User:Akerans/Sandbox: Difference between revisions

[[:Image:Donrusslogo82.png|thumb|right|Logo from 1981-1985. It was revived for the 2002 retro-themed Donruss Originals set.]] 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, 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^{[citation needed]}.

With an entire offseason to prepare, Donruss shipped a much improved, more polished 660-card set for 1982. The 1982 offering also saw the introduction of the Diamond Kings subset, made up of oil paintings by noted sports artist Dick Perez and were always a fan favorite. Another Donruss innovation for 1982 was the inclusion of jigsaw puzzle pieces with a pack of cards in place of gum. (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.

The 1984 base set was among the company's most successful, due to its unconventional obverse design and two bona fide rookies in Darryl Strawberry and Don Mattingly.

"Donruss produced a corresponding baseball set for Canadian collectors in 1985 known as Leaf." (Source: Becket)

thumb|right|150px|Arguably Donruss' most-recognizable logo, used from 1986-1995 1986: "Pioneering the growing rookie card craze, Donruss produced a 56-card boxed set known as "The Rookies" in 1986. Featuring the top prospects in the major leagues and available only in hobby shops, the set was an instant success. 1986 also marked the fifth consecutive year that the "Diamond Kings" subset was produced. Originally featuring the artwork of longtime sports artist Dick Perez, Diamond Kings is the longest running subset in the sports card market and remains a wildly popular part of each Donruss set."

"Sales of cards were continuing to grow and increased approximately 100 percent in both 1986 and 1987 to reach an estimated three billion industry-wide. Topps remained the leader, producing approximately half of the total, with Donruss selling about a quarter and Fleer a shade less." (Source:Answers)

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, Score and Upper Deck crowded the marketplace.

"Continuing their success throughout the remainder of the decade, Donruss launched its first premium brand in 1990 called Leaf Baseball. The following year saw the debut of Studio Baseball, which was the first black-and-white card set issued in more than 30 years and spawned many similar sets from competitors." (Source: Becket)

"Donruss responded to the industry slowing down in 1992 by attaining a NHL license and producing Donruss and Leaf hockey sets for the 1993-1994 season, becoming a major player in baseball, football and hockey throughout the '90s." (Source: Becket)

Donruss baseball cards were produced continuously from 1981 to 1998, when its then-parent Pinnacle Brands filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

"Reacquiring a license from Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association in 2001 allowed for the release of 2001 Donruss Baseball, which incorporated 1999 and 2000 "Lost Years" sets for avid collectors of Donruss baseball cards. Now making a name for itself with several innovative autograph and memorabilia insert programs, Donruss maintains it's standing as a company renowned for heritage and innovation."

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 cards from 1992 until 1998, and NFL football cards since 1996. Today, Donruss Playoff LP produces NFL football cards, along with a line of baseball draft picks products and entertainment cards.

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, who had folded just weeks prior due to the fragmentation of the industry. 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 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^[1].