Donruss Diamond Kings

While Donruss hardly invented the concept of illustrated cards, the works of Dick Perez were my first introduction to the concept. Although the player selection for Diamond Kings was definitely odd at times [see: Kurt Stillwell being included following a .249/.304/.352 line in 1990], I liked the way that the art style changed each year, although it was a lot more fun before the cards were inserts rather than a subset.

I am aiming to collect the full run of Diamond Kings up through 1993 and have a decent amount for many of the years. Although the Diamond Kings set from 200 is very nice, it is a bit too much of an undertaking. Diamond Kings inserts from 1994 onward, Gallery of Stars, and DK equivalents from other sports are cool, too, providing that they include illustrations (many of Panini/Donruss' rebooted versions do not).

Here is the list of each DK subset/insert series, with cards that I currently have in bold:

1982 Donruss Diamond Kings (Have: 2/26)

01. Pete Rose
02. Gary Carter
03. Steve Garvey
04. Vida Blue
05. Alan Trammell
06. Len Barker
07. Dwight Evans
08. Rod Carew
09. George Hendrick
10. Phil Niekro
11. Richie Zisk
12. Dave Parker
13. Nolan Ryan
14. Iván DeJesús
15. George Brett
16. Tom Seaver
17. Dave Kingman
18. Dave Winfield
19. Mike Norris
20. Carlton Fisk
21. Ozzie Smith
22. Roy Smalley
23. Buddy Bell
24. Ken Singleton
25. John Mayberry
26. Gorman Thomas

1983 Donruss Diamond Kings (Have: 5/27)

01. Fernando Valenzuela
02. Rollie Fingers
03. Reggie Jackson
04. Jim Palmer
05. Jack Morris
06. George Foster
07. Jim Sundberg
08. Willie Stargell
09. Dave Stieb
10. Joe Niekro (upgrade welcomed)
11. Rickey Henderson
12. Dale Murphy
13. Toby Harrah
14. Bill Buckner
15. Willie Wilson
16. Steve Carlton
17. Ron Guidry
18. Steve Rogers
19. Kent Hrbek
20. Keith Hernandez
21. Floyd Bannister
22. Johnny Bench
23. Britt Burns
24. Joe Morgan
25. Carl Yastrzemski
26. Terry Kennedy
653. Ty Cobb

1984 Donruss Diamond Kings (Have: 0/27 for some reason)

01. Robin Yount
02. Dave Concepción
03. Dwayne Murphy
04. John Castino
05. Leon Durham
06. Rusty Staub
07. Jack Clark
08. Dave Dravecky
09. Al Oliver
10. Dave Righetti
11. Hal McRae
12. Ray Knight
13. Bruce Sutter
14. Bob Horner
15. Lance Parrish
16. Matt Young
17. Fred Lynn
18. Ron Kittle
19. Jim Clancy
20. Bill Madlock
21. Larry Parrish
22. Eddie Murray
23. Mike Schmidt
24. Pedro Guerrero
25. Andre Thornton
26. Wade Boggs
648. Duke Snider

1985 Donruss Diamond Kings (Have: 6/27)

01. Ryne Sandberg
02. Doug DeCinces
03. Richard Dotson
04. Bert Blyleven
05. Lou Whitaker
06. Dan Quisenberry
07. Don Mattingly
08. Carney Lansford
09. Frank Tanana
10. Willie Upshaw
11. Claudell Washington
12. Mike Marshall
13. Joaquín Andújar
14. Cal Ripken, Jr.
15. Jim Rice
16. Don Sutton
17. Frank Viola
18. Alvin Davis
19. Mario Soto
20. José Cruz, Sr.
21. Charlie Lea
22. Jesse Orosco
23. Juan Samuel
24. Tony Peña, Sr.
25. Tony Gwynn
26. Bob Brenly
635. Lou Gehrig

