Category Archives: Product Review

Product Review: 2009 Donruss Threads Football

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Usually, each year, when Threads hits stores, you can set your watch for the start of the real football products to start. Usually as well, Threads is one of those products that tends to hold more value as the year drags on. This year, things may be different, unfortunately for the fans of this product.

Design/Creativity

There has been one constant all year for Panini products, and thats the over use of the line tool in photoshop. Every product seems to be swimming with cards with angular designs, most of which look busy and hard to follow. Threads takes this to a whole new level. The base cards have been chronicled here as some of the worst I have seen all year. In addition to being a fathead style player photo (player looking like a fathead stuck on the background) instead of a game shot, the lines look like they are attacking the player like a game of invaders. When you see some of the MANY parallels for each card, some on mirrorboard, it gets worse. For every one of those parallels that doesnt have a swatch or an auto, the card also looks incredibly top heavy, as the Panini design team still hasnt found a way to make every parallel of a card look like it can stand alone.
As for the Rookie Collection cards, they stayed again with the horizontal design, which I like, but the design just doesnt cut it. Its almost like they turned the opaque-o-meter down to about 60%, stacked about 5 levels on top of each other, and added a player picture into the middle of all of it. Then they took a weird looking helmet off pic and made it look sketched on. Add in that the Threads logo cuts straight across most of the player pics at the waist, and I cant say its something that looks even remotely good. Its a hodge podge of craziness, and Im very diappointed.

The Letters this year look pretty much the same as last year, which is fine, as they are always the focus of the set. The problem is that they tapered the border back a little, which has shrunk the player pic even more than it was last year, so that detracts from the overall presentation. However, the Letters arent all that bad. It sucks that they cant be built ahead of time with the team colors, but this is fine. Nothing great.
A star of the set, as always is the Gridiron Kings cards which are great this year. The painted style, along with a design that is simple and not overstated, makes these cards a must get for the product. I have always loved these cards, and this year looks like another home run for these. Too bad this type of design couldnt have been more of a focus.
The rest of the subsets in Threads are pretty typical, weird looking swatch placement on cards with even weirder design elements. I really think that Panini could solve a lot of their problems if every card didnt have to have ten parallels. They are really the only company that still employs this way of doing things, and it detracts from every element of the set. The cards just reek of lazy attempts at filling the product, and I wish they would just do it the right way instead of the ways that people hate.
Rating:
Autograph Cards
The autograph cards in Threads scream Panini from the mountaintops. There arent any that dont have non-autoed parallels, and most of the time the labels dont look like they fit into the designs. I would rather see them take an approach similar to National Treasures and save the autographs for the good subsets.
One of the major problems I have with Autos in most of the Panini products is that more than half of the autograph cards are going to be non-premiere scrubs that stand for your box hit. That means you can pull a free agent auto in your box, and get nothing else more times than not. I watched a full case break today, and more than every other box was a crap scrub rookie auto for the whole thing. That is awful.

The Gridiron Kings auto parallels are amazing, unlike most of the regular autos, as they are not mirror boarded. Sometimes they also have a cool frame around them, which makes the cards stand out even more. Its a great save for a non-letter box, which makes me angry that more of the set could not be great like these.
As for the Letters, they are what everyone wants, and this year will be no different. I did see some college numbers on these AGAIN, which made me cringe a few times with Harvin and Beanie Wells not adapting their sigs at the premiere. Also, I saw a college uni Harvin with a pro number sticker, and a pro uni Harvin with a college number uni. Who at QC let that slide?
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Relic Cards

What can I say that hasnt already been said about Panini and their awful relic cards. Im not sure why no one has decided that maybe its time to change the way these cards are designed. This time, they have used weirdly cut windows to try to distract us from the fact that most of the cards dont look right. Its like “Ooh! My jersey card looks like it has a little jersey looking thing it! I shall call it Mini Jers!” Seriously, we are not that stupid.
Again, the only good looking relic cards are the Gridiron Kings dual swatch cards which look very well done. Still, the rest of the subsets look ridiculous and out of place in the general design of things.
Rating:
Value To The Collector
I would definitely support buying some singles off eBay, but stay far away from the boxes. The odds are that you are going to waste close to 100 bucks on a box with three crap jerseys and a scrub auto. Then you will see that most of the cards look like crap and you will wonder what you just spent your money on.
If you were lucky enough to pull an auto parallel of the Gridiron Kings, Rookie Collection, or a Letter, you can pretty much feel good that the value probably wont drop much as the year continues. Mainly, you have to hit one of those cards to even think about justifying your purchase, but overall the product is just an all around disappointment. Its not Rookies and Stars bad, but
its not on the level it was last year, and definitely not on the level of a product that costs as much as this one does.
Rating:
Overall Impressions
Basically, these cards could have been put into any other Panini set this year and no one would know the difference. I really have no idea why anyone continues to have faith in this take over, as last year things were 10 million times better than this year’s lazy attempt to redesign each set. The solution is pretty simple, ditch the crazy grafitti and the weird lines, and stick to using simple designs with fluid transition between the parts of each subset. Until then, my ratings will continue to be the way they are.
Average Rating:

