Donruss
Encyclopedia
Donruss, currently known as Panini America and owned by Panini Group
, manufactures sports cards. The company started in the 1950s, producing confectionery
, evolved into Donruss and started producing trading card
s. During the 1960s and 1970s Donruss produced entertainment-themed trading cards. Their first sports theme cards were produced in 1965, when they created a series of racing cards sponsored by Hot Rod Magazine
.
Their next series of sports products came in 1981, when they produced baseball
and golf
trading cards. They were one of three manufacturers to produce baseball cards from 1981 to 1987, along with Fleer
and Topps
; until Score entered the market in 1988, and Upper Deck
in 1989. Since entering the trading card market, they have produced a variety of sports trading cards, including baseball, basketball, boxing, football, golf, hockey, racing and tennis; and have acquired a number of brand names.
Donruss produced baseball cards from 1981 to 1998, when then parent company Pinnacle Brands
filed for bankruptcy. Baseball card production resumed in 2001, when then parent company Playoff Corporation acquired the rights to produce baseball cards. They produced cards until 2005, when Major League Baseball
(MLB) changed the license criteria for card makers. From 2007 to 2009, Donruss has released baseball card products featuring players that are no longer under MLB contract.
Panini America is licensed to produce National Football League
and National Hockey League
trading cards, and has exclusive rights on producing National Basketball Association
trading cards. Panini also maintains an exclusive license with FIFA
for the 2010 and 2014 World Cup
, and has partnered with DreamWorks
to produce non-sports trading cards of select DreamWork movies.
. They manufactured hard candy
, suckers
and Super Bubble
gum. Combining their first names, Don and Russ, they renamed their company Donruss and continued to produce candy and gum. Donruss produced several entertainment-themed trading card
s, from such television shows as The Addams Family
, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
, The Monkees
and The Flying Nun
from 1961 until 1969.
That same year, Donruss made national news with a $30,000 surtax
dispute. Donruss paid their surtax
but sued to get the money back. They won in U.S. Circuit Court but lost in U.S. Supreme Court. Donruss claimed their earnings did not pass the "purpose test" to avoid paying the taxes, and having lost they prevented any other corporation
from using the purpose test.
Later that year, Donruss was purchased by General Mills
. Donruss continued making entertainment-themed cards throughout the 1970s, adding titles like Dukes of Hazzard
, Elvis Presley
, Kiss
and Saturday Night Fever
to their production lines. Producing these cards were profitable; however, Donruss, looking for additional avenues of income, desired to enter the baseball card
market. Unfortunately, Topps
had exclusive rights and Donruss would have to wait until Fleer
's lawsuit against Topps
.
In 1975, Fleer
sued Topps
over their exclusive baseball
rights. After 5 years a federal judge ruled that Topps
illegally obtained Major League Baseball Players Association
rights. Donruss and Fleer
negotiated deals with Major League Baseball
and by late 1980 Donruss had acquired the rights to produce baseball cards. Their first baseball card set was produced and ready in time for the 1981 season. In August of that year, an appellate court overturned the judge's ruling. Quick to react, Fleer
's lawyers found a loophole
in Topps
' contract that stated they had exclusive rights to sell baseball card
s with gum or candy
. So, Fleer
started distributing their baseball card
s with stickers, and Donruss started distributing their baseball card
s with puzzle pieces.
Overproduction and distribution was an early problem for Donruss. In 1983 Huhtamäki Oyj
purchased Beatrice US Confections, Donruss and Leaf Candy Company
, merging the three companies into Leaf, Inc. The company continued to use the Donruss name on baseball card
s, which now benefited from Leaf's established distribution network. The Leaf brand was used from 1985 through 1988 on specially made baseball card
s distributed in Canada
, and in 1990 on a premium series of cards distributed in the U.S.
Donruss expanded its Memphis
plant from 256000 square feet (23,783.2 m²) to nearly 400,000, grew from 550 employees to 720 and continued to make trading cards and bubble gum at the facility throughout 1991. In 1992 demand for higher-quality cards rose, and standard card sales dropped. Donruss responded by reducing production, increasing price, upgrading card quality and randomly inserted limited edition and autographed insert cards to their new foil packaged cards. Donruss also partnered with Coca-Cola
, Cracker Jack
and McDonald's
to create special card series, and created a less expensive line of cards called "Triple Play" without statistics but with superior action and artistry (evidenced by book values now being typically higher than for comparable cards) targeted at young collectors.
In 1993 Donruss acquired the rights to produce hockey card
s. With poor sales in 1994, due in part to a Major League Baseball
strike and National Hockey League
lockout, Donruss began producing new lines of entertainment cards, and a football collectible card game
under license from NXT Games, in 1995. May 1996, Pinnacle Brands
acquired the Donruss/Leaf brands, as well as their baseball and hockey licenses, from Huhtamäki Oyj
for about $41 million. The entertainment line was sold to U.S. Playing Card Co.
. Pinnacle used the Donruss and Leaf brands on baseball, football and hockey cards.
In July 1998 Pinnacle Brands
filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection.
began distributing multiple-image discs, utilizing the lenticular printing
process which gave an appearance as though the image were moving, or changing,
with purchase of Slurpee drinks
.
In 1985 the company obtained baseball licenses and started producing their unique style of cards under the name Sportflics. This also marked the first time any company used full-color photography on the back of sports cards. Minus their "Magic Motion", but using the same style as their Sportflics cards, they released baseball cards under the Score brand in 1988 and football cards under the Score brand in 1989.
In 1992 founders and owners Ann Blake and John Flavin divorced. Flavin maintained the Score brand. Blake left and founded a new company called Cardz Distribution, which later developed into Playoff Corp. and ultimately gained control of the Score brand, along with Donruss and Leaf, in 1998 when then parent company Pinnacle Brands, Inc. was under bankruptcy. Playoff could not obtain Pinnacle/Donruss' baseball and hockey licenses, however. Playoff was producing high-end lines of football cards, generating some $25 million in annual revenues. With their Pinnacle Brands
purchase, Playoff began producing trading cards under the Donruss Elite, Leaf and Score brand names.
Playoff expanded their business in 2000 by adding a 36000 square feet (3,344.5 m²) distribution facility, and developed their Score Entertainment
subsidiary to produce Dragonball Z
trading cards.
and the Major League Baseball Players Association
. They were not awarded a license. Action packed created a single set of basketball cards in 1995, produced football cards from 1990 to 1997, produced hockey cards in 1993 and 1995, produced racing cards in 1990 and from 1992 to 1997, and World Wrestling Federation cards in 1994 and 1995.
Pinnacle Brands acquired the brand in 1995, and Donruss/Playoff acquired the brand when they acquired Pinnacle Brands in 1998.
s and established their headquarters in Arlington, Texas
.
Donruss Playoff expanded their entertainment lines in 2002, with such trading card
s as Buffy, The Vampire Slayer through their new Score Entertainment
division. Donruss also produced the first Spanish-only baseball card set.
In 2003, Donruss Playoff stirred up controversy when they paid $264,210 at auction for a rare game-worn Babe Ruth
jersey, which they cut up and turned into 2,100 memorabilia cards
.
Late summer of 2005 Donruss Playoff lost their rights to produce baseball card
s.
(which had previously acquired the exclusive license to produce NBA trading cards beginning with the 2009-10 season), announced that they had purchased Donruss Playoff. Effective immediately, the company was renamed Panini America Inc. However, the company will remain separate and continue to operate out of Arlington, Texas
, with much of the existing upper management.
During the 2010 Industry Summit Collectibles (a gathering where retailers can meet leaders in the trading card
s industry, and listen to discussions about card collecting), held in Las Vegas
on April 11, Panini America announced changes to the company’s distribution network. Vice president Mike Anderson and sales director Rodney Alsup outlined their goals to address retail store concerns over profit margin
s, and how online sellers are having a negative impact. Only retail stores would be authorized to sell Panini products directly to consumer
s, and any retailer attempting to wholesale
would lose their authorization. Only wholesalers would be authorized to sell Panini products directly to retailers, and any wholesaler attempting to retail
would lose their authorization. “You are one, or you are the other,” Anderson said. Alsup noted they would reduce their current number of wholesalers from fifty to about four nationally.
Under Donruss Playoff they company sold to anyone. “We turned a blind eye toward those things, because, honestly, we had to. Our ownership needed the money, and we perpetuated the industry’s problem,” Anderson said. “But under Panini ownership, we work for a CEO who is allowing us to do what should’ve been done 10 years ago. We are well structured, well financed and committed to doing what is best for the brick-and-mortar stores who are the lifeblood of this hobby.”
Panini also outlined other initiatives: will continue to destroy returned NBA trading card
s to protect "collectibility", willing to implement minimum advertised price if needed, formation of a brick-and-mortar standards committee, upgraded ordering systems and schedules, new football and hockey
trading card
s and other products featuring autographs and memorabilia swatches from sports, history and pop culture.
In the winter of 1980, on the heels of Fleer
's historic court victory over Topps
, Donruss rushed into production a 605-card set for the 1981 season. The first printings were riddled with errors (though Fleer's first set was even worse in this regard), most of which were fixed in subsequent runs. They were also printed on flimsy card stock
and there were no factory sets; rather, the cards were shipped to dealers in 100-count lots and were then collated
by hand. TCMA of Amawalk, New York handled dealer business. TV personality Keith Olbermann
was a photographer for some of the cards that are a part of the 1981 Donruss set.
With an entire offseason to prepare, Donruss shipped a much improved, more polished set for 1982. The 1982 offering also saw the introduction of the Diamond Kings, the first 26 cards of the 660-card set, made up of oil paintings by noted sports artist
Dick Perez. Another Donruss innovation for 1982 was the inclusion of jigsaw puzzle
pieces with a pack of cards in place of gum. Babe Ruth
was pictured as "Hall of Fame Diamond King" when the 63-piece puzzle was assembled. (An appeal of the 1978 Fleer
v. Topps
ruling in 1981 barred the two new card companies from using gum premiums; Fleer
switched to team logo stickers in 1982.) Donruss also began selling to dealers directly, the first of the major card companies to offer factory sets for those buying in bulk. Notable card in this set is Cal Ripken's rookie card
.
Donruss released three baseball card
sets in 1983. Their standard 660-card set (with only minimal changes; a glove replacing the ball on the front and the back switching from blue to yellow), a 60-card "Action All-Star" set and a 44-card "Hall of Fame Heroes" set. "Action All-Star" were not the standard 2½" by 3½" card size, rather 3½" by 5" and included a 63-piece Mickey Mantle
puzzle (eight cards per pack and three pieces on one card per pack). The "Hall of Fame Heroes" set were standard sized cards issued in the same packs as the "Action All-Star" cards, but rather than picturing photographs of the players Donruss used their Diamond King style and showed Dick Perez oil paintings. Notable rookie cards in their standard set include Ryne Sandberg
, Tony Gwynn
and Wade Boggs
. Another card of note is an error card
of Ron Jackson
where Donruss claimed he played for the A's rather than the Angels
. Donruss did issue a card to correct the error. This years jigsaw puzzle
inserted in wax packs featured Ty Cobb
.
