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Call me nuts: putting together a MASTER SET of 1990 Donruss

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BunchOBull

Active member
Dec 12, 2008
5,463
14
Houston, TX
Here's a low quality, unfinished copy of a Frank Thomas rookie mock-up I made. I'm going to have the final copies printed up for my fellow Thomas collectors.

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BBCgalaxee

Well-known member
Sep 9, 2011
6,475
59
Much appreciated Jacksoncoupage. Your site has helped me a lot in the past.

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nosterbor

Well-known member
Jun 20, 2010
6,099
431
Sunny Florida
Upon reading this thread and thumbing through an old box, I found these in 10 minutes time: Neither of the Baines cards have the TM by the AL logo and it seems that all that are missing the TM logo are AL cards.

baines1.jpg


baines2.jpg


morris.jpg


valdez.jpg


I found this on the McGwire All Star card: Extra splatter up by the name. One speck looks like dust on the print die. I have three of these so far and they are all the same.

mcgwire2.jpg


Fordman

Look at the Baines!
The line in the letters are also a variation. The all star is the best. The line goes through the star. Awesome.

Ps
The TM is factory set only. You will not find them in any packs. all the cards in the factory sets have TM.
 
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BBCgalaxee

Well-known member
Sep 9, 2011
6,475
59
So any idea which Murphy is the factory splatter and which is the wax splatter?

I also recall back in '90 I sold that Baines line version for like$50 or more a show.



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Jan 14, 2009
595
5
I wouldn't consider that a true variation. Same card, just with black plate misaligned a little on the print.

Agreed, you can find just about any card in the set this way if you look hard enough, simple misalignment. Not the same as the Jack Morris, Sergio Valdez or Baines. Neat though!
 
Jan 14, 2009
595
5
The TM is factory set only. You will not find them in any packs. all the cards in the factory sets have TM.

I'm 99% sure this isn't true. I have opened dozens of factory sets and have yet to see a Bo Jackson, Kirby Puckett or any missing TM AS subjects in a corrected version. Take a peek at COMC, at Puckett's card for example and among the 27 or whatever copies, two have the factory splatter difference but are still missing their TMs.

So any idea which Murphy is the factory splatter and which is the wax splatter?

On COMC, all three types are currently available. The factory splatter version has a solitary black dot centered in the left border parallel to his hands. The wax version has a cluster of dots in the left border touching the photo.
 
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BBCgalaxee

Well-known member
Sep 9, 2011
6,475
59
Since all I get from walk ins are "old cards" from 1988-1991 in my store, for the first time EVER, I hope someone brings a shoe box of 90 Donruss. :)

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BBCgalaxee

Well-known member
Sep 9, 2011
6,475
59
Wow! I just opened a box of 90 Donruss and had some nice fun. And it was a crazy box too.

If someone had opened this back then, they would have been the talk the shop.

One pack had TWO of the Nolan wrong backs and then a third in another pack.

And also got THE card of the set, the triple error, line in the star Harold Baines.

Those cards alone used to be about $80.

But wait, there's more!

There were a bunch a diamond cuts, a creased card and a beat to XXXX card back to back.

And then there's this gem. One of my least favorite Yankees ever and certainly the butt of many jokes in my store.
Yes, the card came out of the pack like this
 

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Copa7

New member
Nov 27, 2013
16
0
BBC - that's one quality 90 Donruss ! So what's with the blue border version of this set ? Are they worth (worthless) same ?
 

Brewer Andy

Active member
Aug 10, 2008
9,634
21
Those "Off The Scrap Heap" inserts were tough pulls back in the day.
I don't think I ever opened any wax packs from '90. It was all racks for me
 

BBCgalaxee

Well-known member
Sep 9, 2011
6,475
59
Going to be picking up about 8k cards already sorted by card numbers this week.

Only paying $15 but funny thing is I wouldn't have wanted them several weeks ago.

Maybe I'll be able to make this master set a whole lot faster that I thought.

