2008 Playoff Absolute Memorabilia Retail 24 Pack

Purchased: Retail 24 Pack Amazon through Charm City Cards, $39.99, Link
Retail Hit Chances: One Game-Used Memorabilia or Autograph Card Per Box, on Average


Hobby Box Price: Amazon through Georgetown Card Exchange, $129.99 Link
Hobby Box Hit Chances: (4) Memorabilia or Autographed Cards Per Box, on Average





At approximately 1/3 of the Hobby Box Price, I expected only one jersey hit from this retail box. Surprisingly, I found four Rookie Premiere Materials jersey cards without finding any game-used cards. Confused, I took a closer look at the box. The box emphasizes to look for one Game-Used memorabilia card per box while stating that the rookie jersey collection is randomly inserted. Containing rookie event jersey cards in addition to game-used cards, this set of inserts insures buyers.


Rookie Premiere Jerseys and War Room Materials # 147/250:

Although I enjoyed pulling these rookie jerseys, the box lacked base and parallel rookies. Other than the jerseys, I only pulled one decent rookie in the form of a blue spectrum parallel Pierre Garçon numbered 32/250. 

Other cards of note included three numbered inserts, two Tools of the Trade #47/50 and #16/25 and one Canton Absolute #186/250. I found the Canton Absolute card plain, but the Tools of the Trade are attractive cards because of the refractor pattern that forms stripes of light. Even though the Tools of the Trade cards are low-numbered, they aren't really valuable.

Overall, the box was good for retail with the four jerseys and a few inserts, but $40 approaches hobby box territory. In the $40-$50 range, some hobby boxes like 2006 Press Pass and 2009 Score Inscriptions offer 3-4 autographs. Playoff Absolute Memorabilia offers higher quality bases and parallels, but with only a few rookies per box, finding a valuable card is unlikely. Unless one has a great attraction to the 2008 draft class , I would not recommend this box unless the price drops much lower. Instead, look at some of the cheaper hobby boxes in this range that guarantee 4-5 hits per box like Sage Hit unless you really enjoy the Playoff inserts and parallels.