The 1984 660-card base set was among the company's most successful; however, only 658 are numbered. A new feature introduced this year were two "Living Legend" cards designated A (featuring Gaylord Perry
and Rollie Fingers
) and B (featuring Johnny Bench
and Carl Yastrzemski
). These were issued as bonus cards in wax packs but not issued in the factory set. Another new feature among the base set were labeling cards 27 through 46 as Rated Rookies (chosen by Bill Madden
). This years jigsaw puzzle
inserted in wax packs is Duke Snider
. Notable card in this set is Don Mattingly
's rookie card
. Donruss, again, produced the 60-card "Action All-Star" set, with this years 63-piece puzzle featuring Ted Williams
, and created another 3½" by 5" 60-card set called "Champions". The "Champions" featured the artwork of Dick Perez of Perez-Steele Galleries and were issued in cello packs along with pieces of the Duke Snider
puzzle.
Donruss released six baseball card
sets in 1985. The standard 660-card set, 60-card "Action All-Stars", 56-card "Highlights", 8-card "Hall of Fame Sluggers", 28-card "Super Diamond Kings" and 263-card "Leaf" set. The standard set contained last years features, the first 26 cards are Diamond Kings with artwork by Perez-Steele Galleries and cards 27 through 46 as Rated Rookies. Lou Gehrig
puzzle pieces were inserted in this years wax packs. Notable card in this set is Roger Clemens
' rookie card
. The wax boxes, which held the wax packs, of the standard issue set featured four standard-size cards, styled the same as the standard set, on the bottom of the box and are numbered with a PC prefix
.
"Action All-Stars" measured the usual 3½" by 5", but rather than using a different puzzle for this set Donruss issued the standard set's Lou Gehrig
puzzle pieces with the cards. The "Highlights" set, as the name would suggest, features 54 highlights of players and pitchers of the month for the American League
and National League
. The final 2 cards of the set were devoted to American League
and National League
Rookies of the Year (chosen by Donruss). Dick Perez provided the artwork for the 3½" by 6½" "Hall of Fame Sluggers" set. Players for this set were chosen by their career slugging percentage, and the cards are numbered by the percentages. This is the first and last time Donruss would make this type of set. The "Super Diamond Kings" are enlarged, measuring approximately 4 15/16 by 6¾", versions of the first 26 cards of the standard set, and were obtained through mail-order. The other two cards featured a checklist card and one of artist
Dick Perez. A Lou Gehrig
puzzle piece was also included in the mail-order.
Donruss produced a "Leaf" set to establish themselves in the Canadian baseball card
market along with rival Topps
' affiliate O-Pee-Chee
. These cards are similar in appearance to the standard set, but are numbered differently and the backs are in both French and English. Card numbers 251 and 252 feature Dick Perez artwork of Dave Stieb
and Tim Raines
, respectively, and are not found in the standard set. Wax packs of this set also contained Lou Gehrig
puzzle pieces. Donruss released this set at a later date in the U.S.
Donruss' 1986 baseball card sets didn't deviate much from 1985. The standard 660-card set featured Hank Aaron puzzle pieces inserted into wax packs. Again, Donruss issued cards on the bottom of wax boxes. The 60-card "Action All-Stars" changed slightly. The set was now called "All-Stars" and featured players that were involved in the 1985 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
. Cards were very similar to the standard set, and backs of the cards displayed each players All-Star game statistics. Similar to the 1985 and 1986 wax boxes, the All-Star Boxes featured four standard-size cards, styled the same as the standard set, on the bottom of the box. The 56-card "Highlights" set were given a glossy-coating on the front side of the card. Again, the "Super Diamond Kings" set was available by mail-order and is an enlarged versions of the regular set. This years set featured an extra card, however. Card 27 is Pete Rose
"King of Kings". The other two cards featured a no numbered checklist card and a no numbered card depicting the complete Hank Aaron jigsaw puzzle
. The 264-card "Leaf" set had the same differences as last years set. However, this year card numbers 214 and 254 feature Dick Perez artwork of Jeff Reardon
and Jesse Barfield
, respectively, and are not found in the standard set.
Two new sets were introduced in 1986. 18-card "Pop-Ups" and 56-card "Rookies". The "Pop-Ups" measured 2½" by 5" and features the first 18 players of the "All-Star" set. The cards were die-cut and folded in a manner that when we unfolded, or "popped up", could stand on its own and give the appearance of a player in action in front of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
ballpark background. For the cards to remain in mint condition, card collecting guides recommend not unfolding the cards. The "Rookies" were issued in factory set form and came with 15-piece jigsaw puzzle
of Hank Aaron.
All of the 1986 sets were used again in 1987, with a few differences. The standard set put a checklist card at #27, so the Rated Rookie cards now occupied 28 through 47. Roberto Clemente
debuted as the jigsaw puzzle
pieces inserted into wax packs, and the 1987 factory sets contained a complete puzzle set. Perez-Steele Galleries started using repeats of the Diamond King (1-26) sections, to avoid depleting their limited pool of available players. There was no change to the "All-Stars" set. 1987 marked the last year Donruss issued cards on the bottom of the regular set and "All-Stars" boxes, and the last year Donruss released a "Highlights" set. "Pop-Ups" increased from an 18-card to 20-card set. "Rookies" replaced last years 15-piece jigsaw puzzle
with Roberto Clemente
. "Super Diamond Kings" decreased from a 29-card set to a 28-card set, excluding card 27 this time. Again, the other two cards featured a no numbered checklist card and a no numbered card depicting the complete Roberto Clemente
jigsaw puzzle
. This years "Leaf" set featured artwork by Dick Perez on card numbers 65 and 173, Floyd Youmans
and Mark Eichhorn
, respectively. Again, those cards were not in U.S. set. 1987 was the last year Donruss released enlarged versions of the "All-Stars" and "Pop-Ups" sets.
Donruss introduced one new 272-card set this year called "Opening Day". The set featured a card for every player in the starting line up on Opening Day
. Like the "Rookies" set, the "Opening Day" set contained a 15-piece jigsaw puzzle
of Roberto Clemente
. Notable card in this set is a Barry Bonds
' error card
with Johnny Ray
pictured instead of Barry Bonds
. Donruss did issue a card to correct the error. 1987 was the only year Donruss issued an "Opening Day" set.
In 1988 Donruss started distributing a new set within their standard 660-card set. In addition to finding the usual jigsaw puzzle
piece, this years being Stan Musial
, bonus cards, numbered with a BC prefix
, were randomly inserted into wax packs. These cards had a MVP logo on the face of the card to distinquish them from the regular set; and created a new 26-card "Bonus MVP" set, featuring the most valuable player from each Major League Baseball
team. This did, however, create a problem for both sets. Rather than producing extra pacakging materials to ship the extra cards, Donruss pulled cards from both sets to make room. This meant 26-cards from the regular set were in shorter print, cards 648 through 660 more so than the other thirteen; and cards BC14 through BC26 were in shorter print from the "Bonus MVP" set. The short printed cards did not have a significant affect on the cards values.
Also new to 1988 is a 336-card set called "Baseball's Best" and 27-card "Team Books" of the A's, Cubs
, Mets
, Red Sox and Yankees. "Baseball's Best" was issued late in the season and sold in big-box store
s as a complete factory set. Six 15-piece jigsaw puzzle
s of Stan Musial
are included in every factory set. Each "Team Book" was issued with 27-cards (3 pages with 9 cards) and a large perforated full-page puzzle of Stan Musial
. These cards are identical to the standard set cards, but copyrighted 1988 rather than 1987 distinguishing the cards from the regular set. Donruss did not issue "Team Books" again.
Donruss produced their "All-Stars", "Pop-Ups", "Rookies", "Super Diamond Kings" and "Leaf" sets again in 1988 with a few differences. Previous years "All-Stars" and "Pop-Ups" enlarged sets were now produced in the standard 2½" by 3½" card size. "All-Stars" increased from a 60-card set to a 64-card set. No other changes to the "Pop-Ups" set. The "Rookies" set replaced this years 15-piece jigsaw puzzle
with Stan Musial
. Donruss did not include extra cards in "Super Diamond Kings", making this a 26-card set. Dick Perez artwork is used, again, in the "Leaf" set on two cards, George Bell (213) and Tim Wallach
(255), which were not issued in the U.S. set. Two "Bonus MVP" cards, Tim Raines
(211) and George Bell (214), were issued in both the Canadian and U.S. versions of the "Leaf" set. 1988 is also the last year Donruss issue a "Leaf" set produced specifically for a Canadian, and later U.S., release.
Donruss released many of the same sets in 1989, and three new sets. The base set remained 660-cards. Again, Donruss released "Bonus MVP" cards randomly inserted into regular set wax packs, along with a jigsaw puzzle
piece of Warren Spahn
. Donruss did not short print any cards this year. The factory set contained 672-cards. A 12-card "Grand Slammers" set accompanies the regular 660-card set as an added incentive to purchase a factory set. The "Grand Slammers" set contained players who hit one or more grand slams
in 1988. "Grand Slammers" were also found in cellophane-wrapped packaged (cello pack) cards.
The other new sets for 1989 were a 12-card "Blue Chips" and a 56-card "Traded" set. The 12-card "Blue Chips" set is identical to the "Grand Slammers" set, except in the place of the "Grand Slammers" logo is a "Blue Chips" logo with a Donruss or Leaf trademark
. These cards were not issued in factory sets, and are not commonly found among collectors
. The "Traded" set was issued in factory form, featured players that traded teams and card numbers began with a T prefix
. 1989 was the first and last time "Blue Chips" and "Traded" sets were produced.
"All-Stars", "Baseball's Best", "Pop-Ups", "Rookies" and "Super Diamond Kings" were produced again in 1989, with a few items of note. No changes to the "All-Stars" set, but Donruss would not make this particular set again until 1995. Once again, "Baseball's Best" was sold in big-box store
s as a complete factory set. Notable card in this set is Sammy Sosa
, Donruss was the only company to release a licensed major league
baseball card
of him in 1989. Donruss would not produce a "Baseball's Best" set again until 2001. "Pop-Ups" increased from a 20-card to 42-card set, and was the last year Donruss produced the set. The "Rookies" set replaced this years 15-piece jigsaw puzzle with Warren Spahn
. There were no changes to the "Super Diamond Kings" set.
and Upper Deck
crowded the marketplace.
