I was curious about these cards since Donruss hasn't had a license from Major League Baseball in 2 years. How can they make baseball cards without a license? First of all, the cards have a disclaimer on the back as below. We don't have a license but we're makin' cards anyway.
The cards are nice, with a high gloss and a white background. The quarter circles on the bottom half plus the player name and logo are in silver foil. On the back are player physical stats (height, weight, etc) and stats for one special year. For Schmidt it's his World Series year, 1980. There is also a little biographical note. The baseball stitches in the upper corners are just printed on, not embossed.
I've only got four cards but it looks like Donruss is employing several methods to stay legal. First of all, the team name is not featured although it is mentioned in the bio note on the back of Schmidt's card. Also care is taken to not show a team logo or name on the photo. So notice how Schmidt is twisted around so no team identification is shown. In the other two cards I have, the one is a player wearing catcher's gear so the uniform shirt is obscured. In the other, the player has squared around to bunt and his arm and bat obscure the front of the jersey. And if that doesn't work, then they doctor the photo like this Carlton card.
The Phillies away jerseys when Carlton was playing featured a Phillies P logo on the shirt opposite the number.
The cards are nice, with a high gloss and a white background. The quarter circles on the bottom half plus the player name and logo are in silver foil. On the back are player physical stats (height, weight, etc) and stats for one special year. For Schmidt it's his World Series year, 1980. There is also a little biographical note. The baseball stitches in the upper corners are just printed on, not embossed.
I've only got four cards but it looks like Donruss is employing several methods to stay legal. First of all, the team name is not featured although it is mentioned in the bio note on the back of Schmidt's card. Also care is taken to not show a team logo or name on the photo. So notice how Schmidt is twisted around so no team identification is shown. In the other two cards I have, the one is a player wearing catcher's gear so the uniform shirt is obscured. In the other, the player has squared around to bunt and his arm and bat obscure the front of the jersey. And if that doesn't work, then they doctor the photo like this Carlton card.
The Phillies away jerseys when Carlton was playing featured a Phillies P logo on the shirt opposite the number.
3 comments:
They are authorized by the player, so most likely that is how they make baseball cards i.e. DLP pays the individual players, their estates and through companies who handle the players' marketing - so they can use the individual players' images.
The retired players own their rights to have their images used and the prospects in the set are not yet part of the MLBPA or MLB.
This is a helpful look at the base cards. Donruss seems like a lot of sound and fury signifying not much.
Wow. I haven't seen photo doctoring like that since I was pulling cards outa my cereal boxes! I didn't notice that about this set until you pointed it out..
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