Late season update sets

2008 Donruss Elite Extra Edition and 2008 Bowman Draft are out and I think these are the most established products - and where smart collectors put their money in as far as finding cards of their teams' future stars.

I'm trying to get some cards from these products and while the price point per pack are midlevel [maybe $3-$4] - it gets tricky if you are trying by the pack, by the box or perhaps picking up singles. For my own santiy and budget perhaps I'm trying to account for the options I have for picking up either singles or base cards from these sets.

I may not be a prospector, but I want to pick up cards of their teams' potential top prospects prospects - and or first-year cards of the next future stars in baseball.

2008 Donruss Elite Extra edition isn't licensed by the MLB and/or MLBPA - but produced by Donruss, a well-known card company [or at least one with some lineage over the last 25 years].

A non-baseball, novelty subject in 2008 Donruss EEE - is star softball player Cat Osterman.

She is sort of the Jennie Finch, but is not quite - frankly speaking, maybe cards of Osterman in the set will be sought after because she ain't ugly. I think for the NBA prospects [O.J. Mayo, Derrick Rose] in the product, collectors of those sports would rather pick up cards from strictly an NBA licensed product.

For the veteran collector, the harder to find first-year parallels [better if autographed] are key - a few of the notable names available in each product include Gordon Beckham [Chicago White Sox], Michael/Michel Inoa [Oakland Athletics star signee out of the Dominican Republic; available in packs and as a redemption in Bowman Draft] and Buster Posey [San Francisco Giants].

Among its 18-card autograph checklist, 2008 Bowman Draft Chrome also has the likes of - Jesus Montero [New York Yankees; redemption], Michael Stanton [Florida Marlins], Wilmer Flores [New York Mets; redemption], Derek Holland [Texas Rangers], Anthony Hewitt [Philadelphia Phillies] and Josh Reddick [Boston Red Sox].

For the Bowman Draft product, certified autograph cards from the AFLAC baseball tournament are likely going to be the most popular cards - along with the Chrome autographs. Supposedly the AFLAC cards aren't easy to find and those snapping them up hope to have a really scarce parallel if particular players establish themselves as top prospects and/or Major League stars.

For the beginning and/or low budget collector - picking up base sets on Ebay maybe the way to go in order to get a taste of the two products. Parallels and autographs are not in play here, but you have sets of cards featuring players who may play in the Major League some day.

For in-person or through the mail collectors - picking up base sets can be useful in getting newer players' autographs.