Tuesday, January 25, 2011

From the Dollar Box - Unknown Mattingly

Here's a random card I scrounged out of the dollar box at the local hobby shop a couple of months back:

No, I did not get a 1984 Donruss Mattingly rookie for a buck. This is a 1993 Donruss "Special Commemorative Anniversary Edition" insert card. You can tell because the Yankees "swoosh" on the front of the card is done in silver foil, as opposed to yellow ink on the original card. The back of the card is also slightly different than the original:

The copyright date at top right displays 1993 and there is also a bar across the bottom letting you know that this is a special commemorative anniversary edition card.

Can anyone shed some light on this 10 card insert set? Were these randomly inserted into packs of Donruss' flagship set in 1993? If so, anyone know the odds? I found an eBay auction for card #7 from the set, Wade Boggs, also paying homage to his 1984 card. Were all 10 cards based on the 1984 design or were other years involved? What anniversary would Donruss have been celebrating in 1993 anyway, the 10th anniversary of the 1984 set?

So many questions. One day I would like to obtain the real deal, but until then I'm happy with this insert for a dollar!

5 comments:

thosebackpages said...

i will have to check when i get a chance in the "Big Book" SCD Bible,
but i do think they were some sort of tribute to the amazing 1984 Set

shoeboxlegends said...

Thanks for the comment! One of these days I have to pick myself up one of those Standard Catalogs...

dayf said...

These were actually in packs of 1994 Donruss as a 10th anniversary tribute. The 1993 copyright is due to series 1 being released in late 1993. I know they were in series 1 packs, I'm not sure about series 2. They weren't particularly easy to get either, I only pulled a couple out of packs. The checklist:

1 Joe Carter
2 Robin Yount
3 George Brett
4 Rickey Henderson
5 Nolan Ryan
6 Cal Ripken Jr
7 Wade Boggs
8 Mattingly
9 Ryne Sandberg
10 Tony Gwynn

Mark Aubrey said...

dayf's got it. Series 1 only, though. Available in hobby packs.

shoeboxlegends said...

Thanks dayf, you're the man!

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