Donruss baseball cards are among the most popular and widely collected modern baseball card issues. The 2021 Donruss baseball card set saw another year of strong sales and interest from collectors. Let’s take a deeper look at the 2021 Donruss cards, their design, parallels, short prints, and value for some of the top rookie cards and stars in the set.
The 2021 Donruss baseball card base set contains 330 cards, with each team receiving between 15-21 cards to represent their roster. The design is similar to recent years with a clean white border surrounding each photo. What makes Donruss cards stand out is their use of action shots rather than traditional posed photography. This gives collectors memorable snapshots of players in the midst of an at-bat, pitch, or defensive play.
While the base cards can be acquired for under $1 each, there are several parallels and short prints that add to the excitement of collecting Donruss. The most common parallels are the Silver Pack parallels, which are numbered to /199. These shinier versions of the base cards typically sell in the $3-5 range. Next up are the Green Foil parallels, limited to /99 copies. These attract $5-10 each depending on the player.
An elite parallel is the Gold Foil, which is extremely short printed to only /50 copies. Examples of star rookies and veterans in the Gold parallel regularly fetch $20-50 due to their rarity. At the high-end are the Platinum parallel cards, limited to an ultra-short print run of just /10 copies. Examples have sold for over $100 due to being true 1-of-10 versions of certain players.
Another way Donruss increases interest is through “hit” short prints that are inserted much less frequently than the base cards. The biggest chase is finding an autographed card, which have a print run of /99 or less. Examples of star rookie autographs like Wander Franco or Vladimir Guerrero Jr. routinely sell for $100-300. Next down are the Diamond parallels, which are short printed to /75 copies. These semi-hits add value and excitement when pulled.
Now let’s examine some key 2021 Donruss rookies and veterans along with their current average eBay values:
Wander Franco Base: $15-20
Wander Franco Silver: $25-30
Wander Franco Gold: $50-75
Wander Franco Autograph: $150-250
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Base: $8-12
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Silver: $12-15
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Gold: $30-40
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Autograph: $100-150
Julio Rodriguez Base: $10-15
Julio Rodriguez Silver: $15-20
Julio Rodriguez Gold: $30-50
Shane Bieber Base: $5-8
Shane Bieber Silver: $8-12
Shane Bieber Gold: $20-30
Fernando Tatis Jr. Base: $5-8
Fernando Tatis Jr. Silver: $8-12
Fernando Tatis Jr. Gold: $15-25
As you can see, the top rookies from 2021 like Wander Franco and Julio Rodriguez command the highest prices. Even stars like Tatis Jr. and veterans like Shane Bieber retain value in the set due to the popularity of the brand. The 2021 Donruss baseball cards proved to be another successful and collectible issue from the long-running brand. With its classic design and several exciting chase cards, the set remains one of the best modern issues to collect.
