Boxed Set Boom: Donruss Baseball’s Best Card Sets of the 1980s and 1990
Remember the boxed set baseball card boom of the 1980s and early 1990s?
It was all the fun of baseball card collecting without the hassle of opening packs and wondering who you were going to pull. Alright, so maybe it’s not hard to see why they fell by the wayside…
Still, while most of those sets hold little value these days as a result of mass production, they make the perfect oddball addition for single player or team collectors, not to mention the nostalgia factor.
After releasing an “Opening Day” boxed set in 1987 that had a card for every player who was part of his team’s starting lineup for the season opener, Donruss pivoted to the “Baseball’s Best” boxed set in 1988.
The Donruss Baseball’s Best sets were released late in the season and sold exclusively in large national retail stores. The boxed sets enjoyed a brief three-year run before they were retired, but not before some notable cards were produced along the way.
1988 Donruss Baseball’s Best
Cards: 336
Hall of Famers: 30
Buy on:
Often known as the “Halloween set” the inaugural Baseball’s Best set was released in the fall and had an identical design to the 1988 Donruss base set, with the only major difference being a black and orange color scheme. Hence, the Halloween set.
While they are not considered true Rookie Cards since they were released after the Donruss flagship set and only in boxed set form, the 1988 set does include cards of 1990s stars Mark Grace and Roberto Alomar from the same year as their Rookie Card release.
Since the cards were released so late in the season, the set also served as a de facto traded release, featuring players who signed late or were traded midseason in different uniforms than their 1988 base cards.
That notably included Kirk Gibson (DET to LAD), Dave Parker (CIN to OAK), Lee Smith (CHC to BOS) and Rich Gossage (SD to CHC) in 1988.
1989 Donruss Baseball’s Best
Cards: 336
Hall of Famers: 30
Buy on:
1989 Donruss Baseball’s Best moved away from the spooky color scheme, opting instead for a yellow and green look. It closely mirrors the 1989 flagship set.
This set remains relevant today thanks to the early Ken Griffey Jr. card, which doesn’t feature the iconic “Rated Rookie” logo like the base set card, but carries a similar price tag thanks to a lower print run.
It also features the only MLB licensed card of Sammy Sosa that was released in 1989, picturing him as a member of the Texas Rangers.
While there was an actual 1989 Donruss Traded set, the Baseball’s Best again offered the novelty of seeing player’s pictured in different uniforms than the base set.
Notables in the ‘89 set included Randy Johnson (MON to SEA), Nolan Ryan (HOU to TEX), Rickey Henderson (NYY to OAK), Eddie Murray (BAL to LAD) and Rafael Palmeiro (CHC to TEX).
1990 Donruss Best of the AL/NL
Cards: 144 AL, 144 NL
Hall of Famers: 18 AL, 16 NL
Buy on:
Donruss rebranded a bit in 1990, splitting things into two 144-card sets, with one for each league. Sold in separate boxed set, they called them The Best of the American League and The Best of the National League.
The design of the cards is identical to the 1990 Donruss Baseball base set, but the border color was changed from red to blue, and the back of the cards featured each player’s full professional stat line as opposed to just the past five years with the base release.
While Frank Thomas, Juan Gonzalez, Mo Vaughn, David Justice and Bernie Williams and several other players with Rookie Cards in 1990 sets were not included, there are early cards of Sammy Sosa, Larry Walker and John Olerud included on the AL and NL Best checklists.
Notable players appearing with different teams than they did in the 1990 Donruss base set include Dave Winfield (NYY to CAL), Sandy Alomar Jr. (SD to CLE), Joe Carter (CLE to SD), Gary Carter (NYM to SF) and Keith Hernandez (NYM to CLE).
Glad for your post I just found another 8 packs of cards. On the front 1986, 87,88,89,90 and more. I will take time to open them. I already have triple of each cards not graded and will soon put them away. I found a stack of cards that said Legendary players Babe Ruth ,Honus Wagner and others in perfect condition. Could they be worth anything.