Hey let's talk about some cards this month. It's always easy to rail against the card manufacturers and in many cases it's warranted and self-inflicted.
However let's shine some positive vibes on a company due to a recent release I'm applauding. Full disclosure it's from a company I'm not a big cheerleader of, but I'm a credit where credit is due guy.
Leaf Trading Cards fresh with new leadership pre-sold a 20 card set in support of the Autism Speaks Foundation. They only printed 1,000 sets which were made available to collectors and when they were gone they were gone. I was fortunate enough to buy a few before the sellout.
Yes I know it's not the first time a hobby company created a set that benefits or highlights a charitable organization but I really do like this set. Full transparency I'm a Teaching Assistant in the Special Education department and yes some of the kids in my classes have been diagnosed with autism. Okay now that that's out of the way, let's talk about the set. The spec sheet pictures did not do the actual receiving of the sets justice, to the point I did not realize these cards were actually chromium and thick stocked. The athletes are featured inside a semi heart-shaped inset with orange and pink the two dominant colors of the chromium style card. The autism foundation logo and brand is featured prominently on both the front and back.
I also applaud the athlete selection in the set as well. Athletes from six separate sports were the subjects. Representing the sports of baseball, basketball, football, tennis, soccer and my latest personal sport obsession pickleball.
Star power is not lacking throughout this set. From basketball superstar Steph Curry, baseball two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, soccer icons Messi and Ronaldo, Ronald Acuna, Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr, CJ Stroud rookie? Also in the set is number one women's tennis player Aryna Sabalenka and number one pickleball players Anna Leigh Waters and Ben Johns.
Each set is individually numbered to 1,000 and every card in the set will have that same sequential number. Frankly my only knock is that the backs don't have any of the athlete's stats or bio information which would have been nice to have been included. However it's nice to know that 100% of the proceeds go to the Autism Speaks foundation.
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