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Upon the announcement of 2014 Donruss baseball I was admittedly a bit skeptical. Panini’s reincarnation of Pinnacle was a disaster, so I wasn’t very optimisitc about this latest project. If you’ve read any of my Panini reviews in that past, you may notice I’m not a huge fan of the baseball releases, but Donruss was different. It may be because Donruss just has a special place in my heart, but mostly because Panini created a great, basic release and kept everything simple.
I picked up six hobby packs of Donruss baseball at about $3.99 per pack. A bit steep for this product, but I was willing to overlook it. Each box boasts two autographs and a relic card. It also contained some pretty slick inserts like Elite and Dominator cards that were staples in the original form.
Read more about those inserts here.
Each box also has an oversized Diamond Kings card as a box topper. My LCS had them priced the same as the pack so I had to pass, but because I’m a loyal supporter of the shop ( Comic Relief, San Marcos, Tx) the owner, Diana, gave me the box topper for free. These came out 
really clean. I got Chris Sale from the Chicago White… wait it’s Panini, so the Chicago baseball club.
One of the first things I noticed with this oversized card and the cards that were in the packs, was that the imagery looked great. Similar to Topps’ Gypsy Queen, it looked like Panini used HDR images in this Donruss set. Really crisp photos and most of them actions shots to distract from the fact that there are no logos. Because it’s a Panini product that should be obvious, but with Donruss, it doesn’t stand out that much. Probably the best I’ve seen when it comes to that aspect.
Within the six packs I got two Power Plus inserts: Bryce Harper and Andrew McCutchen. Fun inserts with dual shots of the named player. One Breakout Pitchers insert of Jarrod Parker, two regular-size Diamond Kings; Chase Utley, Yadier Molina; two Hall Worthy inserts ( CC Sabathia, Albert Pujols) reminiscent of the Cooperstown Hall of Fame cards; one Rated Rookie of Kolten Wong and one Elite Dominator of Jered Weaver numbered 414/999.
Definitely a fun break and fun trip down memory lane if you collected the original Donruss cards. WARNING: if you’re a rip and flipper or only collect for money, this product is probably not for you. This is a product for those that enjoy collecting.
Did you rip some 2014 Donruss baseball? Let me know what you think in the comment section below-
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