1991 Donruss Elite question and my voyage with the set

1980scollector · May 16, 2010 5:51AM

As a kid in 1991 I chased 1991 Donuss elites like nothing I have ever chased. I looked for Griffey UD's in 89' and Frank Thomas Leaf rookies but this addiction was on another level. I came up empty for some time but once I pulled a George Brett and Rickey Henderson Elite out of two boxes bought at a card show. I am assuming from the same case(Series 1). I bought another 30-50 boxes easily(1991 mainly and a few from BBCE the past few years) and have never pulled one again. My father bought me the Barry Bonds in Nashville once when I lucked up and made the honor roll. That was very unusual thing for my father to do so that card really stands out to me as well. That card cost my father 100.00 at the time.

My question is what in the world are the aprox. odds of pulling an Elite, Legend card or Sandberg Auto from a box of 1991 Donruss? It seems Donruss printed a never ending supply of 1991 Donruss. Was there ever a way for dealers to pull the Elites and have us youngsters buying dead boxes?

I traded/sold the cards many years ago when I needed money and have been building an entire set for several years slowly(I have all cards except Bonds and Fielder). I do have the Sandberg Autograph and Nolan Ryan Legends as well.

This set really means something to me for some reason and I think it reminds me of a simplier time in my life and the chase for these cards so badly as a young kid. I loved the 1991 Elite set then and almost as much now as an adult. For instance I bought the Nolan Ryan Legends card from a card shop in Gatlinburg on a trip with my wife and small twin boys. They have a great card shop there called "The Dugout." That single card has great memories attached to it now. I even bought the 92' Griffey at the same place a year later.

I have pulled some 1992 Elites from boxes from BBCE(Puckett X2). However, I wonder if I will ever pull another 1991 Elite again!

Any help on this question or ANY information you have about 1991-1992 Elites I would love to hear.

I am going to complete the 1991 and 1992 elite set and want to have displayed on my wall in the future.

CDsNuts · May 16, 2010 6:04AM

I think they were one per case.

mikeschmidt · May 16, 2010 7:06AM

I think that they were less than one per case. When you look at the actual production size of the Elites, it is mind-boggling to compare to how many 1991 Donruss cards were produced.

jradke4 · May 16, 2010 8:35AM

at that time i used to work in a card shop. i would bust at least 8 boxes of everything that i could. i only pulled one elite....the SANDBERG!!! though i was a sr in high school i nearly crapped my pants when i opened that pack.

royalbrett · May 16, 2010 10:25AM

Truly needles in an enormous haystack.

hammered · May 16, 2010 10:46AM

The fact that these were so hard to hit (I never found one myself), yet each had a print run of 10,000 I believe, shows how much product the card companies put out during this time.

brumbach · May 16, 2010 12:37PM

Never pulled one from a pack, didn't open too much Donruss in 1991, I was too busy tossing wads of cash at Stadium Club and Studio and OPC Premiere and 1991 Parkhurst and Pro-Set Platinum Hockey, woohoo! As already mentioned, very long odds, less than one per case. Heard rumors of dealers running metal detectors over cases trying find them, not sure if that really worked or not.

Have fun putting the set together!

1991 Donruss Elite question and my voyage with the set

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