1996 Leaf Signature Series

Description

1996 Leaf Signature Series is a 150-card set released in two series. The first 100 cards were issued as part of the Leaf Signature Series set in August, 1996; while the final 50 cards came out in January, 1997 as part of the Extended Series.

One of the more significant products of the era, '96 Leaf Signature was the first product to include an autographed card in every pack and thus was the first MLB-licensed autograph product in history. A limited number of Signature Series packs were sold to mass-market retail outlets in "Blaster"-style boxes.

'96 Leaf Signature was well received, but one criticism was the number of marginal players who signed for the product. With the exception of ten superstar players (who only signed an aggregate of 1000 cards), each player signed 5000 autographs. The "Extended Series," issued five months later, was intended to fix this. Production of the Extended Series was less than half of the original series and each pack contained two autographs with each 12-pack Hobby box yielding a "Hot Pack" containing four autographs. Greg Maddux, Alex Rodriguez, plus newly popular players at the time, Andruw Jones and Ken Caminiti (reigning NL MVP) autographs were included in this series. Again, each player signed 5000 autographs, with the exception of 31 star players who signed significantly less. Each 12-pack Hobby box was guaranteed to yield at least one short-printed star autograph.

Extended Series packs had a selection of base cards from both series, making the Extended Series base cards very difficult to find.

Distribution

Signature Series: 12 packs per box, four cards per pack (MSRP: $9.99).

Extended Series: 12 packs per box, five cards per pack (MSRP: $9.99). Hobby only

Insertion Ratios

Signature Series

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Odds
Base	100	-	3:1
Gold Press Proofs	100	-	1:12
Bronze Autographs	244	3500	AU
Bronze Autographs SPs	10	700	AU
Silver Autographs	244	1000	AU
Silver Autographs SPs	10	200	AU
Gold Autographs	244	500	AU
Gold Autographs SPs	10	100	AU

AU: One autograph per pack.

Extended Series

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Odds
Base	150	-	3:1
Signature Series base set	100	-	two-per-pack
Extended Series base set	50	-	one-per-pack
Gold Press Proofs	150	-	1:8
Platinum Press Proofs	150	150	1:24
Extended Series Autographs	187	5000	AU
Extended Series Autographs SPs	31	varies	1:12 AU
Extended Series Autographs Century Marks	31	100	1:175 AU

AU: Two autographs per pack.

Checklist

Promo

A Frank Thomas card with a facsimile signature was sent to dealers to promote the upcoming Leaf Signature Series set. In addition, some promos signed by Thomas were randomly issued.

Base Set

Signature Series

• 1 Mike Piazza
• 2 Juan Gonzalez
• 3 Greg Maddux
• 4 Marc Newfield
• 5 Wade Boggs
• 6 Ray Lankford
• 7 Frank Thomas
• 8 Rico Brogna
• 9 Tim Salmon
• 10 Ken Griffey, Jr.
• 11 Manny Ramirez
• 12 Cecil Fielder
• 13 Gregg Jefferies
• 14 Rondell White
• 15 Cal Ripken, Jr.
• 16 Alex Rodriguez
• 17 Bernie Williams
• 18 Andres Galarraga
• 19 Mike Mussina
• 20 Chuck Knoblauch
• 21 Joe Carter
• 22 Jeff Bagwell
• 23 Mark McGwire
• 24 Sammy Sosa
• 25 Reggie Sanders
• 26 Chipper Jones
• 27 Jeff Cirillo
• 28 Roger Clemens
• 29 Craig Biggio
• 30 Gary Sheffield
• 31 Paul O'Neill
• 32 Johnny Damon
• 33 Jason Isringhausen
• 34 Jay Bell
• 35 Henry Rodriguez
• 36 Matt Williams
• 37 Randy Johnson
• 38 Fred McGriff
• 39 Jason Giambi
• 40 Ivan Rodriguez
• 41 Raul Mondesi
• 42 Barry Larkin
• 43 Ryan Klesko
• 44 Joey Hamilton
• 45 Todd Hundley
• 46 Jim Edmonds
• 47 Dante Bichette
• 48 Roberto Alomar
• 49 Mark Grace
• 50 Brady Anderson
• 51 Hideo Nomo
• 52 Ozzie Smith
• 53 Robin Ventura
• 54 Andy Pettitte
• 55 Kenny Lofton
• 56 John Mabry
• 57 Paul Molitor
• 58 Rey Ordonez
• 59 Albert Belle
• 60 Charles Johnson
• 61 Edgar Martinez
• 62 Derek Bell
• 63 Carlos Delgado
• 64 Raul Casanova
• 65 Ismael Valdes
• 66 J.T. Snow
• 67 Derek Jeter
• 68 Jason Kendall
• 69 John Smoltz
• 70 Chad Mottola
• 71 Jim Thome
• 72 Will Clark
• 73 Mo Vaughn
• 74 John Wasdin
• 75 Rafael Palmeiro
• 76 Mark Grudzielanek
• 77 Larry Walker
• 78 Alan Benes
• 79 Michael Tucker
• 80 Billy Wagner
• 81 Paul Wilson
• 82 Greg Vaughn
• 83 Dean Palmer
• 84 Ryne Sandberg
• 85 Eric Young
• 86 Jay Buhner
• 87 Tony Clark
• 88 Jermaine Dye
• 89 Barry Bonds
• 90 Ugueth Urbina
• 91 Charles Nagy
• 92 Ruben Rivera
• 93 Todd Hollandsworth
• 94 Darin Erstad RC
• 95 Brooks Kieschnick
• 96 Edgar Renteria
• 97 Lenny Dykstra
• 98 Tony Gwynn
• 99 Kirby Puckett
• 100 Checklist