Donruss baseball cards were produced continuously from 1981 to 1998, when its then-parent Pinnacle Brands
filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
. Playoff Inc then purchased the Donruss name and produced Major League Baseball sets again from 2001 to 2005, when Major League Baseball
and the MLB Players Association
revoked the company's production license. They also produced NHL
hockey card
s from 1992 until 1998, and NFL
football cards since 1996. Today, Donruss Playoff LP produces NFL football cards and NBA basketball cards, along with a line of baseball draft picks products and entertainment cards.
Today, Donruss is exclusively a football and basketball card producer. The Score brand was revived in 2005 for the flagship set, while Donruss and Leaf exist as premium brands and Playoff as a memorabilia-oriented brand.
In late 2007 however, Donruss did release Donruss Elite Extra Edition, which is their first product outside of the NFL. This product was a multisport release that included cards of the top 30 picks in the 2007 MLB Amateur Draft. Since this product wasn't licensed by Major League Baseball, the players from the 2007 MLB Amateur Draft were pictured in their High School or College Uniforms and existing Minor Leaguers had their uniforms airbrushed to remove all marks. In addition, there are a number of collegiate themed cards as well as soccer themes.
In October 2008, Donruss released Donruss Threads Baseball, featuring a balance of Hall of Famers and young stars. Again, players were either featured in their High School/College uniforms or were photographed so as to make the team logo not visible. The cards also included only the city of the ballplayer, with no mention of the team associated. Donruss used its advantage of not having an MLB license to include baseball cards of both Joe Jackson
and Pete Rose
, who were banned from baseball for allegedly throwing the World Series in the Black Sox Scandal
and betting on the game, respectively. The product included game-used bat cards for Jackson as well as autographed and memorabilia cards from Rose. As of September 28, 2008, Donruss had completely sold out the product to distributors.
1983 Donruss: Ty Cobb
1983 Donruss Action All-Stars: Mickey Mantle
1984 Donruss: Duke Snider
1984 Donruss Action All-Stars: Ted Williams
1985 Donruss: Lou Gehrig
1986 Donruss: Hank Aaron
1987 Donruss: Roberto Clemente
1988 Donruss: Stan Musial
1989 Donruss: Warren Spahn
1990 Donruss: Carl Yastrzemski
1990 Leaf: Yogi Berra
1991 Donruss: Willie Stargell
1991 Leaf: Harmon Killebrew
1992 Donruss: Rod Carew
1986: Pete Rose
, for breaking Ty Cobb
's career hits record.
1990: Nolan Ryan
, for his 5,000th career strikeout.
1994: Dave Winfield
, for reaching both 3,000 hits and 400 home runs.
1996: Eddie Murray
, for becoming only the third player to reach both 3,000 hits and 500 home runs.
1996: Cal Ripken, Jr, for breaking Lou Gehrig
's consecutive games record.
Panini Group
Panini Group is a company headquartered in Modena, Italy, named after the Panini brothers who founded it in 1961. The company produces books, comics, magazines, stickers, trading cards and other items through its collectibles and publishing subsidiaries. Panini distributes its own products, and...
, manufactures sports cards. The company started in the 1950s, producing confectionery
Confectionery
Confectionery is the set of food items that are rich in sugar, any one or type of which is called a confection. Modern usage may include substances rich in artificial sweeteners as well...
, evolved into Donruss and started producing trading card
Trading card
A trading card is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing and a short description of the picture, along with other text...
s. During the 1960s and 1970s Donruss produced entertainment-themed trading cards. Their first sports theme cards were produced in 1965, when they created a series of racing cards sponsored by Hot Rod Magazine
Hot Rod Magazine
Hot Rod is an American monthly magazine devoted to hot rodding, —modifying automobiles for performance and appearance.-History:Hot Rod is the oldest magazine devoted to hot rodding having been published since 1948. Robert E. Petersen founded the magazine and his Petersen Publishing Company...
.
Their next series of sports products came in 1981, when they produced baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
and golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
trading cards. They were one of three manufacturers to produce baseball cards from 1981 to 1987, along with Fleer
Fleer
The Fleer Corporation, founded by Frank H. Fleer in 1885, was the first company to successfully manufacture bubblegum; it remained a family-owned enterprise until it was taken private in 1989....
and Topps
Topps
The Topps Company, Inc., manufactures chewing gum, candy and collectibles. Based in New York, New York, Topps is best known as a leading producer of baseball cards, football cards, basketball cards, hockey cards and other sports and non-sports themed trading cards.-Company history:Topps itself was...
; until Score entered the market in 1988, and Upper Deck
Upper deck
Upper deck may refer to :* The Upper Deck Company, an American trading card business* The upper deck is the highest level internal deck on a ship, i.e. just below the superstructure and open deck....
in 1989. Since entering the trading card market, they have produced a variety of sports trading cards, including baseball, basketball, boxing, football, golf, hockey, racing and tennis; and have acquired a number of brand names.
Donruss produced baseball cards from 1981 to 1998, when then parent company Pinnacle Brands
Pinnacle Brands
Pinnacle Brands was a trading card company from 1988 to 1998. With its first baseball card set called Score, it changed the baseball card industry from the "Big Three" that had been in place for seven years prior...
filed for bankruptcy. Baseball card production resumed in 2001, when then parent company Playoff Corporation acquired the rights to produce baseball cards. They produced cards until 2005, when Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
(MLB) changed the license criteria for card makers. From 2007 to 2009, Donruss has released baseball card products featuring players that are no longer under MLB contract.
Panini America is licensed to produce National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
and National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
trading cards, and has exclusive rights on producing National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
trading cards. Panini also maintains an exclusive license with FIFA
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...
for the 2010 and 2014 World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
, and has partnered with DreamWorks
DreamWorks
DreamWorks Pictures, also known as DreamWorks, LLC, DreamWorks SKG, DreamWorks II Distribution Co., LLC, DreamWorks Studios or DW Studios, LLC, is an American film studio which develops, produces, and distributes films, video games and television programming...
to produce non-sports trading cards of select DreamWork movies.
1954 to 1998, Donruss
Donald and Russell Weiner founded the original Donruss company in 1954. At first, they were the owners of the Thomas Weiner Company located in Memphis, TennesseeMemphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
. They manufactured hard candy
Candy
Candy, specifically sugar candy, is a confection made from a concentrated solution of sugar in water, to which flavorings and colorants are added...
, suckers
Lollipop
A lollipop, pop, lolly, sucker, or sticky-pop is a type of confectionery consisting mainly of hardened, flavored sucrose with corn syrup mounted on a stick and intended for sucking or licking. They are available in many flavors and shapes.- Types :Lollipops are available in a number of colors and...
and Super Bubble
Super Bubble
Super Bubble is a brand of bubble gum manufactured by Farley's & Sathers Candy Company, Inc.In addition to the original flavor, Super Bubble also comes in apple, grape, and watermelon flavors. The recipe for Super Bubble bubble gum is actually the recipe for a much older brand, known as Bub's...
gum. Combining their first names, Don and Russ, they renamed their company Donruss and continued to produce candy and gum. Donruss produced several entertainment-themed trading card
Trading card
A trading card is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing and a short description of the picture, along with other text...
s, from such television shows as The Addams Family
The Addams Family
The Addams Family is a group of fictional characters created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. As named by Charles Addams, the Addams Family characters include Gomez, Morticia, Uncle Fester, Lurch, Grandmama, Wednesday, Pugsley, and Thing....
, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is an American science fiction film, produced and directed by Irwin Allen, released by 20th Century Fox in 1961. The story was written by Irwin Allen and Charles Bennett. Walter Pidgeon starred as Admiral Harriman Nelson, with Robert Sterling as Captain Lee Crane...
, The Monkees
The Monkees (TV series)
The Monkees is an American situation comedy that aired on NBC from September 1966 to March 1968. The series follows the adventures of four young men trying to make a name for themselves as rock 'n roll singers. The show introduced a number of innovative new-wave film techniques to series...
and The Flying Nun
The Flying Nun
The Flying Nun is an American sitcom produced by Screen Gems for ABC based on the 1965 book The Fifteenth Pelican, by Tere Rios, which starred Sally Field as Sister Bertrille...
from 1961 until 1969.
That same year, Donruss made national news with a $30,000 surtax
Surtax
A surtax may be a tax levied upon a tax, or a tax levied upon income.-United Kingdom:In 1929, Supertax was renamed Sur-tax...
dispute. Donruss paid their surtax
Surtax
A surtax may be a tax levied upon a tax, or a tax levied upon income.-United Kingdom:In 1929, Supertax was renamed Sur-tax...
but sued to get the money back. They won in U.S. Circuit Court but lost in U.S. Supreme Court. Donruss claimed their earnings did not pass the "purpose test" to avoid paying the taxes, and having lost they prevented any other corporation
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
from using the purpose test.
Later that year, Donruss was purchased by General Mills
General Mills
General Mills, Inc. is an American Fortune 500 corporation, primarily concerned with food products, which is headquartered in Golden Valley, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis. The company markets many well-known brands, such as Betty Crocker, Yoplait, Colombo, Totinos, Jeno's, Pillsbury, Green...
. Donruss continued making entertainment-themed cards throughout the 1970s, adding titles like Dukes of Hazzard
Dukes of Hazzard
The Dukes of Hazzard is an American television series that aired on the CBS television network from 1979 to 1985.The series was inspired by the 1975 film Moonrunners, which was also created by Gy Waldron and had many identical or similar character names and concepts.- Overview :The Dukes of Hazzard...
, Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
, Kiss
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
and Saturday Night Fever
Saturday Night Fever
Saturday Night Fever is a 1977 drama film directed by John Badham and starring: John Travolta as Tony Manero, an immature young man whose weekends are spent visiting a local Brooklyn discothèque; Karen Lynn Gorney as his dance partner and eventual friend; and Donna Pescow as Tony's former dance...
to their production lines. Producing these cards were profitable; however, Donruss, looking for additional avenues of income, desired to enter the baseball card
Baseball card
A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on some type of paper stock or card stock. A card will usually feature one or more baseball players or other baseball-related sports figures...
market. Unfortunately, Topps
Topps
The Topps Company, Inc., manufactures chewing gum, candy and collectibles. Based in New York, New York, Topps is best known as a leading producer of baseball cards, football cards, basketball cards, hockey cards and other sports and non-sports themed trading cards.-Company history:Topps itself was...
had exclusive rights and Donruss would have to wait until Fleer
Fleer
The Fleer Corporation, founded by Frank H. Fleer in 1885, was the first company to successfully manufacture bubblegum; it remained a family-owned enterprise until it was taken private in 1989....
's lawsuit against Topps
Topps
The Topps Company, Inc., manufactures chewing gum, candy and collectibles. Based in New York, New York, Topps is best known as a leading producer of baseball cards, football cards, basketball cards, hockey cards and other sports and non-sports themed trading cards.-Company history:Topps itself was...
.