1986 Donruss Diamond Kings (Have: 10/28)

01. Kirk Gibson
02. Rich Gossage
03. Willie McGee
04. George Bell
05. Tony Armas, Sr.
06. Chili Davis
07. Cecil Cooper
08. Mike Boddicker
09. Davey Lopes
10. Bill Doran
11. Bret Saberhagen
12. Brett Butler
13. Harold Baines
14. Mike Davis (upgrade welcomed)
15. Tony Pérez
16. Willie Randolph
17. Bob Boone
18. Orel Hershiser
19. Johnny Ray (upgrade welcomed)
20. Gary Ward
21. Rick Mahler
22. Phil Bradley
23. Jerry Koosman
24. Tom Brunansky
25. Andre Dawson
26. Dwight Gooden
602. Hank Aaron
653. Pete Rose

1987 Donruss Diamond Kings (Have: 12/27)

01. Wally Joyner (Leaf; upgrade welcomed)
02. Roger Clemens
03. Dale Murphy (upgrade welcomed)
04. Darryl Strawberry (Leaf)
05. Ozzie Smith
06. José Canseco
07. Charlie Hough (Leaf)
08. Brook Jacoby
09. Fred Lynn
10. Rick Rhoden
11. Chris Brown
12. Von Hayes
13. Jack Morris
14. Kevin McReynolds
15. George Grett
16. Teddy Higuera
17. Hubie Brooks
18. Mike Scott
19. Kirby Puckett
20. Dave Winfield
21. Lloyd Moseby
22. Eric Davis
23. Jim Presley
24. Keith Moreland
25. Greg Walker
26. Steve Sax
612. Roberto Clemente

1988 Donruss Diamond Kings (Have: 20/27)

01. Mark McGwire
02. Tim Raines
03. Benito Santiago
04. Alan Trammell
05. Danny Tartabull
06. Ron Darling - Thanks, Chris!
07. Paul Molitor
08. Devon White
09. Andre Dawson
10. Julio Franco
11. Scott Fletcher
12. Tony Fernández - Thanks, Chris!
13. Scott Rawley
14. Kal Daniels
15. Jack Clark
16. Dwight Evans
17. Tommy John
18. Andy Van Slyke
19. Gary Gaetti
20. Mark Langston
21. Will Clark - Thanks, Chris!
22. Glenn Hubbard
23. Billy Hatcher
24. Bob Welch
25. Iván Calderón (upgrade needed)
26. Cal Ripken, Jr.
641. Stan Musial

1989 Donruss Diamond Kings (Have: 15/27)

01. Mike Greenwell
02. Bobby Bonilla
03. Pete Incaviglia - Thanks, Chris!
04. Chris Sabo
05. Robin Yount
06. Tony Gwynn
07. Carlton Fisk
08. Cory Snyder
09. David Cone
10. Kevin Seitzer
11. Rick Reuschel
12. Johnny Ray
13. Dave Schmidt
14. Andrés Galarraga
15. Kirk Gibson
16. Fred McGriff
17. Mark Grace
18. Jeff Robinson
19. Vince Coleman
20. Dave Henderson
21. Harold Reynolds
22. Gerald Perry
23. Frank Viola
24. Steve Bedrosian
25. Glenn Davis
26. Don Mattingly
588. Warren Spahn

1990 Donruss Diamond Kings (Have: 12/27)

01. Bo Jackson
02. Steve Sax
03. Rubén Sierra
04. Ken Griffey, Jr.
05. Mickey Tettleton
06. Dave Stewart
07. Jim Deshaies
08. John Smoltz
09. Mike Bielecki
10. Brian Downing
11. Kevin Mitchell
12. Kelly Gruber
13. Joe Magrane
14. John Franco
15. Ozzie Guillén
16. Lou Whitaker
17. John Smiley
18. Howard Johnson
19. Willie Randolph
20. Chris Bosio
21. Tommy Herr
22. Danny Gladden
23. Ellis Burks
24. Pete O'Brien
25. Bryn Smith
26. Ed Whitson
588. Carl Yastrzemski

