1997 Donruss Preferred

Description

The 1997 Donruss Preferred set was issued in one series totaling 200 cards and distributed in five-card "tins" with a suggested retail of $4.99. The set features color player photos on an all-foil, micro-etched card stock. Similar to 1996 & 1997 Finest, the set is fractured into 100 Bronze, 60 Silver (1:3/packs), 30 Gold (1:12), and 10 Platinum (1:48) cards.

More than anything, the set is probably best remembered for it's unique packaging. Each five-card pack was distributed in a collectible "tin" box.

The only notable Rookie Card is Brian Giles.

Distribution

Hobby: 24 "tins" per "tin box;" five cards per "tin." (MSRP: $4.99 per tin)

Retail: 24 blister-carded "tins" per box; five cards per "tin." (MSRP: $4.99 per tin)

Insertion Ratios

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Odds
Base	200	-	?
Bronze (short-set)	100	-	5:1
Silver	60	-	1:3
Gold	30	-	1:12
Platinum	10	-	1:48
Cut to the Chase	200	-	?
Precious Metals	25	100	?
Staremasters	20	1500	?
X-Potential Power	20	3000	?

Checklist

Base Set

The base set is fractured into Bronze (B), Silver (S), Gold (G), and Platinum (P) cards.

<sql2wiki database="carddb"> SELECT num, player, info FROM cards WHERE (year = 1997) AND (setname = 'Donruss Preferred') and (num between 1 and 142) order by num +0 asc; </sql2wiki>

Rookie Subset

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National Treasures

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Checklists

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Parallels

Cut to the Chase

This die-cut parallel is, just like the base set, fractured into four different groups. Bronze is the easiest to find, Platinum the scarcest.

Precious Metals

Randomly inserted in packs, this 25-card set is a partial-parallel. Each card is printed with one-half ounce of real silver, gold, or platinum embedded into the card. Only 100 copies of each card were produced.

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Inserts

Tins

Tin Packs

Each five-card Hobby and retail pack came packaged in one of 25 collectible tins, and are available in the following versions.

• Blue

• Gold (numbered to 1200, Hobby only)

• Fanfest Edition

Note: The Fanfest Edition tins were distributed exclusively to dealers who setup at the 1997 All-Star Game Fanfest (sponsored by Pinnacle Brands) in Cleveland. The Fanfest Edition tins are identical to the standard Blue tins, except that the Donruss logo is in gold ink.

Tin Boxes

Each 24-tin Hobby box was packaged in one of 25 oversized tins, which parallel the smaller tin packs and are available in the following versions.

• Blue (serial-numbered to 1200 lids)

• Gold (serial-numbered to 299 lids)

A few months after the initial release, Donruss issued an additional supply of '97 Donruss Preferred exclusive to Hobby accounts. Everything regarding this second "wave" of Preferred product was identical to the first, except the lids of the tin Hobby boxes had gold borders (as opposed to blue). All "Gold Tin Boxes" are serial-numbered to 299 lids.

The retail version of 1997 Donruss Preferred was packaged in a plain corrugated cardboard box, with 24 blister-carded tins per box. Unlike The Hobby version, Donruss Preferred did not sell very well at the retail level. It is believed that the leftover retail tins were repackaged for the Gold Hobby edition.

Tin Checklist

NOTE: The 25 Tins are not sequentially numbered. They are checklisted here in alphabetical order, for your convenience.

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Staremasters

Each Staremasters card is serial-numbered to 1500 copies. Promotional samples of this set were distributed within wholesale dealer order forms prior to the products release (one card per order). The Samples parallel the regular Staremasters inserts except for the bold "SAMPLE" text running diagonally across both front and back of the card. In addition, Sample cards are numbered as "PROMO/1500" on back rather than the typical serial numbering of the true insert cards.

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X-Ponential Power

This 20-card set features two power-hitting teammates from 10 different teams. Each card is printed on thick acetate stock with gold holographic foil. The cards are die-cut, and when the two teammates are placed side-by-side, their cards form the letter "X." Each card is serial-numbered to 3000 copies.

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Donruss Preferred
1996 Leaf Preferred - 1997 - 1998