Speaking of the A's and Padres, I recently finished a simple card project involving my two favorite teams.
I've been a fan of the 1982 to 1991 Donruss Diamond Kings subsets for years and finally managed to pick up all of the A's and Padres from those sets.
1982 Donruss #19
1982 Donruss #21
Dick Perez did a fantastic job with the artwork, which is what attracted me to these cards back in the 80's. I'm not sure who created the checklist, but each franchise was represented by one of their top players.
In 1982, Ozzie had just won his second consecutive Gold Glove Award and was coming off of his first MLB All-Star Game appearance... which explains why he made the checklist. On the other hand, the Norris selection is a bit confusing. Rickey Henderson had just finished 2nd in AL MVP voting. And even if Donruss or Perez wanted to go with a pitcher, Steve McCatty had much better numbers in 1981 than Norris.
Oh well. Norris was still a fan favorite... and Rickey would make the subset in 1983. McCatty's window of opportunity had passed.
Don't worry, this is pretty much the extent of my analysis. I won't waste your time with a year by year breakdown.
Here are the final nine years in nine pocket form:
The Oakland A's are a great example of how Donruss and/or Perez made sure that they weren't selecting the same players year after year. Not a single player was repeated during that first decade of Diamond Kings. And even though Rickey is the only guy enshrined at Cooperstown, every single one of these guys are household names to Oakland A's fans.
Tony Gwynn was the only player to be honored twice for the San Diego Padres:
But at least they spread him out and put three other guys between him. Just like the Athletics, there might be a few lesser known players here, but all of them are recognizable to Padres fans from that era. They also have two more hall of famers than the A's do.
It's nice to finally cross this project off my list of things to do during my summer break. I've been thinking about taking this project to the next level and putting a binder together with every Diamond King produced during these years. However for now, these twenty cards will suffice.
I'll wrap things up with one more Diamond King from the collection:
1982 Donruss #1
I realize that Pete Rose is not the most popular player among collectors, but he's still the MLB Hit King and holds the honor of being the first card on the first Diamond King checklist. I picked this card up last summer off of eBay for less than the price of a blaster.
It's your turn...
What are your thoughts on Diamond Kings? Where do they rank among your favorite 80's subset cards?
By the way, if you were hoping to find a much more detailed write up on these cards, then click here. Subset analysis doesn't get much better than that.
Okay the New York Yankees and Washington Nationals are set to kick off the 2020 MLB season in about an hour. I'm hoping to be able to find this game online somewhere, so I can watch Dr. Anthony Fauci throw out the first pitch.
Happy Opening Day and sayonara!
22 comments:
Can't argue with Diamond Kings!! That Rose sounds like it was a great deal.
I like them. Recently completed the 1991 set. Might have to go after 1987 or 1982 next. The former should be easier, but the latter is a bit better, i.m.o.
I love the Diamond Kings from that time frame. I was collecting them for a while, but they were one of the first things I stopped when I refocused my collection.
That's not to say I won't try again later.
I did really like this subset. Much more consistent than fleer's superstar specials. I remember thinking that the canseco diamond king was one of the worst renderings - it looks like his head was squished. I also remember hoping that steve garvey would be selected as a padre diamond king in 198r or 1985 but had to wait until 2005 for that.
You're not going to waste my time with a year-by-year breakdown?!?!? Guess I'll have to do it.
Unfortunately, I don't have much of the Diamond Kings beyond 1984. IMO, they really tailed off after the first two years. There are some pretty awful ones in those later versions.
I really like the first couple of years' designs and also really like the insert versions from 92 and 93. Trying to complete those. I think they tried not to repeat players from year to year, but that led to some pretty pedestrian diamond kings in my opinion.
Oh and those look really cool together by team in the 9 pocket page.
Put Pete in the Hall already, too.
The Diamond Kings are a classic subset and paved the way to a nice insert set, DK card sets, and also to painted cards being a thing. I liked them during that time period, and although I didn’t start collecting until 1989, I could tell the cards were special and it was a thrill pulling some when I opened Donruss packs.
That was quite the first pitch!
I still think they are cool. Maybe overdone by now with full sets, but something ownable for Donruss.
