it is made of marble, giving it a classy look.
Gridiron Gear's Xs parallels are easy to spot thanks to the foil "X" in the upper-left corner. Three regular levels have print runs ranging from 250 to 25, and there are also memorabilia swatch levels numbered to 175 or less and scarce autographed versions with no more than five copies each.
My review box churned out 82 of 100 commons with no duplicates, along with one each of the Silver and Gold Xs parallels. I also pulled Materials Jerseys Xs cards of Steve Smith and Jon Kitna, which incorporate game-worn swatches right into the center of the base card design.
Rookie Cards
The 2007 NFL rookie class is well represented in Gridiron Gear with 134 rookie cards. As in 2006, the first 100 are very similar to the base cards but numbered to 599. These newcomers also get two levels of Xs parallels and two levels of autographed parallels.
Most of the bigger names among first-year players appear on Rookie Gridiron Gems cards, which come in a wide array of versions that utilize different combinations of jumbo jersey swatches, prime swatches and autographs. The base level is numbered to 100 and features an autograph and an oversized, pull-out jersey piece, still one of the most unique card designs in the hobby.
No Rookie Gridiron Gems cards popped out of the About.com sample box, though I did find two of the standard rookies plus a Platinum autographed parallel of linebacker Stewart Bradley numbered to 25.
Insert Cards
Though they aren't a focus of Gridiron Gear, a few regular insert cards add a little something extra to every few packs. As always, Donruss does a nice job creating insert themes that focus on the past (Player Timeline), present (Rivals, Playbook and Performers) and future (Next Generation) of the NFL. All of the inserts are numbered and have various memorabilia and autographed versions.
One final insert (EA Sports) showcases the most recent version of the popular line of Madden video games, with screenshots of players from the game on the front and their electronic attributes on the back.
I pulled three standard insert cards from my review box: one each from Performers, Rivals and EA Sports.
Memorabilia Cards
Those memorabilia parallels mentioned in the previous section showed up in a big way in the box used for this review. That's because random boxes of 2007 Gridiron Gear are hot boxes, meaning they are seeded with extra memorabilia cards and autographs.
About.com's box happened to be one of those lucky boxes, producing six memorabilia inserts, including a three-color Reggie Bush patch card and a Gayle Sayers jersey card. Combined with the two Jerseys Xs parallels and the rookie autograph, this hot box held nine hits - one in every other pack. You can see them all in this 2007 Gridiron Gear Hot Box Card Gallery
One insert that only comes with game-worn swatches is the aptly named Plates & Patches. Ten of the NFL's best players appear along with two prime pieces taken from either the nameplates or the patches from their game-worn jerseys.