Description

1998 Donruss Signature Series is a 140-card set released under a temporary license by Playoff, Inc., in January 1999. Like in previous years, each pack contained one on-card autograph.

This product was originally intended for release in October, 1998, but was delayed due to the bankruptcy of Pinnacle Brands. As part of Pinnacle's agreement with the Players Association, those players who signed for this product would NOT be paid for their signatures until AFTER the set's release. To ensure that their members would get paid for their services, MLB and the MLBPA granted Playoff (who had bought the rights to Pinnacle's name and inventory in bankruptcy) a temporary license that allowed them to release Signature Series and 1998 Leaf Rookies & Stars.

Distribution

Four cards plus one autograph per pack (MSRP: $14.99)

Reviews

Insertion Ratios

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Hobby Odds
Base	140	-	?
Proof	140	150	?
Autographs	98	varies	1:1
Significant Signatures	23	2000	?
Signing Bonus	32	varies	?

Checklist

Base Set

Parallels

All 140 base cards are also available as a "Proof" parallel. Proofs are limited (but not serial-numbered) to 150 copies.

Autographs & Game-Used

Autographs

Inserted one per pack, this 122-card set features the player's autograph in the lower portion of the card. The numbers following the player's name in our checklist indicate how many cards that player signed.

The first 100 cards signed by each player have a blue background and are designated as "Century Marks." The next 1000 signed have a green background and designated as "Millennium Marks." It should be noted that for those players who signed less than 1100 cards, no Red "base" autograph exists.

1 Roberto Alomar 150
2 Sandy Alomar, Jr. 700
3 Moises Alou 900
4 Gabe Alvarez 2900
5 Wilson Alvarez 1600
6 Jay Bell 1500
7 Adrian Beltre 1900
8 Andy Benes 2600
9 Aaron Boone 3400
10 Russell Branyan 1650
11 Orlando Cabrera 3100
12 Mike Cameron 1150
13 Joe Carter 400
14 Sean Casey 2275
15 Bruce Chen 150
16 Tony Clark 2275
17 Will Clark 1400
18 Matt Clement 1400
19 Pat Cline 1400
20 Ken Cloude 3400
21 Michael Coleman 2800
22 David Cone 25
23 Jeff Conine 1400
24 Jacob Cruz 3200
25 Russ Davis 3500
26 Jason Dickson 1400
27 Todd Dunwoody 3500
28 Juan Encarnacion 3400
29 Darin Erstad 700
30 Bobby Estalella 3400
31 Jeff Fassero 3400
32 John Franco 1800
33 Brad Fullmer 3100
34 Jason Giambi 3100
35 Derrick Gibson 1200
36 Todd Greene 1400
37 Ben Grieve 1400
38 Mark Grudzielanek 3200
39 Vladimir Guerrero 2100
40 Wilton Guerrero 1900
41 Jose Guillen 2400
42 Todd Helton 1300
43 Richard Hidalgo 3400
44 A.J. Hinch 2900
45 Butch Huskey 1900
46 Raul Ibanez 3300
47 Damian Jackson 900
48 Geoff Jenkins 3100
49 Eric Karros 650
50 Ryan Klesko 400
51 Mark Kotsay 3600
52 Ricky Ledee 2200
53 Derrek Lee 3100
54 Travis Lee 150
55 Javy Lopez 650
56 Mike Lowell 3500
57 Greg Maddux 12
58 Eli Marrero 3400
59 Al Martin 1300
60 Rafael Medina 1400
61 Scott Morgan 900
62 Abraham Nunez 3500
63 Paul O'Neill 1000
64 Luis Ordaz 2700
65 Magglio Ordonez 3200
66 Kevin Orie 1350
67 David Ortiz 3400
68 Rafael Palmeiro 1000
69 Carl Pavano 2600
70 Neifi Perez 3300
71 Dante Powell 3050
72 Aramis Ramirez 2800
73 Mariano Rivera 900
74 Felix Rodriguez 1400
75 Henry Rodriguez 3400
76 Scott Rolen 1900
77 Brian Rose 1400
78 Curt Schilling 900
79 Richie Sexson 3500
80 Randall Simon 3500
81 J.T. Snow 400
82 Jeff Suppan 1400
83 Fernando Tatis 3900
84 Miguel Tejada 3800
85 Brett Tomko 3400
86 Bubba Trammell 3900
87 Ismael Valdes 1900
88 Robin Ventura 1400
89 Billy Wagner 3900
90 Todd Walker 1900
91 Daryle Ward 400
92 Rondell White 3400
93 Antone Williamson 3350
94 Dan Wilson 2400
95 Enrique Wilson 3400
96 Preston Wilson 2100
97 Tony Womack 3500
98 Kerry Wood 3400

