Back Packs: 1996 Donruss Series 1

Holy crap. Has it really been nearly ten days since I've published a blog post? And is it really the All-Star Break already? I guess time got away from me. So far, this month has been busier than usual and the small amount of free time I get to write, I've been kicking around and doing some preliminary work on a writing project for Halloween season. More to come (possibly) on that at a later date.

But that's a few months off yet (just over a month and a half actually), so before we get to that, we must get to this. And what is this? Why it's a pack of 1996 Donruss Series 1. Let's see what was in this pack from 21 years ago. I'll try to make this fast as I don't have a ton of time.

#229 Shawn Green

#233 James Mouton

#131 Mike Mordecai

This design really has its ups and downs. First, I give Donruss credit for flipping the script and trying a whole new borderless design. The info box, for lack of a better term, is a neat idea in concept but I'm not sure it really worked in practice. It's got the product name, team logo, player's uniform number, position written very tiny in the bottom right, team name written vertically along the right side, and team city (or state) along the bottom. At the top right, there's a simple bar matching the team colors with the player's name.

#146 Steve Reed

#156 Mel Rojas

#167 Lenny Dykstra

Mel Rojas and Lenny Dykstra are the highlights of this batch.

#173 Mike Fetters

#186 Shane Andrews

Tim Salmon DK

Hey look! An insert card! I like the gold border of the Diamond Kings but other than that, it's a pretty simplistic card.

#208 Harold Baines

#6 Scott Sanders

#60 Johnny Damon

Is that a Johnny Damon Rated Rookie? Why yes it is. For these cards, the Rated Rookie logo replaces the team logo and uniform number.

#226 Todd Stottlemyre

#91 Nelson Liriano

Next please.

#248 Mickey Morandini

#145 Cal Ripken Jr.

Closing out the pack is long time Phillies second baseman Mickey Morandini and the legendary Cal Ripken Jr. I was pretty happy to get the Ripken from the pack as it made the whole rip worth it.

This wasn't the best pack but I did get a Tim Salmon Diamond King card, a Johnny Damon Rated Rookie, and a Cal Ripken card so that kind of salvages things.