1992 Donruss

Description

1992 Donruss was the company's 12th annual flagship baseball card set. At 784 cards, it was their largest to date eclipsing the previous year's set by fourteen cards. As with the 1991 edition, 1992 Donruss Baseball was also released in two series with the first 396 cards in Series One and the final 388 cards in Series Two.

In response to competition and to the perceived need to provide collectors with a better quality product, Donruss made significant changes to their flagship product. These changes manifested themselves in an upgraded design, better quality card stock, more inserts, and new tamper-evident packaging. Capitalizing on the new Hobby trend of insert cards being the focus of releases, Donruss adapted the traditional Diamond Kings subset into a 27-card foil-stamped, glossy-coated insert set to stand alongside the Elite Series -- which was well received by collectors, at that time. With the transformation of Diamond Kings into an insert, the only subsets featured were "Rated Rookies," "AL/NL All-Stars," and "Highlights."

Much like that year's Fleer set, the base set was drastically different from anything Donruss had released previously and featured a modernized, white-bordered card with powder blue accent bars, metallic inks, full-color backs, and a glossy finish. For the first time in a decade, Donruss also changed the design of the back of the card with a full-color headshot included. In addition, for the first time, the back of each card had multiple Donruss logos printed as a "watermark" -- the watermark serving as a security device. Similar watermarks made their debut in the 1991 Leaf set, and would also be included in that year's Leaf and Studio releases. Donruss also followed Fleer's lead in increasing the price of a wax pack to $0.99.

Cards came packaged in tamper-proof, fin-sealed foil wrappers, which was quickly becoming industry standard. Further, this was the final year Donruss issued a factory set and the final year the company was required to issue something other than cards in their packs. Thus, while all Series One packs contained three pieces of a 63-piece Rod Carew puzzle, these puzzle pieces were not included in Series Two packs.

Distribution

Wax: 36 packs per box, 14 cards per pack (SRP: 99¢).

Jumbo: 24 packs per box, 27 cards per pack (SRP: $1.98).

Rack: 45 cards per pack.

Hobby and Retail factory sets.

Reviews

In the December 1992 issue of Beckett Baseball Card Monthly, writer Chuck Roethel positively reviewed the set - which was a pleasant contrast from his review of the previous year's product - giving the set a "B" grade. Roethel's review was featured in the “Card Critic” column titled, “Head of the Class”, where he raved, "...the quality-stock and attractive blue color scheme on the front...proved to me that Donruss had returned in full force".

Insertion Ratios

Series One

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Wax Odds	Jumbo Odds
Base	396	-	?	?
Diamond Kings	14	-	?	?
The Elite Series	10*	10,000	?	?
The Legends Series: Rickey Henderson	1*	7500	?	?
Elite Signature Series: Cal Ripken, Jr.	1*	5000	?	?

Series Two

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Wax Odds	Jumbo Odds
Base	388	-	?	?
Bonus Cards	8	-	?	?
Diamond Kings	13	-	?	?
The Elite Series	10*	10,000	?	?
The Legends Series: Rickey Henderson	1*	7500	?	?
Elite Signature Series: Cal Ripken, Jr.	1*	5000	?	?

* Available in both series.

Checklist

Promos

This 12-card promotional set was available only to dealers to preview and showcase the new and improved 1992 Donruss set design. These promo cards featured the same glossy color player photos on the front and player information on the back as the base set - the only differences were that promos showed statistics only through the 1990 season and the sequential-numbering of the cards on the back was different. In addition, the player's name on the front was in a thinner typeface.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1992) AND (setname = 'Donruss Previews'); </sql2wiki>

Base Set

Series One

Rated Rookies

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 1992) AND (setname = 'Donruss') AND (num < 21) ORDER BY num +0 ASC; </sql2wiki>

American League All-Stars

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1992) AND (setname = 'Donruss') AND (num BETWEEN 21 AND 30) ORDER BY num +0 ASC; </sql2wiki>

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 1992) AND (setname = 'Donruss') AND (num BETWEEN 31 AND 396) ORDER BY num +0 ASC; </sql2wiki>

Series Two

Rated Rookies

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 1992) AND (setname = 'Donruss') AND (num BETWEEN 397 AND 421) ORDER BY num +0 ASC; </sql2wiki>

National League All-Stars

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<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 1992) AND (setname = 'Donruss') AND (num > 431) ORDER BY num +0 ASC; </sql2wiki>

Inserts

Rod Carew Puzzle

Inserted into each Series One pack were three pieces of a 63-piece puzzle that, when assembled, created a painted portrait of Rod Carew produced by Diamond Kings artist Dick Perez. This was the final year for the Donruss Puzzles, which, due to licensing restrictions, were required to be included in packs in releases from previous years.

From 1982-1991, Topps had the exclusive right to issue baseball cards with gum or as a stand-alone product. As a result, Donruss, Fleer, and later Score and Upper Deck, were all forced to issue their baseball cards along with another product. Fleer had a team logo sticker in each pack, Score had "Magic Motion" trivia cards, Upper Deck had holographic stickers, and Donruss had these player puzzles. Series Two packs did not contain puzzle pieces.

While this was the last year for the Puzzle, this was the only year the completed puzzle did not have a card in the base set.