2009 Product Leaderboard (SO FAR)

1(t). UD Philadelphia Football (3/5 GELLMANS)
1(t). Topps Football (3/5 GELLMANS)
1(t). UD Icons (3/5 GELLMANS)
1(t). UD Heroes (3/5 GELLMANS)
1(t). UD Draft Edition (3/5 GELLMANS)

6(t). Donruss Threads (2/5 GELLMANS)
6(t). Donruss Classics (2/5 GELLMANS)
6(t). Donruss Elite (2/5 GELLMANS)
6(t). Playoff Prestige (2/5 GELLMANS)
6(t). Bowman Draft Picks (2/5 GELLMANS)
11. Score Inscriptions (1/5 GELLMANS)
12. Leaf Rookies and Stars (0/5 GELLMANS – NR)

Product Review: 2009 Philadelphia Football

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Yesterday evening I had the pleasure of watching a case break of Upper Deck’s first retro football product in a long time. Philadelphia hits stores today, and it should be a pretty popular release, a la O-Pee-Chee in baseball. Collectors love retro products, and this one should get them pretty excited, mainly due to the way the boxes are structured. Even though my friend’s case wasn’t great, it was enormously fun to open, which from early reports, seems to be the case (pun intended).

Design/Creativity

Starting off, the cards look good for a retro set, something that is evident in the original Philadelphia design. They incorporated uncropped game shots into the base cards, which is always a good thing, preventing the players from looking like they are fatheads stuck onto a wall. The border design is also very simple and is not a focus of the card in general, just the way I like it.

I also think that the National Chicle minis and normal sized cards are EXTREMELY well done. They look great, and really capture the essence of the originals. These are going to be a popular set for people to collect, and I think UD got that when creating the cards. Even though the set itself is sparsely populated with non-set collector offerings, these cards should be pleasing to everyone.

As good as the National Chicle cards look, its pretty ridiculous that non-auto’ed cards of the rookies still show them in their college uniforms. Its now August, and we still havent had a post-premiere product from upper deck, despite multiple sets from both Topps and Grilled Italian Sandwich. I understand that when you do everything hard signed, the NFL uniforms are pretty much impossible at this point without breaking stalker laws, but the other stuff is about as inexcusable as it can get.

When it comes to the rest of the product, I couldn’t help but get a little bored with everything. To someone like me who has no clue why retro sets continue to be produced, I just don’t get why this product isnt just an insert set in base UD. Topps has taken their base product and ramped it up with things that made it more worthwhile for collectors, why not do the same thing with the awesome looking cards from this set? Put the National Chicle minis at one per box, with an auto per case, put the base cards as one per pack or something. No need to waste a spot that something like SP Game Used edition could have taken. Set collecting in baseball is much, much, much, MUCH different than set collecting in football, mainly because of the history of the hobby. Football doesn’t have as large of a history, and I don’t like it being forced on me.

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Autograph Cards

Before I go into anything, I want to say how great the autograph cards in this set look. If you think about the Goudey ‘Graph set in baseball, this is very similar. The autos are all on card, signed on full game shots or national chicle cards, and I think I may buy a few – even if I don’t collect the players. UD has also taken notice of people like Albert Haynesworth, who hasn’t had autographs ever (I think), as well as Jared Allen and the like. For this I give an ovation to the checklist people, because defense is a forgotten side of the ball in this sport. If you arent a rookie linebacker or top pick, you don’t have many cards outside of your rookie year. People like Haynesworth and Allen are primed to be two of the most popular players on their respective teams, which means that autographs in products are definitely warranted.

The National Chicle autographs are also ridiculously cool, and were a big focus of the coverage at the NFL Rookie Premiere. UD took on card signatures a step further by adding great inscriptions and making those cards some of the most collectible of the year. When we busted the case last night, we were hoping to pull one, but alas, our Vontae Davis was not inscribed. Regardless of the signature inscription, it was still one of the better signed rookie cards I have seen in a long time. I cant wait for some of the Sanchez and Stafford ones to pop up, as their inscriptions were pretty extensive.

