The 1991 Donruss baseball card set marked the first time that the company had released its cards in more than one series.
Series 1 cards featured blue borders while Series 2 cards featured green borders.
And it seemed like collectors either loved or hated these cards...
There weren't any significant rookie cards in this set which really put a drag on it.
However, as you can see by the names on this list, the 1991 Donruss set was absolutely loaded with star power.
And in this guide, we take a look at the 25 most valuable 1991 Donruss baseball cards.
Let's jump right in!
1991 Donruss #89 Nolan Ryan
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $90
Cal Ripken Jr. is baseball's accepted "Iron Man," but let's not overlook what Nolan Ryan was able to accomplish.
A forever power with zero give, Ryan survived and thrived for 27 years in the Majors, winning eleven strikeout titles, making eight All-Star teams, and earning a ring with the 1969 Miracle Mets.
Busted hands, sore arms, a roughed-up back, and a litany of other injuries meant little.
Ryan kept shooting flames out of his right arm, racking up strikeouts at an unmatched pace.
In 1991, 25 years into a career that seemingly would never end, Ryan was as fearsome as ever.
How exactly did a 44-year-old man lead the Majors with 10.6 strikeouts per nine in a laxer era of baseball conditioning?
Despite injuries that cost him around five to seven starts, the timeless Texas Rangers ace crossed 200 strikeouts for the 15th time (203), twirled his seventh no-hitter, led the Majors in WHIP (1.006), and posted his second-best WAR (5.2) since 1977.
1991 Donruss #77 Ken Griffey Jr.
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $65
The 1991 season was the tale of two different Ken Griffey Jr.'s.
In the first half of the season, the young Seattle Mariners superstar came off as sullen and sensitive.
Critics jumped on his supposedly inconsistent effort on the diamond.
Griffey fired back constantly, and his production stunted accordingly.
Right before the All-Star break, Junior had a heart-to-heart with veteran teammate Harold Reynolds.
Reynolds pointed out that Griffey looked miserable and that the game was supposed to be fun.
It was a simple talk, but it was revelatory for Griffey.
Looking lighter and more confident in the latter months of the season, "The Kid" looked much more like a kid.
His bat caught fire as his smile got bigger.
Griffey hit .373 with 13 home runs and 64 RBIs in the second half, leading the M's to their first winning record (83-79) in fifteen years.
1991 Donruss #495 Barry Bonds
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $55
If not for Terry Pendleton's breakout debut with the Atlanta Braves, Barry Bonds would have extended his MLB record of MVPs to eight.
Absurdly enough, he'd also have been the only player ever to win back-to-back-to-back-to-back MVPs twice.
And even though Pendleton won the batting title (.319) and paced baseball's worst-to-first darlings to a World Series title, Bonds came oh-so-close to getting that trophy.
Pendleton sidestepped the future home run king by a razor-thin margin of 15 points, collecting twelve first-place votes to Bonds' ten.
If the vote had been collected in 2025, Bonds would have won and won in a landslide.
He won his second Gold Glove and his second Silver Slugger and led the National League in WAR (8.0), on-base percentage (.410), OPS (.924), and OPS+ (160), among other categories.
He also tagged 25 home runs and stole 43 bases while crossing 100 walks (107) for the first of a record fourteen campaigns.
1991 Donruss #632 Bo Jackson
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $50
Remember how popular Bo Jackson was back in the late '80s and early '90s?
Nike was running their "Bo Knows" advertising campaign all over the television and he was tearing up defenses with ease on Nintendo's Tecmo Bowl videogame.
Bo Jackson was an extremely talented baseball player...not necessarily one of the best of his era but he did earn a trip to the All-Star game once his career.
He was more famous for the fact that he was able to play both professional baseball and football at such a high level.
Kids from that era loved Bo Jackson and his cards remain popular to this day.
1991 Donruss #49 Ken Griffey Jr. All-Star
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $45
Ken Griffey Jr.'s All-Star card also lands a spot near the top of our list, that's how popular he was and still is in the collecting community.
The All-Star cards were easily distinguishable by the star next to the players' names and the American or National League logo at the bottom depending in when league the player played.
This particular card also gives us a nice close-up look at Griffey's signature swing.
However, I always felt the photo quality on his All-Star card wasn't all the great and has kind of dark and gloomy feel to it as a result.
1991 Donruss #392 Ken Griffey Jr. MVP
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $45
1991 Donruss #272 Robin Yount
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $40
After Robin Yount's second MVP season in 1989, he was a completely different hitter.
He wasn't a liability.
Yet, he wasn't a standout performer.
In the three years after his '89 award win, the Milwaukee Brewers center fielder was virtually a league-average hitter in terms of OPS+.
Yount's defense remained passable, but his bat was far from his 1980s heyday.
"I've been just good enough to keep my name in the lineup," Yount said. "Never too good and never too bad."
Yount's 1991 season marked the first time since 1979 that he posted a below-average OPS+ (98).
The 35-year-old slashed .260/.332/.376 for the 83-win Brewers with 10 home runs, 77 RBIs, and 0.9 WAR in 130 games.
Be it injuries, mileage, or a combination of both, Yount's time as one of the game's elite had passed.
After two more underwhelming seasons, the 20-year veteran called it a day and made his reservations for Cooperstown.
1991 Donruss #504 Ryne Sandberg
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $40
If Chicago Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg played in the advanced stats era, his MVP votes would be much beefier.
Sandberg never grabbed the headlines with quotes or flashy plays.
He was one of the most beloved Cubs ever to take the field at Wrigley and was plenty popular, yet his traditional counting stats didn't jump off the page compared to players like Barry Bonds.
