1981 Donruss – Why Gum, Why??

I’m turning the clock way back on this retro review.  I’m going all the way back to when I was 4 years old and the year the first DeLorean rolled off the production line.   Yes, we are taking a trip back to 1981 and we are going to look at a box of Donruss Baseball.  While 1981 was not all good with Bob Marley passing away and the first recognized cases of AIDS were diagnosed, there were much happier events going on as well.  Donkey Kong was released and was a smash hit!  I remember having chicken pox on Christmas Day when I was a kid but I had a handheld Donkey Kong game that helped keep my spirits up!  MTV also aired its first music video as the station was launched.  Videos on MTV are now ancient as it has become a lewd reality channel but believe me young kids, it used to play music videos 24 hours a day!Major League Baseball also went on strike in 1981 from June 12th to August 9th.  The All-Star game was actually played on the 9th and the regular season resumed on the 10th.  The strike of ’81 was caused by issues involving free agency and the owner’s expectation of compensation for losing a player.  The players called the strike but were provoked by the owners from all accounts I find.  An interesting tidbit from the strike was that reporters simulated the delayed All-Star game with a Strat-O-Matic and ran the scoreboard inside the stadium to mark the games progress.   The Strat-O-Matic used is now a fixture in the Hall of Fame.   The strike ended with the creation of a form of “Restricted Free Agency” and compensation to the owners that included picks from a pool of unprotected players from other teams when they lost a star to free agency.While I was only 4 at the time, I do like to share a personal story from the timeframe I’m covering in the review.  For that, I am going to go to an event in the general area, actually from 1980.  It was a fairly traumatic event for me and my parents and part of the reason they waited 6 years before having another kid.  I was 3 at the time and playing around an old race car that my dad and granddaddy had, called The Silver Bullet.  It was indeed a silver bullet as it was in a cylindrical shape and you sat in the “bullet” to drive it.  It was quite an odd site but I remember it to this day.   I couldn’t even find a photo to show except for the above and it only resembles it.   It’s not exact but it will give you an idea.   The car was not pulled on a trailer to the track but had a trailer tow bar assembly that hooked to the front two wheels and then connected to the truck.  When not in use, the tow bar laid back over the hood of the car.  It was pretty much like the image below but a little bigger.Being the adventurous toddler I was, I attempted to scale that tow bar as it was standing up in the air.   It did not end well. The tow bar toppled over and I fell to the ground.  The back of my head hit the ground and the tow bar landed on the top of my head.  It essentially smashed my skull and busted my head open.  I remember bits and pieces of the incident.  I remember my granddaddy or dad yelling, “Get the truck!”   I remember parts of the ride to the hospital and getting a shot after regaining consciousness post surgery.   It was truly a “near fatal” accident as the hitch hit my head only a couple of inches above my eye sockets, which would’ve been crushed.  I had tons of stitches, nightmares for a couple of years and bad headaches throughout my youth because of it.   I also wasn’t able to really play football because of headaches when I took a big hit.  But I didn’t learn my lesson because I busted the stitches right back open while leaving the hospital.  My grandmother asked me what happened and I said, “I hit my head like this” while actually banging my head again.   I have never claimed to be the brightest bulb in the box!On to 1981 Donruss and more happy times.   I had not begun collecting at this point but I make it a habit to go back and buy cards from my childhood because the cards themselves take me back to those days and I find myself being a kid again.  I would not have thought about the head incident if I hadn’t been thinking about 1981 but all of the memories aren’t bad ones like that.   That one is more of a badge of honor these days because everybody has a good “the day I almost died” story.   Well, 1981 was the year Donruss was born.  It would later die a little, as did most collectors inside, in 1990 but that is a story for another day.  In 1981, Donruss was a raw newcomer to the hobby.   Fleer won a major court victory over Topps in 1980, which resulted in Topps losing its exclusivity in the sport.  Thanks to that huge win, Fleer and Donruss joined the party the following year.In ’81, Donruss included a slab of gum in packs just like Topps.  Let me tell you – the gum was relentless on the cards.  I trashed every gum faced card in the box because the gum had become one with the card.  Thank God that only lasted one year as Donruss switched over to puzzle pieces in ’82 that formed a large version of a Diamond King card.  Diamond King was introduced in 1982 as well.  The ’81 set was put together very quickly because of the short time between the court case and the beginning of the baseball season so they didn’t get to iron out any kinks until 1982.  When looking at the cards, it is no doubt a first year product.   Leaf, Upper Deck and Stadium Club did so much better when they came on the scene but they had more time to plan and photography was so much better by then.  The set is loaded with errors after a quick check on the Trading Card Database.  I don’t know if I’m ready to tackle a set yet while I’m still working through ’91 Topps.As for the design, the card was pretty standard with a white outer border, a large color border and then an interior thin black border.  The color border was either a color from the uniform or an alternate color for the team.  The Donruss Logo and ’81 was in the top left corner of the card while the team name was in the bottom right in block banner type letters.  The players name and position was bottom center with the players name being bold.  The names were below the color border.   The backs of the cards were quite busy.  Printed at the top of the card was “FIRST EDITION COLLECTOR SERIES” with the Donruss logo and a pair of crossed bats and balls underneath.  A wavy banner flowed out of the crossed bats.   Below that was the player’s vital statistics.   Then, the majority of the back of the card was made up of Career Highlights, in text, identified by year.  Finally, the player stats (1980 and Lifetime) was all the way at the bottom of the card.  The back was white with the banner being a pinkish color and the card stock was very thin.

