JUNK WAX ERA: 1988 DONRUSS BASEBALL

The term “Junk Wax” can be a polarizing term among collectors. There is one camp that can be offended by the mere correlation between cards and “junk.” Then there is the camp that embraces it as a term of endearment that represents when cards were cards. Without all the fancy relics, autographs, and parallels. Let me get this out in the open right up front: I love

Junk Wax! I am squarely in the second camp and am not ashamed to admit it. Cards from that forlorn era trigger so many happy memories from when responsibility belonged to my parents and I was just living every day from moment to moment, without a care in the world.

The Junk Wax Era is a somewhat debatable time frame but most collectors consider it the period from 1987-1994. It was during those eight years that card companies exploded with production. Not only were production numbers for flagship sets of Topps, Fleer and Donruss through the roof, the companies would eventually start offshoot brands to compete with new entries into the market like Upper Deck and Score. Topps spawned Stadium Club, Donruss spawned Leaf, and Fleer spawned Ultra. Then came Studio, Finest, SP, Pinnacle . . . you

name it. The era was mostly at its highest impact in the early ‘90s, but mass production can really be traced back to at least 1987. The end of the era is considered 1994 because the players’ strike that August drove a lot of collectors away from the hobby. It would take some time for both the sport and card industry to earn back the fans.

What’s lost among many collectors today (at least the ones that take the “Junk Wax” moniker literally), is that the span of time from 1987-1994 includes some of the most popular baseball players of an entire generation. If you are over the age of 35, you were likely very impressionable when Jose Canseco, Ken Griffey Jr., Kirby Puckett, Cal Ripken Jr., Don Mattingly, Tony Gwynn, Will Clark, Ozzie Smith and so many others were in their absolute prime. Most of those players had Rookie Cards during that era, but if they didn’t, they had “best years of their career” cards at the very least. If you are in the hobby to “collect” some of the greatest players to ever play the game, you will have to make your way through the Junk Wax Era to get some of them. And for that reason, I think the era deserves our attention and a little bit of respect.

One of the first sets that flashes in my mind when I think “Junk Wax Era” is 1988 Donruss. There are certainly more popular sets from the era but that ‘88 Donruss design is one of that almost any collector will recognize in the dime box at a local card show. The design has its detractors, sure, but I personally think the design is more than decent. And it definitely screams 1980s. The border had a somewhat futuristic theme that was fairly common for the time. I think of “Tron,”“Running Man” and Nintendo when I see the border. If a design is supposed to capture the time period of the release, I think ’88 Donruss nailed it.

The set itself was 660 cards with the now famous Donruss inclusion of Diamond Kings. The puzzle for the year was Stan Musial and it took a total of 63 pieces to put it together.

I’ve often wondered if there was some master collector of completed puzzles out there. That would have to be a sweet collection. There are even 26 so-called “short prints,” if that is even possible for a set in 1988, with one of those being the Ron Gant RC, which is one of my favorite cards of my favorite player. But being a short print in 1988 does not really make the cards scarce either. Though, it is interesting that some cards have been identified with smaller print runs than others. All of the SPs can be found in the 600-660 portion of the checklist; 603, 605, 611, 614, 617, 619, 627, 628, 630, 632, 635, 636, 640, and 648-660.

As with most sets from that time period, I can’t nail down any particular print runs but you can bet that it was in the range of a million prints for each card. This is one set that pops up in every box that ever lands on my table from a friend who found cards from their youth. The year was a crucial time, as many kids my age had just joined the hobby and demand was prompting more and more print runs by the card companies. When you combine the tremendous amount of copies that have to be available with the memorable design of ’88 Donruss, you have one of the more recognized sets from the decade, whether you like the set or not. And in the case of ’88 Donruss, being recognizable hasn’t made this set any more desirable over the years. For that reason, you can find full wax boxes for around $8 at local shops and online.