General Forum

while looking at the sell sheets for 2017 Donruss that they are not an MLB licensed product.  I probably should have known this, but I am mainly an NBA collector.  

I am curious as to what people's thought are on the Donruss unlicensed releases.  I was planning on getting a box when they came out, but now I am not so sure.  I guess by it not being licensed, there aren't any RCs in these sets either?

I really like the NBA Donruss sets, but I guess I forgot Panini doesn't have an MLB deal.

...never really cared for the incomplete statistics on their card backs during the '80s...guess I didn't realize they were still in business.   

Don't know anything about this set but Panini did an unlicenced hockey set last year that was just dreadful. None of the cards even had photos on them! The signed cards were just autographs on a plain background and the jersey cards only had the players names printed across the top.

I have some, but didn't buy them. I wouldn't pay good money for it. Half the time they crop half of the player's head out so it doesn't look so bad that they have to remove all the logos. Looks too amatuerish to me.

Only Topps has an MLB & MLBPA license and has held that monopoly since 2010. Panini does have a Cooperstown/HOF license though. Their cards are licensed, just not by the MLB so they can't use team logos. Donruss continued to make MLB cards for at least a couple of years after they lost the MLB license around 2003 and there were some really nice cards produced. I don't know if Panini bought the rights to the brand-names from Donruss/Playoff Inc. (which includes Leaf sets BUT not the current Leaf card company that is totally unlicensed), or if they just waited until the trademark expired and started using the names for sets. I do know that Panini has tried to stay true to the original product with their releases of those products. 2017 Donruss NASCAR comes out on Wednesday, so I'll have more of an opinion on Panini's Donruss cards then. As for MLB cards, they've made nice looking products, but I still don't like that they don't have team logos. I won't buy packs/boxes of them normally, but I will trade for the cards.

I have couple of them from years past. Hard to take them seriously without the logos, refuse to buy the packs. Shame as they have had some nice designs.

Panini has been producing major league cards since 2013 , and has been using the Donruss name since 2014. They are licensed by the players union (MLBPA) and the HOF but not MLB.  I like their card designs and product quality but action shots without team logos don't really work. Its not as big an issue in portrait style sets like Diamond Kings, but a set like Donruss suffers. An 2013 article on Becketts site says Topps signed an exclusive deal with MLB through 2020 so any non-Topps baseball set will have this problem. I like Topps product and I don't want to go back to having 10+ card companies, but a little competition would be nice. The rookie cards in Panini have always followed the same rules as Topps. I don't know if thats required via licensing or if they just choose to keep things simple.

I do not do anything but hockey but could not agree more on the competition statement. Hockey is absolutely brutal with the UD exclusive and all of its redudency. Wish there was still Score and the other Panini brands, I actually enjoyed their stuff more than UD and it was within my price point.

I don't know why all the sports leagues think an exclusive license is a good thing. It's not. As a NASCAR fan I've been dealing with it since 2001.

They could be getting three revenue streams yet they limit it to one...I don't get it.