Donruss has rolled out some more celebrity goodness with Donruss Americana II. Having the pleasure of opening this box is Chris Nerat of  the blog Gavel Chat on www.sportscollectorsdigest.com.

Today's Feature: Donruss Americana II

• 4 cards/pack ($40 pack)
• 4 packs/box

There are supposed to be four autographed or memorabilia cards per box on average, with some big names such as John Wayne, Marlon Brando, Adam West, etc. We didn't get anybody that huge, but here is what we did find:

2 autos: Robert Wagner (numbered to 75) and Eric Estrada (numbered to 80)
1 auto/relic: Ring Kings Andrei "The Pitbull" Arlovski (numbered to 352)
1 Hollywood Legends relic: Burt Lancaster (numbered to 500)
1 Proof: Peggy Fleming (numbered to 250)
1 Cinema Stars: Arielle Kebbel (numbered to 500)
1 Hollywood Legends base: Donna Reed (numbered to 500)

The rest were base cards, with examples including Jonathan Winters,Joyce DeWitt  and Fred Willard.

This is an intriguing set with endless possibilities. The autos we got were all right, and the classic shots of older stars is always nice. Here is the video:


 

It's fresh off the truck and into Bustin' Wax - Topps 2008 Football. This set is great for set collectors, and it has some special inserts such as a Brett Favre collection (had enough of that saga yet?).

Topps 2008 Football

    * 10 cards/pack
    * 36 packs/box ($60)


We got a couple of relic cards and nothing else was really earth-shattering. Check out the video to see more:

Bustin' Wax is breaking new ground in this edition, opening some wrasslin' cards. Joining me is Chris Nerat, writer for Sports Collectors Digest and author of the Gavel Chat blog on the SCD site. Check out his vintage wrestling article in the July 25 edition of SCD.  

Today's Feature: Tristar TNA Impact

• 18 packs/box ($55)
• 8 cards/pack

We didn't really know what to expect in this box except for the four "guaranteed" hits  - two autos (i numbered to 60 or less) , a event-used memorabilia card and 1 parallel (numbered to 50 or less).

Our hits included a:

• Christy Hemme event-used card (numbered to 250)
• ODB auto and Don West auto (no number run given)
• Booker T parallel (numbered to 50)

These cards are interesting to say the least. Some of the characters are a little weird, and the tatoo cards are different, but wrestling fans will love. Roll the the tape:

It's Bustin' Wax time once again. Joining us for this box break is Joe Clemens, baseball pricing analyst for Tuff Stuff's Sports Collecting Monthly.

Today's Feature: 2008 Topps Chrome baseball

• 4 cards/pack
• 24 packs/box ($60)

Topps Chrome isn't the most bang-for-buck product, but it does offer plenty of eye appeal and variety to the average collector. There are Refractors, inserts, autos and, of course, Mickey Mantle. Roll the tape below for the video, and here's the breakdown:

• 1 Auto redemption: Clay Buchholz
• 3 Topps Heritage Chrome: Brett Myers, Jake Peavy and Kevin Youkilis (all numbered to 1,959)
• 2 Copper Refractors: John Lackey and Ryan Braun (both numbered to 599)
• 1 Topps Heritage Chrome Refractor" Carl Crawford (numbered to 1,959)
• 8 Refractors
• 13 inserts: Topps All-Star Rookie Team Fielder and Holliday, 3 Mickey Mantle Home Run History inserts and the Ichiro Japanese card, among others.   

We didn't get the two autos per box quota, but again, there's a lot of variety here to keep collectors entertained. Roll the tape:

Welcome to another round of Bustin' Wax. Joining me on this break was Steve Bloedow, long-time staff member of Tuff Stuff and head of the pricing group. Having just come back from the NFL Rookie Premier, it was fun opening this this box because I had just seen a lot of these players.

Today's Feature: 2008 UD Draft Edition Football

• 10 cards/pack
• 16 pack/box ($90)

The product, hence the name, is loaded with rookies in nice action shots and collegiate stats on the backs. Oh, there are established pros, too, but that not why people are buying these packs.

The video below gives an overview of what we found, but here's a breakdown of the goodies:

• 5 - Rookie autographs, just as advertised on the box: Adarius Bowman (red parallel, numbered to 125), Joe Flacco, Dorian Bryant, Dan Connor (not from the Roseanne TV show) and Erik Ainge.
• 4 - Red parallels: Adarius Bowman, Jonathan Hefney, Donnie Avery and Tashard Coice.
• 2- Bronze parallels (numbered to 175): Derrick Harvey and DeMario Pressley.
• 3 - Pigskin Pairings: Jake Long/Sam Baker, DeJaun Tribble/Antoine Cason, Colt Brennan/Dennis Dixon and Brennan/Dixon red parallel.
• 3 - Conference Clashes: Marion Manningham/J. Lehman, Dennis Dixon/Keith Rivers and Harry Douglas/Mike Jenkins
• 4 - Alumni Association: DuJaun Tribble/Matt Ryan, Early Doucet/Glenn Dorsey, Brian Brohm/Mario Urrutia and Brohm/Urrutia red parallel
• 5 - Campus Combos: Chad Henne/Mario Manningham, Jonathan Hefney/Erik Ainge, Peyton Hillis/Felix Jones, Vince Hall/Xavier Adibi (blue parallel) and Peyton Hillis/Felix Jones (red parallel)
• 4 - Franchise Foundations: Fred Davis/John Carlson, Chris Long/Quentin Groves, Antoine Cason/Terrell Thomas and Cason/Thomas (red parallel)

All in all, this wasn't too bad. The Flacco card is pretty sweet and the cards themselves are very nice. There are a lot of sub-lines to keep things interesting.

Now, let's roll the tape: