I type up this review bearing sad news for collectors who bought Donruss so they could collect their favorite stars without breaking the bank. Unfortunately, 2023's Panini Baseball products will not have any current MLB players in them, besides some young rookies (albeit without a rookie designation). BUT, you can look forward to getting plenty of HOF, Prospects, young rookies and past stars from the game in this set! The full checklist was not released when I reviewed this product, and is still yet to be fully released, but Panini did say "Donruss Baseball returns in 2023 with a set full of top prospects, Hall of Fame players, and legends of the game."
This means that the famed "Rated Rookie" line is no more, but the "Rated Prospects" are aplenty, that I can assure you. In just picking up 4 Hobby packs, I pulled 3 Red Holo parallels numbered to 2023, 4 Holo Blue parallels, 1 Independence Day border parallel card, 1 Retro 1990 Liberty reverse image variation card, and 1 Silver "Unleashed" numbered to 349 card. Those were pretty lucky packs seeing as there are only 4 Independence Day border cards and 1 Liberty border card per Hobby Box (24 Packs). There were at least 1-2 Rated Prospects per pack for me.
The "Marvels", "Diamond Kings", "Bomb Squad", and "Unleashed" inserts make a return while there are the new "Pennants", "Cooperstown", "Mr. 3000" and other inserts. And of course, the ultra-rare chase inserts, "Whammy", "Naturals", "Superstar Skylines", and "The Mick" are in the product for 2023. You have various autographed cards from both past players and top prospects, as well as relics to search for. Each Hobby box contains 3 autographs or relics, 24 Holo Blue parallels, 4 Independence Day parallels, and 1 Liberty parallel, on average.
For those who are looking for a cheaper alternative to Bowman, with a mix of Diamond Kings, this may be your product. You can find names such as Jackson Holliday, Druw Jones, and Bobby Witt Jr. alongside Mark McGwire, Ichiro, and Cal Ripken. This year, Donruss has inserted various Retro cards of the 1990 design.
There are also the tough to pull Optic Rated Prospects autographed cards with a selection of over 60 different prospect names, as well as the Retro 1990 Signatures, Signature Series, Classic Autographs and Superstar Scribbles for autograph options. For relics, you have the 2023 Donruss Baseball Memorabilia and Retro 1990 Materials cards.
The most interesting and fun variations that can definitely be easy to miss if you don't pay attention are the reverse image cards. As their name implies, Donruss has simply reversed the player's image on a card, with no codes to look for or obvious names on the back like Topps Heritage. Keep a keen eye out for these easy to miss variations, as they're not limited to only base cards, but also the different colored Holos, border designs and Retro 1990 cards.
All in all, as I mentioned earlier, 2023 Donruss Baseball from Panini falls into that cheap alternative of Bowman with a mixture of Diamond Kings. At around $5 a pack, grabbing a few didn't leave my wallet hurting at all, and around $100 or so a Hobby box, they are definitely easily obtainable for the casual or serious collector whether that be online, at your local card store, or here on DJAWN!