Pack Sampling: 2009 Donruss Classics

The original plan for today's post was to finish up with the last of September's card show haul, but that's looking like it's going to be a long one, and I didn't have nearly as much time (or desire) this weekend to finish it -- so I'm gonna call an audible (pun intended), and open up one of the smaller packs that I bought at that show instead.

2009 Donruss Classics was completely new to me, I think I came back to card collecting around 2009, but I wasn't paying any attention to what was currently out there at the time, I was actually only interested in working on vintage basketball sets when I returned -- in case you haven't noticed, that plan didn't work out very well.

Not being familiar with the set was part of this pack's appeal, although $1 for only five cards did seem a bit steep, and I did find out later that it was a retail pack, so that dollar probably wasn't going to give me much of a chance at anything good, but it was still worth the risk.

After bringing the packs home, I intentionally didn't look into the couple of sets that I hadn't heard of before (this being one of them), that way my first time seeing them would be when they were opened, so let's see what this set looks like!

Right off the bat, I'm not overly fond of the design (the background doesn't fit, and the white borders are bit much), and the first player out of the pack certainly could've been better. Me saying that I'm not a fan of Chad Johnson would be quite the understatement, I loathe prima donna receivers, and his name change ranks up there with one of the dumbest, if not the dumbest name changes ever -- even Prince's symbol thought that Ocho Cinco was lame!

Wow, this pack's a real winner so far! Santonio had a couple of really good seasons, but in my mind, all of his off the field troubles negate any of the praise that he received while playing.

I know the name, but I can't place him... so off to the Google! Apparently he was Detroit's starting running back for a couple of seasons, had a knee injury, came back in a limited role, and then seemingly disappeared off the face of the map, or at least from the NFL. There doesn't seem to be any info out there about what happened to him, or why he never tried to sign with anyone else.

Ooh... my first pack pulled Tom Brady! I know that there are plenty of folks out there who don't like him, but I'm not one of them. I don't know if I'd call myself fan or not, as I don't follow any modern players career too closely, but I do respect what he's been able to do during his tenure, and tend to think that we won't ever see another quarterback have as much success as he's had.

Despite some injuries in recent years, Greg Olsen has had a pretty solid career too. He's been with the Panthers for awhile now, so it was slightly jarring to see him in an orange Bears uni.

Five cards sure goes by quick! Definitely not the best pack ever, and this certainly isn't the most pleasing set design that I've ever encountered (not the worst either), but at least I now know of the set, and can say that I've opened at least one pack of it. Would I ever buy another pack? No, I've seen enough. Will I ever buy any more singles from the set? No, I've seen enough :)

By the by, Tom Brady is only keeper from the pack, so if you need/want any of the other four cards, don't be shy about saying so.


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