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BBCgalaxee

Well-known member
Sep 9, 2011
6,475
59
Yeah that's not even close to a master set which should have like 1400 plus cards



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jstbuch

New member
Jan 5, 2014
5
0
This is interesting. 1990 Donruss was my go to set as a kid. One day I am going to do the base set in psa 10. It would be a totally worthless investment but it would remind of when I was a kid.
 

Boo Radley

New member
Jun 5, 2013
111
1
Cape Cod
Thought I would bump this old thread. I've done an embarrassing amount of work on the 1990 Donruss set this past year. I've opened 5 wax cases of error or transition cards and I don't know how many cases of rack packs. I took the already good list of errors that's been floating around the interwebs and built upon it further.

Some context: in order for something to get added to my list, it had meet the following criteria:

1.) multiple examples found in the original unopened source
2.) an example found in a secondary source (different case/seller)

My list is not without flaws. I've opened little "correct" wax and I've opened no late-print run wax. So it's possible that a few of these may turn out to be UER or it may turn out that the secondary version is actually in less supply than the initial variation. Donruss had a penchant for creating errors and variations while correcting others in 1990. For instance, in the first, initial print run of cards, the MVP subset has the dot after INC on the back. It was only after Donruss started subsequent print runs that the MVP cards lost their dot.

My thanks to the folks in this thread. I had no idea about the Grand Slammers red/yellow star or the All-Star cards with the "TM" missing. I'll be going through my mountain of AS cards today to see what I can find. Let's hope it doesn't effect the Steinbach card as that has surpassed the Baines for most variations.

I'm not posting pictures of everything for obvious space reasons but if anyone has a request I'll be happy to oblige. Don't be afriad to wake me up with a PM if I forget to check back in here.

Here is my updated and exhaustive list, to date.