Bonus Cards

These eight cards were randomly inserted into all Series Two packs. They were printed in exactly the same quantities as any other Series Two base card, but weren't included in the factory sets. The reason for their exclusion from the factory sets was that Donruss printed their factory sets on a 56-card sheet (784 cards / 56-card sheet = 14 sheets), whereas the pack-inserted cards were printed on a 132-card sheet (388 cards plus eight Bonus cards = 396 / 132-card sheet = 3 sheets).

The first six cards are of the previous year's award winners while cards #BC7 and #BC8 are of the two expansion teams entering the National League in 1993.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 1992) AND (setname = 'Donruss Bonus Cards') ORDER BY num +0 ASC; </sql2wiki>

Diamond Kings

The 1992 edition of Donruss Diamond Kings were featured as insert cards for the first time ever and randomly inserted in both Series One (cards 1-13 and checklist) and Series Two (cards 14-26) packs. As usual, the set featured artwork from famed artist Dick Perez and some minor card technology upgrades as the words "Donruss Diamond Kings" were surrounded in a gold-trimmed, blue and black banner, with the player nameplate in a similarly designed black stripe at the card bottom. This transformation from a subset to an insert was met with applause and resistance as Beckett Price Guide stated, "The decision at the time to transform the popular Diamond King subset into an insert set created notable groups of supporters and dissenters...".

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player FROM cards WHERE (year = 1992) AND (setname = 'Donruss Diamond Kings'); </sql2wiki>

Super

A very limited amount of oversized, 5" X 7" Diamond Kings were produced (similar to the Super DKs from the previous year). Unlike previous years, these were never intended for public release. Instead, it is believed that the set was given to Donruss executives who attended a staff meeting.

The 1992 Super Diamond Kings are one of the rarest sets of the era and rarely emerge on the open market.

The Elite Series

For the second straight year, Donruss created a limited - by early-1990s standards - serial-numbered insert that highlighted the best players in the game at the time on a gold holofoil, diamond-shaped spiral border design with green borders around the color player photo. Each card is serial-numbered to 10,000 copies and sequentially numbered as a continuation of the original 1991 Elite Series set.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info,serial FROM cards WHERE (year = 1992) AND (setname = 'Donruss Elite') AND (num REGEXP '^[0-9]+$'); </sql2wiki>

Legends Series

This special Elite Series card honored Rickey Henderson. The Legends Series card featured a silver holofoil, triangle-designed pattern that repeated around the borders of a Dick Perez rendition of Rickey Henderson, surrounded by a red-orange border. Each card was serial-numbered to 7,500 copies.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT player,info,serial FROM cards WHERE (year = 1992) AND (setname = 'Donruss Elite') AND (num LIKE 'L%'); </sql2wiki>

1992 Leaf Previews

This 26-card set previewed the 1992 Leaf set. Cards resembled what the 1992 base set would look like on the front and back, but each preview card was sequentially-numbered "X of 26" on the back to differentiate them from the regular Leaf base cards. Four cards were randomly inserted into each Hobby (Blue Box) factory set.

NOTE: A Black Gold parallel of this set exists; however, it was distributed separately.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 1992) AND (setname = 'Leaf Previews'); </sql2wiki>

Update

Four cards from this 22-card set were randomly inserted into retail (Red Box) factory sets. These Update cards featured the same design as the regular issue base cards, but had a U-prefixed numbering on back. Card numbers U1-U6 are Rated Rookie cards, while card numbers U7-U9 are Highlights cards.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num,player,info FROM cards WHERE (year = 1992) AND (setname = 'Donruss Update'); </sql2wiki>

Autographs

Elite Signature Series

As part of The Elite Series, Donruss also inserted an Elite Signature Series autographed card of Cal Ripken, Jr. in all 1992 Donruss packs. Each card was serial-numbered to 5000.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT player,info,serial FROM cards WHERE (year = 1992) AND (setname = 'Donruss Elite') AND (num LIKE 'S%'); </sql2wiki>

Donruss
Triopoly Era: 1980-81 Donruss Test - 1981 - 1982 - 1983 - 1984 - 1985 - 1986 - 1987
Junk Wax Era: 1988 - 1989 - 1990 - 1991 - 1992 - 1993
Post Junk Wax Era: 1994 - 1995 - 1996
Pinnacle Brands Era: 1997 - 1998
Donruss-Playoff Era: 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005
Panini America Era: 2014 - 2015 - 2016 - 2017 - 2018 - 2019 - 2020 - 2021 - 2022 - 2023 - 2024
Optic: 2016 - 2017 - 2018 - 2019 - 2020 - 2021 - 2022
All-Stars: 1983 - 1984 - 1985 - 1986 - 1987 - 1988 - 1989
Highlights: 1985 - 1986 - 1987
The Rookies: 1986 - 1987 - 1988 - 1989 - 1990 - 1991 - 1992 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2014 Donruss The Rookies Update
Baseball's Best: 1988 - 1989 - 1990
Other Donruss Brands: 1983 Donruss HOF Heroes - 1984 Donruss Champions - 1985 Donruss HOF Sluggers - 1987 Donruss Opening Day - 1988 Donruss Team Books - 1989 Donruss Traded - 1990 Donruss Learning Series - 1993 Donruss Elite Dominators - 1997 Donruss Team Sets - 1998 Donruss Collections -1998 Donruss Days - 2002 Donruss Originals