Leaf Certified Materials is one of the most anticipated products of each season. With the mix of short-printed cards as part of the base set, the tradition of the Fabric of the Game insert set and the parallels, there is always a ton of hope when a box is cracked.

However, in this case, the anticipation of the crack of the box far outweighed the actual results. While the base design is very attractive, one would hope that with only 50 cards in a box, you would assume you should avoid duplications. Sadly, this event never occurred as set-builders might have a long long time before even thinking of attempting this set and we pulled six duplicate cards, including a staggering four copies of #15 Barry Zito. Now, it's always good to get cards of the nominal ace of the contending Oakland A's pitching staff and former Cy Young award winner, but this product definitely could have better collation.

On the positive side, we did get 10 hits (although many were Baltimore Chops) so there is something positive which comes out of each and every pack. For that, Donruss is to be commended. However, the prevailing opinion amongst the collectors here was that an upgrade to the design of the Certified Skills card would be appreciated. Perhaps an action photo of the player's noted skill would be useful.

Packs Per Box: 10 Cards Per Pack: 5 Cards Per Box: 50 Completion of Set: 18% (44 of 250) Completion of Base Set: 22% (43 of 200)

Inserts/Short Prints/Parallels:

Short Print: Agustin Montero card #202, serial #467/499 Autographed; Certified Skills (1:7) Josh Beckett CS 14, Paul Konerko CS 20, Victor Martinez CS24: Mirror Red: Jared Gothreaux card # 215, serial # 25/100: Mirror White (Random inserts in packs): Sammy Sosa Card #150, Mirror Bat White Lew Ford card #160, serial #113/250 ; Mirror Red Jersey Scott Rolen Card # 133, Serial # 119/250, Gold Team (1:7); Mark Mulder GT 15, Fabric of the Game Prime Darryl Strawberry #14/25

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