Description

1997 Donruss Elite is a 150-card set, released exclusive to The Hobby, in February, 1997. The entire base set is printed on foil-board and shares the design of a similarly-named hockey card set that was released in 1996.

Distribution

18 cards per pack, eight cards per pack (MSRP: $3.49). Hobby only.

Reviews

Insertion Ratios

Cards	Total Cards	Numbered To	Odds
Base	150	-	?
Gold Stars	150	-	1:9
Passing the Torch	12	1350	?
Leather and Lumber	10	500	?
Turn of the Century	20	3000
Turn of the Century Die-Cut	20	500	?
Passing the Torch Autographed	12	150	?

Checklist

Promo

Donruss issued three of the Turn of the Century cards as promos. Each card has the word "PROMO" on the back.

20 Chad Mottola
5 Scott Rolen
7 Derek Jeter

Base Set

1 Juan Gonzalez
2 Alex Rodriguez
3 Frank Thomas
4 Greg Maddux
5 Ken Griffey, Jr.
6 Cal Ripken, Jr.
7 Mike Piazza
8 Chipper Jones
9 Albert Belle
10 Andruw Jones
11 Vladimir Guerrero
12 Mo Vaughn
13 Ivan Rodriguez
14 Andy Pettitte
15 Tony Gwynn
16 Barry Bonds
17 Jeff Bagwell
18 Manny Ramirez
19 Kenny Lofton
20 Roberto Alomar
21 Mark McGwire
22 Ryan Klesko
23 Tim Salmon
24 Derek Jeter
25 Eddie Murray
26 Jermaine Dye
27 Ruben Rivera
28 Jim Edmonds
29 Mike Mussina
30 Randy Johnson
31 Sammy Sosa
32 Hideo Nomo
33 Chuck Knoblauch
34 Paul Molitor
35 Rafael Palmeiro
36 Brady Anderson
37 Will Clark
38 Craig Biggio
39 Jason Giambi
40 Roger Clemens
41 Jay Buhner
42 Edgar Martinez
43 Gary Sheffield
44 Fred McGriff
45 Bobby Bonilla
46 Tom Glavine
47 Wade Boggs
48 Jeff Conine
49 John Smoltz
50 Jim Thome
51 Billy Wagner
52 Jose Canseco
53 Javy Lopez
54 Cecil Fielder
55 Garret Anderson
56 Alex Ochoa
57 Scott Rolen
58 Darin Erstad
59 Rey Ordonez
60 Dante Bichette
61 Joe Carter
62 Moises Alou
63 Jason Isringhausen
64 Karim Garcia
65 Brian Jordan
66 Ruben Sierra
67 Todd Hollandsworth
68 Paul Wilson
69 Ernie Young
70 Ryne Sandberg
71 Raul Mondesi
72 George Arias
73 Ray Durham
74 Dean Palmer
75 Shawn Green
76 Eric Young
77 Jason Kendall
78 Greg Vaughn
79 Terrell Wade
80 Bill Pulsipher
81 Bob Higginson
82 Mark Grudzielanek
83 Ken Caminiti
84 Todd Greene
85 Carlos Delgado
86 Mark Grace
87 Rondell White
88 Barry Larkin
89 J.T. Snow
90 Alex Gonzalez
91 Raul Casanova
92 Marc Newfield
93 Jermaine Allensworth
94 John Mabry
95 Kirby Puckett
96 Travis Fryman
97 Kevin Brown
98 Andres Galarraga
99 Marty Cordova
100 Henry Rodriguez
101 Sterling Hitchcock
102 Trey Beamon
103 Brett Butler
104 Rickey Henderson
105 Tino Martinez
106 Kevin Appier
107 Brian Hunter
108 Eric Karros
109 Andre Dawson
110 Darryl Strawberry
111 James Baldwin
112 Chad Mottola
113 Dave Nilsson
114 Carlos Baerga
115 Chan Ho Park
116 John Jaha
117 Alan Benes
118 Mariano Rivera
119 Ellis Burks
120 Tony Clark
121 Todd Walker
122 Dwight Gooden
123 Ugueth Urbina
124 David Cone
125 Ozzie Smith
126 Kimera Bartee
127 Rusty Greer
128 Pat Hentgen
129 Charles Johnson
130 Quinton McCracken
131 Troy Percival
132 Shane Reynolds
133 Charles Nagy
134 Tom Goodwin
135 Ron Gant
136 Dan Wilson
137 Matt Williams
138 LaTroy Hawkins
139 Kevin Seitzer
140 Michael Tucker
141 Todd Hundley
142 Alex Fernandez
143 Marquis Grissom
144 Steve Finley
145 Curtis Pride
146 Derek Bell
147 Butch Huskey
148 Dwight Gooden CL
149 Al Leiter CL
150 Hideo Nomo CL

