2004 Donruss Classics - Legendary Jackets

Year: 2004 

Card Manufacturer: Donruss

Set: Classics

Card Number: LJK-39

Card Type: Insert

Insert Set: Legendary Jackets

Card Attributes: Serial Numbered

Serial Number: 45/50

Continuing my posts about my recent COMC delivery, let's go back a few year's to the age of insane set parallels.  While 2005 might be the peak of crazy, parallel heavy sets, 2004 gives it a good run.  And the 2004 Classics set is a great example.  It's also a great set if you collect HOF players as they are crammed into this set and Robin is no exception.  Just looking at the checklist for this set, Robin and Paul Molitor are all over this set, various insert sets and parallels.

One of the odder and rarer of the inserts is this Legendary Jackets insert.  All the Legendary inserts look similar with this basic design.  The Legendary Jackets set has a base run of only 50 cards and features 60 HOFers.  There is a relic version of this card, but that set only features 6 players out of the base set and Robin isn't one of them.  Overall this insert and it's cousins look like a lot of inserts there were designed to also be used in the relic, autograph, and auto relic parallels.  And too be honest the insert feels clunky and pointless.  The blurb on the back doesn't help define what Donruss was trying to do with this set, but the overall goal I think was to be able to put out different kinds of relics, this one featuring bits of player worn jackets, but with a relic run only covering 10% of the base checklist it seems almost pointless.  But that seems to sum up a lot of the inserts from this time frame.

 

2004 Donruss Classics Legendary Jerseys (Non-relic) Insert

Year: 2004

Manufacture: Donruss

Set: Classics

Card Number: LJ-39

Card Type: Insert

Insert Set: Legendary Jerseys

Card Attributes: Serial Numbered

Serial Number: 221/500

COMC Black Friday Haul #49

Another Donruss set with a lot of inserts and insert parallels.  In the Donruss Classics product was the Legendary inserts.  These inserts were called things like Legendary Jackets, Legendary Jerseys, Legendary Leather...you get the picture.  Every set had a non-relic base cards.  That had a low serial numbered print run and then at least one relic parallel, sometime many, many more.  I've had a few of these for a while, but being low numbered they don't pop up that often and a lot of times people want way more than I'm willing to pay for them.  But then sometimes you get lucky.  As a matter of fact sometime really lucky as I picked this card up for just over a dollar, it's another one of those cards I didn't get during the Black Friday sales event, but rather a random pick up mid-year.  While I love the two big events the COMC has, the Spring Cleaning sale and Black Friday, I'm always on the hunt on the website.  

2004 Donruss Leather and Lumber Gold Black and White parallel

Year: 2004

Manufacturer: Donruss

Set: Leather and Lumber

Card Number: 78

Card Type: Parallel

Parallel Set: Black and White

Card Attributes: Serial Numbered

Serial Number: 0428/1000

In the mid 2000's companies were competing to see who could come up with the craziest set.  While I wouldn't call the Leather and Lumber a crazy set, as a matter of fact it's pretty straight forward, it does keep with the formula of the time.  Tons of parallels, base parallels, relic parallels, relic auto parallels you get the idea.  The black and white parallel, in which the feature player photo is in black and white, not the card, isn't a true set parallel as only 25 lucky subjects from the base set are featured.  Of course while the base set comes with all sorts of base, relic, and auto parallels so does the smaller black and white parallel.  And like most base cards from sets like this from that era the base cards are designed more for the parallels, hence why Robin is placed on the left side of the card.

2004 Donruss Studio Heroes of the Hall Die-Cut

Year: 2004

Manufacturer: Donruss

Set: Studio

Card Number: HH-10

Card Type: Insert parallel

Insert Set: Heroes of the Hall

Parallel: Die-cut

Card Attributes: Serial numbered

Serial number: 107/300

Still working through my Black Friday pick-ups.  Next up is the oldest card I picked up from this year's delivery.  I had to double check my master collection list when this card popped up on COMC.  The 2004 Studio set is full of great inserts and all those inserts have a ton of parallels and variations.  The Heroes of the Hall set is no different and after a quick double check to make sure I didn't already have this die-cut parallel I snagged it.  My apologies I cropped the photos a little too close up you can still the rounded edges.  That's the whole difference between this card and the base card and that it's numbered to only 300.  Like most inserts from the mid 2000's this card was designed for the relic and autograph parallels in mind.  

2004 Donruss Diamond Kings Heritage Collection

Year: 2004

Manufacturer: Donruss

Card Set: Diamond Kings

Card Type: Insert

Insert Set: Heritage Collection

Card Number: HC-16

Donruss' 2004 Diamond Kings sets is one of those behemoth sets put out in the early 2000's that has just so many inserts and variations it'll will make your head spin and keeping track of it all can be a challenge.

