1981 Donruss..."find"?

downgoesfrazier

Often overlooked and certainly rich with quality control issues, this set has flown below virtually everyone's radar for good reasons. I actually really like the set as much of it is photographed in the old Chicago ballparks in the era that capped off my childhood. That said, I have been purchasing 3-4 wax boxes and 2-3 complete sets each year for the past decade or so and constantly upgrading each card. The amount of MINT cards I get from wax varies from zero on the low-end to ten on the high end.
I thought I had a killer set going until...

Recently I purchased a set of these in a binder at a show and simply cannot believe the quality. Truly unreal. Unlike every other 81 Donruss set I've encountered, these cards are all the same size and are absolutely perfectly registered without a single rough-cut edge and virtually no print flaws whatsoever. The gloss is very abnormal and looks dripping wet. The stock is very thin and the gloss typically "cracks" a bit on these and the stock yellows quite a bit...not here. Most startling to note...419 of the 600 cards are centered within 60/40 and NONE are outside of 65/35!!!
I've been collecting for twenty-five years and have never obtained anything so above the norm. The cards WILL grade as I had a handful examined at the show...
Question, how is this possible? Do any of you know anything about Donruss "presentation" sets? Even if, I say IF they were sheet-cut, when did 81 Donruss cards EVER look like this to be cut? I've had the set for a little over a month and have sleeved it and was wondering if there is anyone out there with a similar story about this or any other issue...thanks for reading and feel free to ask relevant questions as I really want to understand how this is possible. In short, I'm a happy collector and it's easily the best $35 bucks I've spent.

AlanAllen

Maybe it was from a collector who did the same thing you did, comnstantly upgrading. Or maybe he had an early run case, or a particularly well-cut case?

Joe

Kid4hof03

I happen to also be a big fan of the 1981 Donruss set. I would love to get a good look at this set you just bought because my experience has been very similar to yours. Great buy and even better story! I guess I'll have to start looking at those sets in binders on the tables of area mall shows again.

goodriddance189

do you have any scans available?

this set, similar to 70s and 80s opc hockey, is brutal. terrible cutting, centering, etc.

great find for 35 bucks

downgoesfrazier

I have to get to my in-laws for the scanner, but I plan to add some scans soon. I'm like a kid at Christmas wanting to share his treasures. Two of the Roses will be 10's.

Joe, I thought about it being another collector who did what I did, but every card is the same size!...very unusual for this issue.
Also, the gloss, cuts and registration are too similar to have been assembled one by one. Possible, but very unlikely. I submitted twenty-five of the cards I had compiled prior to this purchase and got back
22 9's, 2 10's and an 8. Virtually every one of those cards was upgraded with this one purchase.

One odd note is that entire teams are centered similar. For instance all the Phillies are with 4% of perfect...hence the Rose 10's. The Schmidt may be the best card in the whole set. 50/50 both ways with a tiffany finish...can you tell I'm a little excited

Likewise the Yankees were probably the only mild disappointment. Almost all of them are 65/35 and a few have upper right corner touches from being in the outter-most pocket (upper right on the page) in the binder at the back

downgoesfrazier

Side note...

A couple of fellow CU members came in town for the show and came over to my place for dinner. Since I knew we were getting together I picked up a wax box of '81 Donruss that we could open and have some fun with...we pulled two marginal 9's and a high-end 8 with a rough-cut out of the whole box...each of my buddies pulled one and I, always the wonderful host, pulled notta!

AlanAllen

Hmm, well I dunno then According to Murphy's guide, the first year Donruss had factory sets was 1982, and the only way the '81 set was distributed was wax packs. Grats on the set,
Joe

uniship

No offense, but when I read the initial post about 81 Donruss, I thought it was a joke. This set is abominable, it really is perhaps the worst printed set in history - yet it is a personal favorite of my childhood (because I bought it aggessively with all my lawn mowing money). On second thought, I think one day sets like these (in high grade) may very well take off because they were so poorly printed that they may eventually be more rare than high grade sets from the 60's - or even 50's. And in spite of your probable response, I am not joking.

braves72078

Frazier,

Congrats on the "FIND" those cards are killer to find in nice shape.

Billy

downgoesfrazier

Uniship,
No offense taken...I agree. The fact that the quality is typically so poor makes this incredible...that's the point of the thread (and to see if anyone else has found anything like this).
I'm not sure it will ever "take off", but I'm proud to own it in this kind of condition. You'd be breaking well over 50 cases to assemble this type of set. To further prove your point: On average I have pulled no more than 5-6 MINT quality cards from wax boxes. Those are "technical" 9's....not necessarily ones I'd want to own, either.

Billy,
Thanks.

GoSoxBoSox

I have to agree with uniship. I have tons of these cards and never thought to take a hard look at them. 1981 was the peak of my card collecting days. I was 13 years old and had four paper routes (do kids deliver papers anymore?).

I guess I need to look at the three complete sets and boxes of raw cards. I'm also loaded with many cards from all sets between 1979 and 1984. Are there are other sets that are particularly "tough" or "condition sensitive" I should pick through?

downgoesfrazier

Go-Sox,
What are you agreeing with? If it is that the cards are typically "abominable" that is one of the points of the thread. As for other sets to pick through, 81 topps is a nightmare as well...just ask the Gator. That stuff is uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuglyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Goodriddance,
I'm bummed. I actually had a couple of hours today over at my in-laws (happens once a month) and their scanner is down. I brought cards and everything...I was pretty pumped to post a couple. The cropping tool is not functioning for some reason. I can move the whole frame but it won't let me custom size and get a uniformed image. This is an essential element of scanning, of course. If anyone know how to get this thing working feel free to speak up. I'd welcome any suggestions. I'm sure it is due to my lack of computer skills.

mcastaldi

DGF> Let's not overlook 81F. One of the rare sets that combines difficulty and ugliness. However, 81F will always have a special place in my heart since it's the first complete set I ever had. My dad bought it for my 11th birthday

Mike

Tipem

81 Topps was the first complete set that I owned,so I have a soft spot for that set.

Vic

rynerbean

I, too, kinda like the '81 Donruss set. It's usually pretty inexpensive, and nice cards really are pretty tough to come by. I bought a brick of about 150 or 200 Garveys off Ebay a couple or three years ago, and I picked out the best 3 of 'em. One came back a 10, but the other two couldn't touch that one. Hard set to come by in high grade, agreed.

rynerbean