First Buzz: 2025 Leaf Metal Hockey Legends
 

First Buzz: 2025 Leaf Metal Hockey Legends >> [URL="https://www.blowoutcards.com/blog/first-buzz-2025-leaf-metal-hockey-legends"][B]BlowoutBuzz.com[/B][/URL]

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Where's Leider? lol, looks good though even if this one won't have Howe autos. Glad We Own The City is back thought those were cool and Sakic/Manning is sick.

[QUOTE=ThatGuyPal;19787108]Where's Leider? lol, looks good though even if this one won't have Howe autos. Glad We Own The City is back thought those were cool and Sakic/Manning is sick.[/QUOTE]

Howe has been gone for 9 years.
These cards look awful.

[QUOTE=ZappBrannigan;19787116]Howe has been gone for 9 years.
These cards look awful.[/QUOTE]

Yes and he had autos in 2024 Leaf Metal Legends lol

[QUOTE=ThatGuyPal;19787108]Where's Leider? lol, looks good though even if this one won't have Howe autos. Glad We Own The City is back thought those were cool and Sakic/Manning is sick.[/QUOTE]

LoL, they heard me. It's something, was kind of hoping for ITGU. But glad they're doing something.

[QUOTE=ZappBrannigan;19787116]Howe has been gone for 9 years.
These cards look awful.[/QUOTE]

Have to agree. Gross!

I can't do Leaf Metal products. Too many random parallels numbered to random/odd numbers like /6,/4/3,/2, and then literally 20 different 1/1s. If everything is low numbered then none of it is special. Throw in the childish subset names with cheap looking fonts and it just screams no value.

I do like the City paring idea but the WE OWN THIS CITY is on par with Russell Wilson Subway commercial cheese.

Does anyone know who else are on the dual auto, dual sport City autos? For an unlicensed product, those could be pretty cool.

Oy. Not good.

I used to love ITG products. When Leaf bought them out I was disappointed but willing to give it a chance. They made a few nice sets in the first four or five years but once the last traces of ITG quality evaporated it’s been downhill.

Since there isn't even a checklist I can find yet and this is supposed to release in April, here's a preview vid I found when looking for information that gives a clue to the checklist plus obvious card previews:

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45763UyI3IM[/url]

Doesn't seem like a huge leap from last edition but if this is becoming a routine release I guess it makes sense as most Prizm's, Topps Chromes etc are pretty similar yearly too. Some of the "We Own This City" are cool though, I'd love to own the Brett Hull/Barry Sanders dual

[QUOTE=Inferno;19790032]I used to love ITG products. When Leaf bought them out I was disappointed but willing to give it a chance. They made a few nice sets in the first four or five years but once the last traces of ITG quality evaporated it’s been downhill.[/QUOTE]

I agree. Last couple years for Leaf in Hockey has been... interesting. I don't mind unlicenced products so it's not that. They came out of the hockey gate strong but they haven't really been moving in the right direction since then IMO.

Checklist: [url]https://gogts.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/2025-Leaf-Metal-Legends-Hockey-Cards-Checklist.pdf[/url]

Every Leaf release looks the same. They have no brand identity.

In the Game cards - even when they didn't have a license - had soul to them. Leaf cards are lifeless.

Why anyone would pay retail to rip these generic and lazy Leaf products is beyond me, but I'm glad those people do exist. You can pick up many of the autos out of these products for under $20 right after release day.

This board can be a bit out of touch sometimes to the common man. There's actually a large-market for a set like this in the hockey community where at the least you will probably know all three autos vs ripping a similar-priced box and getting a rookie who lasts one season in the league BUT HE HAS LOGOS! lol You'll see plenty of rips on Reddit and Youtube and most are actually happy after ripping unlike a lot of UD products.

[QUOTE=ThatGuyPal;19864685]This board can be a bit out of touch sometimes to the common man. There's actually a large-market for a set like this in the hockey community where at the least you will probably know all three autos vs ripping a similar-priced box and getting a rookie who lasts one season in the league BUT HE HAS LOGOS! lol You'll see plenty of rips on Reddit and Youtube and most are actually happy after ripping unlike a lot of UD products.[/QUOTE]

I am very active in the "common man" hockey cards community. You can buy prior year releases of these oftentimes at a decent discount. And my original statement stands. These are lazy designs and a repeat year after year. You can pick up the hits at steep discounts on the secondary market, and that's great for common man collectors of hockey

[QUOTE=Satan;19863899]Every Leaf release looks the same. They have no brand identity.

In the Game cards - even when they didn't have a license - had soul to them. Leaf cards are lifeless.[/QUOTE]

I couldn’t have said it better. I loved ITG cards, I bought their products regularly, I have opened a few cases. When they switched to Leaf, I bought a few boxes, a couple of years of ITGU, some Stickwork, a goalie product. I also bought some sweet pieces for my Odjick collection. But I lost interest into their products over time. Way too many ultra low numbered parallels with only a different foil, repetitive designs, sticker autos, …