Extended Series

• 101 Andruw Jones
• 102 Alex Ochoa
• 103 David Cone
• 104 Rusty Greer
• 105 Jose Canseco
• 106 Ken Caminiti
• 107 Mariano Rivera
• 108 Ron Gant
• 109 Darryl Strawberry
• 110 Vladimir Guerrero
• 111 George Arias
• 112 Jeff Conine
• 113 Bob Higginson
• 114 Eric Karros
• 115 Brian Hunter
• 116 Eddie Murray
• 117 Todd Walker
• 118 Chan Ho Park
• 119 John Jaha
• 120 Dave Justice
• 121 Mac Suzuki
• 122 Scott Rolen
• 123 Tino Martinez
• 124 Kimera Bartee
• 125 Garret Anderson
• 126 Brian Jordan
• 127 Andre Dawson
• 128 Javy Lopez
• 129 Bill Pulsipher
• 130 Dwight Gooden
• 131 Al Martin
• 132 Terrell Wade
• 133 Steve Gibralter
• 134 Tom Glavine
• 135 Kevin Appier
• 136 Tim Raines
• 137 Curtis Pride
• 138 Todd Greene
• 139 Bobby Bonilla
• 140 Trey Beamon
• 141 Marty Cordova
• 142 Rickey Henderson
• 143 Ellis Burks
• 144 Dennis Eckersley
• 145 Kevin Brown
• 146 Carlos Baerga
• 147 Brett Butler
• 148 Marquis Grissom
• 149 Karim Garcia
• 150 Frank Thomas CL

Parallels

Each of the 150 base cards are available in the following parallels.

• Gold Press Proof
• Platinum Press Proof (limited to 150 copies, Extended Series packs only)

Autographs & Game-Used

Signature Series Autographs

With some exceptions, each player signed 5000 cards for insertion into Signature Series packs. Each card is stamped with either a Bronze, Silver, or Gold foil stamp with the first 3500 cards stamped in Bronze, 1000 in Silver, and the remaining 500 in Gold. Ten "marquee" players (indicated with an "SP" in the checklist below) signed only 1000 cards, with 700 Bronze, 200 Silver, and 100 Gold.

NOTES

• Seven players (designated with an "*" in the checklist below) did not return their autographs to Donruss in time for the release of Signature Series. Six of those cards were randomly inserted into packs of Extended Series. The seventh player, Otis Nixon, never bothered to return his cards; however, beginning around 2005, some Nixon Autographs surfaced on the secondary market.
• Jim Thome did not sign any Bronze autographs, but erroneously signed 410 Silver and 514 Gold Autographs.
• All cards were signed in black ink; however, Alex Rodriguez, Michael Tucker, and Carlos Delgado signed some of their cards in blue ink.
• None of these cards are serial-numbered or sequentially-numbered.
• 1,230,000 autographs were signed for the Signature Series product.