In 1975, Fleer
Fleer
The Fleer Corporation, founded by Frank H. Fleer in 1885, was the first company to successfully manufacture bubblegum; it remained a family-owned enterprise until it was taken private in 1989....
sued Topps
Topps
The Topps Company, Inc., manufactures chewing gum, candy and collectibles. Based in New York, New York, Topps is best known as a leading producer of baseball cards, football cards, basketball cards, hockey cards and other sports and non-sports themed trading cards.-Company history:Topps itself was...
over their exclusive baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
rights. After 5 years a federal judge ruled that Topps
Topps
The Topps Company, Inc., manufactures chewing gum, candy and collectibles. Based in New York, New York, Topps is best known as a leading producer of baseball cards, football cards, basketball cards, hockey cards and other sports and non-sports themed trading cards.-Company history:Topps itself was...
illegally obtained Major League Baseball Players Association
Major League Baseball Players Association
The Major League Baseball Players Association is the union of professional major-league baseball players.-History of MLBPA:The MLBPA was not the first attempt to unionize baseball players...
rights. Donruss and Fleer
Fleer
The Fleer Corporation, founded by Frank H. Fleer in 1885, was the first company to successfully manufacture bubblegum; it remained a family-owned enterprise until it was taken private in 1989....
negotiated deals with Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
and by late 1980 Donruss had acquired the rights to produce baseball cards. Their first baseball card set was produced and ready in time for the 1981 season. In August of that year, an appellate court overturned the judge's ruling. Quick to react, Fleer
Fleer
The Fleer Corporation, founded by Frank H. Fleer in 1885, was the first company to successfully manufacture bubblegum; it remained a family-owned enterprise until it was taken private in 1989....
's lawyers found a loophole
Legal technicality
The term legal technicality is a casual or colloquial phrase referring to a technical aspect of law. The phrase is not a term of art in the law; it has no exact meaning, nor does it have a legal definition. It implies that that strict adherence to the letter of the law has prevented the spirit of...
in Topps
Topps
The Topps Company, Inc., manufactures chewing gum, candy and collectibles. Based in New York, New York, Topps is best known as a leading producer of baseball cards, football cards, basketball cards, hockey cards and other sports and non-sports themed trading cards.-Company history:Topps itself was...
' contract that stated they had exclusive rights to sell baseball card
Baseball card
A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on some type of paper stock or card stock. A card will usually feature one or more baseball players or other baseball-related sports figures...
s with gum or candy
Candy
Candy, specifically sugar candy, is a confection made from a concentrated solution of sugar in water, to which flavorings and colorants are added...
. So, Fleer
Fleer
The Fleer Corporation, founded by Frank H. Fleer in 1885, was the first company to successfully manufacture bubblegum; it remained a family-owned enterprise until it was taken private in 1989....
started distributing their baseball card
Baseball card
A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on some type of paper stock or card stock. A card will usually feature one or more baseball players or other baseball-related sports figures...
s with stickers, and Donruss started distributing their baseball card
Baseball card
A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on some type of paper stock or card stock. A card will usually feature one or more baseball players or other baseball-related sports figures...
s with puzzle pieces.
Overproduction and distribution was an early problem for Donruss. In 1983 Huhtamäki Oyj
Huhtamäki
Huhtamäki is a Finnish company, headquartered in Espoo, which manufactures and supplies packaging for various uses. Its primary outputs include cartons and containers for foods and other consumer goods, disposable tableware and films and laminates for such uses as adhesives, plasters and labels...
purchased Beatrice US Confections, Donruss and Leaf Candy Company
Leaf Candy Company
Leaf International BV is a market leader in candy, chewing gum and pastilles in Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland and Belgium and has a number two position in Norway, Denmark, Belgium and Italy. In total Leaf products are sold in more than 50 countries worldwide...
, merging the three companies into Leaf, Inc. The company continued to use the Donruss name on baseball card
Baseball card
A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on some type of paper stock or card stock. A card will usually feature one or more baseball players or other baseball-related sports figures...
s, which now benefited from Leaf's established distribution network. The Leaf brand was used from 1985 through 1988 on specially made baseball card
Baseball card
A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on some type of paper stock or card stock. A card will usually feature one or more baseball players or other baseball-related sports figures...
s distributed in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and in 1990 on a premium series of cards distributed in the U.S.
Donruss expanded its Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
plant from 256000 square feet (23,783.2 m²) to nearly 400,000, grew from 550 employees to 720 and continued to make trading cards and bubble gum at the facility throughout 1991. In 1992 demand for higher-quality cards rose, and standard card sales dropped. Donruss responded by reducing production, increasing price, upgrading card quality and randomly inserted limited edition and autographed insert cards to their new foil packaged cards. Donruss also partnered with Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is a carbonated soft drink sold in stores, restaurants, and vending machines in more than 200 countries. It is produced by The Coca-Cola Company of Atlanta, Georgia, and is often referred to simply as Coke...
, Cracker Jack
Cracker Jack
Cracker Jack is a U.S. brand of snack consisting of strong molasses flavored candy-coated popcorn and peanuts, well known for being packaged with a prize of nominal value inside. Some food historians consider it the first junk food...
and McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
to create special card series, and created a less expensive line of cards called "Triple Play" without statistics but with superior action and artistry (evidenced by book values now being typically higher than for comparable cards) targeted at young collectors.
In 1993 Donruss acquired the rights to produce hockey card
Hockey card
A Hockey card is a type of trading card typically printed on some sort of card stock, featuring one or more hockey players or other hockey-related editorial and are typically found in countries such as Canada, the United States, Finland and Sweden where hockey is a popular sport and there are...
s. With poor sales in 1994, due in part to a Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
strike and National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
lockout, Donruss began producing new lines of entertainment cards, and a football collectible card game
Collectible card game
thumb|Players and their decksA collectible card game , also called a trading card game or customizable card game, is a game played using specially designed sets of playing cards...
under license from NXT Games, in 1995. May 1996, Pinnacle Brands
Pinnacle Brands
Pinnacle Brands was a trading card company from 1988 to 1998. With its first baseball card set called Score, it changed the baseball card industry from the "Big Three" that had been in place for seven years prior...
acquired the Donruss/Leaf brands, as well as their baseball and hockey licenses, from Huhtamäki Oyj
Huhtamäki
Huhtamäki is a Finnish company, headquartered in Espoo, which manufactures and supplies packaging for various uses. Its primary outputs include cartons and containers for foods and other consumer goods, disposable tableware and films and laminates for such uses as adhesives, plasters and labels...
for about $41 million. The entertainment line was sold to U.S. Playing Card Co.
United States Playing Card Company
The United States Playing Card Company, started in 1867, produces and distributes many brands of playing cards, including Bicycle, Bee, Hoyle, Kem, and others, plus novelty and custom cards, and other playing card accessories such as poker chips. The company was once based in Cincinnati, Ohio, but...
. Pinnacle used the Donruss and Leaf brands on baseball, football and hockey cards.
In July 1998 Pinnacle Brands
Pinnacle Brands
Pinnacle Brands was a trading card company from 1988 to 1998. With its first baseball card set called Score, it changed the baseball card industry from the "Big Three" that had been in place for seven years prior...
filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
protection.
1970 to 2001, Playoff Corp.
Playoff Corp. can be traced back to as early as 1970 with a company called Optigraphics. At the time, Optigraphics specialized in advanced printing technology. Their first sports work was seen in 1983 when 7-Eleven7-Eleven
7-Eleven is part of an international chain of convenience stores, operating under Seven-Eleven Japan Co. Ltd, which in turn is owned by Seven & I Holdings Co...
began distributing multiple-image discs, utilizing the lenticular printing
Lenticular printing
Lenticular printing is a technology in which a lenticular lens is used to produce images with an illusion of depth, or the ability to change or move as the image is viewed from different angles...
process which gave an appearance as though the image were moving, or changing,
with purchase of Slurpee drinks
Slurpee
A Slurpee is a flavored frozen drink sold by 7-Eleven. In 1967, 7-Eleven licensed the product from the ICEE Company, and began selling it as the Slurpee.-Slurpee history:Machines to make frozen beverages were invented by Omar Knedlik in the late 1950s...
.
In 1985 the company obtained baseball licenses and started producing their unique style of cards under the name Sportflics. This also marked the first time any company used full-color photography on the back of sports cards. Minus their "Magic Motion", but using the same style as their Sportflics cards, they released baseball cards under the Score brand in 1988 and football cards under the Score brand in 1989.
In 1992 founders and owners Ann Blake and John Flavin divorced. Flavin maintained the Score brand. Blake left and founded a new company called Cardz Distribution, which later developed into Playoff Corp. and ultimately gained control of the Score brand, along with Donruss and Leaf, in 1998 when then parent company Pinnacle Brands, Inc. was under bankruptcy. Playoff could not obtain Pinnacle/Donruss' baseball and hockey licenses, however. Playoff was producing high-end lines of football cards, generating some $25 million in annual revenues. With their Pinnacle Brands
Pinnacle Brands
Pinnacle Brands was a trading card company from 1988 to 1998. With its first baseball card set called Score, it changed the baseball card industry from the "Big Three" that had been in place for seven years prior...
purchase, Playoff began producing trading cards under the Donruss Elite, Leaf and Score brand names.
Playoff expanded their business in 2000 by adding a 36000 square feet (3,344.5 m²) distribution facility, and developed their Score Entertainment
Score Entertainment
Score Entertainment was a trading card design and manufacturing company based in Arlington, Texas. Their first card game was the Dragon Ball Z: Collectible Card Game in 2000. Score Entertainment was a member of the Donruss Playoff LP family of companies...
subsidiary to produce Dragonball Z
Dragon Ball
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. It was originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 to 1995; later the 519 individual chapters were published into 42 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha. Dragon Ball was inspired by the classical Chinese novel Journey to the...
trading cards.
1988 to 1997, Action Packed
Action Packed manufactured trading cards from 1988 to 1997. Complete sets consisted of few cards to keep collectors happy when opening packages. Action Packed created a 6-card embossed set in 1988 to show their technique to Major League BaseballMajor League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
and the Major League Baseball Players Association
Major League Baseball Players Association
The Major League Baseball Players Association is the union of professional major-league baseball players.-History of MLBPA:The MLBPA was not the first attempt to unionize baseball players...
. They were not awarded a license. Action packed created a single set of basketball cards in 1995, produced football cards from 1990 to 1997, produced hockey cards in 1993 and 1995, produced racing cards in 1990 and from 1992 to 1997, and World Wrestling Federation cards in 1994 and 1995.
Pinnacle Brands acquired the brand in 1995, and Donruss/Playoff acquired the brand when they acquired Pinnacle Brands in 1998.
2001 to 2009, Donruss Playoff L.P.
In 2001 Playoff Corp. became Donruss Playoff L.P., acquired the rights to produce baseball cardBaseball card
A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on some type of paper stock or card stock. A card will usually feature one or more baseball players or other baseball-related sports figures...
s and established their headquarters in Arlington, Texas
Arlington, Texas
Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas within the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. According to the 2010 census results, the city had a population of 365,438, making it the third largest municipality in the Metroplex...
