1981 Donruss Conditions

[Hellwig]

Kind of a weird question, more of an observation but aren’t these cards “card stock” always in the worst shape when looking through a mixed box. The only thing that comes close is a stack of Kellogg’s 3Ds that are cracked more than likely.

[ALR-bishop]

Rob-the 81 set is the only Donrus set I have. It has been in sheets in a binder for many years and have not gone through it in a long time. Will have to go see what it looks like these days

[steve B]

By strict standards, the 81D were iffy right out of the pack. Thin, not as consistent on size, often cut a little crooked so the corners stuck out....

[deweyinthehall]

81 Donruss was a mess for all the reasons given - but to their credit they really pulled a great turnaround and their 82 set was better in every regard. Curiously, Fleer went the exact opposite way - good debut, lousy follow-up the next year.

[ALR-bishop]

Looked at my set and see what you guys mean. Had forgotten how many variations I ended up with for that set

[Mike D.]

1981 gets my vote for worst set design of the 80’s, across the board!

The call-out that 1982 was miles better...just a year later...is spot on and a good observation!

[Bigdaddy]

Originally Posted by deweyinthehall

81 Donruss was a mess for all the reasons given - but to their credit they really pulled a great turnaround and their 82 set was better in every regard. Curiously, Fleer went the exact opposite way - good debut, lousy follow-up the next year.

Agree, 100%. It's like the designers/production folks left Fleer in the fall of '81 and all went to Donruss, and vice versa.

I can't think of a single nice thing to say about the 1981 Donruss cards. Even the gum was terrible for sticking to the cards. We would put boxes of wax in the freezer so that the gum would 'pop' off the cards instead of tearing them.

And thanks for the video, that was a trip and not an uncommon experience in the summer of 1981.

[ALR-bishop]

Chuck-- I prefer Tony in a Cardinal's uniform. 😊. Did you ever see the What's My Line show where no one thought he was really a MLB manager ?

[Exhibitman]

I just realized, these cards are 40 years old...sigh.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

I just realized, these cards are 40 years old...sigh.

Yup. I always think about that in the context of cards.

I opened those packs when they came out.

How come I was opening those instead of investing in 1941 Unopened as a 10 year-old.