OSGB 2: Box 7: 2004 Donruss World Series

Hey guys. Sorry this took so long for me to post! This is the second-to-last box in our break. The Fleer Rookies and Greats box is on its way here, but may not get here until Saturday (in which case I’ll have to bust it and recap it that night after work before hopping on the plane the following afternoon). Some of you may remember the one-per-pack Blue inserts I talked about in my original review of this product. While I did not scan them (there are 24 total), here’s a quick listing of those by team:

Blue Jays: 1
Braves: 3
Royals: 1
Marlins: 2
Athletics: 3
Orioles: 1
Angels: 2
Reds: 2
Yankees: 2
Diamondbacks: 3
Mets: 2
Phillies: 1
Tigers: 1

Now for the rest of the goods!

Holofoil 100 Roberto Alomar 020/100 (Diamondbacks – Chris Mays)
Holofoil 25 Mike Lieberthal 17/25 (Phillies – Dan)
Blue Holofoil 100 Darryl Strawberry 091/100 (Mets – Joe M.)

October Legends Cal Ripken, Jr. 180/500 (Orioles – Beardy)
October Heroes Marty Marion 103/500 (Cardinals – Dan)
MVP’s Mike Schmidt 0317/1000 (Phillies – Dan)
Legends of the Fall Reggie Jackson 134/500 (Yankees – Chuck)
Fans of the Game Gene Shalit (Dodgers – Night Owl)

Brad Penny bat 064/100 (Marlins – WickedOrtega)
Brandon Webb NL jersey 035/250 (Diamondbacks – Chris Mays)
Mark Buehrle jersey 39/56 (White Sox – Lonestarr)
Blue Dontrelle Willis jersey 031/103 (Marlins – WickedOrtega)
Playoff Souvenirs Mark Grace ball 015/100 (Diamondbacks – Chris Mays)
Legends of the Fall Reggie Jackson bat 013/100 (Yankees – Chuck)
EDIT: Jason Szuminski autograph (not pictured) 0663/1000 (Padres – oldschoolbreaks)

These boxes normally delivery 5 hits per box. We got a whopping 7! My favorite has to be the Mark Grace card which features a piece of ball used during Game 1 of the 2001 NLDS (Cards/DBacks). It was nice to see the Wicked One get on the board with some Marlins. Hopefully, we’ll see the love spread even more in our final box. Don’t give up guys.

OSGB 2: Box 6: 2004 Donruss Studio

Fans of the Game Steve Schirripa (Yankees – Chuck)
Fans of the Game Bode Miller (Red Sox – Shoebox Legends)
Rally Caps Mike Mussina 481/999 (Yankees – Chuck)
Rally Caps Joe Kennedy698/999 (Rockies – WickedOrtega)
Heritage Stan Musial 125/999 (Cardinals – Dan)
Spirit of the Game Roger Clemens 642/999 (Astros – darkship)

Studio Stars:
Mike Mussina (Yankees – Chuck)
Vladimir Guerrero (Angels – Play at the Plate)
Jim Thome (Phillies – Dan)
Jim Edmonds (Cardinals – Dan)
Ken Griffey, Jr. (Reds – Bud)
Edgar Martinez (Mariners – Bud)

Big League Challenge Rafael Palmeiro 364/999 (He’s not pictured in any uniform so technically, this doesn’t really belong to anyone. I will randomly throw this in someone’s package.)
Studio Proofs Platinum Ryne Sandberg 10/10! (Cubs – Shoebox Legends)

Spirit of the Game Derek Jeter jersey 185/200 (Yankees – Chuck)
Heroes of the Hall Steve Carlton jersey 134/200 (Phillies – Dan)
Private Signings J.D. Durbin autograph 134/250 (Twins – Lonestarr)

The Donruss WS box will be posted later this afternoon. Hopefully, box #8 will get here in a few days…

EDIT: Sorry guys, I will have to wait until tomorrow night to post the results.