Most of the photos used in the set were posed or staged photos.  There are a few action shots but even those appear to be from a practice or lightly attended spring training game.  There are some neat shots but the posed photos scream early 80’s!   Although the rookie class in ’81 Donruss was slim, the full checklist was strong.   The set included Ozzie Smith, Mike Schmidt, Willie Stargell, Joe Morgan, Rod Carew, Johnny Bench, Gary Carter, George Brett, Rickey Henderson, Pete Rose and many other stars.  The slim rookie class only included Tim Raines, Mookie Wilson and Danny Ainge (Yes, that Danny Ainge) as chase cards.  Raines was recently inducted to the Hall of Fame so I was definitely looking to add a couple of his cards in this rip.

With our description in the books, let’s take a look at the hits from the box.  The set is devoid of any inserts other than a card with Rod Carew and George Brett called “Best Hitters”, George Brett and Mike Schmidt MVP’s and Steve Stone and Steve Carlton Cy Young’s.  Let’s see the magic!

The Rookies – I actually pulled all 3 rookies to have in this set but I saved the Raines for last in this post.  You’re going to love it!

The “Inserts” – I pulled 3 of the 5 award winner cards and I pulled dupes of them.

The Catchers – This group is headlined by Johnny Bench and Gary Carter but I couldn’t leave my man Bruce Benedict out.  I still have an old photo of a tiny Dub at Fulton County Stadium with Bruuuuuce in the background.
The Infielders – This is a LEGIT group of infielders, except maybe Horner, who I had to include just like Benedict.  Just take a moment and look at these stud names!
The Outfielders – Again, a solid group led by Rickey and The Hawk.  I always liked Dave Parker too and he looks scary on this card.  Of course, Lonnie Smith makes an appearance.
The Pitchers – Take your time and look at these names.  These are some solid pitchers.  Koosman was on the Nolan Ryan rookie card.  Rollie is rocking the sweet stache.  And The Mad Hungarian, Al Hrabosky looks like a raving madman!

My Best Pulls – I told you the gum was relentless….just look at this.  I almost shed a tear.  Nolan Ryan, The Raines rookie and a Johnny Bench – Destroyed!!  I managed to pull a second Bench but these were the ONLY Ryan and Raines cards I pulled.  I would have LOVED to have had these in decent condition.  This almost ruined the entire box break for me.  I’m not joking….
It’s really hard for me to be fair with this score after seeing the Ryan and Raines cards in shambles.  Granted, the other pulls were very cool and 1981 was 36 years ago!  I have never opened a box this old and I pulled some great players on some of their earlier cards.  The condition of the cards overall was pretty rough.  The stock is very thin and tough to keep in good condition over this length of time.  The corners were dinged throughout the box.  But still, this is a vintage box of cards with some quality stars.  If the Raines and Ryan had been ok, I would’ve given this a better score but the risk of that happening when you buy a box makes it worthy of a ding in the point total. I have to go with a 3 on the Dub-O-Meter.  The price of the box is reasonable for such an old set but ’81 Donruss was truly a test run for the company.  You can find them around $50 and if you can avoid the gum issues, it’s well worth the rip.  It’s just risky. And because of that, I won’t stop you from checking it out but I’m not telling you to go buy it now either.  

J-Dub

Scoring Scale

1. Let me be the sacrificial lamb so you don’t have to buy these cards.  Just read the post and thank me later.

2. There is worse but there is much better – not worth the effort though.

3. Middle of the road – I wouldn’t talk you into buying these but I certainly wouldn’t talk you out of them.

4. You should probably go out and buy a box and enjoy the rip – I did!  It has some downside but worth the ride.

5. Stop reading and find a box to buy and get to Breaking!  What are you waiting on?