CARD # NAME VARIATION
1 Bo Jackson - Diamond King Redone "i" in Diamond Kings
3 Ruben Sierra - Diamond Kings No Line in Top Back Border
10 Brian Downing - Diamond Kings Reverse Negative on Front
11 Kevin Mitchell - Diamond Kings White space in bottom right front border
11 Kevin Mitchell - Diamond Kings Space filled in with black bump
15 Ozzie Guillen - Diamond Kings Red Dot by Foot on Front
15 Ozzie Guillen - Diamond Kings No Red Dot by Foot on Front
18 Howard Johnson - Diamond Kings Bottom of 18 missing on back
18 Howard Johnson - Diamond Kings Errant dashed line by upper left border on front, full 18 on back
18 Howard Johnson - Diamond Kings Errant dashed line on front & Bottom of 18 missing on back
18 Howard Johnson - Diamond Kings Normal
20 Chris Bosio - Diamond Kings Errant dashed line by upper left border on front
20 Chris Bosio - Diamond Kings Normal
24 Pete O'Brien - Diamond Kings Fuzzy red line in DK banner
24 Pete O'Brien - Diamond Kings Thin red line in DK banner
24 Pete O'Brien - Diamond Kings White line in DK banner
24 Pete O'Brien - Diamond Kings Normal
33 Juan Gonzalez - Rated Rookie Reverse Negative on Front
67 Walt Weiss Break in stats border on back
67 Walt Weiss Shimmer in right black line on back
67 Walt Weiss Normal
71 Barry Larkin Red pepper left of eyes
100 Checklist 28-129
100 Checklist 28-125
111 Roberto Alomar White dot right of helmet
113 Kelly Gruber DOB February 22
113 Kelly Gruber DOB February 26
154 Jesse Orosco Line cuts 'r' on front name
158 Greg Maddux Dot on line below 'M' on front
159 Andy Hawkins Check mark in upper left part of picture
159 Andy Hawkins Airbrushed check mark
168 Dale Murphy Half line through D
170 Kirk McCaskill DOB April 19
170 Kirk McCaskill DOB April 9
186 Rob Murphy Line through 'b' on front
200 Checklist 130-231
200 Checklist 126-233
206 George Bell G' open loop
206 George Bell G' filled
214 Mike Moore Yellow dot under Donruss on front
217 Scott Garrelts DOB October 20
217 Scott Garrelts DOB October 30
233 Eric Davis E' & 'r' joined
233 Eric Davis Normal
270 Gregg Jefferies Open 'G' & 'J'
285 Jerome Walton Break in front bottom line left of J
287 Joe Orsulak Black mark left of belt (corrected?)
300 Checklist 232-333
300 Checklist 224-321
307 Duane Ward Line break on front bottom border
307 Duane Ward Full border
321 Jeff Hamilton Break in top line above team name
335 Jose Uribe Black dot left of bat
335 Jose Uribe Black dot airbrushed out
347 Bip Roberts Line breaks B
365 Ken Griffey Jr Break in front bottom border by left elbow
365 Ken Griffey Jr Blank accent mark through card nuber and line
365 Ken Griffey Jr Full line
368 Kirk Gibson DOB May 25
368 Kirk Gibson DOB May 28
378 Jamie Moyer Yellow dot above 'I' on front
400 Checklist 334-435
400 Checklist 322-419
405 Sergio Valdez Line through S on front
405 Sergio Valdez Normal
406 Mark Williamson Black scratch below Orioles on front (corrected?)
408 Jeff Innis Upper right scratch mostly red
408 Jeff Innis Upper right scratch more white
414 Trevor Wilson Red dot above glove
414 Trevor Wilson Red dot airbrushed out
424 Ken Caminiti Yellow dot right of name on front
425 David Wells Maple Leaf touches border
425 David Wells Gap between leaf and border
471 Mackey Sasser Blue banana above hip
471 Mackey Sasser Blue apostrophe left of eyes
493 Tim Birstas Yellow dot below 's' on front
498 Mike Macfarlane Pink dot on hat
500 Checklist 436-537
500 Checklist 420-517
523 Andy Nezelek DOB 1985
523 Andy Nezelek DOB 1965
542 Mark Portugal Bottom front line break left of 'M'
542 Mark Portugal Full line
562 Rick Luecken Red dot on cap (corrected?)
573 Lance Johnson Part of 'L' missing in name on front
583 Kevin Hickey Black line through 'K'
585 Jeff Pico Break in bottom line on front
595 Luis Quinones Black dot left of 'L' on front
600 Checklist 538-639
600 Checklist 518-617
619 Shawn Hillegas Break in bottom line on front
619 Shawn Hillegas Full line
637 Terry Steinbach All-Star Blue Scratch AS Game Performance
637 Terry Steinbach All-Star Blue Scratch Recent ML Experience
637 Terry Steinbach All-Star Half Scratch AS Game Performance
637 Terry Steinbach All-Star Half Scratch Recent ML Experience
637 Terry Steinbach All-Star White Scratch AS Game Performance
637 Terry Steinbach All-Star White Scratch Recent ML Experience
639 Jack Morris Black line through 'J' on front
660 Harold Baines Line behind star - All-Star Experience
660 Harold Baines Line behind star - Major League Experience
660 Harold Baines Line in front of star - All-Star Experience
660 Harold Baines Line in front of star - Major League Experience
662 Clint Zavaras Black line on nostril
662 Clint Zavaras Black line airbrushed out
696 Scott Lusader Break in top front border
699 George Canale Line through right loop on front 'G'
700 Checklist 640-BC26 with 716
700 Checklist 640-BC26 no 716
700 Checklist 618-716
716 A. Bartlett Giamati Cropped larger
716 A. Bartlett Giamati Cropped smaller
716 A. Bartlett Giamati No black lines on back
BC-12 John Smoltz - MVP Photo of Tom Glavine
All-Star Performance
Recent Major League Performance
MVP with Dot
MVP with NO Dot
659 - 659 back
659 - 665 back
659 - 659 back with 665 number
665 - 665 back
665 - 659 back

Arthur
 

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