2024 Donruss Elite Football

2024 Elite:  We'll kick this one off with Buffalo Bills legend Thurman Thomas.  One of my favorite Bills players and one of the big reasons the Bills went to four straight Super Bowls.  My Bills jersey is a Thurman Thomas jersey.

I know you see lots of blue and pink wavy lines behind the players in these scans.  What that equates to in hand, is just silver foil.  That's it.  These are very boring in hand.  Yes, we get the minimum requirements - brand logo, team logo and the player's name and team along with a photo.  The photos are fine, actually good.  No issues there.  But other than that, these feel very blah.

A The Elite insert as well as pink parallel.  I don't normally care for pink parallels, but I like the Justin Jeferson card in pink.  The Payton Wilson card is my only RC and another pink parallel.  Only one in a 30-card pack?  Feels light.

The backs aren't special, but we've seen worse.  At least there's color.

I'm happy with my pull.  There are 200 cards in the set.  Numbers 101-200 are rookies.  So, half the set is rookies, but I only get one in my pack?

I won't pick up more packs of this one, but I could look for singles.

I do love seeing the retired greats.  We'll end it with my all-time favorite player, John Elway.

BREAKDOWN:
30 – Total Cards
7 – Retired Greats
3 – Pink Parallels
1 - RC
1 – The Elite

2023 Donruss Elite Football

2023 Donruss Elite:  Not a big fan of Donruss elite historically but I don't mind picking up a pack when they hit the shelves like they did locally yesterday.  Tua's off to a great start sans the bump in the road that was the Buffalo Bills.  Go Bills!  

These don't scan well.  You won't see the wavy lines in the background when in hand.  Maybe a Donruss Elite design I would like better if there were more color here but all that foil background thing doesn't do much for me.  

The base set is only 100 cards so you'll get a decent pull in these packs.  

The backs are nice and colorful with a truncated version of the front photo.  But no stats which is always a bummer.

For a 30 card pack I expect more variety but the only cards outside of base cards were this Title Wave inserts, one RC card, and three pink parallels.  Where's the fun in that?  There are more inserts in the set but many are hobby box or case hit exclusives. I don't get it.

You can probably tell but I won't be going back to this one unless they are deeply discounted.  Good names for sure but overall a bit of a downer.  We'll end it on a high note with Patrick Mahomes who helps put a shine on any pack.

BACKGROUND:

30 – Total Cards

3 – Pink Parallels

1 – Title Waves

Random Wax: 2020 Donruss Elite Football

2020 Donruss Elite Football:  The NFL kicks off tonight so let's look at some cards that include Tom Terrific of the World Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  I love both Brady and Mahomes so the Super Bowl was so hard to watch.  But I love that Brady, at his age, leaves the Patriots and wins it all in his first year with another team.  This guy didn't need to add to his legacy but wow this was an amazing way to start the second chapter of his career.

Pulled the Bosa Brothers and a Dalvin Cook.  Plenty of defensive stars here.  I enjoy watching Dalvin Cook.  Anytime I can see running backs do well in the league I like it.

Nice Dual Threats insert featuring Kyler Murray.  That Swagger is a multi-swatch relic.  Nice pull. 

Another defensive stalwart in Watt.  Rooke Davis-Gaither played 16 games for the Bengals starting two while grabbing two interceptions.  Tyreek Hill had another outstanding season for the AFC Champion Chiefs and pulled in 15 touchdown passes. 

I like the spellbound inserts and I know collectors enjoy grabbing them to spell out a players name.  Probably some cool displays with all the cards as well.   This pack is a good way to start the season.  Here's to hoping my fantasy team starts off just as well.  

2021 Donruss Elite Football Blaster

 2021 Donruss Elite Football: Surprised to find these last week and was more than happy to pick up a blaster.  Tom Terrific highlighted the box though it was odd to see him in a Patriot uni when he is shown in his Bucs uni on inserts.  Also found some Chronicles which I'll show off later this weekend.

Pretty good pull.  Some PC guys and plenty of stars. The design here is okay but not something I'd gush over.  About what I expect from Donruss Elite.

I like these inserts.  They really are nothing special but I like the look.  They are also slightly raised ala Action Packed.  Not that extreme but it's there.

The backs are plain which is to be expected.  That Mayfield is an Aspirations Shimmer parallel #/499.  Looks really good in hand.

I enjoy the inclusion of retired greats.  Fun box.  I won't pick up anymore.  Twenty cards for the price of a blaster just doesn't make it worth it for me with this brand.  I like the Spellbound inserts below.  I can see collectors chasing a player's entire name.  There are only seven players in the Spellbound set: Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes, Joe Montana, Peyton Manning, Randy Moss, Dan Marino, and Jerry Rice.

BREAKDOWN:
20 – Total Cards
2 – RC
2 – Spellbound
2 – Full Throttle (Raised)
2 – Retired Greats
1 – Aspirations Shimmer Parallel #/499

2020 Donruss Elite Football

2020 Donruss Elite Football:  As soon as I saw the price point I didn't want to like these but just the opposite happened.  The design is nice. Kind of a blend of shiny cards and standards cards.  Pink parallels?  Why are these such a thing.  And now I'll walk that back a bit as I really like this Christian McCaffrey Star Status pink parallel.  Looks like a perfect insert from the 80s.  It works.  The card has raised portions to it ala Action Packed thought not quite as raised as Action Packed.   

The base set has 100 veterans and 100 rookies.  Jerry Rice graces the cover of the pack but did I get a retired great in my pull?  No!  Looks like those guys are only on inserts.  😞  I only pulled one RC but my pull of veterans was pretty strong. 

This is my one rookie card which happens to be a pink parallel.  Online posts state the rookie cards are numbered to 799 but that's not the case with this card.  I'm obviously confused.  The backs are nice.  Big full color cropped duplicate photo of the one on the front, write-up and stats.  Only two seasons of stats is the only negative.  And yep I pulled not one, but two Christian McCaffrey pink parallels in this pack.

Get to see players in their new team's unis with this set.

This is a good set and it was a good pack.  I'm still not thrilled with the price point though so I can't say I'll pick up more of these. But never say never. 

BREAKDOWN:

30 – Total Cards

3 – Pink Parallel

1 – RC

1 – Star Status

2019 Donruss Elite Football Cards

This 2019 Donruss Elite football pack is heavy on star power but you won't find many inserts here.  These cards fall into the shiny category.  Not necessarily my thing but the design isn't bad.  The photos are also pretty good.  I probably won't search out more packs of these as the price point for these is a bit tough at $10 for a "value pack".  I guess you are paying for making them shiny.

Like I said you'll see plenty of stars here which is always a good thing.  The pack was all base cards except for one insert.  

The photos really focus on the individual player.  Seems like they made a point of that when choosing what to put on the cards.

I actually like the backs better than the fronts.  They aren't shiny and nice and colorful.  The photo is a duplicate of the front.  My pack had three pink parallels.  Why do we need pink parallels for football cards?  

I do like the Dual Threats Larry Fitzgerald below though the photo ends up being pretty small.  The 2019 Donruss Elite are nice cards but this is a brand I won't go search out.

BREAKDOWN:

30 - Total Cards

3 - Pink Parallel

1 - Dual Threats