A Sweet Grab

Ever since some fight promoter years ago got the idea of using a scantily clad girl to carry a sign around the ring in between rounds “Ring Girls” or in MMA fighting “Octagon Girls” have become as much a part of organized fighting as the athletes themselves.

When Topps picked up the UFC license and started producing UFC cards they made sure to include Octagon Girls in the sets. Some of the highest priced autographs from Topps first release, 2009 Topps UFC Round 1, are from Arianny Celeste even topping autos from Royce Gracie (the first UFC Champion).

When Leaf put out the 2010 Leaf MMA release they too included a number of Octagon Girls in their checklist, along with female fighters which was a first. I do not follow the ring girls but for some reason Palmer’s card called to me (beyond being attractive) and I have been watching for a reasonably priced autograph to show up for a couple of years now. I picked this one up for under $10 shipped, which is a great price. Most are currently running $10-15 plus shipping though there are two at 99 cents but once they get closer to ending expect to see the prices jump.

Besides the sticker autographs the 2010 Leaf MMA base autograph set is easily my favorite MMA autograph set. The red background and griffin wings design is appealing and most of the photos are well selected. The photograph fading in to the mist at the bottom allows the blue-inked autographs to really stand out. There are three versions for each auto, the Red base auto, Purple (#/25) and Gold (#/5) with the Purple being my favorite. There are also dual base autographs with two fighters (or Octagon Girls) who have a connection. The release also included a Champions autograph insert and a National Pride autograph insert, which are cool too but I prefer the base autos.

Leaf MMA Wrapper Redemption #5

I was under the impression that the Leaf MMA Metal Alistair Overeem preview cards were to be the final MMA wrapper redemption but Leaf just announced on their Facebook page that they will make one final offer.

The fifth offering (Offer #5) is a 2010 Leaf MMA Charles Oliveira on-card autograph. Send in 24 wrappers for this redemption, there has not been an announced close date at this time. There are some pluses here, first the autograph is hard-signed which makes it stand out amongst the world of stickers and second Oliveira is a solid up and comer young fighter (He turns 22 later this year) and he already has a 14-1 record. His last two fights are a bit of a disappointment with a loss to Jim Miller last December and a No Contest against Nik Lentz last week (He struck Lentz with an illegal knee strike); hopefully he can right the ship and move on from these setbacks. Someone recently posted an auction for 24 wrappers under the heading for this Oliveira autograph with a BIN of $25 and free shipping.

The first offering (Offer #1) was a 2010 Leaf MMA Shogun Rua autograph #/85. This offer was valid through 1/31/11 or while supplies last and has since expired. There are currently none of these available for auction but the last one I did see sold for $180.

The second offering (Offer #2) was a 2010 Leaf MMA Alistair Overeem autograph #/185, this offer has since expired. There is only one of these up for auction with a BIN of $100, but the last one I saw sold for around $250. At this point it is nearly impossible to find any Overeem autographs.

The third offering (Offer #3) was a 2010 Leaf MMA Jon “Bones” Jones autograph #/99 and was available for 24 wrappers. This offer has since sold out but you can still purchase the same exact card from Blowout Cards for $25. You can also find a couple of these up for auction and usually sell for $35-40 each.

The fourth offering (Offer #4) was a 2011 Leaf MMA Metal Alistair Overeem preview card, this offer has since expired. There are none up for auction but I did see some late last month but I do not remember what the price range was at the time. Like most Overeem cards these are difficult to come by.

Leaf MMA Wrapper Redemption #4

Leaf has released the information for their final MMA wrapper redemption program (Offer #4). The redemption program runs through June 1, 2011 or while supplies last. When you send in 16 wrappers you will receive one of the four available 2011 Leaf MMA Metal Alistair Overeem preview cards. The cards are Silver, Red, Gold and Prismatic and there will only be 200 cards total, so most likely 50 of each card is available.

The first offering (Offer #1) was a 2010 Leaf MMA Shogun Rua autograph #/85. This offer was valid through 1/31/11 or while supplies last and has since expired. There is only one of these available for auction and it was just posted with a $1 starting bid but the last one I did see sold for $180.

The second offering (Offer #2) was a 2010 Leaf MMA Alistair Overeem autograph #/185, this offer has since expired. There is only one of these available for auction and it was just posted with a $1 starting bid but the last one I saw sold for around $250. At this point it is nearly impossible to find any Overeem autographs.

The third offering (Offer #3) was a 2010 Leaf MMA Jon “Bones” Jones autograph #/99 and was available for 24 wrappers. This offer has since sold out but you can still purchase the same exact card from Blowout Cards for $25. You can also find a couple of these up for auction and usually sell for $35-40 each.

I did check with Brian Gray and he let me know that the Jon Jones autograph redemption cards are not numbered (though they only had 99 available for the redemption) and are the same exact cards that you find at Blowout Cards.

Leaf MMA Wrapper Redemption Offer #3

Leaf has made two recent announcements regarding their MMA wrapper redemption program. First, the Alistar Overeem redemption has been extended until February 28th. The second announcement regards the 3 offer which will be for Jon Jones, which will run through March 31st.

