Box Break Recap: 1997 Leaf Series 2 (the one in which we pull a card with actual gold on it)

Last week was another fun week's worth of Breaker's Club boxes.  We ended up ripping three boxes last week - 1997 Leaf Series 2, 2001 Pacific Private Stock, and 2021 Topps Series 2.  I figured I'd recap the boxes in the same order we ripped them, from oldest to newest!  

Earlier in the Breaker's Club, we ripped a box of 1997 Leaf Series 1, now it's time to take a look at the Series 2 box.

The base design for Series 2 looks identical to Series 1 except now the side borders are white rather than gray.  I have to admit, the white borders make the cards a lot brighter (and for some reason, the design now seems much more akin to a typical Fleer set of the era).

Another similarity between Series 1 and Series 2 boxes is that both boxes promised a grand total of four inserts.  While I liked what we pulled in Series 1, there's no doubt in my mind that the Series 2 box blew away Series 1 when it comes to the inserts.

Before I show the crown jewel of the box, let's look at the other three cards beginning with our lone "regular" Fractal Matrix parallel.

That's Mark Clark of the Mets...a generic name if I've ever heard one...and a guy that don't remember at all!  I do like the Fractal Matrix parallels though so this is a nice one for the Mets.

Next, our one die-cut card of the box - an X-Axis Die Cut Fractal Matrix parallel of Greg Maddux.

That's one of the Gamers subset cards and it makes for a rather busy card design - but again, it's pretty cool (and definitely feels special when you pull it from a pack - a feeling that is missing with most of today's inserts if you ask me)!

Next, an embossed insert called Warning Track.

That one is also nice - I've never seen this particular insert before!  The Dodgers ended up landing this one with Raul Mondesi as the subject (the card is numbered 1458/3500 on the back).  Mondesi is one of those guys that got a ton of cardboard love for a few years and then basically disappeared from baseball card sets after that.

And finally, the crown jewel of the box:

That's a 22 Karat Gold card of Ken Griffey, Jr.  The gimmick here is that the stamp is supposedly actual 22 kt gold!  This one is numbered 1088/2500 on the back and is easily my personal favorite card of the box.  A huge congrats to Jason Williams who has Seattle in this break!

That does it for 1997 Leaf.  Overall, both boxes were fun to rip - some might decry the limited number of inserts but I like that Leaf (Donruss) actually put time into the insert designs.  Each insert set has an interesting gimmick (felt, canvas, gold, etc.) and each set truly feels special in its own way.  I'd much rather have insert sets like those than have a set where inserts are one (or more) per pack but don't seem to be special at all *ahem* modern flagship Topps *ahem*.