Robin features very prominently in the set having tons of cards to chase including this insert set.  Like most of these types of insert it was designed with the relic and autograph variations in mind.  Robin has relic and an autograph variation in this set.  Although I've never seen one of his autographed cards from the set, there are only 5, I have seen some examples of the set and the auto sticker does tend to cover part of the player.  

It's still a great looking card and a card that would look great hard signed if you got the chance.

2004 Donruss Leather and Lumber Hall of Fame insert

Card Manufacturer: Donruss

Card Set: Leather and Lumber

Year: 2004

Card Number: HF-8

Card Type: Insert

Insert Set: Hall of Fame

Card Attributes: Serial Numbered

Serial Number: 1211/1999

Like most inserts from Donurss in the mid-2000's the base card was designed with the relic and auto versions in mind.  The Hall of Fame insert has just 9 cards in the set and does has a silver parallel and a relic parallel, no auto version though.

Not an unappealing design, but pretty basic with a small player image and a small write up on the back.  The card is also numbered to Robin's induction year.

The silver parallel I believe is numbered only to 100 and the relic parallel has 250 copies.

2004 Donruss Classic Membership

Card Manufacturer: Donruss

Card Set: Donruss Classics

Year: 2004

Card Number: M-17

Card Type: Insert

Insert Set: Membership

Card Attributes: Serial numbered

Serial number: 1818/2499

Just like American Express says, "Membership has it's privileges."

Of course one might wonder what membership we're talking about here.  Membership into the Hall of Fame? Membership at Costco?  No this card commemorates  Robin joining  the exclusive 3000 hits club.  There are a few milestones in a baseball players career that look really good on the HOF resume and getting into the 3000 hits club is one of them.  Robin ended up with over 3100 when it was all said and done.

Another great insert from 2004 Donruss Classics. Of course the base insert here is a little underwhelming, but there are relic, auto  and relic-auto versions of this insert.  The base insert is still limited to 2499. Or course that's nothing nowadays, but back in 2004 that was still pretty rare.  Not that I would want this card less limited than it is, but it would have been a nice touch if it had been serial numbered to 3,142.

2004 Upper Deck Sweet Spot Classic

Card Manufacturer: Upper Deck

Card Set: Sweet Spot Classic

Card Number: 70

Card Type: Base

I really miss the Upper Deck Sweet Spot brand.  I never opened any, but I love the cards and the fact that years later I can pick up great base cards like this for next to nothing.  The design has a very Art Deco feel, especially when they use a sepia filtered photo.

Robin has lots of great stats and fact that go along with this 20 year career, but after a while you start to notice that some of the big ones get used over and over again. I suppose it's inevitable since Robin's not making anymore of them.  Maybe after I retire I'll sort through all my cards and make a list of how many times a certain factoid was used for back filler.

Still a great card. Maybe a little much with all the gold foil, but hey it's Sweet Spot.

2004 Donruss Studio Heroes of the Hall insert

Card Manufacturer: Donruss

Card Set: Donruss Studio

Year: 2004

Card Number: HH-10

Card Type: Insert

Insert Set: Heroes of the Hall

Card Attributes: Serial Numbered

Serial Number: 949/999

Another insert from the mid-2000's.  Again these inserts were designed for the relic and auto versions. That's way the photo is so small there there seems to be so much wasted space on the card.  There are also a couple parallels to the base card besides the relics and auto versions of this card.  All the cards are serial numbered, with this base card being the highest at 999.

In the relic cards the relic piece goes where the H is and the sticker autos were placed mid card, over the team logo and into the player picture.

2004 Donruss Team Heroes

Card Manufacturer: Donruss

Card Set: Team Heroes

Year: 2004

Card Number: 232

Card Type: Base

Donruss would put out this brand for three years starting in 2003 and Robin has a card in all three sets.  Here we have Robin's base card from the 2004 set.  There are also 3 parallel cards for this set, Gold, Silver, and Bronze and Robin also has an autograph card.

The overall design seems kind of clunky and blocky for me. They use the Brewers' new logo and team colors  for the card and the info is sparse on Yount facts with more of an emphasis on team info.

At least we get an image that hasn't been recycled a thousand times.

2004 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Draft Class

Card Manufacturer; Donruss

Card Set: Elite Extra Edition

Year: 2004

Card Number: DC-5

Card Type: Insert

Insert Set: Draft Class

Card Attributes: Serial Numbered

Serial Number: 218/500

A cool, shiny insert from the 2004 Donruss Elite Extra Edition set.  Robin shares his draft class and this card with Fred Lynn.  Both players also made their big league debuts in 1974.  