So far, Philadelphia has been the best looking product in terms of autographs this year, and it didn’t take any manu-letters, no gimmicks, no graffiti under a bridge design. Its just a photo on card, signed by the player. That’s all it takes.

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Relic Cards

Philadelphia promises a relic or two per box, and they are pretty good looking for relic cards. They don’t have floating swatches as far as I can tell, and even play to the set collector side of people by doing them the way they did. Instead of naming it some ridiculous name like other products in the past, they just took the base design and added the swatch. Because of this, the Philadelphia Fabrics subset looks better than 99% of the rest of the jersey cards out there. Good for them.

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Value to the Collector

I have said a million times that on card signatures will always be valuable for any collector, especially ones that are as good as the ones in Philadelphia. Add in that this will be the set collector’s dream set, and you make the SPs and everything similar in the set that much more valuable. As Philadelphia is already pretty cheap, I can see the box prices staying put or even going up as time passes.

The autographs with the inscriptions will also hold their astronomical value, without a doubt. Anytime you can get extras out of a player with low numbered outcomes, you will have a card that will not lose value, even though they
are not in pro uniforms.

I would say, if you have the choice between buying a box of jumbo Topps, a box of classics, and a box of this, Philadelphia should pull out a convincing win. There is a lot to chase in this product, and it should hold at least until Mayo comes out. Then once people see the sticker autos on mayo, it will become evident how important this set is for retro collectors.

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Overall Impressions

Philadelphia, as far as retro sets go, is an exercise in less is more. A simplistic design, a deep auto checklist, and a good price will give staying power to this product. It looks as if this will be that one product that people go back to when the lull hits in January. Although it has some major issues with rookies, and a little bit of boredom for people like me, the hits make everything all better.

I wouldn’t say rush to the store to buy a case, but definitely set your snipes on eBay. It’s a great way to get some auto cards from your favorite rookies that look amazing, and collecting the set for the set collectors should be a blast.

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2009 Product Leaderboard (SO FAR)

1(t). UD Philadelphia Football (3/5 GELLMANS)
1(t). Topps Football (3/5 GELLMANS)
1(t). UD Icons Football (3/5 GELLMANS)
1(t). UD Heroes Football (3/5 GELLMANS)
1(t). UD Draft Edition (3/5 GELLMANS)
6(t). Donruss Classics (2/5 GELLMANS)
6(t). Donruss Elite (2/5 GELLMANS)
6(t). Playoff Prestige (2/5 GELLMANS)
6(t). Bowman Draft Picks (2/5 GELLMANS)
10. Score Inscriptions Football (1/5 GELLMANS)

Product Review: 2009 Topps Football

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When it comes to Topps products, much of their success hinges on the content of their base set and Chrome series. Both Base Topps and Chrome this year have looked promising, and we get our first taste starting today. Before I move into the review of the set, I want to say that this could be the first time I would support buying any of the base product instead of chrome, as it seems as though topps has really took stock of the necessity for having content in the base set.

Design/Creativity

I applaud the Topps designers for the great design this year for the base and for Topps chrome. I really like it a lot, and I especially like that each card is team color coordinated. The border on the design gives maximum space for the picture, unlike 2008, and you can really tell that the photos have benefitted from it. The 2008 cards suffered from cramped pictures taken from a mile away, where 2009 seems to be more up close and personal. I cant tell you how much better this makes the product, as what is true for base is true for chrome.

Topps has also gone with a number of variations in the base set, something I think is necessary to show collectors that the base set is worth your money. Before, it was almost stupid to buy this product unless you always collected the base set or if you were going to go after the rookie premiere autos. Now, it seems like there is more content for you to go after, mainly because the extra content seems to be very, very rare. I wholeheartedly support this, as I never thought of Base Topps as worth my or anyone’s time, but these could do a lot for the set.

They have also included throwback retro cards that resemble the famous National Chicle Bronko Nagurski card, which is how I wish most retro sets would be done. No need to do a whole fucking National Chicle set when they look just as good as add ons to a set that never has anything worth getting. Im still not quite sure why 2009 is the year of the National Chicle invasion, but I am much more apt to support it as an insert than a focus of a particular product.

Personally, I think low end is the last thing that Topps has going for it when it comes to football, and I am glad to see they did a really good job with it this year. Color me very satisfied.

