2023 Leaf Pop Century

[AngusMacGyver]

Originally Posted by dd316

No stickers is also a good option, but they blocked me on Twitter for suggesting that.

I hope that makes you proud, it's pretty #@#@#@#@ing funny to me imagining old Brian Whatshisname getting all worked up and blocking you for sharing an idea.

[Wolverine011]

Originally Posted by Joshi City

Classic Leaf. They've always been the easiest company to pull a 1/1 for but it feels like its gotten astronomically worse in the last two years. For Pop Century, every autograph card has six 1/1s according to Cardboard Connection. By my math there are 302 different non-cut autograph cards, so if each has six 1/1s, that is 1,812 1/1 autograph cards which doesn't even take into account however many signed printing plates they put into the set.

Edit to add, Cardboard Connection says some Red can also be 1/1 so probably even more than I estimated.

It gets even worse when you think about low number cards that are out of /2, /3, /4, etc. and the actual print run of these cards.

[AceGambit3]

Those Knockouts would look so much better without all the extra crap on them.
Seriously, Brian Gray needs to understand less is more.

[webjon]

I really don't understand why they refuse to use larger stickers.

Also would prefer a much cleaner design.

I like the checklist better this year, although I don't care about the rappers.

Photos are largely better, but what's up with the odd Chevy Chase pics, and the Kristen Bell pictures are terrible.

Seems like a lot of the autographs are just initials. Not into that either.

Al Pacino could pull that off. . . but Pete Davidson is not Al Pacino.

[hannahs1]

Pulled a Clint Eastwood 1/1, unfortunately there is a Hugh bubble under the sticker. Ruins the card for me. Was told to send in but will only replace if graded lower than 8. Don’t know if that counts on auto grade since it’s ruined. Hopefully it gets corrected

[Dacubs]

Saw a box online broken by Chris Justice that had a John Lithgow cut auto, Catherine Bach 1/1 printing plate, Vickie Lawrence auto and Jessica Alba auto.... That was a crazy box....

Too bad those types have been super rare to see

[Joshi City]

If I was going to get one of the 2,000 1/1 cards, I picked a good one to pull:



Not a bad signature either, full name and stayed on the sticker.

[StevieV]

Just an observation .... but someone should start a drinking game for every time Brian Gray says "We take that".

[mmbtvs]

Originally Posted by StevieV

Just an observation .... but someone should start a drinking game for every time Brian Gray says "We take that".

You'd end up in the hospital with alcohol poisoning

[robomole]

Originally Posted by StevieV

Just an observation .... but someone should start a drinking game for every time Brian Gray says "We take that".

Maybe drink every time he says "We take that!" when we should absolutely not take that.

[zworykin]

Originally Posted by robomole

Maybe drink every time he says "We take that!" when we should absolutely not take that.

What's the difference?

[Joshi City]

I guess I should give more details than just show my one big pull. I opened three boxes, all cards different. I did get one 'ticket show' relic which is worthless and a $30 cut auto that everyone is pulling (John Lithgow) but there was some good too:

• Chris Pratt 1/1
• Melissa Joan Hart /8
• Cailey Fleming /15
• Flavor Flav /12
• Mike Love /5
• Edward Furlong /15
• Paul Sorvino /4

I was listing them and I had no idea who Cailey Fleming was, so was surprised her cards were being listed for $150+. That's one thing about this set, I learned there are a lot of celebs I've never heard of. Sadly didn't pull anyone I'd want for my own collection but overall I was satisfied with the variety and I had good luck with low serials. Now I am quitting while I'm ahead, no more boxes.

[dd316]

Originally Posted by AngusMacGyver

I hope that makes you proud, it's pretty #@#@#@#@ing funny to me imagining old Brian Whatshisname getting all worked up and blocking you for sharing an idea.

Badge of honor.

[Joshi City]

Someone above mentioned how many 1/1s there are on eBay. I saw something interesting today - so far, there have been four Chris Pratt 1/1 cards posted (two sold, two listed), and ZERO other Chris Pratt autograph cards.

The great unknown since Leaf doesn't release it is we don't really know how many cards there are of each signer. Its safe to assume Chris Pratt and Clint Eastwood signed less stickers than Mindy Cohn but how much less? Does Pratt have any /20 or higher cards at all? Does he have cards in every parallel? Does he only have 25 signed cards total? 50? It makes it more difficult to find a value when we don't even know how many exist. Their checklist is intentionally vague.

[Crashingwaves]

Big martial arts fan here.... if anyone pulls the Van Damme auto 1/1... would be interested!

[ATLSevarb]

My 4-box rip. Im a sucker for this stupid company’s product. Also doesn’t help that I ordered from a bar while drinking.




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[BobCollects]

I can't get past how ugly these cards are.

[mmbtvs]

I just opened one I bought directly from their website. It was just awful. I was thinking of getting a few more, or maybe a case before I opened this one but I think I'll just grab a couple of singles that I want and call it a day.

[bone]

I agree. Who comes up with the artwork for these cards? Love the set but the cards are terribly designed (eg. "metal", "ice", "Knockouts", "Stunning Starlets", etc. They're quite ugly. I wish they'd go back to the original design.

