2002 Donruss Diamond Kings Inserts/Studio Series

Set Size: 20 cards

Design Notes: This grey-bordered insert set used paintings of the players on the front. The Diamond Kings logo is at the bottom and uses blue foil. The back explains why the player was chosen as a Diamond King.

Parallels and Similars: A "Studio Series" parallel was issued using silver foil and a canvas style card surface. Randy Johnson was also issued as a Jersey Kings memorabilia card in regular and Studio Series formats.

Distribution: All cards were randomly inserted in packs. Diamond Kings had a print run of 2500 serial-numbered sets, Studio Series and Jersey Kings are numbered to 250, and the Jersey Kings Studio Series card is numbered to 50.

Thoughts: Diamond Kings is one of my favorite sets. Where the DKs of the early 1990s were generally bright, loud, and vibrant to match the neon colors of fashion, Diamond King cards found after Donruss's return are generally designed to look like it belongs in a museum. The artwork here is very realistic and attractive.

Additional Images: Studio Series parallel

2002 USA Baseball National Team

Set size: 30 cards

Front Design: The USA Baseball logo in gold foil is beneath a color photo in gold foil, with 2002 National Team beneath. The player's name is to the left, in a fading blue box placed over the photo; his position is in a separate blue box which fades into an American flag.

Back Design: The backs have a cropped headshot from the front photo and a short highlight biography over a background of the USA Baseball logo. The logo is repeated in full color beneath the biography.

Parallels and Similars: There are no parallels, though other USA sets have similar designs.

Distribution: Cards were sold complete in factory set form with an autograph and relic card for $19.99. Upper Deck claims to have released no more than 10,000 factory sets.

Thoughts: A full set, autograph, and relic for $20? These days, full USA Baseball sets retail for nearly $100, though those come with five autographs, two autographed relics, and three triple relics. I'll just pick up the $10 retail version with just the base cards. I enjoy USA Baseball sets, though I'm not sure why. Maybe it's the oddball nature of the sets - amateur players on "professional" baseball cards. Perhaps it's an interest in patriotic cards, though I don't collect non-sport patriotic cards. Maybe I just enjoy collecting Team USA because I saw them play in the 1996 Olympics. This is a nice set anyway, with a patriotic feel and gold foil highlights that add a touch of class without being over the top.

2002 Nestle

Set size: 6 cards

Front Design: An action photo jumps out of a silver circle. The player's last name runs up the left side, beneath which sits a monochromatic portrait photo. His name and position is across the bottom.

Back Design: The circle design repeats on the back with a third photo on the left hand side. The player's vitals and biography sit to the right; recent and career stats are in a table across the bottom.

Parallels and Similars: The design is fairly unique, though it feels slightly like 2010 Topps (or should I say, 2010 Topps looks like this set).

Distribution: Cards were inserted into Nestle ice cream products.

Thoughts: For a food issue, this is a pretty attractive set. There are major issues that have weaker designs than this set. The use of three photos and full-color, full bleed designs makes this set equal to or better than many regular issues. At only six cards, it's easy to put together, and the checklist is pretty strong - Bonds, Chipper, Piazza, A-Rod, Sosa, and Ichiro.

2002 Donruss Fan Club Die-Cut

Set size: 200 cards

Front Design: This parallel set has the player on a team color-faded border, with grid designs at the top and bottom. The player's name, team logo, position, and jersey number are all located at the bottom on and next to a white step design. The cards are die-cut into a shape similar to a stylized "S".

Back Design: The S-shape defines the diagonal statistics in the middle of the card. A second photo is in the upper right, with vitals, team logo, card number, and player name in the upper right. The bottom of the card contains copyright information.

Parallels and Similars: This card is a parallel of the 2002 Donruss Fan Club set. There are five parallels (including the "Best of Fan Club" release) of the base set. This parallel should be easily identifiable by the die cut. The die-cut parallel only parallels cards 1-200; the regular Fan Club set contains 300 cards.

Distribution: Cards were randomly inserted 1:4 packs of Donruss Fan Club.

