1990 Donruss Aqueous Test #220

Card Review: 8.9  This card is identical to appearance to the standard 1990 Donruss but for the "Aqueous Test" printed across the back.  Aqueous is a reference to the gloss used on the front.  That seems to be a universally agreed upon element of these aqueous test cards.  There seems to be little consensus on much else about them.  Most people seem to agree that these were printed by Donruss in 1990 in effort to find a different coating for cards.  Depending on who you ask it was either an attempt to cut cost, improve duribility, improve appearance, differentiate from the standard set for a Canadian issue, just done in the name of science, or some combination of those factors.  Some collector's seem to be pretty invested in their respective theory, and willing to grossly over pay for a few of the Hall of Famers. 

Allegedly only 224 of the 660 cards in the base set were done in this aqueous test format.  How and why they were distrubted also seems to be a matter of some dispute, but I think it's safe to say they were leaked out the back door in the form of unopend packs (maybe cello packs) by a donruss employee and sold to private collectors.

I've seen this Wallach "Aqueous Test" pop up on ebay on and off for years.  Usually it had an asking price of $9.99 and a few times at $19.99.  I never bit, and always let it pass.  It just seemed like way too much.  My patience paid off, as this card was recently sent in by a very generous reader in Texas.  It's one of only a couple of cards that I obtained my first copy of in that manner.

Number of this card in my collection: 1

2003 Donruss Expos #29

Card Review: 8.9  This was no easy card to track down.  So elusive was this card, that until it arrived in the mail (after paying way too much $3/plus $3 shipping), I had never even seen it.  I had seen online pictures of a couple other cards from this set, but not the Wallach.  I was a little disappointed the card depicted him in this particular Expos uniform rather than the classic uniform, but I can't complain too much.

This was part of a 59 card set given away at an Expos game in 2003.  Given their attendance numbers back then, I can't imagine there are that many of these floating around today.  Though, I'll keep looking as it's certainly one I'd like to have more of.

Number of this card in my collection: 1

2014 update: n/a

2015 update: n/a

2016 update: n/a

2017 update: n/a

2018 update: n/a

2019 update: n/a

2020 update: n/a

2021 update: n/a

2022 update: 2

2023 update: n/a

2024 update: n/a

2025 update: 3

 

1995 Donruss Top of the Order

Card Review: 0.4  I've always assumed this was some sort of playing card.  I have no idea how it was sold, how the game was played, and what else was needed to play the game.

As a kid I had a baseball game that involved a lot of dice, and had a card (no picture, just black ink on blue and pink lines) for every player in the league.  I think I played it maybe once before losing interest.  What was cool though was the box it came in looked like a stadium.  You could flip the bottom for grass or turf, and it had a panoramic lining for every stadium in baseball that you could pop into place in the box.  I have no idea what is what was called.

Number of this card in my collection: 1
2012 update: 3

2013 update: n/a

2014 update: n/a

2015 update: n/a

2016 update: n/a

2017 update: n/a

2018 update: n/a

2019 update: n/a

2020 update: 8

2021 update: n/a

2022 update: n/a

2023 update: 11

1988 Donruss All-Stars #59

Card Review: 9.2  I've always like this card.  It has a good looking photo, I like the shade of blue on the back, and I love the AL and NL logos.  I wish I could find t-shirts with just the NL or AL logo on the front.  Donruss altered this set slightly from the base set.  In '86 they used the same design but made the cards bigger.  I don't know what they did in '87 because Wallach wasn't an All-Star in '86 (victim of the Mike Schmidt bias).