2004 Donruss World Series Baseball Review

For my first box break in over 2 months, I decided to go with a box of 2004 Donruss World Series, a product that delivers a multitude of hits in each box and pays tribute to Fall Classics of the past in each pack!

Box Details: 24 packs per box, 6 cards per pack, $99
From: Dave and Adam’s Card World

Base set: The base set is comprised of 175 cards and contrary to what the name might say, features players from all 30 Major League teams. The front of each card bears the logo used for the 2004 World Series and lists the name of the player’s league. The back of each card lists the player’s 2003 stats and includes a small blurb about their career. These cards are followed by 25 signed rookies, numbered to 1000 or less. I pulled 110 of 175 base cards (63%) without any duplicates.

Blue (100 cards, 1: pack): Inserted at a rate of 1 per pack, the World Series Blue set is filled with players who have contributed to a World Series-winning team. The blurb on the back describes each player’s postseason heroics and is accompanied by their stat line for the given Series. A handful of players (Canseco, O’Neill, Morris, R. Jackson) appear in the set twice. I pulled 24 different Blue cards in this box (again, no dupes!). My pulls included Mike Schmidt, George Brett, Steve Carlton, Cal Ripken, and Willie Stargell.

Holofoil Parallels (varied numbering): All 175 base and 100 Blue cards are mirrored by 4 different specially colored (purple, silver, gold) holofoil parallels. These parallels have print runs of 100, 50, 25, and 10. I pulled an Eric Chavez (009/100), a Blue Tim Salmon (12/50), and a Barry Zito (10/10), that I honestly didn’t even know I had until I thoroughly went through the base cards.

The inserts’ names speak for themselves so I’ll just list them.

Face Off (20 cards, numbered to 500): Ivan Rodriguez/Mike Mussina (111/500)

Fans of the Game (5 cards, 1: 21 packs): Apolo Anton Ohno

October Legends (20 cards, numbered to 500): Frank Robinson (315/500)

Playoff All-Stars (20 cards, numbered to 500): Edgar Martinez (269/500)

World Series MVP’s (15 cards, numbered to 1000): Mike Schmidt (355/1000)

As far as “hits” go, there are autographed and/or game-used variations of all 175 base cards, as well as the 100 Blue cards.

Regular Game-Used Variations:
Bats (numbered to 100)
AL/NL (numbered to 250)
Jersey Number (numbered to player’s jersey number)
Autograph print runs range between 5-25

Blue Game-Used Variations:
Bats (numbered to 50)
AL/NL (numbered to 100)
World Series (print runs range between 55-103 based on year of World Series listed on card)
Autograph print runs range between 5 and 50

If that weren’t enough, each of the inserts I posted above (except Fans of the Game) has a game-used variation numbered to 100 or less and an autographed version (except Face Off) as well. Anyway, here were my “hits.”

AL/NL Jersey: Darin Erstad (204/250), Ryan Klesko (198/250)
Bat: Omar Vizquel (097/100)
Autographed Rookie: Ivan Ochoa (016/487)
Base Autograph: George Foster (23/25)

Final Thoughts/Grades:

Collation: A+

The box states that inserts fall in every other pack on average. I pulled 13 altogether AND I had no duplicates. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Condition: B

Overall, the cards came out very clean with the exception of some noticeable scratches/dings on a couple of base cards (I even mentioned an example of this in the video).

Pulls: C

Let’s face it. There was nothing too exciting about this box. The George Foster pull was nice, but a different color ink would’ve made the card a little nicer (as would the lack of a sticker, but this is Donruss after all). Ochoa has only 1 big league season under his belt, 2005, when he hit .200 for the Giants. Everything will be available for trade.

Value: B

The price on these boxes has finally come down to the $100 level, a good $30-40 lower than their original cost. You can certainly do a lot worse than a dozen inserts, five of which are hits, for $100. However, it is important to remember that a product offering so many relics will contain lots of filler, as was the case with this box. Still, with an autogamer checklist as impressive as this product has, it’s probably worth a one-time shot.

Final Grade: B