This year’s set boasts a 400-card checklist, coupled with 20 insert sets, and a slew of parallels with some serial-numbered to just 1 copy per card. This is the stuff that legends are made of.
Also back for an umpteenth encore is the ever-popular “Rated Rookie” subset. Some of the notables that have made their maiden appearance on cardboard emblazoned with the “Rated Rookie” notation are Joe Carter, Jose Canseco, Fred McGriff, Ken Griffey Jr. and Gary Sheffield, just to name a few. Those are some heavy-hitters, my friends.
In addition, Donruss continues the legacy that is “Elite.” Ever since this sets random insertion in the 1992 Donruss release, the hobby has gone bonkers over trying to acquire each and every one. Back in 1992, the sets were “limited” to 10,000 cards. Nowadays, these gems are limited to just 1,500, with 2 additional parallels limited to 150 and 25 respectively. To top it off, Elite is a great looking piece of cardboard!
Donruss has also added somewhat of a twist to this year’s product by randomly inserting “hot packs” into hobby boxes. These hot packs may include additional parallels and inserts bunched into one single pack. While I was not fortunate enough to pull one of these, I am sure that they are loaded.
Packs of 2004 Donruss retail for $1.99 per pack and about $48 per box. Be sure to pick a box or two up at your local hobby shop.
Here is a quick peek at the notables we pulled in a random hobby box:
1 Timber & Threads – Alex Rodriguez
1 Autograph Base Card – Terrence Long
1 Elite Series – Barry Zito
1 Press Proof – Matt Kata
3 Career Stat Lines – Carlos Delgado, Roger Clemens, Mark Mulder
Inserts
25 Gold Insert Diamond Kings (#'d to 2500)
25 Black Diamond Kings (#'d to 100)
25 Studio Series Diamond Kings (#'d to 250)
15 Elite Series (#'d to 1,500)
15 Elite Series Black (#'d to 150)
15 Elite Dominators (#'d to 25)
20 Power Alley (11 tiers)
- Red (#'d to 2,500)
- Red Die-cut (#'d to 250)
- Blue (#’d to 1,000)
- Blue Die-cut (#'d to 100)
- Purple (#'d to 250)
- Purple Die-cut (#'d to 25)
- Yellow (#'d to 100)
- Yellow Die-cut (#'d to 10)
- Green (#'d to 25)
- Green Die-cut (#'d to 5)
- Black Die-cut (#'d to 1)
10 Production Line(12 tiers)
- OPS (#'d to 2003 OPS Total)
- Black (#'d to 125)
- Die-cut OPS (#'d to 100)
- Slugging (#'d to 2003 slugging total)
- Black Slugging (#'d to 75)
- Die-cut Slugging (#'d to 100)
- OBP (#'d to 2003 OBP total)
- Die-cut OBP (#'d to 100)
- Black OBP (#'d to 40)
- Batting Average (#'d to 2003 BA)
- Batting Average Black (#'d to 35)
- Batting Average Die-cut (#'d to 100)
20 All-Stars (#'d to 1000)
20 All-Stars Black (#'d to 250)
10 Long ball Leaders (#'d to 1500)
10 Long ball Leaders Black (#'d to 250)
10 Long ball Leaders Die-cut (#'d to 50)
15 Craftsmen (#'d to 2,000)
15 Craftsmen Black (#'d to 275)
15 Master Craftsmen (#'d to 150)
15 Mound Marvels (#'d to 750)
15 Mound Marvels Black (#'d to 175)
25 Inside View (#'d to 1,250)
12 Jersey Kings (#'d to 100 or 250)
12 Jersey Kings Studio Series (#'d to 25 or 50)
8 Bat Kings (#'d to 100 or 250)
8 Bat Kings Studio Series (#'d to 25 or 50)
40 Timber & Threads (1:38)
40 Timber & Threads Studio Series (#'d to 50)
Recollection Collection (autographed, #'d to various quantities)