Number of this card in my collection: 3
2012 update: 4
2013 update: 16
2014 update: 29
2015 update: 39 
2016 update: 42
2017 update: n/a
2018 update: 47
2019 update: 49
2020 update: 51

2021 update: n/a

2022 update: 61

2023 update: 64

2024 update: 74

2025 update: 76

2026 update: 79

1991 Donruss #406 (MVP)

Card Review: 9.6  What's not to love about this card?  After nearly decade of being snubbed for Diamond Kings, and four years of being passed over for "MVP" by Donruss, they finally got it right.  My burning question is, why didn't Donruss run with this back on their base cards as well?  It's a lot nicer than their standard back, which was universally hated by all.
Fun Facts: *1991 was the first year Donruss put out cards as two different series.  Wallach had two cards in series 2, essentially making my odds 4x as likely of pulling a Wallach from a pack of '91 Donruss series 2, than it had been in all other years.

Number of this card in my collection: 38

2012 update: 45
2013 update: 81
2014 update: 99
2015 update: 136
2016 update: 177
2017 update: 207
2018 update: 246
2019 update: 295

2020 update: 300

2021 update: 303

2022 update: 396

2023 update: 405

2024 update: 436

2025 update: 443

1990 Donruss Learning Series #28

Card Review: 6.2  These cards were given out to school kids as a 55 card set.  Everyone of them features a boring close up of the players face.  For more on the set itself click here.  Allegedly they're very rare, and I guess compared to regular 1990 Donruss they are.
Number of this card in my collection: 1 
2012 update: 9
2013 update: n/a
2014 update: n/a
2015 update: n/a
2016 update: n/a
2017 update: n/a
2018 update: 10

2019 update: n/a

2020 update: n/a

2021 update: n/a

2022 update: n/a

2023 update: n/a

2024 update: n/a

2025 update: 11

1991 Donruss #514

Card Review: 9.4  I've always liked this card.  I much prefer the green borders of series two to the blue borders of series one.  I bought copious amounts of these in '91, since the advent of two series made it twice as likely to pull a Wallach, and the fact there were two Wallach's in '91 Donruss series 2 again doubled the chances.  Making it more than 4x as likely to pull a Wallach than it was in pack of '91 Topps.

Fun Facts: *That's former (and future) teammate Gary Carter catching on the front of the card.
* 1991 was the first year Donruss came in series 1 & 2
* 1991 was the last year to feature the traditional Donruss back

Number of this card in my collection: 48

2012 update: 50
2013 update: 93
2014 update: 121
2015 update: 172
2016 update: 194
2017 update: 230
2018 update: 264
2019 update: 312
2020 update: 318
2021 update: 321

2022 update: 387

2023 update: 397

2024 update: 418

2025 update: 421

1986 Donruss All-Stars #25

 Card Review: 9.1  These cards are huge, but look great.  The size though makes them difficult to store.  If this were a normal sized card I would have scored it in the 9.9 range.  I love the way Donruss put all-star game stats on the backs of these.  Before the days of the internet, it was about the only way to get these numbers.

Number of this card in my collection: 2

2012 update: 3
2013 update: 4
2014 update: 10
2015 update: 11
2016 update: 23
2017 update: 26
2018 update: 28

2019 update: n/a

2020 update: n/a

2021 update: n/a

2022 update: 29

2023 update: 36

1987 Donruss Opening Day #88

Card Review: 9.1  I like this card better than the '87 Donruss base card, though in general, I like the black better than the maroon.  This photo is just a lot nicer.  It would look great with the black border.  For my money the 1987 Donruss design was the best one they ever put out. It translates well to this maroon color well.

I'm pretty sure these were sold as a set, though that's just a guess, and I have no idea how many cards were in the set.  The back of the card says the Cardinals offered 3 players for Wallach, I'd really like to know which 3.

Number of this card in my collection: 2

2012 update: 9
2013 update: 14
2014 update: 20
2015 update: 26 
2016 update: 33
2017 update: 34
2018 update: 35
2019 update: 55
2020 update: 59

2021 update: n/a

2021 update: 60

2022 update: 61

2023 update: 65

2024 update: n/a

2025 update: 67

1988 Donruss Baseball's Best

Card Review: 7.1  I like the orange/black border coloring on this card a little better than the '88 Donruss base set's blue, but that's really a very low bar to cover.  1988 Donruss may very well be my least favorite design of any major set to come out in the 1980's, it's certainly in the conversation.  While I may not be wild about the front of this card, the back is much nicer than the standard Donruss back.  It's also a good photo on the front.  Donruss liked it so much they went ahead and used it again for the 1989 Donruss Wallach card. They just cropped it a little bit differently.

