Description

2003 Diamond Kings is a 200-card set released in two series. The first 176 cards were issued as part of the regular Diamond Kings product, with the last 26 cards in the base set short-printed. Card #176 was a late addition to the product as is also SPed at a rate even scarcer than that of the other SPs. A typical 24-pack Hobby box should yield eight SPs, six parallels, two inserts, and either an autograph or a game-used memorabilia card.

The final 24 cards were randomly inserted into packs of 2003 DLP Rookie/Traded at the rate of one-per-box.

Distribution

Hobby: 24 packs per box, five cards per pack (MSRP: $4). 20 boxes per case.

Reviews

Insertion Ratios

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Hobby Odds	Retail Odds
Diamond Kings Series	176	-	?	?
short set	150	-	?	?
Rookies	9	-	1:6	1:6
Retired Players	16	-	1:6	1:6
DLP Rookie/Traded Series	24	-	1:24*	1:24*
Framed White (DK Series)	176	-	?	?
Framed White (DLP Series)	24	200	?	?
Framed Grey (DK Series)	176	400	?	?
Framed Grey (DLP Series)	24	100	?	?
Framed Black (DK Series)	176	100	?	?
Framed Black (DLP Series)	24	50	?	?
DK Evolution	25	-	1:18	1:36
Heritage Collection	25	-	1:23	1:23
HOF Heroes Reprints	10	-	1:43	1:67
Team Timeline	10	1000	?	?
Recollection	14	varies	?	?
Diamond Cut Collection	110	varies	?	?
Team Timeline Jerseys	10	100	?	?
HOF Heroes Reprints Materials	10	50	?	?
Recollection Autographs	78	varies	?	?

Checklist

Promos

Beckett Samples

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Inserted into each January, 2003 issue of Beckett Baseball Card Monthly was a 2003 Diamond Kings promo card. These cards partially-parallel the first 100 cards in the base set, but have the word "SAMPLE" stamped in silver foil on the back. On about 10% of the cards, SAMPLE is stamped in gold foil.

Base Set

Diamond Kings Series

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1 Darin Erstad
2 Garret Anderson
3 Troy Glaus
4 David Eckstein
5 Jarrod Washburn
6 Adam Kennedy
7 Jay Gibbons
8 Tony Batista
9 Melvin Mora
10 Rodrigo Lopez
11 Manny Ramirez
12 Pedro Martinez
13 Nomar Garciaparra
14 Rickey Henderson
15 Johnny Damon
16 Derek Lowe
17 Cliff Floyd
18 Frank Thomas
19 Magglio Ordonez
20 Paul Konerko
21 Mark Buehrle
22 C.C. Sabathia
23 Omar Vizquel
24 Jim Thome
25 Ellis Burks
26 Robert Fick
27 Bobby Higginson
28 Randall Simon
29 Carlos Pena
30 Carlos Beltran
31 Paul Byrd
32 Raul Ibanez
33 Mike Sweeney
34 Torii Hunter
35 Corey Koskie
36 A.J. Pierzynski
37 Cristian Guzman
38 Jacque Jones
39 Derek Jeter
40 Bernie Williams
41 Roger Clemens
42 Mike Mussina
43 Jorge Posada
44 Alfonso Soriano
45 Jason Giambi
46 Robin Ventura
47 David Wells
48 Tim Hudson
49 Barry Zito
50 Mark Mulder
51 Miguel Tejada
52 Eric Chavez
53 Jermaine Dye
54 Ichiro
55 Edgar Martinez
56 John Olerud
57 Dan Wilson
58 Joel Pineiro
59 Kazuhiro Sasaki
60 Freddy Garcia
61 Aubrey Huff
62 Steve Cox
63 Randy Winn
64 Alex Rodriguez
65 Juan Gonzalez
66 Rafael Palmeiro
67 Ivan Rodriguez
68 Kenny Rogers
69 Carlos Delgado
70 Eric Hinske
71 Roy Halladay
72 Vernon Wells
73 Shannon Stewart
74 Curt Schilling
75 Randy Johnson
76 Luis Gonzalez
77 Mark Grace
78 Junior Spivey
79 Greg Maddux
80 Tom Glavine
81 John Smoltz
82 Chipper Jones
83 Gary Sheffield
84 Andruw Jones
85 Kerry Wood
86 Fred McGriff
87 Sammy Sosa
88 Mark Prior
89 Ken Griffey, Jr.
90 Barry Larkin
91 Adam Dunn
92 Sean Casey
93 Austin Kearns
94 Aaron Boone
95 Larry Walker
96 Todd Helton
97 Jason Jennings
98 Jay Payton
99 Josh Beckett
100 Mike Lowell
101 A.J. Burnett
102 Jeff Bagwell
103 Craig Biggio
104 Lance Berkman
105 Roy Oswalt
106 Wade Miller
107 Shawn Green
108 Adrian Beltre
109 Hideo Nomo
110 Kazuhisa Ishii
111 Odalis Perez
112 Paul Lo Duca
113 Ben Sheets
114 Richie Sexson
115 Jose Hernandez
116 Vladimir Guerrero
117 Jose Vidro
118 Tomo Ohka
119 Andres Galarraga
120 Bartolo Colon
121 Mike Piazza
122 Roberto Alomar
123 Mo Vaughn
124 Al Leiter
125 Edgardo Alfonzo
126 Pat Burrell
127 Bob Abreu
128 Mike Lieberthal
129 Vicente Padilla
130 Marlon Byrd
131 Jason Kendall
132 Brian Giles
133 Aramis Ramirez
134 Kip Wells
135 Ryan Klesko
136 Phil Nevin
137 Brian Lawrence
138 Sean Burroughs
139 Mark Kotsay
140 Barry Bonds
141 Jeff Kent
142 Benito Santiago
143 Kirk Rueter
144 Jason Schmidt
145 Jim Edmonds
146 J.D. Drew
147 Albert Pujols
148 Tino Martinez
149 Matt Morris
150 Scott Rolen