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Autograph Cards

In base topps there are two types of autos that one can always expect. The first is always one of the most anticipated cards of the year in the Rookie Premiere autos, and this year they are great. I stayed far away from the 2008 RPAs because of the weird flag they used in the background of the pictures and the lack of a good border design, but 2009 has cured all and made it better. The way they incorporated the autograph into the new design is great, thus alleviating the concern that they would just draw a white line above the bottom of the border and fill it in with a white space for the player to sign. I think that of the last 5 years, 2009 could be the best of all of them when it comes to these cards, and you will see that the value will follow.

When looking at the duals and the quads, the way they adapted everything was very cool. It seems as though over the last few years they just made the multiples look like multiple cards pasted together, however, this year its different. I really like them a lot, and I may even have to put in some cash on a Moreno/Staffford one.

As for the second type of auto, the unfortunately named Career Best autos look so much better in terms of design this year, something which makes me that much happier about the product. Last year they looked ridiculous, while this year they look polished and well put together. Even though they are stickers, the stickers are done well. I have said before that a sticker should be produced as if it were on card, and topps has definitely made strides in making this the case. Still not 100% awesome, but so much better.

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Relic Cards

Topps has tried to make a push with Manufactured Non-Autoed Letter cards in this set, which was something I hoped would stay quarrantined in UD Icons. I said before that I really dislike the use of these cards, though the design in Icons this year had alleviated some of the gag reflex I had over them. In Base Topps, the cards may have well been put into Triple Threads as they opted for a tiny little picture and homage to the 2009 base design. Why even do this? I have no Idea. Plus, it looks like they included many of the 2008 rookie premiere players, even though many of them DO NOT deserve a second year card, let alone a fucking letter patch. See Andre Caldwell for example.

They have also included the Career Best relic cards, which actually were much better in 2008. The have some floating swatches that obstruct player pictures, which always make my blood boil as to why they were even included in the first place. Last year, they just put the swatches into the base design, which would have worked much better this year. I think we may need to get rid of these types of cards all together. They arent Donini level crimes against my eyes, but they are pretty bad.

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Value to the Collector

I think when it comes to the acutal worth of the base cards and parallels, the set will always hold value to the purists who have closets full of Topps sets that go back however many years. Individually, they arent worth much. However, this year, the variations and low numbered parallels seem to be getting a lot more value on eBay, so maybe things are on the up and up for Base Topps.

As fo
r the RPAs, they are always going to hold their value, as the red inks, duals and quads are some of the most valuable rookie autos of the year. If you are lucky enough to pull a good auto, consider yourself to be in possesion of one to hold onto for the season. Otherwise, be sure to sell early enough to get top dollar.

If you are considering a box or two, I would actually hold off, as box prices for base Topps always drop dramatically as the new prodcuts come out. Stick to singles, as you can avoid astronomical group A odds on the autographs, and not have to worry about paying for a bunch of cards you don’t want.

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Overall Impressions

I would say that Base Topps has been the best its been over the last half decade. I congratulate them on creating a good way to bolster value, and I applaud them for doing such a good job with the RPAs. I still think Chrome is going to be the true test of how far this design can go, but I have high hopes after seeing some of the great looking cards that are coming. I would have liked to see some Chomies inserted into this set, but they have at least made other changes to make up for not having Chome aspects of the set. I still think that the Parallels of the base set need a revamp, but base topps parallels have never been too much of a focus as they are in the chrome. Maybe next year we can see some sweeping changes.

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2009 Product Leaderboard (SO FAR)

1(t). Topps Football (3/5 GELLMANS)
1(t). UD Icons Football (3/5 GELLMANS)
1(t). UD Heroes Football (3/5 GELLMANS)
1(t). UD Draft Edition (3/5 GELLMANS)
5(t). Donruss Classics (2/5 GELLMANS)
5(t). Donruss Elite (2/5 GELLMANS)
5(t). Playoff Prestige (2/5 GELLMANS)
5(t). Bowman Draft Picks (2/5 GELLMANS)
9. Score Inscriptions Football (1/5 GELLMANS)

Product Review: 2009 Score Inscriptions Football

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I know this is a little late, but Score Inscriptions has released and I feel obligated to review it, despite the fact that many of you would never even think of buying a pack of it. Basically, this set has replaced the Score Select junk that seems to make its way onto the market each year, even though they really did nothing to make this set worth anyone’s time.