Number of this card in my collection: 4
2013 update: 12
2014 update: 28
2015 update: 30
2016 update: n/a
2017 update: 31
2018 update: 33
2019 update: 52
2020 update: 54

2021 update: n/a

2022 update: n/a

2023 update: 55

1989 Donruss Baseball's Best#34

Card Review: 8.7  This is another set I know nothing about, the number of cards in the set, how it was distributed, ect.  I dind't even know it existed until years after it was issued.  The front design is identical to the '89 Donruss base set, but the back is unique.  While I prefer the stats on this one to the base set, this something mildly disconcerting about a Donruss card without the standard Donruss style of card back.  The green also bugs me.  Perhaps its just a result of shuffling through thousands of '89 Donruss and having the orange ingrained into my brain as the proper color for the back of this card, but I really think the lime green clashes with the greens and yellows on the front (not that orange works much better).

Number of this card in my collection: 3
2013 update: 4
2014 update: 12
2015 update: 15
2016 update: 17
2017 update: 19
2018 update: n/a
2019 update: 23
2020 update: 26

2021 update: 29

2022 update: 33

2023 update: 34

2024 update: n/a

2025 update: n/a

2026 update: 38

1984 Donruss #421

Card Review: 9.2  This card, and set, has grown me great deal over the years.  At it's inception and for a long time after that I couldn't stand this card, or set design.  I always felt this set was wildly overrated due to it's scarcity compared to '84 Topps and to a lesser extent '84 Fleer.  Everyone wanted the Mattingly and Strawberry, and that drove the price up.  And back in the 80's, having a lot of "value" in the Beckett was pretty much deemed the same as being a "great set."  So it just became accepted that "1984 Donruss is a great set," even having words like "classic" and "iconic" tossed it's way.  I used to think that was the height of absurdity.  I've mellowed some on my position however.  While it still isn't my favorite design, I think it has aged well.  I've actually come to like the Tom DeLonge sea-foam green backs, and the purple and yellow front no longer bothers me.  No one will ever convince me that the photography, both photo quality and selection, is anything other than sub-par, but three decades worth of hind sight has definitely converted me on feelings on the design.  All in all, it's '84 Donruss, it's a set of significance and that's more than you can say about the vast majority of sets that have come out since.

Number of this card in my collection: 38
2012 update: 62
2013 update: 99
2014 update: 108
2015 update: 110 
2016 update: 116
2017 update: 117
2018 update: 151
2019 update: 166

2020 update: 167

2021 update: 174

2022 update: 231

2023 update: 233

2024 update: 238

2025 update: 239

2026 update: 241

1985 Donruss #87

Card Review: 8.3 I score this Donruss a little higher than it's Leaf counterpart. I find the green leaf logo to be a little goofy, and prefer the Donruss "d."  This set has some of the lowest quality photo's you'll ever find on a major release.  There are some fine photo's mixed in, but there are also a lot like this Wallach, which looks almost airbrushed.  I know a lot of people really liked this set, but I'm not one of them.  I prefer the '85 Fleer over this, and '85 Topps is one of my all-time favorite designs (even if there are too many boring pictures of pitchers).

Fun Facts:
*This is the 1st Donruss card of Wallach not to feature a photo taken at Wrigley Field.
Number of this card in my collection: 14
2012 update: 23
2013 update: 68
2014 update: 70
2015 update: 72
2016 update: n/a
2017 update: 78
2018 update: 117
2019 update: 129

2020 update: 136

2021 update: 142

2022 update: 151

2023 update: 157

2024 update: 163

2025 update: 165

1993 Donruss #36

Card Review: 4.5  About the nicest thing I can say about this card is that it's nicer than the '92 Donruss.  It's just a low quality card.  Overly slick, fuzzy photos, and boring design.  I like what they tried to do on the back of the card, but the photo is poorly cropped.