I love Diamond Kings from the 80's and early 90's, although the interest definitely waned when Dick Perez's art style massively shifted in the 1994 set and Donruss increased the scarcity. Being pretty much assured of a DK in a pack from the 80s-1991 was a simple joy, particularly since I do not find most of the base designs from those sets to be terribly interesting.
I do like the note about Donruss mixing up the players featured on DK cards, as it was something that I noticed, too, and also appreciate. I started a post on a different blog many years ago comparing who did get DK nods vs. who "should have" had the honor. Most of the selections are pretty justified, although there are definitely a few odd choices over time even if one does not use advanced stats in making the picks [see: Stillwell, Kurt].
They are sort of Donruss' signature feature of their early sets. I stopped after '84 (which looks out of place side by side with the rest), and I have no clue what the later insert ones even look like since they're so hard to find.
Oh and thanks for the package, it showed up today!
Diamond Kings was an "insert set" that I loved to pull as a kid. I love that '85 Gwynn. Never owned a copy though. The '86 Gossage is cool too. I always thought that Jose Canseco looked more like his brother Ozzie in his Diamond King though!
The Diamond Kings were (and probably still are) my favorite part about Donruss. That subset and that artwork really set it apart from Topps and Fleer.
the diamond king - i went through a phase where i was bidding up to $20 on psa slabbed pete rose autographs. he signs a lot, so his prices are very affordable. although they've been slowly rising the past six months.
elliptical man - the 1982 set is one of my favorites (along with the 1984), but you can't go wrong with the 1987 set either.
mike matson - i hear ya on the refocus. i probably need to do a little refocusing before i head into the new school year
gcrl - very surprised that garvey didn't get a dk until 2005. as much as i like dravecky... i wouldn't have been upset if garvey got the nod in 1984. by 1985, they had to produce one for gwynn though
night owl - you're much better with words. when my posts start to get long, i'm like a drunk guy after last call. i just ramble on and on... and get way too wordy. you're more of a poet, so i say go for it.
wax pack wonders - i like the inserts too. i think i have the 1992 set. need to start working on the 1993 set now. yeah... i forgave pete a few years ago and would have no problem with him getting in.
jeremya1um - i kinda wonder if the dk's were double printed or something, because i feel like you always pulled at least one per pack. btw... that was never a bad thing
sport card collectors - heck yeah. kudos to doolittle for standing six feet (well a few feet) apart ;D
the lost collector - when it comes to dk's i'm purely old school. maybe i'll focus on the current dk's when panini gets their mlb license.
mike - if you're a WAR guy, the sabr blog (link above) did a great job of breaking down which guys had the highest and lowest numbers. it was pretty interesting.
gca - the 1984 design is my favorite. i love the banner. you received a package? wow. don't think i've shipped anything out in weeks. then again time has played with my mind during this pandemic
troublewiththecurve.net - good call on the ozzie canseco comparison. totally agree.
matt - it's a tough choice for me, because i really do enjoy the puzzles too. regardless, both are awesome
Diamond Kings and Rated Rookies are at the top of my list for 1980s subsets.
I love DK's. I have a ton...boat load...and I still collect them. I just ordered up about 50% of the newly released Optic DK's.
Diamond Kings have always been a favorite, even now in the current Panini releases.
Would love to do a simple project for myself. Someday, maybe I'll learn how to do simple...
Love the Perez Diamond Kings. The Norris inclusion always was a head scratcher. Great looking cards. The Rickey, Stewart and first Gwynn are my favorites.
Awesome project Fuji, those completed pages look beautiful! Really like that '82 Ozzie Smith in particular, I might have to track one of those down...
Nice Rose auto Fuji. Diamond Kings are a hit and miss with me. I'm lukewarm with the early versions but my favorites are from the 1991 Donruss release.
the snorting bull - i've thought about writing a rated rookies post. not sure it'll happen anytime soon, but we'll see
johnnys trading spot & robert - i'm glad to hear there are collectors who enjoy the panini dk's. it's not my thing, but maybe when i'm done collecting all of the 80's, 90's, and 2000's dk's... i'll give them a shot
bulldog - was just reading a thing on the oakland a's... and norris is the only oakland athletic to spend his entire career with the franchise with at least 10 seasons. i thought that was pretty cool.
shoeboxlegends - it'd be cool to get an autographed copy of that ozzie at some point for my padres pc
reds card collector - i figured you might appreciate the pete... even if he's representing the phillies on that card.
Post a Comment