SPs

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151 Joe Borchard
152 Cliff Lee
153 Brian Tallet
154 Freddy Sanchez
155 Chone Figgins
156 Kevin Cash
157 Justin Wayne
158 Ben Kozlowski
159 Babe Ruth
160 Jackie Robinson
161 Ozzie Smith
162 Lou Gehrig
163 Stan Musial
164 Mike Schmidt
165 Carlton Fisk
166 George Brett
167 Dale Murphy
168 Cal Ripken, Jr.
169 Tony Gwynn
170 Don Mattingly
171 Jack Morris
172 Ty Cobb
173 Nolan Ryan
174 Ryne Sandberg
175 Thurman Munson
176 Jose Contreras RC

DLP Rookie/Traded Series

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177 Hideki Matsui RC
178 Jeremy Bonderman RC
179 Brandon Webb RC
180 Adam Loewen RC
181 Chien-Ming Wang RC
182 Hong-Chih Kuo RC
183 Clint Barmes RC
184 Guillermo Quiroz RC
185 Edgar Gonzalez RC
186 Todd Wellemeyer RC
187 Dan Haren RC
188 Dustin McGowan RC
189 Preston Larrison
191 Kevin Youkilis
192 Bubba Nelson RC*
193 Chris Burke RC
194 J.D. Durbin RC
195 Ryan Howard
196 Jason Kubel RC
197 Brendan Harris RC
198 Brian Bruney
199 Ramon Nivar RC
200 Rickie Weeks RC
201 Delmon Young RC

Parallels

Framed

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All 200 base cards are available in the following Framed parallels.

White (DK Series: un-numbered; DLP Series: serial-numbered to 200 copies)
Grey (DK Series: serial-numbered to 400 copies; DLP Series: serial-numbered to 100 copies)
Black (DK Series: serial-numbered to 100 copies; DLP Series: serial-numbered to 50 copies)

Atlantic City National

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Collectors who attended the 2003 National Sports Collectors Convention in Atlantic City, NJ, and ripped three packs of Diamond Kings at Donruss-Playoff's corporate booth would be entitled to receive a special parallel from the 176 Diamond King Series base cards. Each card is serial-numbered to five copies and has an "Atlantic City National" logo embossed.

Chicago Collection

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Similar to the Atlantic City set, collectors who attended the March, 2003 Chicago Sun-Times card show and opened three packs of 2003 Diamond Kings at the Donruss-Playoff corporate booth would receive a "Chicago Collection" parallel. Like the Atlantic City set, each card is serial-numbered to five copies and is embossed with a special logo.

Inserts

DK Evolution

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DK Evolution is a lenticular set which shows the original Diamond King artwork along with the photograph it was based on.

DK-1 Cal Ripken, Jr.
DK-2 Ichiro
DK-3 Randy Johnson
DK-4 Pedro Martinez
DK-5 Nolan Ryan
DK-6 Derek Jeter
DK-7 Kerry Wood
DK-8 Alex Rodriguez
DK-9 Magglio Ordonez
DK-10 Greg Maddux
DK-11 Todd Helton
DK-12 Sammy Sosa
DK-13 Lou Gehrig
DK-14 Lance Berkman
DK-15 Barry Zito
DK-16 Barry Bonds
DK-17 Tom Glavine
DK-18 Shawn Green
DK-19 Roger Clemens
DK-20 Nomar Garciaparra
DK-21 Tony Gwynn
DK-22 Vladimir Guerrero
DK-23 Albert Pujols
DK-24 Chipper Jones
DK-25 Alfonso Soriano

Heritage Collection

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A special parallel distributed to attendees of the 2003 Hawaii Trade Show was distributed. These cards are embossed with a special logo and serial-numbered to 20 copies.

HC-1 Ozzie Smith
HC-2 Lou Gehrig
HC-3 Stan Musial
HC-4 Mike Schmidt
HC-5 Carlton Fisk
HC-6 George Brett
HC-7 Dale Murphy
HC-8 Cal Ripken, Jr.
HC-9 Tony Gwynn
HC-10 Don Mattingly
HC-11 Jack Morris
HC-12 Ty Cobb
HC-13 Nolan Ryan
HC-14 Ryne Sandberg
HC-15 Thurman Munson
HC-16 Ichiro
HC-17 Derek Jeter
HC-18 Greg Maddux
HC-19 Sammy Sosa
HC-20 Pedro Martinez
HC-21 Alex Rodriguez
HC-22 Roger Clemens
HC-23 Barry Bonds
HC-24 Lance Berkman
HC-25 Vladimir Guerrero

HOF Heroes Reprints

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This set features reprints of ten cards from the 1983 Donruss HOF Heroes set.

A special parallel distributed to attendees of the 2003 Hawaii Trade Show was distributed. These cards are embossed with a special logo and serial-numbered to 50 copies.

1 Bob Feller
2 Al Kaline
3 Lou Boudreau
4 Duke Snider
5 Jackie Robinson
6 Early Wynn
7 Yogi Berra
8 Stan Musial
9 Ty Cobb
10 Ted Williams

Team Timeline

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Each Team Timeline card is serial-numbered to 1000 copies.

A special parallel distributed to attendees of the 2003 Hawaii Trade Show was distributed. These cards are embossed with a special logo and serial-numbered to 50 copies.