I don't think it's unfair to say that Donruss had the most difficult "growing pains" when all the card companies tried to transition to "premium" cards in the early 90's.  It's easy to argue that Donruss was tied to an "idenity" more so than Topps and Fleer, with their signature backs, puzzle peices, and subsets such as Diamond Kings and Team MVP's.  Perhaps those were crutches they were a little to dependant on, but they crutches that I liked.  When they lost that, and they lost their brand and were more or less indistiguishable from the fifty other sets being put out each year in the 90's.  Quick, off the top of your head, what does '94-97 Donruss look like?  I can't picture them either.

Fun Facts: *The back photo depicts Tim Wallach playing first base.  Other cards have listed him as 1B, this is the only one to have a photo of him at the position.
*No one bothered to tell Wallach, a 5x All-Star third baseman at the time, that he would be moving to first base.  Class act that he was, he did so with out public complaint.
* 1992 was the first year Montreal wore the uniforms shown on this card.  I don't know of anyone who thought they were an improvement on the old classic ones.

Number of this card in my collection: 19

2012 update: 22
2013 update: 46
2014 update: 55
2015 update: 72
2016 update: 79
2017 update: 87
2018 update: 99
2019 update: 126
2020 update: 137

2021 update: n/a

2022 update: 160

2023 update: 164

2024 update: 176

2025 update: 189

1992 Donruss #34

Card Review: 2.5 It's hard to say for sure the exact point the card collecting hobby was ruined (or at least forever changed from it's original roots), but the '92 Donruss set is certainly a good starting point.  This set was a drastic change from previous Donruss designs, and just an epic failure on so many levels.  This card looks less legitimate than the Diet Pepsi give-aways from the same year.

In the interest of fairness I feel I must acknowledge two points about this set.  The first is my own personal bias.  I liked the standard Donruss cards of the previous decade that had more or less identical backs every year.  I even liked '91 Donruss.  So when something that I like and am very familiar with changes in such a drastic manner, it's going to be difficult for me to give the new design a fair shake.  The second point I need to make is that over the last few years I've seen a good number of cards from this set showing up on various blogs, and I often find myself saying "that's a great photo."  I had a ton of these as a kid, mostly due to the spoiled kid up the street buying copious amounts chasing the inserts and giving away all the "commons."  But I don't remember thinking much of the photography at the time.

So that said, while I still hate this set and find the Wallach to be one of the worst looking cards in the set, it may not be the worst thing ever printed (but it still might get my vote.)

Number of this card in my collection: 53
2012 update: 60
2013 update: 90
2014 update: 107
2015 update: 139
2016 update: 155
2017 update: 170
2018 update: 210
2019 update: 234
2020 update: 253

2021 update: 254

2022 update: 322

2023 update: 327

2024 update: 341

2025 update: 361

1994 Donruss #326

Card Review: 6.0  This really isn't a bad looking card.  It's actually features a couple of pretty nice photos.  My problem with this card is the fact that it's the Donruss base card for '94.  I like familiar things, and as such, I liked Donruss as I knew it from 1981 to 1991.  This card shares little with the decade plus of cards they had previously produced.  And  as mocked as the traditional Donruss backs were, they were still unmistakably "Donruss."  This card could be any number of crappy sets put out in this era.  I would have continued to buy "classic" Donruss sets, just out of habit.  But when they ditched their identity it was very easy for me to ditch my habit of buying their product, even if the new product was undeniably nicer.  It's no accident Topps is the last one standing.

