Do you like Buzz Breaks? Today’s your day then as we launch 12 in 12 — a series of a dozen breaks of past wax boxes and wax packs in a dozen hours. We’ll post one every hour on the hour all day long today … this is Hour 2.
The box: 2008 Donruss Threads Baseball
The cost: $79
What’s inside this one? Keep reading …
Packs per box: 24
Cards per pack: 5
Cards in this box: 122
Base set completion:
98 of 100 (98 percent)
Duplicates: 9
Notables on base cards – Hank Aaron, Brooks Robinson, Cal Ripken Jr., Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk, Wade Boggs, Joe Jackson, Ernie Banks, Ryne Sandberg, Tom Seaver, Pete Rose, George Brett, Harmon Killebrew, George H.W. Bush, Mike Schmidt, Tony Gwynn, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Bob Gibson, Stan Musial, Nolan Ryan, Madison Bumgarner
Inserts: 10 (all and some base in gallery below)
Diamond Kings (2) – Duke Snider, Bobby Doerr
Diamond Kings Framed Red (1) – Jordan Shafer (/100)
Baseball Americana (1) – Cal Ripken Jr. (/500)
Century Legends (1) – Carl Yastrzemski
Century Stars (1) – Robin Yount
Dynasty (1) – Juan Marichal, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey
Generations (1) – Rod Carew & Paul Molitor
Century Proof Gold (1) – Alexis Oliveras (/50)
Century Proof Green (1) – Ryne Sandberg (/250)
Autographs/Memorabilia: 5
Signatures Gold (2) – Lucas Duda (/250), Jovan Rosa (/973)
Autographed Rookies (1) – Brian Friday (/1,249)
Rookie Class (1) – Aaron Shafer (redemption; /280)
Donruss Threads Jerseys (1) – Robin Yount (/500)
What’s Buzz-worthy: You might be be surprised to hear it, but a box like this isn’t an easy find even though it’s not even 10 years old. I tracked down a box at $79 after much deliberation, knowing there are some potentially big gems to be found here — and then I was reminded that those big gems aren’t in every box. There are a ton of legendary autographs to be found here — many of the base set players all have ink like Aaron, Bush, Banks, Ripken, Mays, Ryan and so many others — and there are also memorabilia parallels and a number of inserts with autographs and memorabilia, too. One particular highlight? The Baseball Americana inserts with big Hollywood names’ baseball movie cameos building the set. Then, of course there are rookies and prospects — the second half of the 100-card base set is just that and not strong — but the autographs capping the set includes Giancarlo Stanton back when he was “Mike.” There’s a lot of great ink here but it’s low-volume and surrounded by guys who signed in high volume and really never made a mark. You get a number of inserts in a box, too, which helps. Also interesting here is that this one comes in the window between when Donruss/Playoff lost its MLB Properties license and before Panini America bought the company. It’s got some interesting logo usage that tried to make do with (and challenge) its legal limitations, but it also has a design that’s pretty clean and striking. If you can find these cheap, they’re worth considering — but you have to consider that you won’t land the big one as often as you might think.
Product Grade: B+
Box Grade: B
Fun Grade: A-
What’s next? Be back in an hour …
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