• Kurt Abbott
• Juan Acevedo
• Terry Adams
• Manny Alexander
• Roberto Alomar SP
• Moises Alou
• Wilson Alvarez
• Garret Anderson
• Shane Andrews
• Andy Ashby
• Pedro Astacio
• Brad Ausmus
• Bobby Ayala
• Carlos Baerga
• Harold Baines
• Jason Bates
• Allen Battle
• Rich Becker
• David Bell
• Rafael Belliard
• Andy Benes
• Armando Benitez
• Jason Bere
• Geronimo Berroa
• Willie Blair
• Mike Blowers
• Wade Boggs SP
• Ricky Bones
• Mike Bordick
• Toby Borland
• Ricky Bottalico
• Darren Bragg
• Jeff Branson
• Tilson Brito
• Rico Brogna
• Scott Brosius
• Damon Buford
• Mike Busby
• Tom Candiotti
• Frank Castillo
• Andujar Cedeno
• Domingo Cedeno
• Roger Cedeno
• Norm Charlton
• Jeff Cirillo
• Will Clark
• Jeff Conine
• Steve Cooke
• Joey Cora
• Marty Cordova
• Rheal Cormier
• Felipe Crespo
• Chad Curtis
• Johnny Damon
• Russ Davis
• Andre Dawson
• Carlos Delgado *
• Doug Drabek
• Darren Dreifort
• Shawon Dunston
• Ray Durham
• Jim Edmonds
• Joey Eischen
• Jim Eisenreich
• Sal Fasano
• Jeff Fassero
• Alex Fernandez
• Darrin Fletcher
• Chad Fonville
• Kevin Foster
• John Franco
• Julio Franco
• Marvin Freeman
• Travis Fryman
• Gary Gaetti
• Carlos Garcia
• Jason Giambi
• Benji Gil
• Greg Gohr
• Chris Gomez
• Leo Gomez
• Tom Goodwin
• Mike Grace
• Mike Greenwell
• Rusty Greer
• Mark Grudzielanek
• Mark Gubicza
• Juan Guzman
• Darryl Hamilton
• Joey Hamilton
• Chris Hammond
• Mike Hampton
• Chris Haney
• Todd Haney
• Erik Hanson
• Pete Harnisch
• LaTroy Hawkins
• Charlie Hayes
• Jimmy Haynes
• Roberto Hernandez
• Bob Higginson
• Glenallen Hill
• Ken Hill
• Sterling Hitchcock
• Trevor Hoffman
• Dave Hollins
• Dwayne Hosey
• Thomas Howard
• Steve Howe
• John Hudek
• Rex Hudler
• Brian L. Hunter *
• Butch Huskey
• Mark Hutton
• Jason Jacome
• John Jaha
• Reggie Jefferson
• Derek Jeter SP
• Bobby Jones
• Todd Jones
• Brian Jordan
• Kevin Jordan
• Jeff Juden
• Ron Karkovice
• Roberto Kelly
• Mark Kiefer
• Brooks Kieschnick
• Jeff King
• Mike Lansing
• Matt Lawton
• Al Leiter
• Mark Leiter
• Curtis Leskanic
• Darren Lewis
• Mark Lewis
• Felipe Lira
• Pat Listach
• Keith Lockhart
• Kenny Lofton SP
• John Mabry
• Mike Macfarlane
• Kirt Manwaring
• Al Martin
• Norberto Martin
• Dennis Martinez
• Pedro Martinez
• Sandy Martinez
• Mike Matheny
• T.J. Mathews
• David McCarty
• Ben McDonald
• Pat Meares
• Orlando Merced
• Jose Mesa
• Matt Mieske
• Orlando Miller
• Mike Mimbs
• Paul Molitor SP
• Raul Mondesi SP
• Jeff Montgomery
• Mickey Morandini
• Lyle Mouton
• James Mouton
• Jamie Moyer
• Rodney Myers
• Denny Neagle
• Robb Nen
• Marc Newfield
• Dave Nilsson
• Otis Nixon *
• Jon Nunnally
• Chad Ogea
• Troy O'Leary
• Rey Ordonez
• Jayhawk Owens
• Tom Pagnozzi
• Dean Palmer
• Roger Pavlik
• Troy Percival
• Carlos Perez
• Robert Perez
• Andy Pettitte
• Phil Plantier *
• Mike Potts
• Curtis Pride
• Ariel Prieto
• Bill Pulsipher
• Brad Radke
• Manny Ramirez SP
• Joe Randa
• Pat Rapp
• Bryan Rekar
• Shane Reynolds
• Arthur Rhodes
• Mariano Rivera
• Alex Rodriguez SP
• Frank Rodriguez
• Mel Rojas
• Ken Ryan
• Bret Saberhagen
• Tim Salmon
• Rey Sanchez
• Scott Sanders
• Steve Scarsone
• Curt Schilling
• Jason Schmidt
• David Segui
• Kevin Seitzer
• Scott Servais
• Don Slaught
• Zane Smith
• Paul Sorrento
• Scott Stahoviak
• Mike Stanley
• Terry Steinbach
• Kevin Stocker
• Jeff Suppan
• Bill Swift
• Greg Swindell
• Kevin Tapani
• Danny Tartabull
• Julian Tavarez
• Frank Thomas SP
• Ozzie Timmons
• Michael Tucker
• Ismael Valdes
• Jose Valentin
• Todd Van Poppel
• Mo Vaughn SP
• Quilvio Veras
• Fernando Vina
• Joe Vitiello
• Jose Vizcaino
• Omar Vizquel
• Terrell Wade *
• Paul Wagner
• Matt Walbeck
• Jerome Walton
• Turner Ward
• Allen Watson
• David Weathers
• Walt Weiss
• Turk Wendell
• Rondell White
• Brian Williams
• George Williams
• Paul Wilson
• Bobby Witt
• Bob Wolcott
• Eric Young
• Ernie Young *
• Greg Zaun
• Jim Thome (gold)
• Jim Thome (silver)