.
Donruss Playoff expanded their entertainment lines in 2002, with such trading card
Trading card
A trading card is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing and a short description of the picture, along with other text...
s as Buffy, The Vampire Slayer through their new Score Entertainment
Score Entertainment
Score Entertainment was a trading card design and manufacturing company based in Arlington, Texas. Their first card game was the Dragon Ball Z: Collectible Card Game in 2000. Score Entertainment was a member of the Donruss Playoff LP family of companies...
division. Donruss also produced the first Spanish-only baseball card set.
In 2003, Donruss Playoff stirred up controversy when they paid $264,210 at auction for a rare game-worn Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
jersey, which they cut up and turned into 2,100 memorabilia cards
Insert cards
An insert card is a card that is randomly inserted into packs of a sports card offering. These insert cards are not part of the regular numbering system of a set of sports cards and they tend to have a unique design. Another term for insert cards is chase cards. Insert cards either have their own...
.
Late summer of 2005 Donruss Playoff lost their rights to produce baseball card
Baseball card
A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on some type of paper stock or card stock. A card will usually feature one or more baseball players or other baseball-related sports figures...
s.
2009 and Beyond, Panini America Inc.
On March 13, 2009, Panini Spa. of ItalyItaly
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
(which had previously acquired the exclusive license to produce NBA trading cards beginning with the 2009-10 season), announced that they had purchased Donruss Playoff. Effective immediately, the company was renamed Panini America Inc. However, the company will remain separate and continue to operate out of Arlington, Texas
Arlington, Texas
Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas within the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. According to the 2010 census results, the city had a population of 365,438, making it the third largest municipality in the Metroplex...
, with much of the existing upper management.
During the 2010 Industry Summit Collectibles (a gathering where retailers can meet leaders in the trading card
Trading card
A trading card is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing and a short description of the picture, along with other text...
s industry, and listen to discussions about card collecting), held in Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
on April 11, Panini America announced changes to the company’s distribution network. Vice president Mike Anderson and sales director Rodney Alsup outlined their goals to address retail store concerns over profit margin
Profit margin
Profit margin, net margin, net profit margin or net profit ratio all refer to a measure of profitability. It is calculated by finding the net profit as a percentage of the revenue.Net profit Margin = x100...
s, and how online sellers are having a negative impact. Only retail stores would be authorized to sell Panini products directly to consumer
Consumer
Consumer is a broad label for any individuals or households that use goods generated within the economy. The concept of a consumer occurs in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary.-Economics and marketing:...
s, and any retailer attempting to wholesale
Wholesale
Wholesaling, jobbing, or distributing is defined as the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers, to industrial, commercial, institutional, or other professional business users, or to other wholesalers and related subordinated services...
would lose their authorization. Only wholesalers would be authorized to sell Panini products directly to retailers, and any wholesaler attempting to retail
Retail
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
would lose their authorization. “You are one, or you are the other,” Anderson said. Alsup noted they would reduce their current number of wholesalers from fifty to about four nationally.
Under Donruss Playoff they company sold to anyone. “We turned a blind eye toward those things, because, honestly, we had to. Our ownership needed the money, and we perpetuated the industry’s problem,” Anderson said. “But under Panini ownership, we work for a CEO who is allowing us to do what should’ve been done 10 years ago. We are well structured, well financed and committed to doing what is best for the brick-and-mortar stores who are the lifeblood of this hobby.”
Panini also outlined other initiatives: will continue to destroy returned NBA trading card
Trading card
A trading card is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing and a short description of the picture, along with other text...
s to protect "collectibility", willing to implement minimum advertised price if needed, formation of a brick-and-mortar standards committee, upgraded ordering systems and schedules, new football and hockey
Hockey
Hockey is a family of sports in which two teams play against each other by trying to maneuver a ball or a puck into the opponent's goal using a hockey stick.-Etymology:...
trading card
Trading card
A trading card is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing and a short description of the picture, along with other text...
s and other products featuring autographs and memorabilia swatches from sports, history and pop culture.
1981 to 1989
Fleer
The Fleer Corporation, founded by Frank H. Fleer in 1885, was the first company to successfully manufacture bubblegum; it remained a family-owned enterprise until it was taken private in 1989....
's historic court victory over Topps
Topps
The Topps Company, Inc., manufactures chewing gum, candy and collectibles. Based in New York, New York, Topps is best known as a leading producer of baseball cards, football cards, basketball cards, hockey cards and other sports and non-sports themed trading cards.-Company history:Topps itself was...
, Donruss rushed into production a 605-card set for the 1981 season. The first printings were riddled with errors (though Fleer's first set was even worse in this regard), most of which were fixed in subsequent runs. They were also printed on flimsy card stock
Card stock
Card stock, also called cover stock or pasteboard, is a paper stock that is thicker and more durable than normal writing or printing paper, but thinner and more flexible than other forms of paperboard. Card stock is often used for business cards, postcards, playing cards, catalog covers,...
and there were no factory sets; rather, the cards were shipped to dealers in 100-count lots and were then collated
Collation
Collation is the assembly of written information into a standard order. One common type of collation is called alphabetization, though collation is not limited to ordering letters of the alphabet...
by hand. TCMA of Amawalk, New York handled dealer business. TV personality Keith Olbermann
Keith Olbermann
Keith Theodore Olbermann is an American political commentator and writer. He has been the chief news officer of the Current TV network and the host of Current TV's weeknight political commentary program, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, since June 20, 2011...
was a photographer for some of the cards that are a part of the 1981 Donruss set.
With an entire offseason to prepare, Donruss shipped a much improved, more polished set for 1982. The 1982 offering also saw the introduction of the Diamond Kings, the first 26 cards of the 660-card set, made up of oil paintings by noted sports artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
Dick Perez. Another Donruss innovation for 1982 was the inclusion of jigsaw puzzle
Jigsaw puzzle
A jigsaw puzzle is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of numerous small, often oddly shaped, interlocking and tessellating pieces.Each piece usually has a small part of a picture on it; when complete, a jigsaw puzzle produces a complete picture...
pieces with a pack of cards in place of gum. Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
was pictured as "Hall of Fame Diamond King" when the 63-piece puzzle was assembled. (An appeal of the 1978 Fleer
Fleer
The Fleer Corporation, founded by Frank H. Fleer in 1885, was the first company to successfully manufacture bubblegum; it remained a family-owned enterprise until it was taken private in 1989....
v. Topps
Topps
The Topps Company, Inc., manufactures chewing gum, candy and collectibles. Based in New York, New York, Topps is best known as a leading producer of baseball cards, football cards, basketball cards, hockey cards and other sports and non-sports themed trading cards.-Company history:Topps itself was...
ruling in 1981 barred the two new card companies from using gum premiums; Fleer
Fleer
The Fleer Corporation, founded by Frank H. Fleer in 1885, was the first company to successfully manufacture bubblegum; it remained a family-owned enterprise until it was taken private in 1989....
switched to team logo stickers in 1982.) Donruss also began selling to dealers directly, the first of the major card companies to offer factory sets for those buying in bulk. Notable card in this set is Cal Ripken's rookie card
Rookie card
"Rookie card" is a relatively subjective term generally referring to an athlete's first appearance on a trading card made for collectible or informational purposes...
.
Donruss released three baseball card
Baseball card
A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on some type of paper stock or card stock. A card will usually feature one or more baseball players or other baseball-related sports figures...
sets in 1983. Their standard 660-card set (with only minimal changes; a glove replacing the ball on the front and the back switching from blue to yellow), a 60-card "Action All-Star" set and a 44-card "Hall of Fame Heroes" set. "Action All-Star" were not the standard 2½" by 3½" card size, rather 3½" by 5" and included a 63-piece Mickey Mantle
Mickey Mantle
Mickey Charles Mantle was an American professional baseball player. Mantle is regarded by many to be the greatest switch hitter of all time, and one of the greatest players in baseball history. Mantle was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.Mantle was noted for his hitting...
puzzle (eight cards per pack and three pieces on one card per pack). The "Hall of Fame Heroes" set were standard sized cards issued in the same packs as the "Action All-Star" cards, but rather than picturing photographs of the players Donruss used their Diamond King style and showed Dick Perez oil paintings. Notable rookie cards in their standard set include Ryne Sandberg
Ryne Sandberg
Ryne Dee Sandberg , nicknamed "Ryno" is a former Major League Baseball second baseman. During a 16-year baseball career, he played from 1981–1994 and 1996–97, spending nearly his entire career with the Chicago Cubs. He was named after relief pitcher Ryne Duren, and is recognized as one of the best...
, Tony Gwynn
Tony Gwynn
Anthony Keith "Tony" Gwynn, Sr. , nicknamed Mr. Padre and Captain Video, is a former Major League Baseball right fielder. He is statistically one of the best and most consistent hitters in baseball history. He played his entire 20-year baseball career for the San Diego Padres...
and Wade Boggs
Wade Boggs
Wade Anthony Boggs is an American former professional baseball third baseman. He spent his 18-year baseball career primarily with the Boston Red Sox, but also played for the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Devil Rays...
. Another card of note is an error card
Error card
In the trading card collecting hobby, an error card is a card that shows incorrect information or some other unintended flaw. It can contain a mistake, such as a misspelling or a photo of someone other than the athlete named on the card...
of Ron Jackson
Ron Jackson
Ronnie Damien Jackson is a coach and a former player in Major League Baseball. He was a hitting coach for the Boston Red Sox from 2003-2006...
where Donruss claimed he played for the A's rather than the Angels
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are a professional baseball team based in Anaheim, California, United States. The Angels are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The "Angels" name originates from the city in which the team started, Los Angeles...
. Donruss did issue a card to correct the error. This years jigsaw puzzle
Jigsaw puzzle
A jigsaw puzzle is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of numerous small, often oddly shaped, interlocking and tessellating pieces.Each piece usually has a small part of a picture on it; when complete, a jigsaw puzzle produces a complete picture...
inserted in wax packs featured Ty Cobb
Ty Cobb
Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb , nicknamed "The Georgia Peach," was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. He was born in Narrows, Georgia...
.
The 1984 660-card base set was among the company's most successful; however, only 658 are numbered. A new feature introduced this year were two "Living Legend" cards designated A (featuring Gaylord Perry
Gaylord Perry
Gaylord Jackson Perry is a former Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He pitched from 1962-1983 for eight different teams in his career. During a 22-year baseball career, Perry compiled 314 wins, 3,534 strikeouts, and a 3.11 earned run average...
and Rollie Fingers
Rollie Fingers
Roland Glen Fingers is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher. During his 18-year baseball career, he pitched for the Oakland Athletics , San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers . He became only the second reliever to be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992...