Number of this card in my collection: 3

2012 update: 7
2013 update: 23
2014 update: 24 
2015 update: 26 
2016 update: 27
2017 update: 29
2018 update: 36
2019 update: 41
2020 update: 43

2021 update: 45

2022 update: 49

2023 update: 52

2024 update: 54

2025 update: 66

1995 Donruss #539

Card Review: 7.1  The 90's were a rough decade for Donruss.  However, this card, and this set has grown on me some over the decades.  The photo quality is very high, and it's clear Donruss was at least trying.  Personally, I think they had it right from '82 to '91, and should have just left the template alone.  Leaf was already serving as a de facto "high end" set.  I'm not just picking on Donruss, Fleer and Topps also made the same mistake.

Fun Facts: *Tim Wallach played in the post season for just the 2nd time in his career in 1995.
*Wallach was the 6th oldest player in the National League in 1995.

Number of this card in my collection: 2
2012 update: 3
2013 update: 20
2014 update: 22
2015 update: 26 
2016 update: 39
2017 update: 41
2018 update: 46
2019 update: 48
2020 update: 51

2021 update: n/a

2022 update: 52

2023 update: 53

2024 update: 56

2025 update: 65

1983 Donruss #392

Card Review: 9.4  The '83 Donruss set is nearly identical (but I believe superior) in every aspect to the 1982 Donruss design.  The knob of the bat is on the right instead of the left, and a glove replaces a ball with the team name.  The color contrast just works better for me with the brown glove versus the white ball.  The Donruss logo and year are horizontal on the left, instead of vertical on the right, and the yellow backs are better than the blue.

Fun Facts: *This was the first card to feature Tim Wallach in the field.
*This photo was taken at Wrigley Field

Number of this card in my collection: 10
2012 update: 39
2013 update: 59
2014 update: 68
2015 update: 89
2016 update: 92
2017 update: 103
2018 update: 132
2019 update: 147

2020 update: 159

2021 update: 187

2022 update: 188

2023 update: 191

2024 update: 224

2025 update: 225

2026 update: 235

1989 Donruss #156

Card Review: 9.3  The '89 Donruss set has not aged well.  It does have a few favorable things going for it though, that I believe keep it from being regarded as a complete failure.  For one, it has a Griffey rookie that every collector of that period has a pretty high opinion of, and it follows the '88 Donruss set, which may very well be the ugliest set ever made.  While a lot of this set is pretty ugly, cards of Expos in home whites came out surprisingly well given the neon green/yellow borders.

Depending on the contrast, this Wallach card looks very different from copy to copy.  On some of the darker ones, his face is nearly completely hidden in shadow.  The variances are much more noticeable than they usually are when sifting through a hundred copies or so of the same card.

Fun Facts: *Wallach was named to his 4th All-Star team in 1989
*Wallach led the NL with 42 doubles in '89
*The '89 Expos went 81-81
Number of this card in my collection: 93
2012 update: 97
2013 update: 180
2014 update: 214
2015 update: 273 
2016 update: 320
2017 update: 341
2018 update: 386
2019 update: 428
2020 update: 513

2021 update: 518

2022 update: 549

2023 update: 589

2024 update: 612

2025 update: 622

1990 Donruss #220

Card Review: 9.3  I know I'm in the minority, but 1990 Donruss is sort of a guilty pleasure for me.  I've always liked this set.  It was first '90 set that I saw that year.  My father surprised my brother and I with a box of the stuff before I even knew it was out.  As result of his early purchase, we ended up with dozens of the error cards, which were briefly a hot commodity.

Fun Facts: *It's widely believed Donruss intentionally produced errors in this set, such as the Juan Gonzalez reverse negative, following the frenzy over the 1989 Upper Deck Dale Murphy error.
*They would have been wiser to mimic Upper Decks clean design, quality photo's, and premium printing inks.
*The frenzy over rare "error cards" probably led to the birth of the "insert" and the subsequent death of the baseball card market
*It's unknown who these knuckle heads were that thought "errors" were a good thing

Number of this card in my collection: 97
2012 update: 105
2013 update: 177
2014 update: 214
2015 update: 305 
2016 update: 350
2017 update: 398
2018 update: 427
2019 update: 469
2020 update: 533

2021 update: 542

2022 update: 575

2023 update: 592

2024 update: 628

2025 update: 637