Extended Series Autographs

As in the Signature Series, most players signed 5000 cards. Unlike the Signature Series, there are not foil parallels.

NOTES:

• 31 "marquee" players (designated by an "SP" in the checklist below) signed noticeably fewer cards. The cards are limited, but not serial-numbered, to the product figures listed below. The odds of finding a "marquee" autograph is 1:9 Extended Series packs.
• Three of the "marquee" players did not turn in their cards in time for inclusion; therefore, redemption cards were issued. The redemption cards expired December 31, 1998.
• Blue ink variations exist for five of the "marquee" players: Andruw Jones, Ryan Klesko, Andy Pettitte, Kirby Puckett and Frank Thomas. Puckett signed no more than 200 in Blue ink and Thomas no more than 300.
• These blue ink variations exist because the players mistakenly signed in blue ink instead of black ink.
• Two non-marquee players signed fewer than 5000 cards. Steve Parris signed only 1800 cards, while Doug Creek autographed 1950.
• 1,080,000 autographs were signed for the Extended Series product.

• Scott Aldred
• Mike Aldrete
• Rich Amaral
• Alex Arias
• Paul Assenmacher
• Roger Bailey
• Erik Bennett
• Sean Bergman
• Doug Bochtler
• Tim Bogar
• Pat Borders
• Pedro Borbon
• Shawn Boskie
• Rafael Bournigal
• Mark Brandenburg
• John Briscoe
• Jorge Brito
• Doug Brocail
• Jay Buhner SP 1000
• Scott Bullett
• Dave Burba
• Ken Caminiti SP 1000
• John Cangelosi
• Cris Carpenter
• Chuck Carr
• Larry Casian
• Tony Castillo
• Jason Christiansen
• Archi Cianfrocco
• Mark Clark
• Terry Clark
• Roger Clemens SP 1000
• Jim Converse
• Dennis Cook
• Francisco Cordova
• Jim Corsi
• Tim Crabtree
• Doug Creek 1950
• John Cummings
• Omar Daal
• Rich DeLucia
• Mark Dewey
• Alex Diaz
• Jermaine Dye SP 2500
• Ken Edenfield
• Mark Eichhorn
• John Ericks
• Darin Erstad
• Alvaro Espinoza
• Jorge Fabregas
• Mike Fetters
• John Flaherty
• Bryce Florie
• Tony Fossas
• Lou Frazier
• Mike Gallego
• Karim Garcia SP 2500
• Jason Giambi
• Ed Giovanola
• Tom Glavine SP 1250
• Juan Gonzalez SP EXCH 1000
• Craig Grebeck
• Buddy Groom
• Kevin Gross
• Eddie Guardado
• Mark Guthrie
• Tony Gwynn SP 1000
• Chip Hale
• Darren Hall
• Lee Hancock
• Dave Hansen
• Bryan Harvey
• Bill Haselman
• Mike Henneman
• Doug Henry
• Gil Heredia
• Carlos Hernandez
• Jose Hernandez
• Darren Holmes
• Mark Holzemer
• Rick Honeycutt
• Chris Hook
• Chris Howard
• Jack Howell
• David Hulse
• Edwin Hurtado
• Jeff Huson
• Mike James
• Derek Jeter SP 1000
• Brian Johnson
• Randy Johnson SP 1000
• Mark Johnson
• Andruw Jones SP EXCH 2000
• Chris Jones
• Ricky Jordan
• Matt Karchner
• Scott Karl
• Jason Kendall SP 2500
• Brian Keyser
• Mike Kingery
• Wayne Kirby
• Ryan Klesko SP 1000
• Chuck Knoblauch SP 1000
• Chad Kreuter
• Tom Lampkin
• Scott Leius
• Jon Lieber
• Nelson Liriano
• Scott Livingstone
• Graeme Lloyd
• Kenny Lofton SP 1000
• Luis Lopez
