Friday, April 1, 2011

1990 Donruss Phillies

1990 Donruss #194, #278, #160 and #251

As I had feared, I've grown incredibly bored with the retrospection posts chronicling the Phillies Topps cards over the past sixty years.  I'm not getting nearly as many page views as I had hoped for, and I've had only a few new followers since I started the series.  So I'm scrapping the entire idea.  Besides, I've recently decided to package up all my vintage baseball cards and have them professionally graded.

Going forward, I'll be focusing on cards from mega-rare sets few collectors have ever seen, let alone dared to collect.  I'm kicking off this new series with one of the most universally beloved baseball card sets of all time - 1990 Donruss.

The Set
Number of cards in the set:  716 glorious cards.
My very brief thoughts on the set:  The reddish-orangeish borders, the reckless (but classy) paint-splattered sides, the cursive name at the top and the unmatched player selection - it's all here.
Notable competition:  None.

1990 Donruss #21, #133, #643 and #168
1990 Phillies
Record and finish:  Nick Leyva's squad finished 77-85 and in fourth place in the National League East.
Key events:  1990 Donruss was released.  Everything else was secondary.

1990 Phillies in 1990 Donruss
Cards needed for a complete team set:  There are 24 cards in the 1990 Donruss Phillies team set.
Who’s in:  24 very, very lucky Phillies players.
Who’s out:  Bruce Ruffin does not appear in the set, although it's been rumored for years that a collector in Des Moines has a Ruffin proof card, which would have been number 717 in the set.
Phillies on other teams:  Dale Murphy (#168), Joe Boever (#357) and Tommy Greene (#576) all appear with the Braves, while Carmelo Martinez (#482) appears with the Pirates.
What’s he doing here:  Sadly, the Steve Jeltz era came to an end when the Phillies traded him to the Royals in March.  He's featured on card #133 - easily one of the more sought after cards in the set.
Cards that never were candidates:  The thought of Dale Murphy in a Phillies uniform on a 1990 Donruss card almost brings tears of joy.
Favorite Phillies card:  Who doesn't remember the magical summer of '90, searching in vain for unopened packs of 1990 Donruss, trying to complete the elusive Combs Rainbow?  Behold, for the first time ever, all three cards presented together - 

1990 Donruss #44, 1990 Donruss NL Best #49, 1990 Donruss Rookies #3
Other Stuff
Recycled:  Unbelievably, not one baseball card company has re-used this majestic design for any retro-based sets.
Blogs/Websites:  To date, there isn't one blog out there detailing each and every card from the 1990 Donruss set, until now.  I've just launched a new blog that will display each and every one of these 716 cards and the stories that go with them.
Did You Know?:  I probably have too much free time on my hands.

8 comments:

night owl said...

Fantastic! My mind reals at the thought of an actual 1990 Donruss blog.

Very amusing.

Jim said...

It was either 1990 Donruss or 1995 Fleer. Maybe I'll start the 1995 Fleer blog next year.

Anonymous said...

I'm really sorry to hear you are scrapping the Phillies Topps through the years series. I, for one, was really enjoying it and kept checking each day for the next year. But I understand you gotta do what you gotta do.

Opening Day is here, go Phillies!

Dan said...

You need to mention all the errors (uncorrected too!) I love the Juan Gonzalez reverse negative card and all the all-star card byline errors.

Pat Combs? He's 4-0 for his career heading into 1990. He's on pace for 604-0 for a 20 year career. I'm sure it'll happen.

Section 36 said...

Really, which marketing person said out loud, "What if it looked like a painter's dropcloth?"

I did like the errors though. Still have the two Juan Gonzalez versions in a binder so they're facing each other.

Jim from Downingtown said...

The Schmidt card was one of the rare times (up until that time anyway) where a company knowingly put out a card of a retired player.


(Well, Schmidt DID make the all-star team after retiring!)

Dick Allen Hall of Fame said...

Compared to the "golden age" of Phillies baseball we are living through now, 1989 & 1990 were tough years to be a Phillies fan. These cards bring back some horrid baseball memories.

Jim said...

These were definitely tough years to be a Phillies fan!

I've come to my senses and the regularly scheduled 1962 Topps Phillies post will go on as planned tomorrow. The 1995 Fleer post will have to wait until next year.