Thoughts: This was the "easy" parallel pull in Fan Club, and it is unclear what the purpose of the parallel was other than to die-cut the regular cards as a quick method of making parallels. The die-cut is an interesting shape (it reminds me a lot of the Z-series inserts from Zenith in the 1990s, just backwards). However, it is the definition of "unnecessary parallel."

2002 Leaf League of Nations

Set size: 10 cards

Front Design: A color photo of a player is cropped over a background containing a globe and national flags of various countries - the player's home country flag is printed brighter than the others. His name and team logo appear at the top, and the set name is printed next to the photo in silver foil. The cards are printed with a foil background.

Back Design: The flags, globe, and set logo are repeated at the top, followed by the player's name and team in a black band. The bottom half of the card has a short highlight biography printed in English and the language of the player's nationality.

Parallels and Similars: None.

Distribution: Cards were inserted 1:60 packs of 2002 Leaf.

Thoughts: A large quantity of players in the set are from Asian countries, possibly due to the Asian craze that swept the hobby after Ichiro's success in 2001. The overall design and set concept are great, except for the foil background.

2002 Topps Heritage Classic Renditions

Set size: 10 cards

Front Design: The cards are supposed to show the player in 1953 team uniforms. A "painted" image of such is shown on the front, inside a thin black border. The bottom of the card contains the player's name and the set's name in a banner, beneath which is the team name.

Back Design: The gray cardstock backs repeat the banner design at the top, with the player's name, position, team, and card number. A short biography follows in a red box.

Parallels and Similars: An autographed version exists for three of the cards.

Distribution: Classic Renditions were inserted 1 in 12 packs of 2002 Topps Heritage.

Thoughts: I know Kerry Wood was a big name back in 2002, but the Cubs uniforms really haven't changed too much in 50 years. I like the idea of throwback uniforms, and I think it would be great if Topps took advantage of all the games that feature throwback uniforms to put together a couple insert sets showing players in older threads. The same could be done with some of the special event uniforms (such as Fourth of July). There are several teams that use alternate jerseys on Sundays which would be great for inclusion as well - perhaps a whole 30-card insert, with each card having four variations - home, away, throwback, and alternate. This would be a good idea for a set like Opening Day if done simply, or a painted set like Gypsy Queen where the different uniforms could be painted on to the players in the same image. Call the set "Alternate Threads" and have a relic parallel set for some of the players.

By the way, I think we're finished with Heritage for a while. I'm not sure how I ended up with so many Heritage cards, of several years, all at once.

2002 Donruss Diamond Kings

Set size: 150 + 10 cards

Front Design: A painted portrait of the player appears in a "matted" shadow-style border, with gold foil printing at the bottom containing the Diamond Kings logo and the player's name, position, and team. The card fronts have a textured "canvas" style feel.

Back Design: A "crowning moment" highlight in the player's career fills half the vertical back, and other appearances by the player on Diamond King insert cards are honored. The card's illustrator receives a short biography in available space at the bottom of the card.

Parallels and Similars: Although not as bad as the 2005 issue, there are several parallels of this set. Previews of the entire set were released (stamped SAMPLE) in silver and gold foil versions. Bronze, silver, and gold foil parallels were inserted in packs. There are also multiple Hawaii and Chicago parallels.

Distribution: Cards 1-150 were released in traditional pack methods, 24 packs per box, four cards per pack; cards 101-150 were short printed. Cards 151-160 were released with the Donruss Rookies set.

Thoughts: This is the first year Donruss issued Diamond Kings as its own release, after being a subset and insert set in flagship Donruss products since 1982. Most of you already know my love of art cards and Diamond Kings in particular (the first art cards I ever saw). I was more than thrilled to discover a complete set was issued for my favorite series. The cards look great and are a perfect example of what a modern painted set should look like. With a full one-third of the set being SPs, it's tough to complete, especially now. I have cards 1-100 and 151-160, but only 14 of the 50 SPs for my Diamond Kings collection.

Additional Images: card back: