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Go Back   Net54baseball.com Forums > Net54baseball Postwar Sportscard Forums > Modern Baseball Cards Forum (1980-Present)

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  #1  
Old 12-16-2016, 09:46 AM
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Default Your Favorite Donruss Sets from 1981-1991

Beginning in 1981, Donruss began printing their regular annual baseball card sets. In 1992 they joined the "premium" fray and started using thicker card stock on their base set. But from 1981 to 1991, the base Donruss set was printed on standard cardboard and issued in wax packs for an affordable price. Between those 11 sets, which are your favorites, and why? Feel free to rank them or whatever you want.

Personally, the 1987 set is my favorite with 1984 a close second. This is due first and foremost to the designs of those sets, but also to the great rookies and many nice regular player cards featured in those sets. While the 85 set is decent, it was a big letdown after that beautiful white bordered 84 set. And 88 was a travesty coming after the sweet 87 set. But, I feel similarly about the 88 sets of Topps and Fleer, as the 87 sets of those cards were great as well. 1987 was just an excellent year for baseball cards. That's when it all began for me though, so maybe that's just nostalgia talking, but I think the designs of the big 3 that year still hold up well today.

Anyway, I'm curious what the favorites (and least favorites) are of anyone here who still has interest in cards from the "junk wax" era.
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  #2  
Old 12-16-2016, 09:56 AM
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I have to go with '83 as my favorite, followed maybe by '86 (or whatever one has the white letter Highlights cards). Mostly I just love finding the variations.
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  #3  
Old 12-16-2016, 10:36 AM
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My favorite is the 1990 set by far because of the awesome red borders. Love the T210's for the same reason.

Like Sean posted above I also like looking through junk wax era cards for the error and variation cards.
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  #4  
Old 12-16-2016, 11:40 AM
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1989 for printing errors is my favorite so far.
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  #5  
Old 12-16-2016, 12:39 PM
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I think they knocked it out of the park in 1985.



1981 was exciting because it was new but the quality control was lousy. 1982 and 1983 were bland. 1984 had some great cards but some quality issues and some duds too. They finally put it all together in 1985.
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  #6  
Old 12-16-2016, 01:17 PM
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Here are examples of each respective year in case anyone wants a quick refresher.

1981


1982


1983


1984


1985


1986


1987


1988


1989


1990


1991
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  #7  
Old 12-16-2016, 03:58 PM
Troy Kirk Troy Kirk is offline
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1981 Donruss is my favorite by far from that group. Candy color border designs, Yogi Berra, variations, terrible collation if you bought them in packs back then, blurry photos, thin cardboard, unpredictability galore. Everyone was waiting for the new Fleer cards since they were the ones that brought down the Topps monopoly, but it was Donruss that put out the refreshingly different set. Not pieces of fine art, but a fun set all around. Now who will bring down the current Topps monopoly?
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  #8  
Old 12-16-2016, 05:07 PM
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I like 81, 84, 85,86,87 and 88. All time favorite is probably 87. So many rookies and second year stars.
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  #9  
Old 12-16-2016, 07:27 PM
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1987 donruss, I probably bought and opened more 1987 donruss than any other product, I was cutting grass and using all of my money on cards, 11-14 a box. Great set love the borders, the rookies. I was and still am a huge donruss fan, diamond kings, elites.
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  #10  
Old 12-16-2016, 07:56 PM
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1984 by far
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  #11  
Old 12-16-2016, 11:17 PM
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I have always really like 83 Donruss and would vote it #1. It was the first year that I bought them in packs in any quantity as it was not that hard to find them and I enjoyed a new level of quality that 81/82 didn't have. The photos were much better, sharp/crisp and there were some nice action cards. 83 also introduced us, although in a much more boring and plain way than subsequent years, to the rated rookie designation that would become a very popular subset for many years to follow.

I also like the next 4 years worth of design (84-87), but I think a big part of liking 84-86 was more because they were impossible to find retail (especially 84-85) and it wasn't until much later (aside from getting a factory set like I did each year) that I even had any amount of 84 singles.

I could take or leave the remaining 6 years, mostly because 81-82 were just poor quality and 88-91 were overproduced and had designs that I don't much care for at all.

Here are 5 that really stick out in my mind, not necessarily for the player selection, but just how the card itself looks to me. I could pick the top rookie from each set, but those cards didn't always appeal to me.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg 83-501Fr.jpg (20.3 KB, 262 views)
File Type: jpg $_58.JPG (50.7 KB, 254 views)
File Type: jpg 95-34Fr.jpg (17.8 KB, 260 views)
File Type: jpg paul86donruss_zps2ynma0c1.jpg (58.5 KB, 262 views)
File Type: jpg 51SBcoij1XL._SY450_.jpg (52.0 KB, 255 views)
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  #12  
Old 12-17-2016, 02:06 PM
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My favorite is 1986. Those slick borders and parallelogram pictures...And great rookies like Canseco, McGriff, O'Neill..

