I opened a blaster box (8 packs per box, 5 cards per pack) of Donruss Americana the other day and was relatively pleased with my results. Below is the breakdown of my box break:
Cost: $6.95 (from Blowout Cards during its Black Friday promotions)
Base cards: 39/100
Other cards:
Hollywood Legends #12 Douglas Fairbanks Jr., numbered /1000
Movie Posters Dual Material #62 Carole Lombard and Jack Benny, numbered /500 - features the poster for the comedic movie To Be or Not to Be.
RATINGS:
Design: 3/5
The base card design has a rustic feel to it, with a border that is equal parts wood- and ornament-stylized, with stars of the American flag separating these distinct elements. The image is thus framed nicely, with the featured individual's name spelled out in gold-foil-like lettering atop the card. The design is nice enough but would benefit from more variation. The only card-to-card difference in the base set are the people portrayed; the lack of variance in color, style, lettering, positioning, etc. renders the base set rather boring and earns it only a 3/5 in my book.
Innovation: 3.5/5
There are few other products like Donruss Americana, which works to Americana's benefit. I enjoy taking a break from sports cards occasionally to open non-sport products like Americana, which contains cards of celebrities primarily from the film, television, and music worlds. Jackie Chan graces card no. 1, and Gary Sinise, Vicki Lawrence, and Tori Spelling are on other cards I pulled. While this release partially sates my thirst for entertainment memorabilia, the standardized nature of the set and its relative lack of attractive inserts prevent this product from being as innovative and alluring as it might otherwise be.
Bang for the Buck: 4.5/5
That I received a memorabilia card containing genuinely worn apparel from two great actors made my purchase of this box worth it to me. The box also gave me some quality cards to send through the mail to have autographed. I could have had a more pleasing break, but for about $7, I felt this Americana blaster was a worthwhile purchase and break.
Overall: 3.5/5
I think what this product essentially needed was some spicing up: more inserts - not all inserts need to serially numbered, as was the case here -, an expanded base set with more inter-card variation, and a checklist of more more-relevant stars and fewer minor celebs and has-beens.
