Donruss continued to make changes in the mid 90's. 1996 marked the first time Donruss serial numbered these inserts (#'d to 10,000). The biggest change in the history of Diamond Kings took place in 1997. That's when Dan Gardiner took over as the artist for the series.
Here are a few other key moments in the Diamond King timeline:
1999/2000 - Donruss filed for bankruptcy in 1998, so DK's weren't produced for two years.
2002 thru 2005 - Donruss created Diamond Kings as both an insert & as a stand alone set.
2005 - Donruss loses their MLB license.
One of the coolest things about early issue Diamond Kings is that they're cheap. You should be able to pick up most of them for a quarter or less and even the big name players can be found for under a buck. I was able to buy all four of these Diamond Kings for less the $2.
1985 Donruss #25
1989 Donruss #6
1994 Donruss "Diamond Kings" #11
1995 Donruss "Diamond Kings" #24
I'm still chasing down six more Gwynns:
1996 Donruss "Diamond Kings Insert" #9
1998 Donruss "Diamond Kings Insert" #4
2001 Donruss "Diamond Kings Insert" #11
2002 Donruss Diamond Kings #145
2003 Donruss Diamond Kings #169
2005 Donruss Diamond Kings #434
So... if you have any you're interested in trading... send me a message.
Tuesday's question of the day...
What's you favorite Diamond Kings card? Why?
I personally love the 1985 Gwynn card, because it features him in the classic brown and yellow uniform. I also like the dual image that Perez painted.
Well.. four more days to Christmas. I only have one more present left to buy... and I'll do that online. Have a great week everyone! Sayonara.
3 comments:
Can't say I have a favorite DK card, but I love looking at the chronology of the cards you posted! I learned a lot from this post...had no clue about Donruss' bankruptcy issue.
Color me jealous. I really hope to add that '85 card to the growing stack of Gwynn cards someday. Nice get!
thingsarefunnerhere - thanks... i'm glad i was able to help. i've loved DK's since i was a kid and was a pretty big collector in the late 90's when donruss filed for bankruptcy.
mariner1 - you collect gwynn too? lmk if you have doubles... b/c i have a bunch of doubles too. maybe we can work out a trade.
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