Parallels

Gold Stars

Gold Stars is a parallel of the 150-card base set. The distinctive gold foil fronts easily differentiate them from their silver-foiled base-issue brethren.

The following cards were erroneously printed with a silver (rather than gold) logo on front: 6, 15, 25, 32, 42, 47, 57, 60, 69 and 70. Corrected gold logo versions of these cards do exist but are in far shorter supply though secondary market trading values remain similar due to general indifference. The set is considered complete with the erroneous silver logo cards.

Inserts

Passing the Torch

This 12-card insert set features eight players on four double-sided cards. A portrait of a superstar veteran is displayed on one side with a gold foil background, and a portrait of a rising young star is printed on the flipside. Each of the eight players also has his own card to round out the 12-card set. Only 1500 of this set were produced and are serial-numbered. The first 150 copies of each card are autographed by the respective player(s).

1 Cal Ripken, Jr.
2 Alex Rodriguez
3 Cal Ripken, Jr. / Alex Rodriguez
4 Kirby Puckett
5 Andruw Jones
6 Kirby Puckett / Andruw Jones
7 Cecil Fielder
8 Frank Thomas
9 Frank Thomas / Cecil Fielder
10 Ozzie Smith
11 Derek Jeter
12 Derek Jeter / Ozzie Smith

Leather and Lumber

This ten-card "materials" insert set features player photos printed on two unique materials. The fronts display a player image on real wood card stock with the end of a baseball bat as background. The backs carry another player photo printed on genuine leather card stock with a baseball and glove as background. Only 500 of each card was produced and are sequentially numbered.

1 Ken Griffey, Jr.
2 Alex Rodriguez
3 Frank Thomas
4 Chipper Jones
5 Ivan Rodriguez
6 Cal Ripken, Jr.
7 Barry Bonds
8 Chuck Knoblauch
9 Manny Ramirez
10 Mark McGwire

Turn of the Century

Turn of the Century is a 20-card set showcasing the stars of the next millennium. Each card is serial-numbered to 3500 copies with the first 500 copies die-cut.

1 Alex Rodriguez
2 Andruw Jones
3 Chipper Jones
4 Todd Walker
5 Scott Rolen
6 Trey Beamon
7 Derek Jeter
8 Darin Erstad
9 Tony Clark
10 Todd Greene
11 Jason Giambi
12 Justin Thompson
13 Ernie Young
14 Jason Kendall
15 Alex Ochoa
16 Brooks Kieschnick
17 Bob Higginson
18 Ruben Rivera
19 Chan Ho Park
20 Chad Mottola

Autographs & Game-Used

Passing the Torch Autographs

The first 150 copies of each Passing the Torch insert were autographed by the respective player(s).

1 Cal Ripken, Jr.
2 Alex Rodriguez
3 Cal Ripken, Jr. / Alex Rodriguez
4 Kirby Puckett
5 Andruw Jones
6 Kirby Puckett / Andruw Jones
7 Cecil Fielder
8 Frank Thomas
9 Frank Thomas / Cecil Fielder
10 Ozzie Smith
11 Derek Jeter
12 Derek Jeter / Ozzie Smith