Design/Creativity

As if Select wasn’t bad enough last year, this year had no where to go but up. It didn’t really offer much improvement in the base set or in the “hot rookies,” but it is a better look. Don’t get me wrong, I would never think of this product as even in the same zip code as the top of the pack in terms of design, but it is a little better than the year before. I really dislike that Score has become of a place where graffiti artists go for their card design, as it makes everything look really weird and busy. For the last few years, its almost like they want the cards to look like they were spraypainted on the inside of an overpass tunnel, but they never really hit the mark. This set pretty much looks like an afterthought.

The Hot Rookies look as ridiculous as they did in 2008 and 2007, and you can see that this whole concept needs to be scrapped faster than any future Family Guy spinoffs. Score was better when it was just a low end solution to one’s hankering for set collecting, and adding in all these weirdly named parallels and awful insert sets hasn’t done much to bolster value.

The one seemingly redeemable factor about this entire product is the 1989 Score remake SPs. Each of the premiere rookies has their own addition to the iconic set of Sanders and Aikman, though the cards don’t feature much of what made the old cards great except for the border design. I could see these cards as a great addition to a set that actually matters, but I just don’t think there is much you can do for any Score branded set anymore. Im not a fan of these cards myself, only because of the helmet off pics, but I can see the appeal for people who don’t really care. I may pick up a Harvin just for kicks because these cards will be so cheap.

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Autograph Cards

The autograph cards in this set are pretty standard for any low end product. Slap a few stickers on the base cards and parallels, and you have yourself a set that many unsuspecting collectors will buy. The problem is, with so many oddly numbered parallels of every card, I would say you could have some scrubs with close to 1500 autographs in this set. Really, there just isnt much to say other than “This set contains autos. Yay.”

The 1989 Score reprint autos should be pretty valuable to start, only because they are exceedingly rare in a low end set. It would have been cool to see some on card autos here, but we all know that Donini thinks of hard signed as an exception rather than the rule. I may buy the Harvin auto later this year when the price of the set drops 80%.

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Relic Cards

There are no relic cards in this product.

Value To The Collector

Right now, it will cost you close to 100 dollars at some stores to buy a box of this junk. I am completely serious, and I saw it a few places at more than 100 bucks a box this weekend. I can tell you right now that any packs or boxes of Inscriptions bought at that price is money you are throwing in to a fire. You may end up with three autos, but the value will drop faster than Mike Singletary’s pants at halftime of a 49ers game.

For the last 2 years, Score Select has dropped more than 60% in terms of box price over the year, and even at 29.99 for a box, its still too expensive. Most people are just starved for good products, so they will open anything they can find just to test it out, and really, I cant tell you how stupid it is to even consider buying any of this product at the price its at right now.

When it comes to the value of the actual cards, the 1989 Score autos may hold SOME of their value, but the rest of the set will not. Don’t waste your time.

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Overall Impressions

Its Score Inscriptions. I don’t need to say anything else.

Average Rating =

2009 Product Leaderboard (SO FAR)

1(t). UD Icons Football (3/5 GELLMANS)
1(t). UD Heroes Football (3/5 GELLMANS)
1(t). UD Draft Edition (3/5 GELLMANS)
3(t). Donruss Classics (2/5 GELLMANS)
3(t). Donruss Elite (2/5 GELLMANS)
3(t). Playoff Prestige (2/5 GELLMANS)
3(t). Bowman Draft Picks (2/5 GELLMANS)
8. Score Inscriptions Football (1/5 GELLMANS)

Product Review: 2009 Upper Deck Icons Football

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UD’s first post premiere product is live today, and you can expect that there are very high expectations for one of the most popular products of last year in terms of sales. Ill tell you the truth, I hated this product last year, and I still don’t know if that hatred has left my system. Having the manu-letters in this set without signatures, as well has having some non-sports parts to this set makes me weary, but other parts of it are very exciting to me.

Design/Creativity

Although this set was ugly last year, the design has MUCH improved. Working with curved lines instead of the stone cutouts has done wonders, and actually shows a lot of good design work. I may go after a few of the autoed base parallels, as UD has done a really good job not making the stickers look out of place.

Even though the idea of the unsigned manu-letters is ridiculous, the design of the cards is really awesome. Considering that most of the letters have signed parallels, I may actually want a few of them. They actually pulled off the letters in this set really nicely. The problem is that some of the letters get cut off by the tapered window, but I am okay with that based on the overall presenation. In fact, I think the quality of the manu-letter material seems to have gone up from the few boxes I saw broken, so that is a great upgrade.