) and B (featuring Johnny Bench
Johnny Bench
Johnny Lee Bench is a former professional baseball catcher who played in the Major Leagues for the Cincinnati Reds from 1967 to 1983 and is a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame...
and Carl Yastrzemski
Carl Yastrzemski
Carl Michael Yastrzemski is a former American Major League Baseball left fielder and first baseman. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989. Yastrzemski played his entire 23-year baseball career with the Boston Red Sox . He was primarily a left fielder, with part of his later career...
). These were issued as bonus cards in wax packs but not issued in the factory set. Another new feature among the base set were labeling cards 27 through 46 as Rated Rookies (chosen by Bill Madden
Bill Madden (sportswriter)
Bill Madden is an American sportswriter for the New York Daily News. A member of the Baseball Writers Association of America, he has served on the Historical Overview Committee of the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005, 2007 and 2008, helping to select candidates for the final ballots presented to the...
). This years jigsaw puzzle
Jigsaw puzzle
A jigsaw puzzle is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of numerous small, often oddly shaped, interlocking and tessellating pieces.Each piece usually has a small part of a picture on it; when complete, a jigsaw puzzle produces a complete picture...
inserted in wax packs is Duke Snider
Duke Snider
Edwin Donald "Duke" Snider , nicknamed "The Silver Fox" and "The Duke of Flatbush", was a Major League Baseball center fielder and left-handed batter who played for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers , New York Mets , and San Francisco Giants .Snider was elected to the National Baseball Hall of...
. Notable card in this set is Don Mattingly
Don Mattingly
Donald Arthur "Don" Mattingly is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and current manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Nicknamed "The Hit Man" and "Donnie Baseball", he played his entire 14-year baseball career for the New York Yankees...
's rookie card
Rookie card
"Rookie card" is a relatively subjective term generally referring to an athlete's first appearance on a trading card made for collectible or informational purposes...
. Donruss, again, produced the 60-card "Action All-Star" set, with this years 63-piece puzzle featuring Ted Williams
Ted Williams
Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year Major League Baseball career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox...
, and created another 3½" by 5" 60-card set called "Champions". The "Champions" featured the artwork of Dick Perez of Perez-Steele Galleries and were issued in cello packs along with pieces of the Duke Snider
Duke Snider
Edwin Donald "Duke" Snider , nicknamed "The Silver Fox" and "The Duke of Flatbush", was a Major League Baseball center fielder and left-handed batter who played for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers , New York Mets , and San Francisco Giants .Snider was elected to the National Baseball Hall of...
puzzle.
Donruss released six baseball card
Baseball card
A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on some type of paper stock or card stock. A card will usually feature one or more baseball players or other baseball-related sports figures...
sets in 1985. The standard 660-card set, 60-card "Action All-Stars", 56-card "Highlights", 8-card "Hall of Fame Sluggers", 28-card "Super Diamond Kings" and 263-card "Leaf" set. The standard set contained last years features, the first 26 cards are Diamond Kings with artwork by Perez-Steele Galleries and cards 27 through 46 as Rated Rookies. Lou Gehrig
Lou Gehrig
Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig , nicknamed "The Iron Horse" for his durability, was an American Major League Baseball first baseman. He played his entire 17-year baseball career for the New York Yankees . Gehrig set several major league records. He holds the record for most career grand slams...
puzzle pieces were inserted in this years wax packs. Notable card in this set is Roger Clemens
Roger Clemens
William Roger Clemens , nicknamed "Rocket", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who broke into the league with the Boston Red Sox, whose pitching staff he would help anchor for 12 years. Clemens won seven Cy Young Awards, more than any other pitcher. He played for four different teams over...
' rookie card
Rookie card
"Rookie card" is a relatively subjective term generally referring to an athlete's first appearance on a trading card made for collectible or informational purposes...
. The wax boxes, which held the wax packs, of the standard issue set featured four standard-size cards, styled the same as the standard set, on the bottom of the box and are numbered with a PC prefix
Prefix
A prefix is an affix which is placed before the root of a word. Particularly in the study of languages,a prefix is also called a preformative, because it alters the form of the words to which it is affixed.Examples of prefixes:...
.
"Action All-Stars" measured the usual 3½" by 5", but rather than using a different puzzle for this set Donruss issued the standard set's Lou Gehrig
Lou Gehrig
Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig , nicknamed "The Iron Horse" for his durability, was an American Major League Baseball first baseman. He played his entire 17-year baseball career for the New York Yankees . Gehrig set several major league records. He holds the record for most career grand slams...
puzzle pieces with the cards. The "Highlights" set, as the name would suggest, features 54 highlights of players and pitchers of the month for the American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
and National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
. The final 2 cards of the set were devoted to American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
and National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
Rookies of the Year (chosen by Donruss). Dick Perez provided the artwork for the 3½" by 6½" "Hall of Fame Sluggers" set. Players for this set were chosen by their career slugging percentage, and the cards are numbered by the percentages. This is the first and last time Donruss would make this type of set. The "Super Diamond Kings" are enlarged, measuring approximately 4 15/16 by 6¾", versions of the first 26 cards of the standard set, and were obtained through mail-order. The other two cards featured a checklist card and one of artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
Dick Perez. A Lou Gehrig
Lou Gehrig
Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig , nicknamed "The Iron Horse" for his durability, was an American Major League Baseball first baseman. He played his entire 17-year baseball career for the New York Yankees . Gehrig set several major league records. He holds the record for most career grand slams...
puzzle piece was also included in the mail-order.
Donruss produced a "Leaf" set to establish themselves in the Canadian baseball card
Baseball card
A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on some type of paper stock or card stock. A card will usually feature one or more baseball players or other baseball-related sports figures...
market along with rival Topps
Topps
The Topps Company, Inc., manufactures chewing gum, candy and collectibles. Based in New York, New York, Topps is best known as a leading producer of baseball cards, football cards, basketball cards, hockey cards and other sports and non-sports themed trading cards.-Company history:Topps itself was...
' affiliate O-Pee-Chee
O-Pee-Chee
The O-Pee-Chee Company, Ltd. was a 20th-century Canadian confectionery company that produced candy until the mid 1990s. The company, based in London, Ontario, was originally owned by the McDermid family . The company was later owned by Frank Leahy and then, sold to his son in law, Gary Koreen...
. These cards are similar in appearance to the standard set, but are numbered differently and the backs are in both French and English. Card numbers 251 and 252 feature Dick Perez artwork of Dave Stieb
Dave Stieb
David Andrew Stieb [STEEB] is a former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays.-Playing career:Born in Santa Ana, California, Stieb played varsity baseball at Southern Illinois University as an outfielder...
and Tim Raines
Tim Raines
Timothy Raines , nicknamed "Rock", is a former American professional baseball player. He played as a left fielder in Major League Baseball for six teams from 1979 to 2002 and was best known for his 13 seasons with the Montreal Expos...
, respectively, and are not found in the standard set. Wax packs of this set also contained Lou Gehrig
Lou Gehrig
Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig , nicknamed "The Iron Horse" for his durability, was an American Major League Baseball first baseman. He played his entire 17-year baseball career for the New York Yankees . Gehrig set several major league records. He holds the record for most career grand slams...
puzzle pieces. Donruss released this set at a later date in the U.S.
1985 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The 1985 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 56th playing of the game, annually played between the All-Stars of the National League and the All-Stars of the American League. The game was played on July 16, 1985, in the Hubert H...
. Cards were very similar to the standard set, and backs of the cards displayed each players All-Star game statistics. Similar to the 1985 and 1986 wax boxes, the All-Star Boxes featured four standard-size cards, styled the same as the standard set, on the bottom of the box. The 56-card "Highlights" set were given a glossy-coating on the front side of the card. Again, the "Super Diamond Kings" set was available by mail-order and is an enlarged versions of the regular set. This years set featured an extra card, however. Card 27 is Pete Rose
Pete Rose
Peter Edward Rose , nicknamed "Charlie Hustle", is a former Major League Baseball player and manager. Rose played from 1963 to 1986, and managed from 1984 to 1989....
"King of Kings". The other two cards featured a no numbered checklist card and a no numbered card depicting the complete Hank Aaron jigsaw puzzle
Jigsaw puzzle
A jigsaw puzzle is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of numerous small, often oddly shaped, interlocking and tessellating pieces.Each piece usually has a small part of a picture on it; when complete, a jigsaw puzzle produces a complete picture...
. The 264-card "Leaf" set had the same differences as last years set. However, this year card numbers 214 and 254 feature Dick Perez artwork of Jeff Reardon
Jeff Reardon
Jeffrey James Reardon , nicknamed "The Terminator" for his intimidating presence on the mound and 98 mph fastball, is a former professional baseball relief pitcher from 1979-1994 who played for the New York Mets, Montreal Expos, Minnesota Twins, and Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati...
and Jesse Barfield
Jesse Barfield
Jesse Lee Barfield is a former Major League Baseball right fielder who played for the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees . He batted and threw right-handed. He lived in Tenafly, a suburb of New York City.Barfield was well known for his powerful, accurate throwing arm...
, respectively, and are not found in the standard set.
Two new sets were introduced in 1986. 18-card "Pop-Ups" and 56-card "Rookies". The "Pop-Ups" measured 2½" by 5" and features the first 18 players of the "All-Star" set. The cards were die-cut and folded in a manner that when we unfolded, or "popped up", could stand on its own and give the appearance of a player in action in front of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, commonly called the Metrodome, is a domed sports stadium in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Opened in 1982, it replaced Metropolitan Stadium, which was on the current site of the Mall of America in Bloomington and Memorial Stadium on the University...
ballpark background. For the cards to remain in mint condition, card collecting guides recommend not unfolding the cards. The "Rookies" were issued in factory set form and came with 15-piece jigsaw puzzle
Jigsaw puzzle
A jigsaw puzzle is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of numerous small, often oddly shaped, interlocking and tessellating pieces.Each piece usually has a small part of a picture on it; when complete, a jigsaw puzzle produces a complete picture...
of Hank Aaron.
