LCS Pickup 1986 Leaf Baseball

While out and about recently, I stopped in a local card shop where I spied on the shelf, a complete set of 1986 Leaf Baseball cards.  Back in the baseball card hey days of the mid 80's, I don't remember seeing Leaf baseball all that much and if I did, probably brushed them off as cheapo knock offs.  Besides, I don't speak French and this isn't a set I would normally target. To see a complete set on the shelf for a mere $12... well the price was right.

There really aren't too many differences - design and photo wise - between this version and Donruss, but I did notice some obvious variances.  First, the size of the  Leaf set is small in comparison (260 vs 660).  It's almost like someone at Leaf just picked random players from the Donruss set and slapped a Leaf logo on the front.  Also there are only 3 - YES THREE - rated rookies in the Leaf set.  Leaf of course, also whiffed on the Canseco rookie. 

The other variation I noticed is the puzzle card of Hank Aaron.  The Leaf version features the back with a vertical orientation, while the Donruss version sports a horizontal orientation.  Not sure why they did this as it sure looks like there was plenty of room to add the french paragraph on the horizontal back.  Here you can see the difference, with the Leaf version on the left and Donruss version is on the right.  Both versions urge you to "collect all 63 Donruss puzzle pieces".  I found it kind of funny that Leaf doesn't mention itself on its own card (also noted on the Diamond Kings).

As a watered down version of Donruss and lacking the impact of rated rookies, this set is sure to be treasured only by a true set collector (or maybe someone who lives in Canada).