[PrinceVegeta]

Originally Posted by Joshi City

Someone above mentioned how many 1/1s there are on eBay. I saw something interesting today - so far, there have been four Chris Pratt 1/1 cards posted (two sold, two listed), and ZERO other Chris Pratt autograph cards.

The great unknown since Leaf doesn't release it is we don't really know how many cards there are of each signer. Its safe to assume Chris Pratt and Clint Eastwood signed less stickers than Mindy Cohn but how much less? Does Pratt have any /20 or higher cards at all? Does he have cards in every parallel? Does he only have 25 signed cards total? 50? It makes it more difficult to find a value when we don't even know how many exist. Their checklist is intentionally vague.

They posted an Instagram video that showed the stacks of autos. Looked like Clint had 100-150 or so along with Pratt. How many are actually packed out only Brian knows

[aces]

They're certainly packing them out in dribs and drabs. Isn't Topps still packing out Carrie Fisher stickers, almost 7 years after she died?

[glorbgorb]

Originally Posted by aces

They're certainly packing them out in dribs and drabs. Isn't Topps still packing out Carrie Fisher stickers, almost 7 years after she died?

Yes, lower numbered parallels, as I'm sure they are trying to extend them as long as possible, but yes.

So all those times people bemoan sticker autos, this is one of the reasons companies use them.

[ewok4771]

Let me preface by saying that I am a massive collector of non-sport autograph cards specifically, so I always look forward to any product that offers an opportunity for me to add to my collection.

Having said that: This product SUCKS and I'm glad I didn't buy it. I've long gotten over the fact that they don't even make an effort to get on-card autos, but man the design is atrocious. Somehow gets worse every year. As pointed out, the checklist (although, to Leaf's credit, is highly diverse) features many recycled names from past years and a comical amount of 1/1s.

For me, I was most looking forward to a few of the top chase names: Clint Eastwood, Joe Pesci, and Macauley Culkin (all of whom have never previously signed for any set). Oddly enough, even a few days after release, there are EXCLUSIVELY 1/1s of these three on eBay, which begs an obvious question: Just how limited are they and did leaf only print a dozen or so of each to sell the product? I am all for real exclusivity, but then you should advertise the real checklist and odds. Is there an Eastwood /40? Culkin /20? Doubt it because we would have seen it already. So unless you're willing to drop 1-2k+ for one of the 1/1s it leaves more casual collectors unable to obtain these cards.

Don't get me wrong, I WANT to love this set and hope to see more companies produce high quality non-sport auto cards in the future. But clean up the design (see: Rittenhouse full bleed), cut down on excessive 1/1s, print an honest checklist, at least make an effort to obtain on-card autos, don't recycle the same names every year, and if you're going to do cut autos at least put the damn person's face on the card. Anyways, end of rant but just needed to share my thoughts.

[glorbgorb]

Originally Posted by ewok4771

But clean up the design (see: Rittenhouse full bleed), cut down on excessive 1/1s, print an honest checklist, at least make an effort to obtain on-card autos, don't recycle the same names every year, and if you're going to do cut autos at least put the damn person's face on the card. Anyways, end of rant but just needed to share my thoughts.

I also collect hockey cards a bit, and Leaf has made unlicensed cards in that space for many years. They are known for airbrushed designs (because of the logos) and low-numbered parallels there, as well. So it's just a Leaf thing. Do I really want a /10, /9, /8, /7, /6, /5, /4, /3, /2, and multiple 1/1s of the same player with just a different color foil or animal print as the design? (Yes, you read that right...)

As for the same names in Pop Century, it probably all comes down the sticker thing, right? They probably get certain celebrities (or "celebrities" in many cases) to sign piles of stickers. Of course they're gonna use them.

Regarding the cut signatures, seeing the index card-style plain white cards has to be the most boring cut auto cards ever made. I see those on eBay all the time. I imagine that's where Leaf gets many of them. If the signer were deceased, I could see it. I prefer a document, a signed check, something. Anything, just not the plain white index cards!

[ewok4771]

Originally Posted by glorbgorb

I also collect hockey cards a bit, and Leaf has made unlicensed cards in that space for many years. They are known for airbrushed designs (because of the logos) and low-numbered parallels there, as well. So it's just a Leaf thing. Do I really want a /10, /9, /8, /7, /6, /5, /4, /3, /2, and multiple 1/1s of the same player with just a different color foil or animal print as the design? (Yes, you read that right...)

As for the same names in Pop Century, it probably all comes down the sticker thing, right? They probably get certain celebrities (or "celebrities" in many cases) to sign piles of stickers. Of course they're gonna use them.

Regarding the cut signatures, seeing the index card-style plain white cards has to be the most boring cut auto cards ever made. I see those on eBay all the time. I imagine that's where Leaf gets many of them. If the signer were deceased, I could see it. I prefer a document, a signed check, something. Anything, just not the plain white index cards!

Yeah I get using the stickers if they have them, but would be great to see more new names. I do think Leaf is short-sighted on the stickers though. These boxes could command a much higher price point if at least some of the autos, perhaps a few of the bigger ones, were on card.

And yeah, I think they pull a lot of cut autos from signed books, which does make them incredibly boring.