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  #13  
Old 12-17-2016, 06:55 PM
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1990 for me as well.
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  #14  
Old 12-17-2016, 08:59 PM
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I always thought 1984 was the best. Clean big images and a bit harder to find then the rest. I do wish there were more rookies in it though.
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  #15  
Old 12-21-2016, 07:57 PM
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1984 - Don Mattingly and Strawberry, need I say more?
1983 - the first year that Donruss finally put it all together
1987 - great players and good photography and design
1986 - good design, but photography could be discolored
1990 - great photography and I liked the design, just not so much the red color
.
.
.

and last but not least -

1981 - oh my, tons of errors, gum sticking to the cards, blurry photography, terrible distribution in the packs, two and three of certain players for no apparent reason, thin card stock, etc. Fleer's first effort in 1981 was much better.
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  #16  
Old 12-21-2016, 10:52 PM
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84 and 86 are the classics, but 1991 was the first year I really got into collecting and I opened so much Topps and Donruss that year.
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  #17  
Old 12-23-2016, 02:18 AM
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1984 was the set which changed Donruss "for the better". The difficulty of finding the cards, the gorgeous design and the two key rookies (Mattingly and Strawberry) made this one of the sets of the 1980's.

Now, Topps had a nice 1983 set, but the card world evolved quickly after the 1984 set, including the prominence of the "Rated Rookies" cards.

So between the importance of the set and the design, 1984 is by far the best and most important Donruss set of that time period.

I will also say, I just received a donation in which there was a significant amount of 1992 Donruss cards in the pile and the 1992 sets is in my opinion, very underrated as to the non monetary aspects. Clean design, lots of space for the pictures, great information on the back with a second player photo. And, while the value may never be there except for the tougher inserts, that set is going to be 25 years old next year and deserves some recognition as well.
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  #18  
Old 12-23-2016, 01:34 PM
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I have to disagree with Rich on 1984 Donruss, I have always disliked that set because Donruss cut off supply early on that set, artificially creating a card shortage for the first time. The card companies have been manipulating collectors ever since.
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Old 12-23-2016, 09:14 PM
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The amazing thing about 87 cards in general is that it was at the top of the hype and it was virtually impossible to open a pack that didn't make you a "profit."
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  #20  
Old 12-25-2016, 10:11 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bbcard1 View Post
The amazing thing about 87 cards in general is that it was at the top of the hype and it was virtually impossible to open a pack that didn't make you a "profit."
That fact and inexpensive tables at many local shows, helped to create a whole new generation of dealers and store owners, a few of them are still active to this day
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  #21  
Old 12-25-2016, 12:32 PM
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1984 is the set I remember most. I was stationed at the time overseas in Spain and the Base shopette only had Topps. My Dad sent me the set for Christmas and I was like Wow..

The 86 set had Canseco who's card I chased after would be second..
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  #22  
Old 01-02-2017, 07:05 PM
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I'll go with 81 not for any pitular reason. I was born in 1981 and the set has a vintage 80ish flair to it .

I personally liked the later donruss sets and the inserts. Diamond kings is one of my favorite inserts sets ( Football and baseball ).
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  #23  
Old 01-07-2017, 01:02 PM
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Definitely 1987. Such a great design. I remember riding my bike to the store to by packs and packs of '87 Topps. They didn't stock Donruss often, but when they did, it seemed like a treat.
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  #24  
Old 03-03-2017, 08:09 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HRBAKER View Post
1984 by far
I second this.
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  #25  
Old 03-03-2017, 08:10 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by profholt82 View Post
Beginning in 1981, Donruss began printing their regular annual baseball card sets. In 1992 they joined the "premium" fray and started using thicker card stock on their base set. But from 1981 to 1991, the base Donruss set was printed on standard cardboard and issued in wax packs for an affordable price. Between those 11 sets, which are your favorites, and why? Feel free to rank them or whatever you want.

Personally, the 1987 set is my favorite with 1984 a close second. This is due first and foremost to the designs of those sets, but also to the great rookies and many nice regular player cards featured in those sets. While the 85 set is decent, it was a big letdown after that beautiful white bordered 84 set. And 88 was a travesty coming after the sweet 87 set. But, I feel similarly about the 88 sets of Topps and Fleer, as the 87 sets of those cards were great as well. 1987 was just an excellent year for baseball cards. That's when it all began for me though, so maybe that's just nostalgia talking, but I think the designs of the big 3 that year still hold up well today.

Anyway, I'm curious what the favorites (and least favorites) are of anyone here who still has interest in cards from the "junk wax" era.
shoulda did it as a poll question, my guess is the 84 or 85 set would win out.
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  #26  
Old 03-03-2017, 09:19 AM
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For me, simply because of the memories, it's 1981 all day.

I remember my excitement at having two more brands hit the market and honestly completely ignoring the 81 Topps release so I could just buy Fleer and Donruss.

A close second is the 82's for having the first in the series San Diego Chicken card that my young self thought was awesome, lol.
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  #27  
Old 03-03-2017, 11:12 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JustinD View Post
For me, simply because of the memories, it's 1981 all day.

I remember my excitement at having two more brands hit the market and honestly completely ignoring the 81 Topps release so I could just buy Fleer and Donruss.
I agree. I was 10 years old and that was my second year of collecting. It was super exciting when the new brands came on the scene.

After that I'd go with 1984 for quality. The Mattingly is still one of my favorite cards from that era.
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  #28  
Old 03-04-2017, 07:08 AM
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It's 1990 for me.
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  #29  
Old 03-04-2017, 08:00 AM
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I lived in the West Palm Beach area in the mid 1980's. I had no problem finding Donruss in the stores. I had boxes of 1984's, 1985's and more. I loved the 1985's. I still do actually. I loved the 1981's when they came out. They were colorful, as opposed to the rather bland 1981 Topps. Of course, the card stock, printing quality, and card distribution was awful. But, I was a teenager, so I didn't care. I guess I would rank 1985 the best, and a tie with 1981 as my favorite, but mostly for nostalgic reasons. I would rate 1988 Donruss as one of the worst sets ever. Ugh!
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