2011 Elite

Traditionally Donruss Elite is one of my favorite sets. The base designs are consistent and the rookies and autographs hold their value over time. Like any other product of this caliber, they have some meaningless inserts which usually do not hold much value and look cheesy. Lets see what early 2011 holds after Leaf Metal made a strong showing early in the season.

Price Paid: $95.90
Sale Value (on ebay): $34.00

Design: As always, I really like the base cards. The metallic background has always worked for this set and they were smart enough to make minor changes to keep them looking fresh. Like many other base sets, there is no real value, but just like Rising Rookies I would pick out the team set I wanted and keep it in my collection. Again, the Aspirations and Status parallels DO hold some value and I always enjoy getting a couple of those in this product. Unfortunately, they did not keep the same design for the rookies. The rookie cards are horizontal close up photography from the combine. While some players are in their NFL jerseys, most are in training gear with awkward looks on their faces. It looks like most collectors agree as some of these autographed rookie cards float through Ebay without a bid. 3/5 (for base and parallels)

Checklist: The checklist itself is impressive. There is a Passing the torch guaranteed auto per case and those cards are usually really nice. However, I did not like the look of the Down and Distance, Hit List, or Power Formulas inserts. Also, products like this have made pulling booklet cards much less spacial as you can pull single color booklet dual jersey cards. It is impressive because there's still some big names like Manning, Elway and Bradford, but odds are you will be getting someone less notable. 4/5

Fun: The Aspirations and Status cards make this a fun product along with the chance of hitting something big. Elite has always given us the opportunity to have a great pull from a mid-end product. The inserts were rather meaningless and the rookie cards were hideous which takes away from the fun. 3.5/5

What I got:
Beanie Wells Aspirations /74
Cam Newton Rookie
Blaine Gabbert Rookie
4 Less notable Rookies
Da'Quan Bowers Auto /49
Jimmy Smith Rookie Auto /499
Darren Sproles Jersey /299
Beanie Wells Jersey  /299






Overall/Value: The price tag is pretty hefty for this product. My expectations may have been too high and that's my own fault. If the rookie designs were better we would be talking a world of difference. However, I collect Panthers and I do not want the Cam Newton rookie because of how it looks - that's saying something. I came out of this product minus $60 on an average looking break - that is unacceptable.2/5

My Break/Tilt: I thought my break was pretty average with the dollar bin jersey cards, a lower tier auto, and a good sp auto. An average break should not leave you $60 in the hole. In fact, all of my breaks I have posted so far have been average and the other losses are acceptable/expected. 2.5/5


Overall: 15/25 F