Hey! It's Harold Reynolds again!
This is not a repeat. This is post number 2,001. I republished this card both as a reminder to enter the contest and as a lead-in to my next judging fiesta, namely, figuring out the biggest improvement and bust in the history of Donruss.
I don't think Donruss has as avid a following as the previous two brands we've compared, Topps and Upper Deck. I know I'm not crazy about many of the sets that Donruss produced over the years.
My personal Donruss favorites are 1984 and 1985. Plus, 1981 has sentimental value. I kind of like 1995, too. And 1988 and 1989 are actually growing on me. The rest you can put in a big boiling pot of ick.
The ones I don't like in the least are 1986, 1991, 1992 and 1996. I think I've mentioned before that 1986 horrified me from the moment I saw it and prevented me from buying any of it. I know I've mentioned before that if Fisher Price were to make card sets, they would look like 1991 Donruss. And, of course, 1992 Donruss is vile and nauseating, and 1996 has the most ridiculous logo placement ever.
So, if I was participating in this judge-off, the biggest improvement would be 1983 to 1984, with 1986 to 1987 as runner-up. The biggest bust would be 1985 to 1986, with 1995 to 1996 or 1982 to 1983 as runners-up.
But I'm not deciding this. You're deciding this.
A couple of other notes first:
1983 Donruss is the only set I can remember opening the first pack of and saying out loud, "Oh, come on! Really?" That's what I thought of '83 Donruss ripping off its own set from the previous year.
There is no 2000 Donruss set (I think). EDIT: There is no 1999 or 2000 Donruss set. For comparing sets, we'll have to compare 1998 to 2001.
So, now I'm looking for comments. What do you think are the biggest year-to-year improvements for Donruss and the biggest year-to-year busts? I'm looking for something like: "biggest improvement: 1989 to 1990," "biggest bust: 1997 to 1998."
Once I accumulate enough comments, I'll post a poll that includes the most nominated comparisons and people will get to vote on the all-time biggest bust and improvement in the history of the Donruss base set.
(For sanity's sake, I am not including any sets that Donruss makes these days or has made in the last few years. The cut-off is 2005).
To make your comparing easier, here's a handy look at every year of Donruss:
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| 1981 |
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| 1982 |
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| 1983 |
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| 1984 |
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| 1985 |
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| 1986 |
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| 1987 |
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| 1988 |
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| 1989 |
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| 1990 |
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| 1991 |
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| 1992 |
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| 1993 |
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| 1994 |
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| 1995 |
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| 1996 |
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| 1997 |
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| 1998 |
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| 2001 |
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| 2002 |
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| 2003 |
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| 2004 |
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| 2005 |
Wow, that 2004 was pretty ugly, huh?
All right, time to make your selections in the comments. Give Donruss some love. If you can.
Comments
biggest blecchhh 1990---> 1991
1991 scarred me so bad, I stopped collecting baseball cards for 17 years.
On the plus side, I didn't have to put up with 2004 because of that.
I'd say 2003 to 2004 was the biggest bust. 2003 was nice, very clean. 2004 was just sloppy and unnecessarily complicated.
Biggest improvement 1981 -> 1982
Biggest Drop-off= 1989 to '90
http://thehomeofthebraves.blogspot.com
Biggest improvement: 1990 - 1991 (seriously, I HATED the '90 set and I actually like the '91 set).
Biggest bust: 1992 to 1993.
1985 - 1986
Biggest Bust:
1991 - 1992
Biggest Bust: '95 to '96
Prepare to be buried in Fisher Price cards.
I have a soft spot for 1983 Donruss so I will shun all you haters.
Biggest improvement - 1986 to 1987
Biggest bust - 1995 to 1996.
The Biggest Improvement 1991 over 1990. 1990 set was just so bad, one of the worst ever.
Biggest Drop off 1987 to 1988. Maybe because I bought so much of 1988 Donruss it made me sick to look at any more cards. There was a cheapness feel to the sets from 1988 to 1990
I'll take 1999 out of contention when I get a chance to update the post. Only legitimate sets qualify.
Here's the 2000 Donruss scan I promised. Even if it's disqualified please at least put it in there for completeness sake. My OCD is acting up.
http://cardjunk.blogspot.com/2012/05/2000-donruss-greg-maddux.html
That sounds like a future post.
1985 and 1994 are the only sets with appeal.
Biggest bust is 1983, it's the same card as 1982.
Biggest smash is 1985, they capitalized on (low supply=greater demand) of 1984.
1998 to 2001 is a close 2nd. I really love the team colored borders in 2001.
Biggest Bust - 1989 to 1990
No front logos on 1990. That was Donruss's thing and they replaced it with a hard to read name and a horrible border.
Close 2nd 1983 to 1984, I never was a fan of 1984. The team name was too hard to read on most cards. It was a bad magic eye painting on some.
After seeing them in order like this it is clear to me that Donruss had the least amount of change from year to year. I knew it before, but it is staggering how little changed from year to year.
Hey, who gets royalties now!
Biggest improvement: 1986-->1987...otherwise, there's not much distinctive.
Biggest bust: 1998-->2001, I hate those stars. I don't want to pretend i'm camping when i look at a card.
Biggest improvement--Not having Donruss to 1981. No, 1981 isn't the best set, but it was the first year I collected and we could find Donruss packs 8 for a $1. Pulling a Yogi Berra card out of a pack was mind boggling, even if it was a manager card.
Biggest bust: 1995 to 1996. The 1996 design looks like all of the info on the front got caught in a trash compactor. The card number on the back is pretty bad, too.
Biggest bust, I would have to say 90. People are still finding "errors" were the black line starts to go through the script name.
biggest bust - 1985 to 1986
biggest improvement - 1983 to 1984
I don't necessarily agree with your 2nd and 3rd choices - because I don't mind 1992, I like 1993 and I don't really like 1985. But those aren't my top votes!
-lifetimetopps
biggest bust: 1985 to 1986
Biggest bust: 1987 to 1988. Even though I like '88, you can't deny that it's a major drop from the '87 design. Plus I think I had more trouble with keeping the corners sharp on '88 Donruss cards than any other year.
And what is wrong with 2004? I like that design!
JT, The Writer's Journey