The card itself isn't anything that special and even though all the cards in this set are numbered to 500 it was designed for it's autographed version.  Robin and Fred's autographed version is numbered to only 10 and I can say that I've ever actually seen one.

  Other notable Brewers in the set include Paul Molitor and Gary Sheffield.

2004 Donruss Diamond Kings Legends Bronze Framed Dual Relic card

Card Manufacturer: Donruss

Card Set: Diamond Kings

Year: 2004

Card Number: 164

Card Type: Insert relic

Insert Set: Bronze Framed Dual Relic

Card Attributes: Relics, Serial Numbered

Relic Types: Jersey, Bat

Serial Numbered: 030/100

Here is a set that's going to be featured over and over again here on the blog. That'll happen when you have a gazzlion parallels and variations in your set. It really is an incredible feat if you can keep track of them all. I can't and  I rely on keeping good notes on what I have so when I come across these cards I can figure out which ones I need.

This card comes in a whole rainbow of flavors. I'll hazard a guess without actually looking it up, but there are probably over 30 to 40 different versions of Robin's #164 card if you count all the color variations, relic and auto versions, and framed parallels. It's almost mind numbing.

But here we have a really nice dual relic.  And I really like the dual relics that have different kinds of relics in them like this one.  I apologize for the blurry image. This card is entombed in a screwdown holder and I wasn't going to take it out.  

Serial numbered to just 100. There is also a nice blurb about the artist and Donruss even tells you what years Robin had Diamond Kings issued for him

2004 Donruss Throwback Threads Century Stars

Card Manufacturer: Donruss

Card Set: Throwback Threads

Year: 2004

Card Number: CS-48

Card Type: Insert

Insert Set: Century Stars

Card Attributes: Serial Numbered

Serial Number: 1471/1500

Some times I really miss all the different card companies being out there.  I don't mean card companies using old imprints. I mean back when Donruss was not part of Panini, when Fleer was not part of Upper Deck, when O-Pee-Chee use to copy Topps.  And I miss inserts like this believe it or not.  This is a typical insert from the mid-2000 by Donruss.  This base insert is an after thought. It was created mainly for the relic, autographed, and relic auto versions of this insert and that's why I like it. It's an orphan so to speak, the red headed step-child of the group. And even though this card is serial numbered it's still easy and fairly cheap to find.  Robin has all the parallels too. He has an autograph, relic, auto relic, prime relic (which I'm assuming is a patch piece), a prime relic auto, and also the Spectrum foil board parallel numbered to 100.   The relic was placed where the star is and the sticker autograph was run along the bottom part of the card.

I think I covet these base cards more than their parallels simply because I like that Robin gets included.  And for any player collector that's big.  I like the old mid-70's photo of a young Robin with a clean shaven, smiling face and old school Milwaukee hat. But I find it funny that Donruss chose to use the Brewers current logo.

2004 Donruss Elite Turn of the Century Parallel

Card Manufacturer: Donruss

Card Set: Elite

Year: 2004

Card Number: 196

Card Type: Base Parallel

Parallel Set: Turn of the Century

Card Attributes: Serial Numbered

Serial Number: 082/250

Who doesn't love shiny cards? Well who doesn't love shiny cards back when shiny cards were the exception not the norm?  Ah good old Donruss Elite. Panini still puts out the Elite brand, but it's not quite the same without all the logos and team names, but still really, really shiny. And Elite now is more of Panini's shiny version of Bowman focusing mostly on rookies.

Robin had a card in the 2004 set. He had a high number which were reserved for retired players.

This is the Turn of the Century parallel and you can tell, one because it's numbered to 250 and two it says so right on the front of the card.

There are other versions of this card as well.  The base card is numbered to only  1000 and the status parallels that are numbered super low.

2004 Topps World Series Highlights

Card Manufacturer: Topps

Card Set: Topps Baseball

Year:  2004

Card Number: WS-RY

Card Type: Insert

Insert Set: World Series Highlights

One of my favorite Yount post career cards.  Just a great looking card in hand. It's shiny with a great picture and commemorates Younts awesome performance in Game 5 of the 1982 World Series.  For any Brewer fan the 1982 season was the crowning moment so far in club history.  It's also the reason so many Brewers fans like myself dislike the Cardinals, especially now that both teams are in the same division.

There is also a certified autograph version of this card that is high on my most wanted list.

2004 eTopps Classic Baseball

Card Manufacturer: Topps

Card Set: eTopps Classic

Year:  2004

Card Number: ETC49

Card Type: Base

Print Run: 1002

Note: Only available from the eTopps website, card is encased.

