Product Review: 2008 Donruss Classics Football

Im so excited, and I just cant hide it… I know, I know, I know, I know I want you. I want you.

Classics is here, and I am happy as a pig in shit. Finally we have a product with all the RCs in their NFL jerseys. Well, all the RCs that matter that is. The good thing is that Classics is basically the same product it was last year with a few new suprises, the bad thing is that Classics is basically the same product it was last year with a few new suprises. Anyways, ill get in to all of that in a second.

Before I address the review here, I want to lay down some law here. Rashard Mendenhall, I hope you have an awful season. Just the worst possible season you could possibly have. If you are going to put as much effort into your running game as you do into your auto, I will predict a YPC avg of 0.35. Everyone, this could be as bad as Vernand Morency. Gaze upon its glory:

The Good

I think it goes without saying that the RC cards and the base RC autos are awesome. They just rock. If I said I was pumped for the cards I would be lying, I am fucking stoked. I may even dust off the old credit card to buy a box for fun. The design for this year is better than last year, and it fits nicely with most of the picture colors. They have also instituted colored parallels for the cards instead of leaving us to flip over the card on our own. That’s a plus for eBay buyers, because last year it was a crap shoot without a back scan.

One of the few new suprises is the "Classic Cuts" set, which I love. The reason being that they almost look better than the NT cuts, which kind of scares me. The set is filled with some big names, and it definitely doesn’t hurt to have them included. Big upgrade for me.

Also, they have some huge names in old memorabilia to insert, and this set doesn’t disappoint. There are already two Knute Rockne cards on TWGM already, so that’s cool, and I expect more cool ones to surface.

Lastly, a huge plus here is online redemption cards for this set. Yes, we all want a set with no stickers and no redemptions, but that was a step further with DLP last year because you were still mailing it in. There are so many problems with mail in stuff that I cant even mention it. This is huge for DLP, but funny that it has taken THIS long.

The Bad

The number of insert sets is overwhelming. There are seriously 8+ sets with 8+ parallels per shot. Its crazy. Plus, not all of them are the prettiest ones out there, but Ill get to that later. I think if there were a few less parallels, everyone would be happy, but alas, there are actually more.

Secondly, the auto checklist is VERY weak for the rookies. With 32 different guys at the RC premier, you can expect a watered down series of box hits. Upper Deck actually recognized this and promised at least a certain number of A listers per case, but I don’t see that happening here. For 85 bucks, you are really taking a big risk on this box.

The Ugly

Ok, names and set design needs to be re-addressed with Classics. The names of the sets are so bad, and the designs match that sentiment. Sunday's Best? That’s all you could come up with? How about Classic Singles? Doubles? Triples? Quads? Ugh, ill pass that dutchie. I would think that with all the huge names that are out there for DLP to make cards from, that they would have better names and designs. Don’t even get me started on "School Colors." Could be the ugliest insert set ever.

Also, enough with numbering cards. Havent we gotten over that yet? I mean a card numbered to 1500 is not going to make me want it any more than an unnumbered card. If its numbered to 100, fine - but 100 and more is not necessary. Especially with non-auto'ed and non jersey cards. If it’s a jersey or auto I want it numbered to make me feel better when I pull a Kevin O'Connell auto.

One other thing ill file under ugly is the frenzy created for some of these cards considering that they are the first real cards of their kind. People, Colt Brennan will never be the kind of card worth 40 bucks. Why are you jumping on this guy like he is the next big thing? He will be buried on a depth chart for a long, long time, so save your freaking money.