• Torey Lovullo
• Greg Maddux SP 500
• Mike Maddux
• Dave Magadan
• Mike Magnante
• Joe Magrane
• Pat Mahomes
• Matt Mantei
• John Marzano
• Terry Mathews
• Chuck McElroy
• Fred McGriff SP 1000
• Mark McLemore
• Greg McMichael
• Blas Minor
• Dave Mlicki
• Mike Mohler
• Paul Molitor SP 1000
• Steve Montgomery
• Mike Mordecai
• Mike Morgan
• Mike Munoz
• Greg Myers
• Jimmy Myers
• Mike Myers
• Bob Natal
• Dan Naulty
• Jeff Nelson
• Warren Newson
• Chris Nichting
• Melvin Nieves
• Charlie O'Brien
• Alex Ochoa
• Omar Olivares
• Joe Oliver
• Lance Painter
• Rafael Palmeiro SP 2500
• Mark Parent
• Steve Parris 1800
• Bob Patterson
• Tony Pena
• Eddie Perez
• Yorkis Perez
• Robert Person
• Mark Petkovsek
• Andy Pettitte SP 1000
• J.R. Phillips
• Hipolito Pichardo
• Eric Plunk
• Jimmy Poole
• Kirby Puckett SP 1000
• Paul Quantrill
• Tom Quinlan
• Jeff Reboulet
• Jeff Reed
• Steve Reed
• Carlos Reyes
• Bill Risley
• Kevin Ritz
• Kevin Roberson
• Rich Robertson
• Alex Rodriguez SP EXCH 500
• Ivan Rodriguez SP 1250
• Bruce Ruffin
• Juan Samuel
• Tim Scott
• Kevin Sefcik
• Jeff Shaw
• Danny Sheaffer
• Craig Shipley
• Dave Silvestri
• Aaron Small
• John Smoltz SP 1000
• Luis Sojo
• Sammy Sosa SP 1000
• Steve Sparks
• Tim Spehr
• Russ Springer
• Matt Stairs
• Andy Stankiewicz
• Mike Stanton
• Kelly Stinnett
• Doug Strange
• Mark Sweeney
• Jeff Tabaka
• Jesus Tavarez
• Frank Thomas SP 1000
• Larry Thomas
• Mark Thompson
• Mike Timlin
• Steve Trachsel
• Tom Urbani
• Julio Valera
• Dave Valle
• William VanLandingham
• Mo Vaughn SP 1000
• Dave Veres
• Ed Vosberg
• Don Wengert
• Matt Whiteside
• Bob Wickman
• Matt Williams SP 1250
• Mike Williams
• Woody Williams
• Craig Worthington

Extended Series Autographs Century Marks

Century Marks is a partial-parallel of the 31 "marquee" autographs. Each card is stamped in blue foil and is limited (but not serial-numbered) to 100 copies.

NOTE: Five players did not sign their cards in time for inclusion into packs, and redemption cards were issued.

• Jay Buhner
• Ken Caminiti
• Roger Clemens
• Jermaine Dye
• Darin Erstad
• Karim Garcia
• Jason Giambi
• Tom Glavine
• Juan Gonzalez EXCH
• Tony Gwynn
• Derek Jeter EXCH
• Randy Johnson
• Andruw Jones EXCH
• Jason Kendall
• Ryan Klesko
• Chuck Knoblauch
• Kenny Lofton
• Greg Maddux
• Fred McGriff
• Paul Molitor
• Alex Ochoa
• Rafael Palmeiro EXCH
• Andy Pettitte
• Kirby Puckett
• Alex Rodriguez EXCH
• Ivan Rodriguez
• John Smoltz
• Sammy Sosa
• Frank Thomas
• Mo Vaughn
• Matt Williams

Frank Thomas Jumbo Autographs

As a gift to dealers who ordered Extended Series, Donruss produced jumbo-sized versions of both Frank Thomas Autographs. Dealers received one Frank Thomas Jumbo Autograph for each Extended Series case they ordered.

Both cards are serial-numbered to 1500 copies.

• Frank Thomas EXT
• Frank Thomas SIG

Donruss Signature
1996 Leaf Signature Series - 1997 - 1998 - 2001 - 2003 - 2005 - 2012 Panini Signature