The first offering (Offer #1) was a 2010 Leaf MMA Shogun Rua autograph #/85. This offer was valid through 1/31/11 or while supplies last and has since expired. I do not see any up for auction at this time but the last one I did see sold for $180.

The second offering (Offer #2) is a 2010 Leaf MMA Alistair Overeem autograph #/185 and is still available for 96 wrappers. This offer was extended through 2/28/11 or while supplies last. There are currently three of these cards up for auction, they are at $199, $199 and $220 and all are BIN auctions.

The newest offering (Offer #3) is a 2010 Leaf MMA Jon “Bones” Jones autograph #/99 and is available for 24 wrappers. This offer runs through 3/31/11 or while supplies last. There are not any of his Leaf Wrapper Redemption cards available for auction but there are 50 auctions for various Jones autos ranging from $1 to $749 with a couple of Leaf autos from this set going anywhere from $24.99 to $200. You can find a similar Bones Jones autographed promo card at Blowout Cards for $19.99

Leaf MMA Wrapper Redemption Offer #2

In December I wrote about the Leaf MMA wrapper redemption program. There was not a whole lot of information regarding the program on the Leaf web site at the time but the redemption turns out to be an on-going program where new offerings will be made by Leaf from time to time throughout the year, so make sure to hold on to your wrappers.

The first offering (Offer #1) was a 2010 Leaf MMA Shogun Rua autograph #/85. This offer was valid through 1/31/11 or while supplies last. Leaf just announced that the Rua redemption has been sold out and is no longer available. I was able to find one sale of an autographed Rua redemption card, it sold for $180.

The next offering (Offer #2) is a 2010 Leaf MMA Alistair Overeem autograph #/185 and is still available for 96 wrappers. This offer also runs through 1/31/11 or while supplies last. I think we finally have an autograph candidate who will rival Chris Johnson autographs. I have found one sale of an autographed Overeem redemption card, also selling for $180.

Overeem is a workhorse of a fighter, he has been active in both kickboxing and MMA for over 10 years and has an impressive record in each going 10-4 in kickboxing and 34-11 in MMA. He is currently the Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, which he has held since 2007, and he is also the Dream Heavyweight Champion, which he won last month, with kickboxing he is the current K1 World Grand Prix Champion. He is ranked in the Top 10 MMA Fighters and has had discussions about joining UFC but no contracts have been signed yet.

Leaf MMA Wrapper Redemption

A couple of months ago Leaf released the 2010 Leaf MMA set, a solid set featuring some of the top in the mixed martial arts field, which was reason enough to buy a box or two and since the initial release the price has dropped significantly, basically in half going from $120/box to around $65/box.

This past Tuesday (12/14/10) Leaf added additional value to their product with the announcement of a wrapper redemption program running through Jan 31, 2011. Not a lot of information has been released yet. Here is the wording directly from Leaf:

“For as few as 16 2010 Leaf MMA wrappers, collectors can redeem limited edition and exclusively signed cards from various fighters. Throughout the next few months, Leaf Trading Cards will reveal more specific redemption opportunities, so collectors can choose when to cash in.”

The best part though is that you can exchange 96 wrappers for an exclusive Mauricio Rua autograph card #/85 that was created specifically for the wrapper redemption program. Shogun Rua is currently the Light Heavyweight Champion and depending on his knee surgery recovery, is scheduled to fight a re-match against Rashad Evans in March 2011 at UFC 128 or UFC 129. Given 96 wrapper is 12 boxes worth of busting and at the current $65/box comes out to $780, you will probably be able to pick up the card for quite a bit less once released and even cheaper if he loses the Evans but for those who are dealing with box and case breaks this might be a good reason to wrangle up those wrappers.



2010 Leaf MMA

Schedule Release Date: September 15, 2010
Box Configuration: 8 packs per box, 8 cards per pack (7 base cards plus 1 autograph)
SRP: $120/box

Box Break:
8 Autographs (1 per pack)

My Thoughts:
I know that Leaf is just a re-branding of Razor Collectibles but as a martial artist and a fan of MMA I feel that Leaf got this right. Topps has done a decent job with their UFC license but I really thing that Brian Gray did right by this product.

The cards are clean and the designs that are used work well with the seriousness of the sport. You get to see the fighters and only the fighters, which is the reason you want this product. The sticker autographs are a bit if a downer, hopefully Leaf learns from this and goes on card autographs next year.

Pros:
Includes a competent checklist ranging from up and coming fighters to established and even proven winners.

Amazing close-up photos, so close you can see the fighter’s determination

1 autograph card per pack

Mutli-signed autographs including dual and quad-signed cards

Only 1 type of insert and that is autographs but there are parallels of each autograph set.

Cons:
$15 a pack may be a bit high for fair weather fans/collectors

Sticker autographs

The National Pride autograph set is only available in the “International” release and not in the US release


Rating:
I give this set a very solid 4 out of 5 because of how well Leaf did putting it together. Leaf says the set has been a year in the making and it looks like they did their homework and put out a winner. Had the cards been on-card autographs I would have rated this at least a 4 ½ if not a 5 on my scale.

A quick listing of some of the fighters from the checklist:
Randy Couture
Chuck Liddell
Gina Carano
Brock Lesnar
Georges St-Pierre
Rich Franklin
Anderson Silva
Frank Mir