1990 Donruss Learning Series DK (Have: 0/2)

01. George Brett
11. Ryne Sandberg

1991 Donruss Diamond Kings (Have: 25/27)

01. Dave Stieb
02. Craig Biggio
03. Cecil Fielder
04. Barry Bonds
05. Barry Larkin
06. Dave Parker
07. Lenny Dykstra
08. Bobby Thigpen
09. Roger Clemens
10. Ron Gant
11. Delino DeShields
12. Roberto Alomar
13. Sandy Alomar, Jr.
14. Ryne Sandberg
15. Ramón Martínez
16. Edgar Martínez
17. Dave Magadan
18. Matt Williams
19. Rafael Palmeiro
20. Bob Welch
21. Dave Righetti
22. Brian Harper
23. Gregg Olson
24. Kurt Stillwell
25. Pedro Guerrero
26. Chuck Finley
702. Willie Stargell

1992 Donruss Diamond Kings (Have: 21/26)

01. Paul Molitor
02. Will Clark
03. Joe Carter
04. Julio Franco
05. Cal Ripken, Jr.
06. David Justice
07. George Bell
08. Frank Thomas
09. Wade Boggs
10. Scott Sanderson
11. Jeff Bagwell
12. John Kruk
13. Félix José
14. Harold Baines
15. Dwight Gooden
16. Brian McRae
17. Jay Bell
18. Brett Butler
19. Hal Morris
20. Mark Langston
21. Scott Erickson
22. Randy Johnson
23. Greg Swindell
24. Dennis Martínez
25. Tony Phillips
26. Fred McGriff

1992 Donruss Triple Play Gallery of Stars (Have: 1/12)

01. Bobby Bonilla
02. Wally Joyner
03. Jack Morris
04. Steve Sax
05. Danny Tartabull
06. Frank Viola
07. Jeff Bagwell
08. Ken Griffey, Jr.
09. David Justice
10. Ryan Klesko
11. Cal Ripken, Jr.
12. Frank Thomas

1993 Donruss Diamond Kings (Have: 6/30)

01. Ken Griffey, Jr.
02. Ryne Sandberg
03. Roger Clemens
04. Kirby Puckett
05. Bill Swift
06. Larry Walker
07. Juan González
08. Wally Joyner
09. Andy Van Slyke
10. Robin Ventura
11. Bip Roberts
12. Roberto Kelly
13. Carlos Baerga
14. Orel Hershiser
15. Cecil Fielder
16. Robin Yount
17. Darren Daulton
18. Mark McGwire
19. Tom Glavine
20. Roberto Alomar
21. Gary Sheffield
22. Bob Tewksbury
23. Brady Anderson
24. Craig Biggio
25. Eddie Murray
26. Luis Polonia
27. Nigel Wilson
28. David Nied
29. Pat Listach
30. Eric Karros

1993 Triple Play Gallery of Stars (Have: 1/10)

01. Barry Bonds
02. Andre Dawson
03. Wade Boggs
04. Greg Maddux
05. Dave Winfield
06. Paul Molitor
07. Jim Abbott
08. J.T. Snow
09. Benito Santiago
10. David Nied


Assorted other haves

- 1994 Donruss (Diamond Kings) - #5 Rick Wilkins
- 1994 Donruss (Diamond Kings) - #12 Brian McRae
- 1995 Donruss (Diamond Kings) #25 David Cone
- 1998 Donruss (Diamond Kings) #9 Randy Johnson (/9500)
- 1999 Donruss Football (Rookie Gridiron Kings) #8 Cade McNown (/5000)
- 2003 Donruss (Diamond Kings) #11 Nomar Garciaparra (/2500)
- 2004 Donruss #22 Mark Prior
- 2014 Panini Donruss #216 Koji Uehara
- 2016 Panini Donruss #14 Zack Greinke
- 2016 Panini Donruss #18 Jacob deGrom
- 2016 Panini Donruss Optic #18 Jacob deGrom
- 2018 Panini Donruss Optic #10 Bryce Harper (Bronze) - Thanks, Kerry!
- 2019 Panini Donruss #19 Jacob deGrom

- 2005 Donruss Diamond Kings (Gallery of Stars) #GS2 Bob Feller
- 2019 Panini Diamond Kings (Masters of the Game) #MG15 Jacob deGrom