Gridiron Gear has settled in nicely in the middle part of Donruss' football lineup each season. There's nothing middle-of-the-road about its Rookie Gridiron Gems cards though, which feature autographs from top rookies on large swatches of jersey that can be pulled out of the card.
Hobby boxes of 2008 Donruss Gridiron Gear Football ship out with 18 packs of five cards each. Collectors can look for three memorabilia or autographed cards per box, plus random hot boxes that contain extra autographs and player-worn cards.
Base Cards and Parallels
The Gridiron Gear base cards go with a bit of a "less is more" look for 2008. Player photos pop out against a foil background, with a dash of team color at the bottoms along with team helmets and silver foil player names. A fairly typical selection of 100 veterans is followed by 100 rookies numbered to 999 which can be found about three per box.
Parallels are plentiful for both groups of players. Foil letters in the upper-left corner denote X's and O's parallels, with numbering ranging between 250 and 25 copies. Veterans also get several levels of Materials Jerseys variations with game-worn jersey swatches, while rookies get autographed versions numbered to 250 or less.
The top tier of 34 2008 rookies appear on the latest batch of Rookie Gridiron Gems. As in last year's set, the base level features autographs on oversized jersey swatches that slide out of the cards, which are numbered to no more than 100. A total of 11 other parallel levels utilize other kinds of memorabilia pieces and have print runs of 50 copies or less.
For the second straight season, the random Gridiron Gear hobby box I opened to review was a hot box, containing extra memorabilia and autographed cards. The first sign of this was in the base set parallels, where I pulled a total of four Materials Jerseys cards: two of Frank Gore and one each of Willis McGahee and Maurice Jones-Drew. I also found a Rookie Signatures parallel of Cowboys tight end Martellus Bennett.
Regular cards included 78 of the 100 veterans and three rookies numbered to 999. No Rookie Gridiron Gems were in my sample box.
Memorabilia Cards
Gridiron Gear fits in well with the rest of the Donruss line thanks to game-used and player-worn cards with subjects that range from rookies to Hall of Famers. Newcomers and young stars are the focus of Next Generation Jerseys, which come in regular, prime, jumbo and combo versions.
Today's top stars appear in several memorabilia sets, including Rivals Jerseys with swatches from two opposing players, Playbook Jerseys with swatches die-cut in X's and O's and Plates and Patches cards with two prime swatches.
Performers Jerseys has a lineup of former NFL stars (plus one who retired and changed his mind: Brett Favre) like Joe Montana and Marcus Allen. All of the memorabilia cards are numbered to no more than 250 copies, and many have lower print run jumbo or signed versions.
The About.com sample box held four more memorabilia cards in addition to the game-used parallels: two Next Generation Jerseys, a Playbook Jerseys Xs Ben Roethlisberger and a Performers Jerseys Alex Karras. Also in the mix were non-memorabilia Next Generation, Playbook and Performers cards.
Autographed Cards
Some of Gridiron Gear's most creative cards fall in this category. NFL Gridiron Rookie Signatures cards are built around green pieces that look like little football fields. The top 34 2008 rookies signed right on the fields, making for some cool-looking cards.
Mini football helmets are the centerpiece of NFL Team Rookie Signatures, which add an autographed sticker underneath. There's also a veteran set with the likes of Peyton Manning, Tony Romo and Adrian Peterson on the checklist.
Finally, Performers Signatures capture autographs from 38 stars of yesteryear. Some of the cards are very limited, with Barry Sanders, Lance Alworth and others signing only a single card.
My autographed card wasn't quite that rare, but was still cool: a Performers Signatures Fred Williamson numbered to 100 and signed with his nickname, "The Hammer."
The Last Word
Gridiron Gear isn't the best known Donruss football brand, but it is quietly making a name for itself. The Rookie Gridiron Gems cards should be popular again thanks to a solid group of 2008 rookies, and some of the set's other autographed cards are a nice change from the ordinary.
The content level is comparable to other Donruss products of a similar price - unless the box turns out to be a hot box like the one in this review, which puts it over the top. Gridiron Gear has the look of a fun box to break again in 2008.