Have you visited our store? Click here.The scan depicted was produced back in April of 2012 before I upgraded my scanner and watermark. This particular image was originally put together to share on the forum before it was archived. Here we are some 11 years later to the month and it’s being put to use here on the blog. In case you’re wondering, the scanner I used to produce this image was the Canon CanoScan LiDE 100. This model has since been updated but I’m pretty sure it still produces bright vibrant images for flat cards such as those in 1990 Donruss.
1990 Donruss is the perfect example of a junk wax era set: bight colors, Saved By The Bell design features, sweet player roster, elusive sample cards, Diamond Kings, and a run of excellent error cards of which there are a ton. Below is the complete checklist of said error cards. All are relatively easy to locate and given the volume printed, they’re also very affordable.
What’s Not Included in this Checklist:
Uncorrected Errors (UERs): These include minor typos on card backs and/or fronts. Since these cards were never corrected, they’re just the standard cards in the set.
Period/No Period after INC: Card backs have the INC statement. Some feature a period after INC and some don’t. These variations are found in most Donruss/Leaf sets from the junk wax era. It’s likely these are the result of different runs approved by different groups of people in the manufacturing facility. Despite what people say, these aren’t rare; they’re likely produced in similar/same quantities. They’re also not errors but subtle variations. They’re fun to collect but values are no different between them.
To see what’s currently on eBay from 1990 Donruss, click here.
Errors Checklist:
| Card # | Player(s) | Error |
|---|---|---|
| 3A | Ruben Sierra DK | No black strip along top back border |
| 10A | Brian Downing DK | Reverse Negative (batting left-handed) |
| 33A | Juan Gonzalez RC | Reverse Negative (batting left-handed) |
| 100A | Checklist | Depicts cards 28-129 |
| 113A | Kelly Gruber | Born February 22 |
| 168A | Dale Murphy | Black line crossing ‘D’ in Dale on front |
| 170A | Kirk McCaskill | Born April 19 |
| 200A | Checklist | Depicts cards 130-231 |
| 217A | Scott Garrelts | Born October 20 |
| 300A | Checklist | Depicts cards 232-333 |
| 400A | Checklist | Depicts cards 334-435 |
| 405A | Sergio Valdez | Black line crossing ‘S’ in Sergio on front |
| 500A | Checklist | Depicts cards 436-537 |
| 523A | Andy Nezelek | Born October 24, 1985 |
| 583A | Kevin Hickey | Black line crossing ‘K’ in Kevin on front |
| 600A | Checklist | Depicts cards 538-639 |
| 637A | Terry Steinbach AS | Recent Major League Performance |
| 639A | Jack Morris | Black line crossing ‘J’ in Jack on front |
| 650A | Bo Jackson AS | Recent Major League Performance |
| 654A | Howard Johnson | Recent Major League Performance |
| 659A | Nolan Ryan | King of Kings front; 5000 K’s back |
| 660A | Harold Baines AS | Recent Major League Performance; Black line through star on front |
| 660B | Harold Baines AS | All-Star Game Performance; Black line through star on front |
| 660C | Harold Baines AS | Recent Major League Performance; Black line behind star on front |
| 663A | Rick Reuschel AS | Recent Major League Performance |
| 665A | Nolan Ryan | 5000 K’s front; King of Kings back |
| 665C | Nolan Ryan | King of Kings w/ No Card Number (factory set) |
| 673A | Ruben Sierra AS | Recent Major League Performance |
| 674A | Pedro Guerrero AS | Recent Major League Performance |
| 676A | Cal Ripken Jr. AS | Recent Major League Performance |
| 683A | Kirby Puckett AS | Recent Major League Performance |
| 692A | Ryne Sandberg AS | Recent Major League Performance |
| 695A | Eric Davis AS | Recent Major League Performance |
| 697A | Mark McGwire AS | Recent Major League Performance |
| 700A | Checklist | Depicts cards 640-715 and BC1-BC26 |
| 700C | Checklist | Depicts cards 618-716 |
| 701A | Julio Franco AS | Recent Major League Performance |
| 703A | Dave Stewart AS | Recent Major League Performance |
| 705A | Tony Gwynn AS | Recent Major League Performance |
| 707A | Will Clark AS | Recent Major League Performance |
| 708A | Benito Santiago AS | Recent Major League Performance |
| 710A | Ozzie Smith AS | Recent Major League Performance |
| 712A | Wade Boggs AS | Recent Major League Performance |
| 715A | Kevin Mitchell AS | Recent Major League Performance |
| BC-12A | John Smoltz | Photo is Tom Glavine |
To see what’s currently on eBay from 1990 Donruss, click here.
I have a donruss 1990 geronimo berroa Braves card with a blank back. I cannot find this error on anyone’s list. Have you heard of this error?
Hi Lee,
Thanks for the comment. Blank backs were pretty common in manufacturing in the late 1980s to early 1990s. If you look around, you’ll find all manner of cards from the main brands with this manufacturing flaw. They aren’t included on checklists because they’re manufacturing scrap.