Wednesday, March 11, 2015

2015 Donruss is Live ... with a hit!

I stopped by my LCS after work this afternoon, because I thought Topps Opening Day was hitting the streets today.  Whoops, I guess I'm a week early. Not a problem, as the owner had a fresh box of 2015 Donruss sitting on the counter and I happily left with something to open.

I love seeing guys like Tony Gwynn grace the wrappers of packs.  Yes, more please, thank you.

First card out of the pack:

I could do worse than a Justin Morneau card.  He did the batting title last year, right?  The design is very much like last year's effort, which was also reminiscent of the '87 design.  It's tough to tell with the deep blue at the top and bottom of the card, but those little baseballs from 1987 are mixed in there.
 
 The cardstock is the equivalent of Topps flagship product, and the backs are clean and crisp.  I like how they faded the color on the back in spots to give an older Donruss cardboard appearance.

Alex Gordan and Victor Martinez from the Kansas City and Detroit baseball clubs, respectively:
 
 No, still no license with MLB, but the cards look pretty sharp with out them.  The missing logo from Martinez' card is hardly noticeable.  I'm probably in the minority of collector's who aren't bothered by Panini's lack of logos.  I like Panini's products and this decade I've collected four sets, two from Topps and two from Panini. I'm actually leaning toward this Donruss set or Panini's Stars and Stripes for my one set to collect this year.

This, I'm down with:
 Retired stars!  Heck yeah!  The checklist is pretty nice actually:
  • 30 Diamond Kings (1-30)
  • 15 Rated Rookies (31-45)
  • 137 currently established MLB players (46-182)
  • 13 retired stars, like Wade & Kirby (183-195)
  • and the a 50 card subset (196-245) in the 1981 Donruss design featuring a mix of established and retired stars
Here's the card I pulled in the likeness of the 1981 Donruss design.
 
 I live me some Jose Altuve . . . and I love the orange on border.  Very nice. NL and AL batting champs in the same pack?  Sweet!

A 245 card base set is nice, especially the way Donruss has laid it out with DKs, RRs, and some retired guys.  They went all out on the inserts again.  The Elite Dominators caught my eye in 2014, and I'll look for them again this spring.  I didn't pull one of them, but I did snag a Cub from the Grand Stand insert series.
 Baez was the middle man in the Cubs back-to-back-to-back dingerfest yesterday.  I'm a happy camper with this pull!  I couldn't take the picture straight on with my camera because the surface was too reflective.

Let's talk hits...

There are three combined autographs and memorabilia cards per 24-pack hobby box.  There are 94 cards in the signature series subset, and some of the bigger names are Posey, Tulo, Strasburg, Longoria, Wright, Jose Abreu, Yasmany Tomas and Steve Garvey.   I was lucky enough to pull one!

It's not the sexiest name on the autograph checklist, but I can take comfort in the fact that it's probably the most difficult name to spell.  That's something, right?  Mike Foltynewicz was one of the Astros that was sent to the Braves in exchange for Evan Gattis and while I'm excited to pull a hit, I'm a little bummed it's from of the lesser known prospects. 

I still haven't bought any Topps flagship, and I was a week late to the Heritage party, but I hope you've enjoyed this first look at 2015 Donruss.  If you're interested in a PWE trade of anything you see above, minus the Baez, just drop me a note in the comments.

9 comments:

  1. I'm liking what I've seen of Donruss. I wish the base set was a little bigger, but maybe they'll add a second series again this year. The photography looks a lot nicer than the waist and thigh cropped closeups Topps used this year.

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  2. Given what I've read/heard about Mike, it might make for an interesting piece of trade bait down the road. Still, nice pack :).

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  3. Altuve is sexy! I love that guy! If you'd like to part with him, I have the space. The cards look fresh and bright! I'll save Cubs for you when I pick up some Donruss later in the week.

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  4. Foltynewicz is kind of a hometown hero out here in the Joliet area; he's a product of Minooka - just down the road a piece. Cool to see him get some insert love!

    That home run derby in yesterday's game made half of Chicago as giddy as child. Here's hoping that happens once or twice in the regular season too.

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  5. I still don't like that Panini has no license, but for some reason I really want some of those 81's

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  6. I opened more 2014 Donruss then I would like to admit. It will probably be more of the same in 2015. Don't judge me!

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  7. I don't think I've ever hated a card design more than this base. I'm talking violent thoughts against whoever came up with it. With just a little more effort, it could have been so much better. The inserts look good, though.

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  8. The 'Stros checklist in this set is STRONG. I'd change the base design a tad, but overall I really think 2015 Donruss gets it right.

    Looks like I missed the Altuve, but dibs on the Folty if you're releasing him! I've got a little Cubs stack building for you.

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