Donruss

Donruss was one of three companies producing baseball cards in the 1980s along with Topps and Fleer. Donruss and Fleer broke a monopoly which Topps had on baseball cards from 1956 through 1980 when the two companies both released their first sets in 1981. Topps, Donruss, and Fleer all included gum in their packs in 1981, but Topps had exclusive rights to produce baseball cards with confectionery products as well as without any additional item. Therefore, Donruss included puzzle pieces in packs from 1982 on. 1982 also started the tradition of the Diamond Kings cards. Diamond Kings were cards that featured portraits done by Dick Perez, originally each team received one Diamond King, this was later changed to accommodate top players on the same team. Perez also did the art on the puzzle pieces which featured Hall of Famers.

Donruss made baseball cards from 1981 to 1996, at which time it was purchased by Pinnacle Brands. The announcement of this purchase was made in April 1996. Pinnacle Brands filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 1998. The rights to the Donruss and Leaf trading card names were purchased by Playoff Corporation. However, Playoff was not granted a license to produce baseball cards by Major League Baseball until 2001. They produced cards until 2005, at which time MLB decided not to renew their license. In 2009, Panini purchased Donruss Playoff. However, while Panini currently, as of 2018, has a license from the MLBPA, it has not been able to acquire a license from MLB. In 2011 Panini released Donruss Elite Extra Edition, which saw the return of MLB players, without team logos, under the Donruss name. While Panini released other sets in 2012 and 2013, it was not until 2014 when a true Donruss flagship product again featured MLB players.