The idea of still having the rookies in their college unis really bugs me, especially with the time to get the correct pics in there, and the lack of on card autos in this set. We are far enough past the premiere to have NFL cards, so that is a MAJOR let down. Despite the lack of updated unis, the cards of the rookies look really cool, putting elite to shame for sure. Most of the pics I have seen of the players on the cards look great, I think the pic choosers have really done some great work this year for all UD products.

As for the returning die-cut cards, I really dislike that inclusion in this set. Although it gives buyers another aspect to collect from this product, I am over diecut cards, and have been since the 1990s. There are better options for paralleling stuff, and diecutting should be axed from the playbook in my opinion. I will say, the diecuts do fit the design of the cards, but I could never see myself going after those.

Lastly, UD has seemingly made their own rules for this set and printed a lot of it on foilboard, or some weird variation of it. Its not mirrored and its not too rainbow, so its not as bad as the Donini eyesores, but its still looks awful on a lot of the cards. That was not fun to see. It also looked like they copied a page out of Prestige Chrome and had some insert parallels done the way Donini usually does them. That made me scared for the future, especially if UD is going to adopt more of what Donini does.

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Autograph Cards

The autos in this set are stickers, except for the letters, which is kind of a let down, but they have done a pretty good job in making the stickers fit. When I first saw the autos that my friend got, I thought they actually were on card, so a win there.

The autographed letters look great, and should be a chase for the collectors of those players. The design pops in front of your face, and they fit in really nicely with the design themes of the set.

I have said before that I am a big fan of base auto parallels because the base cards always look better with a signature. This set plays that out to my advantage, and I am very excited for some of the ones I may get to go after.

Lastly, this is the set that has utilized the now defunct sweet spot helmets for the celebrity auto set they are doing for the product. Im not going to support the assignment of celebrities to a certain related team, though the cards look like they are pretty cool from the previews we got. We know that the Kardashian spectrum auto from baseball was a huge hit, these will probably be similar. However, I think it will be hillarious if she breaks up with Bush before the autos are fufilled.

NOTE: I also wanted to congratulate the guy who thought to put Jared Allen into this set, as I have already set an eBay reminder for the one that is ending soon. He has had zero parts to any set in terms of autos since the year after his rookie year, and I am PSYCHED to have an auto or two to chase.

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Relic Cards

Man, I am very sorry to report that we have the first floating swatch cards of 2009 from Upper Deck in this product. On a few of the jersey subsets, the swatches are horribly placed, even covering up player pics on some of them. That should never be allowed for a card, and I am really fucking pissed that it is becoming a trend.

Also, it seems like with all the windows for this set, they are surrounded by a faded border that looks weird. Its like the jersey isnt fitting into the stock and they have to bend the card a little to help it. THAT NEEDS TO STOP.

Honestly, Im getting fucking bored with non-autoed swatch cards, and Icons has its fair share. Ill pass on all these.

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Value To The Collector

I think that this set should hold value, especially in the signed letters and the sweet spot celebrities. The checklist for both is pretty good, and the bust for this product is more worth it because of stuff like that. For the price, this stuff is a pretty good bust, especially now that the cards look ten times better than last year.

The problem with Icons is that the rookie part of the set will surely be eclipsed a million times over when UD releases stuff that is not college uni. I would wait before purchasing any of those autos, hold off for calmer waters on price too.

Although this set has some problems, it may be worth your time to buy a box or two just to pass the time. There are enough HOFers, stars and celebs in the set to balance out the scrubs, and you could get very lucky.

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Overall Impression

For what this product was supposed to be, its kind of a bummer to me. I wish that we could have had some awesome rookie parts to this set, and I really dislike the constant celebrity invasion to every set that comes out.

Hopefully, as the year moves forward, there are a lot more products that exceed the hype than those that fall short. I know that Donini may start to figure things out, and Topps is gearing up for the base set and chrome, meaning that UD needs to stay on the ball. This set didn’t show a lot of that to me.

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2009 Product Leaderboard (SO FAR)

1(t). UD Icons Football (3/5 GELLMANS)
1(t). UD Heroes Football (3/5 GELLMANS)
1(t). UD Draft Edition (3/5 GELLMANS)
3(t). Donruss Classics (2/5 GELLMANS)
3(t). Donruss Elite (2/5 GELLMANS)
3(t). Playoff Prestige (2/5 GELLMANS)
3(t). Bowman Draft Picks (2/5 GELLMANS)