2008 Donruss Threads - Century Proof Green

Year: 2008

Manufacturer: Donruss

Set: Threads

Card Number: 29

Card Type: Parallel

Parallel Set: Century Proof Green 

Card Attributes: Serial Numbered

Serial Number: 155/250

Donruss' last hurrah.  I have no idea why I really like this set.  Maybe it's because Donruss got away with what almost bankrupted Upper Deck.  This is an unlicensed set, but you can clearly see logos.  Sure not full logos, no team names, but still Robin's not airbrushed.  Maybe I like this set because Robin's all over it.  Relics, autographs, insert, parallels.  There's lots to chase in this set and I did.  There are 4 parallels for this set, Gold, Green, Platinum, and Silver Century Proofs.  The Green Century Proof Parallels are the most common being numbered to just 250.  Plus the Century Proofs are shiny and I do love shiny cards.  In 2009 Donruss, and all of it's acquired brands with it, would be bought by Panini and well you know how it is now.

2008 Donruss Threads - Silver Century Proof

Year: 2008

Manufacturer: Donruss

Set: Threads

Card Number: 29

Card Type: Insert

Insert Set: Silver Century Proof

Card Attributes: Serial Numbered

Serial Number: 037/100

As I've stated before this last year's haul from COMC's Black Friday sale concentrated more on filling in holes and picking up fairly common cards, but I did manage to snag a couple low numbered parallels for the collection.  Next up we have one of Donruss' last issues before being bought by Panini.  This was also before Topps got exclusivity on the hobby, but Donruss made this set without a MLB license or an MLBPA license.  And still got away with using true team colors and partial logos.  This was before Upper Deck pretty much made sure that wouldn't happen again.  For an unlicensed set it's not bad,  the overall design is nice I like the baseball rounds in the corner, but for the most part the card is pretty simple and they sure didn't waste any money putting too much information on the back of the card.

2008 Donruss Threads Base card

Year: 2008

Manufacturer: Donruss

Card Set: Threads

Card Number: 29

Card Type: Base

Ah 2008 Donruss Threads.  I was pretty excited in 2008 when this came out and I saw how many new Younts I had to chase.  Who cares if it's non-licensed?  We still get partial logos and team colors!  It wouldn't be till 2010 and Upper Deck putting an end to that.  Overall a pretty nice design.  The baseball stitches up top are a nice touch, but they sure didn't waste any space on the back for stats.  

2008 Donruss Threads Century Stars

Year: 2008

Manufacturer: Donruss

Set: Threads

Card Number: CS-13

Card Type: Insert

Insert Set: Century Stars

2008 would mark Donruss' return to the baseball card game.  Donruss lost their MLB license in 2005 and never got it back.  I don't remember if there was a big tado over this set, but you can clearly see parts of logos and team colors looked true.  Of course Upper Deck made sure that you couldn't get away with this anymore. And this would be the last year before Donruss was aquired by Panini.

 I was really excited when this set came out.  Robin was featured in the main checklist and was in the inserts and had lots of parallels, relics, and autos to chase.  Through my collecting life I've gone through ebbs and flows with collecting.  That mainly had to do with what I was doing for work.  My first be reawakening came in 2002 when I discovered ebay and had time to spend lots of money.  It didn't hurt, or maybe it did, that 2002 was also a great year for Robin's relic cards and inserts.  But my second great awakening came in 2008 and I'll be honest I've been riding the crest of that wave for awhile now.  

The base insert itself is fine, but like all the inserts it's made for the relic and auto versions.  There are also serial numbered parallels to chase. 

2008 Donruss Threads Century Stars Blue Jersey relic card

Year: 2008

Manufacturer: Donruss

Set: Threads

Card Number: CS-13

Card Type: Insert Relic

Insert Set: Century Stars 

Relic Type: Jersey

Card Attributes: Memorabilia, Serial Numbered

Serial Number:060/100

I'm not sure why, but I was all over this set when it came out in 2008.  It might have been that Robin was in the set and had a bunch of new cards for me to chase.  We also get one of our first tastes of  a non-MLB licensed baseball project.  But here Donruss gets a few liberties, things it could not get away with now thanks to Upper Deck's 2010 baseball set and lawsuit from Topps.  You can clearly see that there is no team name on the card, but there is a piece of the Brewers's logo visible, although not fully, on the batting helmet and chest.  The back of the card also clearly states, although very small, that this card is not authorized by the MLB or team.  But not having the blatant air brushing and uniform color change makes these cards very appealing.  It doesn't hurt that the card also has the Brewers color scheme.  

Robin actually has three different relics in the set and a couple autographs.  As a guy who collects Robin's cards I also pay attention to little things like that this card has two colored relic swatches that were  used.  This blue one featured and also a plain gray swatch.  There is no differentiation within the set, meaning both colors were mixed into the 100 issued cards, but for a Yount collector they are two different cards, at least for me and I'll feature a gray swatched card sometime in the future.