Donruss Creates Mike Huckabee's Rookie Card
January 09, 2008

Donruss's New Americana Trading Cards Hit Shelves on January 4, 2008 - Just One Day After Huckabee Stuns the Nation by Winning the Iowa Caucus

ARLINGTON, TX - JAN. 9, 2008 - Six months ago, two-term Arakansas Governer and little-known Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee gave up his favorite campaign shirt and signed a few hundred autographs to be part of the new Donruss Americana trading card set.

Huckabee agreed to be featured in the trading card set which features an eclectic group of personalities from the worlds of sports, entertainment, politics and history including; John Travolta, Burt Reynolds, William Shatner, Larry King, Debbie Reynolds, James Dean, Buzz Aldrin, Willie Mays, Lou Gehrig and Jim Courier. The only other politicians in the set are Connie Mack III and George Allen.

In addition to a regular trading card, Huckabee is also featured in an autographed card as well as a memorabilia card which includes a swatch of material from a yellow dress shirt Huckabee wore on the campaign trail. Donruss product manager Rodney Alsup met the Republican presidential candidate at a church fundraiser in Amarillo, Tex. in August to get the shirt and have the candidate signed the stickers that were later affixed to his trading cards. At this time Huckabee was polling at just 2-5% of the vote.

Huckabee has come a long way since the time of the signing, surprising many with his victory at the Iowa caucus last Thursday. This weekend, one of his cards featuring a swatch of the shirt and an autograph sold for over $100 on eBay making it the most valuable card in the set so far.

"At Donruss we pride ourselves on offering collectors unique products with a wide variety of personalities," said Scott Prusha, Director of Marketing for Donruss. "Including Gov. Huckabee's 'rookie card' in Donruss Americana is not unlike our sports products where we often offer the first card of tomorrow's stars."

Donruss Americana reached hobby shops on January 4 - just one day after Huckabee stunned the nation by winning the Iowa Caucus for the Republican Party. The set features 100 base cards as well as many different autograph cards and memorabilia cards, Each 5-card pack of Donruss Americana sells for $40 and guarantees collectors either one autograph or memorabilia card in each pack.

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