Production Estimates / Print Run Archive

[insidethewrapper]

Here's what I found:

[JUrsaner]

Originally Posted by insidethewrapper

Here's what I found:

Amazing finds! Wording is very specific in some of those PRs but gives a lot to think about. I will try to incorporate into the estimates later

For the "In 1992, Donruss printed fewer cards than in any year since 1987" - how do you interpret that in terms of base set production vs. extended specialty / traded / oddball sets like "The Rookies" which it mentions in the next bullet. Trying to square that language with the 1994 media statement "total quantity of Donruss cards produced in the 1994 Production Year is less than [...] 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993 Production Years [...] even after excluding specialty sets [...]" - which also included a case count for each series (17,500) for the first time ever.

For 1992, sounds like just started to roll some of the specialty sets into base card production, probably in order to keep that production up so total quantity of all card sets in 1992 combined was (higher than 1987) less than 1988... but doesn't say much more than that. 1994 statement is more specific saying that total 1994 production of base and specialty sets was lower than just base production of the preceding years

Also makes it sound like 1984 Donruss may have been a cut from 1983 Production?

I had already included a 20% reduction from 1991 Donruss --> 1992 Donruss and then a fairly big drop in 1994 in the estimates. Sounds like 1991 may have been the peak for base card production..

[seanofjapan]

Originally Posted by insidethewrapper

Here's what I found:

Ah thanks a lot for posting that, I knew I had seen something like that 28 years ago. Guess I got the years mixed up, 1987 instead of 1985, but I was pretty sure it had been in relation to 1992 Donruss.

[Farm_kid]

2002 Donruss Diamond Kings -estimated 41,000 Hobby Boxes based on one Numbered Diamond Cut Auto/Jersey/Bat card per hobby box.

[homerunderby]

Got an interesting lead off an old thread on another board. In the early 80's wax and cello packs had a contest card which told both how many prizes and the odds. Off of that you can extrapolate out some figures that will give some idea of the relationship in print runs over the years.

1981 Topps: (Wax Only) 3,012,050 prizes, 1:17 packs x 15 cards-pack/792 cards* 970,000 sets in wax

1982 Topps: No contest

1983 Topps: (Wax/Cello) 285,000 prizes, 1:140 packs x19cards-pack /792 cards 957,196 sets

1984 Topps (Wax/Cello) 20,000 batting gloves, 1:2,700 packs x19cards-pack 1,295,000 sets

1985 Topps (Wax/Cello) 2,000 fielding gloves, 1:25,000 packsx19cards-pack 1,200,000 sets

1986-1991 Topps Contest had no odds, based on sent-in entries

1992 Topps (All Packs) 6 grand prizes, 1:41,666,667 packsx21cards-pack 6,628,000 sets(!!!)

*- though there were only 726 cards in the set, 66 were double printed.

Where the contest cards came in multiple pack types I estimated the amount of cards per pack across the print run. My presumption was that wax is the great majority of the print run versus cello (and rack, etc for 1992).

This leaves out rack packs, vending boxes, and factory sets for the years they were produced. But it does give a starting point. If you held a gun to my head I'd add 25% to the 1981-83 print runs, and maybe 40% to the 1984-85 for the other packaging.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
1993 Stadium Club: 1st Day Production: 2,000 sets 1:24 packsx14cards-pack 100,000 sets

[JUrsaner]

wow great stuff! Let me take a look through it and add it to the list

do you have pictures of the contest cards with the odds?

[Hooliganlv]

I would love to know the Leaf print runs in the mid 80s. The pop report for an 87 Bo Jackson and 87 Barry Bonds in PSA 10 are only in the 90s.

In contrast, their 87 Topps Tiffany PSA 10s are in the 300s.

[dave416]

A question about the 1993 Finest Refractors - the PSA pop shows 282 for the Frank Thomas Refractor (#102) alone - could there be that many re-submissions? And would that many of them have been submitted?

EDIT - looks like there was a 2015 thread concerning this with crossovers and mislabels considered the most likely explanation.

[JUrsaner]

Originally Posted by Hooliganlv

I would love to know the Leaf print runs in the mid 80s. The pop report for an 87 Bo Jackson and 87 Barry Bonds in PSA 10 are only in the 90s.

In contrast, their 87 Topps Tiffany PSA 10s are in the 300s.

I'd also be interested in this

Slowed down on this but going to add those sets to the list so I remember to come back to it