Significant Signatures

This 18-card set features autographs of some of baseball's all-time great players. Only 2000 sets were produced and each card is serial-numbered.

Sandy Koufax was on the original checklist but his cards were not returned in time for the pack out. Thus, officials at Donruss made the Billy Williams card an exchange card. Each collector that pulled a Billy Williams card could send it in to Donruss for a Koufax card. In addition, the signed Williams card was sent back too.

Special exchange cards were created for Nolan Ryan and Ozzie Smith. The cards were randomly seeded into packs and then redeemed to Donruss for the real autograph cards. The exchange deadline for cards R1-R3 was December 31st, 1999. All three "R-Series" exchange cards (Ryan, Koufax and Smith) feature refractive, shiny fronts whereas the other cards seeded in packs are printed on basic foilboard.

At some point in time after the product's release, non-refractive versions of the Koufax (#'d of 2000), Ozzie (#'[d of 2000) and Ryan (#'d of 1000) cards made their way into the secondary market. Each card features a different card front image than the Refractor versions (most notably with Koufax wearing a Brooklyn cap). Representatives at Donruss-Playoff were unable to provide us with information on this matter given that the company was technically owned by Pinnacle in 1998 and then purchased out of bankruptcy in 2001 by the new Donruss-Playoff Corporation.

The Catfish Hunter card was signed in either blue or blank ink. Only 1000 serial #'d copies of Phil Rizzuto's card were produced.

1 Ernie Banks 2000
2 Yogi Berra 2000
3 George Brett 2000
4 Catfish Hunter 2000
5 Al Kaline 2000
6 Harmon Killebrew 2000
7 Ralph Kiner 2000
9 Eddie Mathews 2000
10 Don Mattingly 2000
11 Willie McCovey 2000
12 Stan Musial 2000
13 Phil Rizzuto 1000
14 Nolan Ryan EXCH 2000
15 Ozzie Smith EXCH 2000
16 Duke Snider 2000
17 Don Sutton 2000
18 Billy Williams 2000
18a Billy Williams Redeemed 2000
SP Nolan Ryan 1000
NNO Sandy Koufax (Brooklyn) 2000
NNO Ozzie Smith 2000
R1 Nolan Ryan 2000
R2 Ozzie Smith 2000
R3 Sandy Koufax (L.A.) 2000

Signing Bonus

This 32-card set features redemption cards that could be redeemed for an autographed baseball signed by player. The baseballs were laser burned with a Donruss stamp to ensure authenticity. Every ball, except for Ben Grieve's, is serial numbered. The blank-backed exchange cards are serial numbered in gold foil on front, but are unnumbered within the context of a complete set and therefore checklisted in alphabetical order. These exchange cards carried an expiration date of December 31st, 1999.

Roberto Alomar 60
Sandy Alomar, Jr. 60
Ernie Banks 12
Ken Caminiti 60
Tony Clark 60
Jacob Cruz 12
Russ Davis 60
Juan Encarnacion 60
Bobby Estalella 60
Jeff Fassero 60
Ben Grieve 30
Mark Grudzielanek 60
Jose Guillen 120
Tony Gwynn 60
Al Kaline 12
Paul Konerko 100
Travis Lee 100
Mike Lowell 60
Eli Marrero 60
Eddie Mathews 12
Paul Molitor 60
Stan Musial 12
Abraham Nunez 12
Luis Ordaz 12
Magglio Ordonez 12
Scott Rolen 60
Bubba Trammell 24
Robin Ventura 60
Billy Wagner 60
Rondell White 60
Antone Williamson 12
Tony Womack 60