Playoff Prestige has settled in nicely as the first Donruss football product of the season, complete with a rookie card in every pack. The rest of the content in every box gets a big boost for 2008 - perhaps in celebration of the brand's tenth anniversary - doubling up on the number of autographs and memorabilia cards from 2007.
Each 24-pack hobby box of 2008 Playoff Prestige Football contains four autographed or memorabilia cards, including at least one autograph and one college game-worn card. Most packs hold eight cards, though some will have more.
Base Cards and Parallels
Prestige's set of commons consists of 100 NFL veterans, down from 150 in 2007. The player photos fade to white at the sides and bottom, which looks cool but does make the cards a little washed out. The set logo and player names are done in foil in a strip at the bottom, which also contains two team helmets, a small but nice touch. Card backs include a close-up of the front photo and five years of stats.
The rest of the base set consists of rookies, 100 in all, pictured in their college uniforms. The cards are also marked with the word "ROOKIE" on both sides, though the words don't stand out as much as in previous seasons. Rookie cards fall at the rate of one per pack, but in keeping with tradition, 11 players are short printed:
- 110 - Chauncey Washington
- 116 - Chris Long
- 121 - Dan Connor
- 139 - Felix Jones
- 142 - Harry Douglas
- 148 - Jed Collins
- 155 - Jordy Nelson
- 166 - Kevin Smith
- 177 - Matt Flynn
- 189 - Reggie Smith
- 201 - Jake Long
As in seasons past, Extra Points is the name of the multi-level parallel to the base set. There are five different colors, each with a corresponding foil treatment and numbering ranging from 250 copies (Gold) to 10 copies (Black). There are also 10th Anniversary cards with a special foil stamp, also numbered to 10.
Rookies get an additional parallel treatment called Draft Picks, numbered to 999. Some rookies also signed cards for Draft Picks Rights, a partial parallel numbered to 1000 or less.
A random box opened for this review turned up 99 of the 100 commons (plus 50 duplicates), 24 rookies and six total parallels.
Autographs and Memorabilia Cards
One of the great additions to the 2008 version of this set is an autograph in every box. most of the signatures are from 2008 rookies, but there are some veteran autographs as well.
Some of the biggest stars in the NFL are on the checklist of Preferred Signatures, which are numbered to 50 or less and also have memorabilia versions. Veteran autographs are also the focus of Prestigious Pros Signatures and True Colors Signatures, both numbered to no more than 100. There are also Rookie Review Signatures, which update Prestige rookie cards of the past two seasons with pictures of the players in their pro uniforms and add an autograph.
Among the rookie autographs, NFL Draft Class Logo autographs stand out by putting the autograph on a large piece of material with an embroidered logo from either the NFL Draft or the player's college.
Most of the autographed inserts have game-worn counterparts, and there are additional memorabilia inserts. These include TD Sensations and Stars of the NFL with single swatches, as well as multi-swatch cards in League Leaders and Connections. According to Donruss, at least one memorabilia card in every box should be a college game-worn card.
My review box delivered on that particular promise, with Prestigious Picks Materials cards of Felix Jones and Terrell Thomas that both featured game-worn college gear. The third memorabilia card was a Rookie Review Prime Materials Anthony Gonzalez with a two-color patch swatch.
The autograph in the box was a beauty: an NFL Draft Class College Logo Darren McFadden numbered to 50.
Insert Cards
Plenty of regular insert cards complete the recipe for the 2008 set. They combine with the base set parallels to fall just about one per pack.
The largest sets in terms of size and quantity are Prestigious Picks and Prestigious Pros, both of which are laid out horizontally and showcase large foil college and pro team logos respectively. Eight different colors boast numbering between 10 and 1000 copies, and I pulled a total of 10 of these cards from the About.com sample box.
Other inserts in my review box were a League Leaders Tony Romo/Brett Favre, an NFL Draft Andre Caldwell, a True Colors Terrell Owens, and TD Sensations cards of Randy Moss and Dallas Clark. One that stood out was a Rookie Review Vince Young, updating his 2006 Playoff Prestige rookie card with a Tennessee Titans photo.
The Last Word
Since it releases so early in the football card season, it would be easy for Playoff Prestige to get overlooked once other brands start filling the shelves. That would be a real shame, as the 2008 set has something for all types of football collectors: abundant rookies, cool autographs and game-worn cards and college-themed cards not always seen in later releases.
The overall look of the base cards was a little sharper last season, but that's nicely balanced out by the extra content that came without raising the price. Playoff Prestige celebrates its tenth anniversary in style with cards that should be fun to open by the pack or by the box.