The 1987 Donruss baseball card set was the fifth edition of Donruss’ popular baseball card line. It marked several notable firsts and featured some of the biggest names in the game at the time. The set consisted of 792 total cards and was released during the peak popularity of the modern baseball card collecting era in the late 1980s.
Donruss had made a name for itself since starting its baseball card line in 1981 by featuring innovative photography and designs that stood out compared to competitors like Topps. The 1987 set took things to another level with its use of action shots, creative card layouts, and memorable rookie cards of future Hall of Famers. It also introduced Donruss’ first traded set, parallel inserts, and oddball promotional cards.
Some key things to know about the 1987 Donruss baseball card set:
Roster: The set included all 26 MLB teams from 1986 and featured over 700 total players. Notable rookie cards included Mark McGwire, Barry Larkin, and Tom Glavine.
Photography: Donruss was known for dynamic action photography that put the players in the middle of the action. The ’87 set took this to another level with some incredible shots of players swinging, fielding, and more.
Design: Cards had a mostly white border with team logo at top and player stats/info at bottom. But layouts varied greatly with some incorporating the action photos in unique ways.
Parallels: For the first time, Donruss included parallel “Traded” cards with the same photo but different border color to denote players who were traded. This was the start of parallel and insert sets becoming more popular.
Promos: Several unique promotional cards were inserted at low random rates, such as a “Win $1,000,000” card and cards featuring Donruss employees or mascots holding baseballs.
Rookies: Future Hall of Famers like McGwire, Larkin, and Glavine had iconic rookie cards, as did other young stars like Will Clark and Wally Joyner. McGwire’s card in particular skyrocketed in value.
Short Prints: At a ratio of 1:24 packs, “short print” parallel cards had black borders instead of white. These became highly sought after by collectors.
Checklists: Included an 8-card team checklist subset and a 36-card “Stars of the Game” checklist highlighting the biggest names.
Traded Set: For the first time, Donruss released a smaller 100-card “Traded” set with the same parallels as the base set focusing on players who switched teams.
In terms of production, the 1987 Donruss set had a print run estimated between 80-100 million total cards. This massive size made individual base cards readily available but served to increase interest in the short prints, parallels, and star rookies over time. Prices for the most coveted cards from the set have increased steadily.
For collectors at the time, the ’87 Donruss cards were a thrill due to the exciting photography, innovative parallels, and star rookies that made for an exciting rookie class. The inclusion of the first Traded set and oddball promos showed Donruss’ willingness to take risks and try new ideas before competitors. This helped cement Donruss as one of the leading baseball card manufacturers of the late 1980s boom.
Three decades later, the 1987 Donruss set remains a highly regarded classic of the golden era of card collecting. While common base cards can still be obtained inexpensively, the top rookies, stars, and especially the short prints have grown substantially in secondary market price tags. For historians of the hobby, it’s seen as an important year that set a new standard and introduced concepts still used in modern sets today. The iconic cards from this release continue to be prized possessions for many collectors.
The 1987 Donruss baseball card set was truly innovative and historic for the hobby. Between the memorable rookie cards, incredible photography, creative parallels and inserts, it showed that Donruss was willing to take risks and try new ideas before the competition. The massive popularity of the era also ensured this set would be a benchmark release that collectors still admire and seek out pieces from over 30 years later. It’s easy to see why it remains one of the most fondly remembered Donruss sets from the 1980s boom.
