So the next release of Leaf Pop Century Metal should appear at the end of this month. Box price without any discount looks to be $335. That's for 4 autograph cards and some 2 unsigned pre-production cards that are basically useless.

Now included for 2026 as the big new signers are Nic Cage, Johnny Depp, Ann-Margaret and Winona Ryder. Lots of other big names that have already appeared in 2025 and earlier product. The joys of banking sticker autographs is that they never appear to run out and the manufacturer can make 200 1/1s over time.

Pop Century had already gotten greedy under Brian Gray, but since his departure it actually got worse. There is also some other version of this called Code Red. Not sure when that comes out, but you get an additional autograph card for $220 more a box. Now we are talking $550 or $110 per signature to break even.

I happen to really like Pop Century products as a means to get autographs I could never find. I have even made my peace with stickers, if that is the only option. However only buyers who are really flippers can afford to break these boxes now, and even they are getting squeezed because the repeat signers increase the supply and decrease the demand. Every repeat signer potentially lowers the price of the last card. It's risky to pray for a new big signer at such limited numbers.

Nevertheless, for us autograph card collectors there will be more bargains and more signature holes filled. It may take a while for the dust to settle, but there will be more happy hunting, if you look before you leap. How's that for stringing old expressions?

I see Pop Century pre-production cards on Ebay and have wondered how you get those as I've never seen dealers give them out and have never heard of them being given out at shows (Philly, National). If they are in packs then they are more like chase cards but promo collectors aren't going to want them and most other collectors are not going to be excited to get them as they seem like a "lazy" level of chase card relative to the price of a box.

quote:

Originally posted by catskilleagle:
I see Pop Century pre-production cards on Ebay and have wondered how you get those as I've never seen dealers give them out and have never heard of them being given out at shows (Philly, National). If they are in packs then they are more like chase cards but promo collectors aren't going to want them and most other collectors are not going to be excited to get them as they seem like a "lazy" level of chase card relative to the price of a box.

They're a vehicle for Leaf to make more money off the Pop Century brand. Many times you'll see Leaf sell convention or holiday packs that include these, as well as autos, but most packs contain these proofs. They seem to have a neverending supply. At least they're typically only $10-$15, but as Raven mentioned, nobody collects them and they're pretty worthless, even though each is labeled 1/1.

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Originally posted by Ted Dastick Jr.:
They're a vehicle for Leaf to make more money off the Pop Century brand. Many times you'll see Leaf sell convention or holiday packs that include these, as well as autos, but most packs contain these proofs. They seem to have a neverending supply. At least they're typically only $10-$15, but as Raven mentioned, nobody collects them and they're pretty worthless, even though each is labeled 1/1.

I don't really know where those Pop Century holiday autograph cards originate, I'm assuming maybe direct from the website as I don't look there. They get dropped on eBay as St. Patrick's Day, President's Day, Halloween, Christmas, etc. They are always short printed with many as 1/1s. Curiously enough, a lot of the rarest seem to be offered by the same small circle of sellers.

The thing about all these 1/1s is that the same card comes in about 7 colors, with maybe 6 background designs, then everyone of them has a Prismatic, and then that same signer has maybe 3 different cards. On top of that comes the holiday and SNL and whatever other insert version they can think of making. Certainly a few of the big names didn't do this many, but most of the signers do, although not necessarily released in the same product. And I also forgot the inscriptions and scripted versions as well.

Now, just try to add all that up as 1/1s only for the same autograph. I mean I'm not great at math, but I put it close to 200 signed 1/1s cards as a total before you even get into the higher card ranges. It's kind of staggering and you can see where prices are headed for a fall when collectors realize the size of this supply as sticker signatures.

Again, I'm all for it. They are on the market for fans. But I would caution anyone who thinks that these cards are going to appreciate in value that almost all are coming out at peak and there is nowhere else to go but down. Wait for your price.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Raven,

I'll look out for a certain few singles, as usual, but these cards never looked better than when they were on regular paper stock. That said, I also appreciate the variety of names they gather, and that those people, many elderly (with more than a few in the new set already deceased), were able to get a check for just writing their names on a few pages of stickers.

It has been largely the case that most signers in these releases, perhaps because they are older and have more practiced handwriting, tend to have nicer signatures, by which I mean legible signatures. Looking at the early returns, Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLovin in "Superbad") is an unfortunate exception. Why bother, guy? He must've filled in his sheets in a flash.
Speaking of which, John Schneider's once flowery signature has lately devolved to mere initials. Perhaps he signed them as he was jumping his car over a mountain with some dang ol' revenooers in hot pursuit.

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Originally posted by chesspieceface:
It has been largely the case that most signers in these releases, perhaps because they are older and have more practiced handwriting, tend to have nicer signatures, by which I mean legible signatures.

I love long signatures, and I especially love long legible signatures on certified cards. To me, when it's a situation where a celebrity is being paid to sign, it shows respect for the purchaser to really lay down your "money" autograph, as the buyer is presumably a fan.

Yes, stickers are smaller and there may be a lot of them to sign, yet some people manage to do it. Older or younger, I applaud those people. They have not shortened their given names. They have not taken to initials. They have accepted the job, and they write the same legible autograph, even though it takes longer.

Here are my top three on recent Leaf Pop Century product, but there are more if you'd care to air them and they don't have to have three names either:
Lou Diamond Phillips
Bryce Dallas Howard
Sarah Michelle Gellar (forget the SMG phase)

I always think of a quote from someone on Blowout - "the best things about Leaf are finding first time signers for your PC, and watching Youtubers try and be happy they spent a week's grocery money on a box where their big "hits" are a soap actor from the 80s and a country musician they've never heard of"

quote:

Originally posted by Davy's flicks:
I always think of a quote from someone on Blowout - "the best things about Leaf are finding first time signers for your PC, and watching Youtubers try and be happy they spent a week's grocery money on a box where their big "hits" are a soap actor from the 80s and a country musician they've never heard of"

I think this has gotten both better and worse as far as box buying Pop Century goes.

At one time the boxes of autograph hit products like Leaf, Americana and Pop Century were cheap grab bags that contained mostly cheap celebrities. Yes, you were probably going to pull a couple of $10 signatures from a soap actor, a drummer you never heard of, a child actor, nobody you would have bought for yourself. But there were a couple of stars, it was a $70 lottery, and you took your chances. When those boxes went on discount in a year or so, I was breaking them like crazy.

Now only Leaf Pop Century is really left and it's still a grab bag product, but most signers are decently known. The cards look great and every release brings out people who have not had certified autograph cards before or who have "best" autograph cards that are basically unaffordable. Every card is numbered in some short-printed range and the 1/1s keep coming. So do the repeat signers. The accumulating result is that supply will, and perhaps already has, outstrip demand for all but the few.

So is this an improvement? You bet, if you like certified autograph cards. Should you buy boxes? No, not unless you have $300 plus to throw away if you come up with no one wanted. Can flippers and dealers make profit off cases? Maybe, but it's getting close to margins, and I really don't see how much longer Pop Century Metal can keep these box prices up before no one wants to risk the breaks. Of course, I predicted it wouldn't get this far, so what do I know!