All of the 1986 sets were used again in 1987, with a few differences. The standard set put a checklist card at #27, so the Rated Rookie cards now occupied 28 through 47. Roberto Clemente
Roberto Clemente
Roberto Clemente Walker was a Puerto Rican Major League Baseball right fielder. He was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, the youngest of seven children. Clemente played his entire 18-year baseball career with the Pittsburgh Pirates . He was awarded the National League's Most Valuable Player Award in...
debuted as the jigsaw puzzle
Jigsaw puzzle
A jigsaw puzzle is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of numerous small, often oddly shaped, interlocking and tessellating pieces.Each piece usually has a small part of a picture on it; when complete, a jigsaw puzzle produces a complete picture...
pieces inserted into wax packs, and the 1987 factory sets contained a complete puzzle set. Perez-Steele Galleries started using repeats of the Diamond King (1-26) sections, to avoid depleting their limited pool of available players. There was no change to the "All-Stars" set. 1987 marked the last year Donruss issued cards on the bottom of the regular set and "All-Stars" boxes, and the last year Donruss released a "Highlights" set. "Pop-Ups" increased from an 18-card to 20-card set. "Rookies" replaced last years 15-piece jigsaw puzzle
Jigsaw puzzle
A jigsaw puzzle is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of numerous small, often oddly shaped, interlocking and tessellating pieces.Each piece usually has a small part of a picture on it; when complete, a jigsaw puzzle produces a complete picture...
with Roberto Clemente
Roberto Clemente
Roberto Clemente Walker was a Puerto Rican Major League Baseball right fielder. He was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, the youngest of seven children. Clemente played his entire 18-year baseball career with the Pittsburgh Pirates . He was awarded the National League's Most Valuable Player Award in...
. "Super Diamond Kings" decreased from a 29-card set to a 28-card set, excluding card 27 this time. Again, the other two cards featured a no numbered checklist card and a no numbered card depicting the complete Roberto Clemente
Roberto Clemente
Roberto Clemente Walker was a Puerto Rican Major League Baseball right fielder. He was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, the youngest of seven children. Clemente played his entire 18-year baseball career with the Pittsburgh Pirates . He was awarded the National League's Most Valuable Player Award in...
jigsaw puzzle
Jigsaw puzzle
A jigsaw puzzle is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of numerous small, often oddly shaped, interlocking and tessellating pieces.Each piece usually has a small part of a picture on it; when complete, a jigsaw puzzle produces a complete picture...
. This years "Leaf" set featured artwork by Dick Perez on card numbers 65 and 173, Floyd Youmans
Floyd Youmans
Floyd Everett Youmans is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He is likely best remembered as one of the players dealt by the New York Mets to the Montreal Expos for Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter.-New York Mets:...
and Mark Eichhorn
Mark Eichhorn
Mark Anthony Eichhorn is a retired Major League Baseball pitcher best known for his tenure with the Toronto Blue Jays the late 1980s - early 1990s where he often served as a middle reliever/set-up man for All-Star closer, Tom Henke...
, respectively. Again, those cards were not in U.S. set. 1987 was the last year Donruss released enlarged versions of the "All-Stars" and "Pop-Ups" sets.
Donruss introduced one new 272-card set this year called "Opening Day". The set featured a card for every player in the starting line up on Opening Day
Opening Day
Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball and most of the minor leagues, this day falls during the first week of April. For baseball fans, Opening Day serves as a symbol of rebirth; writer Thomas Boswell once penned a book...
. Like the "Rookies" set, the "Opening Day" set contained a 15-piece jigsaw puzzle
Jigsaw puzzle
A jigsaw puzzle is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of numerous small, often oddly shaped, interlocking and tessellating pieces.Each piece usually has a small part of a picture on it; when complete, a jigsaw puzzle produces a complete picture...
of Roberto Clemente
Roberto Clemente
Roberto Clemente Walker was a Puerto Rican Major League Baseball right fielder. He was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, the youngest of seven children. Clemente played his entire 18-year baseball career with the Pittsburgh Pirates . He was awarded the National League's Most Valuable Player Award in...
. Notable card in this set is a Barry Bonds
Barry Bonds
Barry Lamar Bonds is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder. Bonds played from 1986 to 2007, for the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants. He is the son of former major league All-Star Bobby Bonds...
' error card
Error card
In the trading card collecting hobby, an error card is a card that shows incorrect information or some other unintended flaw. It can contain a mistake, such as a misspelling or a photo of someone other than the athlete named on the card...
with Johnny Ray
Johnny Ray
John Cornelius Ray is a former second baseman in Major League Baseball who had a 10-year career from 1981 to 1990. He played for the Pittsburgh Pirates of the National League and the California Angels of the American League...
pictured instead of Barry Bonds
Barry Bonds
Barry Lamar Bonds is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder. Bonds played from 1986 to 2007, for the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants. He is the son of former major league All-Star Bobby Bonds...
. Donruss did issue a card to correct the error. 1987 was the only year Donruss issued an "Opening Day" set.
In 1988 Donruss started distributing a new set within their standard 660-card set. In addition to finding the usual jigsaw puzzle
Jigsaw puzzle
A jigsaw puzzle is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of numerous small, often oddly shaped, interlocking and tessellating pieces.Each piece usually has a small part of a picture on it; when complete, a jigsaw puzzle produces a complete picture...
piece, this years being Stan Musial
Stan Musial
Stanley Frank "Stan" Musial is a retired professional baseball player who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals . Nicknamed "Stan the Man", Musial was a record 24-time All-Star selection , and is widely considered to be one of the greatest hitters in baseball...
, bonus cards, numbered with a BC prefix
Prefix
A prefix is an affix which is placed before the root of a word. Particularly in the study of languages,a prefix is also called a preformative, because it alters the form of the words to which it is affixed.Examples of prefixes:...
, were randomly inserted into wax packs. These cards had a MVP logo on the face of the card to distinquish them from the regular set; and created a new 26-card "Bonus MVP" set, featuring the most valuable player from each Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
team. This did, however, create a problem for both sets. Rather than producing extra pacakging materials to ship the extra cards, Donruss pulled cards from both sets to make room. This meant 26-cards from the regular set were in shorter print, cards 648 through 660 more so than the other thirteen; and cards BC14 through BC26 were in shorter print from the "Bonus MVP" set. The short printed cards did not have a significant affect on the cards values.
Also new to 1988 is a 336-card set called "Baseball's Best" and 27-card "Team Books" of the A's, Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
, Mets
METS
The Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard is a metadata standard for encoding descriptive, administrative, and structural metadata regarding objects within a digital library, expressed using the XML schema language of the World Wide Web Consortium...
, Red Sox and Yankees. "Baseball's Best" was issued late in the season and sold in big-box store
Big-box store
A big-box store is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain. The term sometimes also refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store...
s as a complete factory set. Six 15-piece jigsaw puzzle
Jigsaw puzzle
A jigsaw puzzle is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of numerous small, often oddly shaped, interlocking and tessellating pieces.Each piece usually has a small part of a picture on it; when complete, a jigsaw puzzle produces a complete picture...
s of Stan Musial
Stan Musial
Stanley Frank "Stan" Musial is a retired professional baseball player who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals . Nicknamed "Stan the Man", Musial was a record 24-time All-Star selection , and is widely considered to be one of the greatest hitters in baseball...
are included in every factory set. Each "Team Book" was issued with 27-cards (3 pages with 9 cards) and a large perforated full-page puzzle of Stan Musial
Stan Musial
Stanley Frank "Stan" Musial is a retired professional baseball player who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals . Nicknamed "Stan the Man", Musial was a record 24-time All-Star selection , and is widely considered to be one of the greatest hitters in baseball...
. These cards are identical to the standard set cards, but copyrighted 1988 rather than 1987 distinguishing the cards from the regular set. Donruss did not issue "Team Books" again.
Donruss produced their "All-Stars", "Pop-Ups", "Rookies", "Super Diamond Kings" and "Leaf" sets again in 1988 with a few differences. Previous years "All-Stars" and "Pop-Ups" enlarged sets were now produced in the standard 2½" by 3½" card size. "All-Stars" increased from a 60-card set to a 64-card set. No other changes to the "Pop-Ups" set. The "Rookies" set replaced this years 15-piece jigsaw puzzle
Jigsaw puzzle
A jigsaw puzzle is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of numerous small, often oddly shaped, interlocking and tessellating pieces.Each piece usually has a small part of a picture on it; when complete, a jigsaw puzzle produces a complete picture...
with Stan Musial
Stan Musial
Stanley Frank "Stan" Musial is a retired professional baseball player who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals . Nicknamed "Stan the Man", Musial was a record 24-time All-Star selection , and is widely considered to be one of the greatest hitters in baseball...
. Donruss did not include extra cards in "Super Diamond Kings", making this a 26-card set. Dick Perez artwork is used, again, in the "Leaf" set on two cards, George Bell (213) and Tim Wallach
Tim Wallach
Timothy Charles Wallach , nicknamed "Eli" in reference to actor Eli Wallach, is a former third baseman in Major League Baseball who played from to for the Montreal Expos, Los Angeles Dodgers, and California Angels. He won three Gold Glove awards for defensive excellence and 2 Silver Slugger...
(255), which were not issued in the U.S. set. Two "Bonus MVP" cards, Tim Raines
Tim Raines
Timothy Raines , nicknamed "Rock", is a former American professional baseball player. He played as a left fielder in Major League Baseball for six teams from 1979 to 2002 and was best known for his 13 seasons with the Montreal Expos...
(211) and George Bell (214), were issued in both the Canadian and U.S. versions of the "Leaf" set. 1988 is also the last year Donruss issue a "Leaf" set produced specifically for a Canadian, and later U.S., release.
Donruss released many of the same sets in 1989, and three new sets. The base set remained 660-cards. Again, Donruss released "Bonus MVP" cards randomly inserted into regular set wax packs, along with a jigsaw puzzle
Jigsaw puzzle
A jigsaw puzzle is a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of numerous small, often oddly shaped, interlocking and tessellating pieces.Each piece usually has a small part of a picture on it; when complete, a jigsaw puzzle produces a complete picture...
piece of Warren Spahn
Warren Spahn
Warren Edward Spahn was an American Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. He played his entire 21-year baseball career in the National League. He won 20 games each in 13 seasons, including a 23-7 record when he was age 42...
. Donruss did not short print any cards this year. The factory set contained 672-cards. A 12-card "Grand Slammers" set accompanies the regular 660-card set as an added incentive to purchase a factory set. The "Grand Slammers" set contained players who hit one or more grand slams
Grand slam (baseball)
In the sport of baseball, a grand slam is a home run hit with all three bases occupied by baserunners , thereby scoring four runs—the most possible in one play. According to The Dickson Baseball Dictionary, the term originated in the card game of contract bridge, in which a grand slam involves...
in 1988. "Grand Slammers" were also found in cellophane-wrapped packaged (cello pack) cards.
The other new sets for 1989 were a 12-card "Blue Chips" and a 56-card "Traded" set. The 12-card "Blue Chips" set is identical to the "Grand Slammers" set, except in the place of the "Grand Slammers" logo is a "Blue Chips" logo with a Donruss or Leaf trademark
Trademark
A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or...
. These cards were not issued in factory sets, and are not commonly found among collectors
Collecting
The hobby of collecting includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever items are of interest to the individual collector. Some collectors are generalists, accumulating merchandise, or stamps from all countries of the world...
. The "Traded" set was issued in factory form, featured players that traded teams and card numbers began with a T prefix
Prefix
A prefix is an affix which is placed before the root of a word. Particularly in the study of languages,a prefix is also called a preformative, because it alters the form of the words to which it is affixed.Examples of prefixes:...
