2009 Donruss Americana

As I've mentioned before, I'm in the midst of trying to get all the cards I purchased over the past 3 years or so put away. At the rate I'm going, it's going to take me the rest of the year as I keep getting distracted by new stuff (anyone bought any Panini Triple Play?) or scanning old cards, or filling out sets of old cards. We'll it's a hobby, not work, so I've got no deadlines.

I had earlier in the year bought some relics and autos from the 2008 set which I thought I posted but apparently I didn't. Maybe later. As I was pawing through my 2009 cards I found I bought some from 2009. I don't remember what I bought. I don't have than many cards so I must have just bought a few packs. Mostly what I got were base cards.
2009 Donruss Americana #1 Jackie Chan

There are 100 cards in the base set featuring, in my opinion, mostly second or third rate celebrities. Jackie Chan was one of the few cards I got that show someone I'm actually a fan of. Jackie looks pretty young here. The blood is probably his own.

2009 Donruss Americana Silver Proofs Retail #91 Jamie Donnelly

There are a number of parallel sets and you really need to find a checklist on-line somewhere to understand what you've got. Ms Donnelly here was one of the Pink Ladies in the original stage production of Grease. The Silver Proofs Retail are serial numbered to 250.

2009 Donruss Americana Platinum Proofs Retail #24 John Kerr

Another actor I don't know, appeared mainly in Broadway productions in the 1950s. Thank God for Wikipedia. The Platinum Proof Retail cards are numbered to 25. The Hobby version is numbered to 10.

2009 Donruss Americana Private Signings #57 Geoff Stults

The rest of the cards I bought off eBay when I found how inexpensive they were. Private Signings is a complete parallel set printed on foil board with an autograph sticker. The autos were actually harder to find than anything else I bought, and correspondingly more expensive. I did manage to snag this guy (know for appearing in TV shows I either never watched or never heard of) for only $4.28. These are also serial numbered but to varying amounts. This one is weirdly numbered to 428.

2009 Donruss Americana Stars Materials Silver Proofs #70 Albert Brooks

There are also parallel cards with swatches of material. And then various PROOF parallels of them. I didn't see any of the base Materials cards. This is numbered to 100. Albert Brooks is actually one of my favorite comedic actors so I didn't mind paying $5.99 for this.

2009 Donruss Americana Stars Materials Silver Proofs Meredith Salenger

I'm not quite sure why I bid on two of the Silver Proofs. I must have been trying to hedge my bet that I'd get at least one of them. According to Wikipedia "Her best known role was the title role in the 1985 Disney film The Journey of Natty Gann.". She was 15 then.

2009 Donruss Americana Stars Materials Gold Proofs #94 Marton Csonkas

 I'm glad I won the Salenger card because the seller threw in this card as a bonus. I got the two for about $3.50. It's numbered to 25. I would have said I didn't know this guy from Adam but he played Lord Celeborn in the Lord of the Rings movies. The nerd in me is happy.

2009 Donruss Americana Stars Signature Materials #51 Jon Provost

 And here's a card with a sticker auto and a swatch. Looks like a piece of his pajamas. It's numbered to 100. I actually had to have this card and was able to get it for $7.60. Why did I have to have it? Surely you recognize Jon Provost, little Timmy from the CBS show Lassie. I loved this show when I was a kid. Provost wrote his autobiography called Timmy Down the Well. I'll have to look for that.

In addition to the numerous parallel cards there were also inserts.

2009 Donruss Americana Cinema Stars #18 Patrick Stewart

More nerdiness. Are you kidding me, a Captain Picard card for only $2.24! There is so much blank space on this card because there are parallels with a swatch, or an autograph, or both. It's numbered to 1,000.

2009 Donruss Americana TV Stars #21 James Caan

I tend to think of James Caan as a movie actor rather than a TV star. Anyway, this is one ugly card. And the off-center photo sliding off the edge doesn't help. But it was only $3.99. Numbered to 1,000.

2009 Donruss Americana Hollywood Legends #5 Gary Cooper

Gary Cooper, now you're talking about a Star! Also numbered to 1,000.

2009 Donruss Americana Co-Stars Materials Leslie Howard/Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.

It's cards like this that start making this set look attractive to collect. Here's the back so you can read the "Certificate of Authenticity".

Looks like the real deal, numbered to 250, and only $7.04.