I featured this card a couple years ago, back when I got it in hand.  For those who don't remember the eTopps program, Topps had a website where they would issue exclusive cards every Monday. I remember that cards would go live at 12 noon EST, or 8am Alaska time, so I had my Monday morning routine down to check the website right as I got to work, because the issues or IPOs usually sold out within hours if not minutes.  During the life of the program Topps issued all sorts of cards depending on which sports licenses it had.  You could keep your cards in your account or when Topps actually produced them they were made available to ship to you.  Shipping was pricey and still is. You had the option of listing your cards on Topps' ebay trading floor, which is how Topps figured current card worth.  Topps shut down the program a few years ago, but the website is still up and portfolios are still there for now.  If current players met performance goals set by Topps you were awarded performance points which could be redeemed in the eTopps catalog for cools stuff, which usually sold out almost instantaneously.  Topps offered to allow you to use your performance points to pay for shipping when they shut down the program and I took advantage of it shipping every card I had that was available to ship.  That means I still have 15 or so cards in my portfolio.  Topps charges $12 for the first card and then something like an extra dollar per card shipped.  That a little steep Topps.  

Back in 2004 I was excited to see Robin get his own eTopps card. I ended up picking up two of these for my collection.  The scans really don't do this card justice. As with all eTopps cards these look incredible in hand.  And come encased and sealed with a Topps sticker. 

From 2002 to 2006 Topps issued 70 cards in this set.  20 in 2002, 2003, and 2004 and just 5 in 2005 and 2006. 

While this card isn't individually numbered like some of the later cards, according to the eTopps website there were only 1,002 cards produced, making it a fairly rare card.

2004 Donruss Classics Legendary Jerseys - Jersey Number relic

Card Manufacturer: Donruss

Card Set: Classics

Year: 2004

Card Number: LJ-39

Card Type: Relic Insert

Insert Set Legendary Jerseys - Jersey Number

Relic Type: Dual Jersey

Card Attributes: Dual Relic, Serial Numbered

Serial Number: 12/50

As I've been going back through my Younts, I bounce back and forth from the classic issues, which I designate as cards issued during Robin's playing career and modern issues, which is anything issued after he retired.  There is a three year gap 1996-1998 that Robin had no cards issued and I usually lump the few 1994 and 1995 cards that were tribute cards in the first category.  I have two large storage "shoeboxes" that I keep the bulk of my standard card collection in.  And it's broken up basically with one box holding everything from 1975 to 1999 and the other holding everything from 2000 onward.  

Sorry I was rambling a little there. My point was I've been bouncing back and forth from classic to modern and that means I go from one box to the other.  Recently I've been spending time in the modern box and I've come to realize that Donruss in the mid 2000's was trying to kill us player collectors.  For some of it's mid decade issues there are literally sometimes close to 50 parallels of a card if you count autos and relic versions.  It's pretty insane.  Things haven't gotten better today, but I don't think we'll see the insanity of those years again.  

As I've been sorting though my modern issues and scanning for posts here and my own personal image database for insurance purposes and inventory I've come to really like Donruss Classics.  The more cards I pull out, the more I research, the more I like. Sure there are a ton of parallels, but I've found most of these insert just have a great overall classic look.  I think Panini should consider bring back the Classics line especially with all it's Hall of Fame issues it's been putting out.

This insert ,Legendary Jerseys, has a base card that has a ton of parallels, parallels that I can't tell apart other than the serial numbering on the back is different. Within 2004 Donruss Classics there are a bunch of these Legendary inserts: Legendary Jerseys, Legendary Hats, Legendary Leather, Legendary Jackets, and Legendary Lumberjacks. Whew.

Within the Legendary Jersey insert there are a few variations as well as all the other parallels.  This one is call the Player Number version. It features the die cut player number on the front.  It's pretty obvious this is not a dual relic, but just a relic under the two numbers.  I think the worst part about the cards from this series and other series like it is the numbering.  All of Yount's Legendary Jersey cards are numbered LJ-39 regardless of what's on the front or the serial numbering.  It would have been nice if they had some kind of different designation on the card or in the numbering system. But alas they do not.  

Alright enough babbling. Let's look at the card. The card features a nice black and white photo of our great Mr. Yount and a photo of what might have been the jersey the swatch came from.  The card is serial numbered to 50 and features a nice plain one color baby blue swatch. There are a number of other relic cards in this set for Mr. Yount, but I do believe this is the only one that features the die-cut 19 player number on the front.

2004 Donruss Classics Legendary Jerseys Player Number Relic LJ-39 serial numbered 12/50.