. 1989 was the first and last time "Blue Chips" and "Traded" sets were produced.
"All-Stars", "Baseball's Best", "Pop-Ups", "Rookies" and "Super Diamond Kings" were produced again in 1989, with a few items of note. No changes to the "All-Stars" set, but Donruss would not make this particular set again until 1995. Once again, "Baseball's Best" was sold in big-box store
Big-box store
A big-box store is a physically large retail establishment, usually part of a chain. The term sometimes also refers, by extension, to the company that operates the store...
s as a complete factory set. Notable card in this set is Sammy Sosa
Sammy Sosa
Samuel Peralta "Sammy" Sosa is a Dominican former professional baseball right fielder. Sosa played with four Major League Baseball teams over his career which spanned from 1989-2007....
, Donruss was the only company to release a licensed major league
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
baseball card
Baseball card
A baseball card is a type of trading card relating to baseball, usually printed on some type of paper stock or card stock. A card will usually feature one or more baseball players or other baseball-related sports figures...
of him in 1989. Donruss would not produce a "Baseball's Best" set again until 2001. "Pop-Ups" increased from a 20-card to 42-card set, and was the last year Donruss produced the set. The "Rookies" set replaced this years 15-piece jigsaw puzzle with Warren Spahn
Warren Spahn
Warren Edward Spahn was an American Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. He played his entire 21-year baseball career in the National League. He won 20 games each in 13 seasons, including a 23-7 record when he was age 42...
. There were no changes to the "Super Diamond Kings" set.
Increased competition and market saturation
Throughout the 1980s, the baseball card market boomed, with new collectors getting into the hobby as well as speculators hoarding cards in hopes of selling them off later for a tidy profit. Unfortunately, as the "Big Three" ramped up their production numbers, new brands like Sportflics, ScorePinnacle Brands
Pinnacle Brands was a trading card company from 1988 to 1998. With its first baseball card set called Score, it changed the baseball card industry from the "Big Three" that had been in place for seven years prior...
and Upper Deck
Upper deck
Upper deck may refer to :* The Upper Deck Company, an American trading card business* The upper deck is the highest level internal deck on a ship, i.e. just below the superstructure and open deck....
crowded the marketplace.
Donruss baseball cards were produced continuously from 1981 to 1998, when its then-parent Pinnacle Brands
Pinnacle Brands
Pinnacle Brands was a trading card company from 1988 to 1998. With its first baseball card set called Score, it changed the baseball card industry from the "Big Three" that had been in place for seven years prior...
filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
. Playoff Inc then purchased the Donruss name and produced Major League Baseball sets again from 2001 to 2005, when Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
and the MLB Players Association
Major League Baseball Players Association
The Major League Baseball Players Association is the union of professional major-league baseball players.-History of MLBPA:The MLBPA was not the first attempt to unionize baseball players...
revoked the company's production license. They also produced NHL
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
hockey card
Hockey card
A Hockey card is a type of trading card typically printed on some sort of card stock, featuring one or more hockey players or other hockey-related editorial and are typically found in countries such as Canada, the United States, Finland and Sweden where hockey is a popular sport and there are...
s from 1992 until 1998, and NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
football cards since 1996. Today, Donruss Playoff LP produces NFL football cards and NBA basketball cards, along with a line of baseball draft picks products and entertainment cards.
End of an era
In the late summer of 2005, Major League Baseball created new license criteria for cardmakers in response to collectors' complaints that: 1) the market had become too fragmented and confusing; and 2) rookie cards were becoming too scarce, with diminished importance due to the race between makers to feature unknown players first. MLB chose to renew only their licenses with Topps and Upper Deck, tacitly sealing the fate of Donruss and Fleer. The last baseball product shipped by the company was the third series of the Playoff-branded Prime Cuts memorabilia cards.Today, Donruss is exclusively a football and basketball card producer. The Score brand was revived in 2005 for the flagship set, while Donruss and Leaf exist as premium brands and Playoff as a memorabilia-oriented brand.
In late 2007 however, Donruss did release Donruss Elite Extra Edition, which is their first product outside of the NFL. This product was a multisport release that included cards of the top 30 picks in the 2007 MLB Amateur Draft. Since this product wasn't licensed by Major League Baseball, the players from the 2007 MLB Amateur Draft were pictured in their High School or College Uniforms and existing Minor Leaguers had their uniforms airbrushed to remove all marks. In addition, there are a number of collegiate themed cards as well as soccer themes.
In October 2008, Donruss released Donruss Threads Baseball, featuring a balance of Hall of Famers and young stars. Again, players were either featured in their High School/College uniforms or were photographed so as to make the team logo not visible. The cards also included only the city of the ballplayer, with no mention of the team associated. Donruss used its advantage of not having an MLB license to include baseball cards of both Joe Jackson
Shoeless Joe Jackson
Joseph Jefferson Jackson , nicknamed "Shoeless Joe", was an American baseball player who played Major League Baseball in the early part of the 20th century...
and Pete Rose
Pete Rose
Peter Edward Rose , nicknamed "Charlie Hustle", is a former Major League Baseball player and manager. Rose played from 1963 to 1986, and managed from 1984 to 1989....
, who were banned from baseball for allegedly throwing the World Series in the Black Sox Scandal
Black Sox Scandal
The Black Sox Scandal took place around and during the play of the American baseball 1919 World Series. Eight members of the Chicago White Sox were banned for life from baseball for intentionally losing games, which allowed the Cincinnati Reds to win the World Series...
and betting on the game, respectively. The product included game-used bat cards for Jackson as well as autographed and memorabilia cards from Rose. As of September 28, 2008, Donruss had completely sold out the product to distributors.
Donruss Hall of Fame Diamond King puzzle inserts (1982–92)
1982 Donruss: Babe RuthBabe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
1983 Donruss: Ty Cobb
Ty Cobb
Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb , nicknamed "The Georgia Peach," was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. He was born in Narrows, Georgia...
1983 Donruss Action All-Stars: Mickey Mantle
Mickey Mantle
Mickey Charles Mantle was an American professional baseball player. Mantle is regarded by many to be the greatest switch hitter of all time, and one of the greatest players in baseball history. Mantle was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974.Mantle was noted for his hitting...
1984 Donruss: Duke Snider
Duke Snider
Edwin Donald "Duke" Snider , nicknamed "The Silver Fox" and "The Duke of Flatbush", was a Major League Baseball center fielder and left-handed batter who played for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers , New York Mets , and San Francisco Giants .Snider was elected to the National Baseball Hall of...
1984 Donruss Action All-Stars: Ted Williams
Ted Williams
Theodore Samuel "Ted" Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year Major League Baseball career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox...
1985 Donruss: Lou Gehrig
Lou Gehrig
Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig , nicknamed "The Iron Horse" for his durability, was an American Major League Baseball first baseman. He played his entire 17-year baseball career for the New York Yankees . Gehrig set several major league records. He holds the record for most career grand slams...
1986 Donruss: Hank Aaron
1987 Donruss: Roberto Clemente
Roberto Clemente
Roberto Clemente Walker was a Puerto Rican Major League Baseball right fielder. He was born in Carolina, Puerto Rico, the youngest of seven children. Clemente played his entire 18-year baseball career with the Pittsburgh Pirates . He was awarded the National League's Most Valuable Player Award in...
1988 Donruss: Stan Musial
Stan Musial
Stanley Frank "Stan" Musial is a retired professional baseball player who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals . Nicknamed "Stan the Man", Musial was a record 24-time All-Star selection , and is widely considered to be one of the greatest hitters in baseball...
1989 Donruss: Warren Spahn
Warren Spahn
Warren Edward Spahn was an American Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. He played his entire 21-year baseball career in the National League. He won 20 games each in 13 seasons, including a 23-7 record when he was age 42...
1990 Donruss: Carl Yastrzemski
Carl Yastrzemski
Carl Michael Yastrzemski is a former American Major League Baseball left fielder and first baseman. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1989. Yastrzemski played his entire 23-year baseball career with the Boston Red Sox . He was primarily a left fielder, with part of his later career...
1990 Leaf: Yogi Berra
Yogi Berra
Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra is a former American Major League Baseball catcher, outfielder, and manager. He played almost his entire 19-year baseball career for the New York Yankees...
1991 Donruss: Willie Stargell
Willie Stargell
Wilver Dornell "Willie" Stargell , nicknamed "Pops" in the later years of his career, was a Major League Baseball left fielder and first baseman. He played his entire 21-year baseball career with the Pittsburgh Pirates...
1991 Leaf: Harmon Killebrew
Harmon Killebrew
Harmon Clayton Killebrew , nicknamed "Killer" and "Hammerin' Harmon", was an American professional baseball first baseman, third baseman, and left fielder. During his 22-year career in Major League Baseball , he played for the Washington Senators, a team which later became the Minnesota Twins, and...
1992 Donruss: Rod Carew
Rod Carew
Rodney Cline "Rod" Carew is a former Major League Baseball first baseman, second baseman and coach. He played from 1967 to 1985 for the Minnesota Twins and the California Angels and was elected to the All-Star game every season except his last. In 1991, Carew was inducted into the National...
Donruss "King of Kings"
In addition to their trademark Diamond Kings subset/insert set, Donruss recognized several "King of Kings" for extraordinary achievements. They include:1986: Pete Rose
Pete Rose
Peter Edward Rose , nicknamed "Charlie Hustle", is a former Major League Baseball player and manager. Rose played from 1963 to 1986, and managed from 1984 to 1989....
, for breaking Ty Cobb
Ty Cobb
Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb , nicknamed "The Georgia Peach," was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. He was born in Narrows, Georgia...
's career hits record.
1990: Nolan Ryan
Nolan Ryan
Lynn Nolan Ryan, Jr. , nicknamed "The Ryan Express", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He is currently principal owner, president and CEO of the Texas Rangers....
, for his 5,000th career strikeout.
1994: Dave Winfield
Dave Winfield
David Mark Winfield is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder. He is currently Executive Vice President/Senior Advisor of the San Diego Padres and an analyst for the ESPN program Baseball Tonight...
, for reaching both 3,000 hits and 400 home runs.
1996: Eddie Murray
Eddie Murray
Eddie Clarence Murray , nicknamed "Steady Eddie", is a former Major League Baseball first baseman and designated hitter. He was known as one of the most reliable and productive hitters of his era. Murray is regarded as one of the best switch hitters ever to play the game...
, for becoming only the third player to reach both 3,000 hits and 500 home runs.
1996: Cal Ripken, Jr, for breaking Lou Gehrig
Lou Gehrig
Henry Louis "Lou" Gehrig , nicknamed "The Iron Horse" for his durability, was an American Major League Baseball first baseman. He played his entire 17-year baseball career for the New York Yankees . Gehrig set several major league records. He holds the record for most career grand slams...
's consecutive games record.