Goodbye Champ

Leaf Muhammad Ali Update

In January I did a write up about the Leaf Muhammad Ali release but there was not much information about the product at the time. I wanted to do a follow up with some current release information.



Click for a full sized image



Schedule Release Date: March 30, 2011
Box Configuration: 1 pack per box, 8 cards per pack
SRP: $90/box


Box Break:
5 Base cards
1 Muhammad Ali themed insert- this includes relics, auto relics, cut signature or a printing plate
2 Autograph cards- Opponents, associates or famous fans


My Thoughts:
I think that every boxing fan realizes the impact that Ali had on the fighting world; even people who have no knowledge of boxing still recognize the name Muhammad Ali. So this set is ground breaking, the only set around that is built around the former champ and fans will be eating it up. With only 399 cases being released Leaf has already sold out the entire run.

The only problem that I see is that people want Ali relics and autographs and with each box you only get 1 Ali related insert which could be a relic or even an autographed relic but it could also be a printing plate. The other 2 autograph cards are from “other people” related to Muhammad Ali. This includes opponents like Joe Frazier or Larry Holmes, associates like Angelo Dundee or fans like Donald Trump or Mickey Rourke.

Oddly the Ali autographed relics appear to be on-card autos but all other autographs (expect the cut signatures) that are included on the sales sheet are sticker autographs. The original pre-release sales information showed on-card autographs for the entire set so I am wondering why that has changed for the final release.


Pros:
Muhammad Ali

The potential to pull an Ali relic or autograph

Relatively inexpensive

Ali autographs are on-card (at least they appear to be hard signed)


Cons:
Only 1 Ali “hit” per box

Filler autographs added to create value to the product

Most autographs are sticker autos

I am not a big fan of the design


Rating:
I am holding the rating because I am torn, there are things I like and things that bother me about the set and I really don’t know where to put this set on the rating scale.



The Ali relic card images that I have posted are courtesy of Blowout Cards forums.

Leaf Muhammad Ali

Late last year Leaf announced that they would be releasing a set dedicated to Muhammad Ali, not much information was made available besides a potential release in the Fall of 2010. A recent press release has updated that to a February 2011 release, along with the announcement they also included a couple of preview images of three autograph-relic cards. Every autograph card in the set is on-card. No price point has been announced yet.

Each box will contain:

4 Base cards

1 Muhammad Ali “hit”

2 Related autograph cards (from other personalities not Ali)


Leaf describes the Ali hits as “A hit can include one of the 50 1/1 autograph/fight-used cards, fight-worn memorabilia, a cut signature or a 1/1 plate.” The other on-card autograph cards are of opponents, fans or associates of Muhammad Ali including Donald Trump, Magic Johnson, Nolan Ryan, Roy Jones Jr. and Joe Frazier.

I like the idea of a Ali set, he deserves the recognition and I know Leaf and Brian Gray are working to give the fans a good product but I am not sure how I feel about the cards right now. I can tell from the images that these are just mockups and not the real cards so I am left wondering if this is just a teaser image to draw interest or the final design. I do like the cards design, it seems to work well here, but the images used seem cheesy and the soft edge cutouts do not do them any justice.