2019 Donruss

If I was hard pressed to define what old Donruss designs inspired 2019 Donruss base set, I would begrudgingly say some mish-mash of 1991 and 1997. But that wouldn't be exactly true. This appears to be the first year of Panini's resurrection of Donruss, where the base design isn't a direct inspiration of something in the backlog of original designs.

That isn't to say that past Donruss designs don't appear in the set. They certainly do. But the bulk of the base cards shy away from past Donruss designs. They remind me more of Pinnacle inspired designs. I like the direction that Panini is taking Donruss. It could be more exciting, but it says a lot that Panini has looked into creating a new design that is not immediately influenced by the past.

The Diamond Kings and the retro cards both borrow from the 1985 Donruss design. 1985 Donruss is a nice looking set that gets lost in the minds of most collectors. The breakout of the 1984 design made the 1985 set less memorable. It's nice to see it being utilized here.

In the base set, the White Sox have seven cards, including a Diamond King, a Rated Rookie, a retro design and a variation.

9 - Yoan Moncada DK
46 - Michael Kopech RR
64 - Jose Abreu
113 - Yoan Moncada
142 - Carlos Rodon
213 - Daniel Palka 1985 Retro
213 - Daniel Palka 1985 Retro (variation)

Panini is starting to go into territory that originally got Donruss' license pulled. The parallel. There are fourteen parallels and four different colored printing plates. So there are up to eighteen additional ways to collect the majority of the base set.

Full set 300 card (complete set and variation cards) parallels include Independence Day, Career Stat Line, Season Stat Line, 150th Anniversary, Holo Back, Father's Day Ribbon, 42 Tribute, Mother's Day Ribbon, Artist Proof, Press Proof, Black Printing Plate, Black Printing Plate, Magenta Printing Plate, and Yellow Printing Plate.

220 (complete set minus Diamond Kings) card parallels include Orange Holo, Pink Holo, Purple Holo, and Red Holo.

That is infuriating to a completest, when there are so many more sets coming that scream for your time and money. I get parallels and I actually enjoy them, but some releases border on the ridiculous. This is one of those sets. Topps also had eighteen different parallels, including printing plates, on their Series One release, so maybe this is just becoming the norm. It's still ridiculous.

Topps, with all their licenses intact should know better. Panini, while trying to get fully licensed, should show why they need to be fully licensed. Infinite parallels will probably not help matters. Stick to the base set and maybe a parallel or two that you think is cool. There is so much else coming out this year that will be trying to pry your wallet open. Collect wisely.