In hindsight, Sandberg was in the conversation for the best player of the late 1980s and early 1990s.
In 1991, the 32-year-old posted 7.0 WAR – his second of three consecutive seasons hitting that mark.
He trailed only AL MVP Cal Ripken Jr. (11.5) and Bonds (8.0) for the MLB lead.
Sandberg slashed .291/.379/.485 with 26 home runs, 100 RBIs, 22 stolen bases, 104 runs, 100 RBIs, and 87 walks in 158 games.
Those are award-winning stats for anyone.
But, likely because his homers dropped from an NL-best 40 a year before, Ryno dropped from fourth in the MVP race to a baffling 17th.
1991 Donruss #243 Tony Gwynn
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $35
Tony Gwynn's left knee cost him a fifth batting title in 1991.
The San Diego Padres right fielder scorched through the National League in the season's first three months, ending June with a .357 batting average in 308 at-bats.
Sometime around mid-July, Gwynn's knee began to act up.
With no designated hitter spot to work with, the 31-year-old appeared slowed and hobbled both in the field and the batter's box.
The pain and the focus issues that came with it led to a prolonged slump.
Gwynn hit just .253 in July and .288 in August, dropping his batting average by over 30 points.
Atlanta's Terry Pendleton and Cincinnati's Hal Morris gained ground as he struggled.
Come September, it was clear things couldn't go on this way.
Gwynn went just 4-for-23 in six games before shutting it down for arthroscopic surgery.
He ended the year at .317, 40 points down from June 30th and two points behind Pendleton for the batting crown.
1991 Donruss #648 Rickey Henderson
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $35
The end of a would-be Oakland A's dynasty came quickly in 1991.
Heavily favored to win a second consecutive World Series in 1990, the juggernaut Athletics were bounced by the underdog Cincinnati Reds in a four-game sweep.
Oakland returned to play in '91 as back-to-back-to-back AL pennant winners, but they had just one trophy to show for it.
The '91 A's were still a dynamic offensive squad, finishing fifth in the AL in runs scored.
However, the pitching tanked hard. Perennial Cy Young candidate Dave Stewart had the worst year of his career, posting a negative WAR and 5.18 ERA.
Reigning Cy Young winner Bob Welch pitched to a 4.58 ERA.
Oakland bashed their way to a winning record but finished fourth in the AL West at 84-78.
It wasted several strong years for their position-playing group, including one of Rickey Henderson's last great showings.
Named to his tenth (and last) All-Star Game, Henderson slashed .268/.400/.423 with 18 home runs, 105 runs, 57 RBIs, and an AL-best 58 stolen bases in 134 games.
1991 Donruss #53 Rickey Henderson All-Star
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $30
Rickey Henderson was absolutely electric on the base paths.
The all-time leader in stolen bases and runs scored was arguably the game's best leadoff hitter who ever played.
Henderson occasionally displayed some good power, too, as there were a couple of seasons when he put up 28 home runs.
His compact stance and swing are clearly on display in this card.
1991 Donruss #105 Mark McGwire
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $30
Oakland A's manager, Tony La Russa, saw firsthand how brutal the 1991 campaign was for Mark McGwire.
Beset by relationship problems and in the "worst year of his life," the hulking first baseman sank into a season-long slump.
McGwire's batting average sat below the Mendoza Line as late as August 6th.
He picked it up a bit for the rest of the month but dropped dangerously close to .200 as September ended.
La Russa decided to take action, with the spotlight burning bright on the slugger and critics circling him from every angle.
After McGwire's average fell to .201 after an 0-for-4 against Texas on October 4th, the A's skipper sat his crossed-up star for the season finale, ensuring he wouldn't go into the offseason with a one at the front of his average.
McGwire ended the year slashing .201/.330/.383 with 22 home runs, 93 walks, and 75 RBIs in 154 games.
1991 Donruss #107 Don Mattingly
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $30
Growing up in Indiana, Don Mattingly was also one of my favorite players just because he, too, was from Indiana.
But, he could also play the game of baseball at a top tier level.
Mattingly's cards were always high on collectors' wish lists during the '80s as his production year after looked like he would be a shoo-in for the Hall of Fame one day.
However, injuries really put a damper on Mattingly's career and his production dropped off substantially in the '90s and he did not end up being a Hall of Famer.
With guys like Harold Baines (and no offense to Harold Baines) being voted in afterall, will Mattingly someday be reconsidered?
1991 Donruss #178 Wade Boggs
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $30
Less than 50 MLB players have ten or more .300 seasons over the course of their career.
Wade Boggs hit .300 ten years in a row.
Starting from his 1982 rookie season through the '91 campaign, the Boston Red Sox third baseman hit worse than .325 just once (1990, .302).
He won five batting titles and led the league in on-base percentage six times.
There was no more prolific singles-and-doubles hitter in the game.
The last of those ten consecutive .300 performances was just like Boggs: predictably impressive.
Helping keep the Red Sox in shouting distance of a second consecutive division title for most of the year, the 33-year-old slashed .332/.421/.460 with eight home runs, 93 runs, 89 walks, 51 RBIs, and 6.4 WAR in 144 games.
Boggs finished second to the Rangers' Julio Franco for the batting title.
He dipped below .300 in '92 (his last year in Boston) before rattling off four more .300-plus campaigns from '93 to '96.
1991 Donruss #201 George Brett
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $30
George Brett made a unique bit of baseball history in 1990, becoming the only player to win batting titles in three decades.
To do so, the Kansas City Royals third baseman had to shake off an uncharacteristically slow first half and hit lights out from July through the rest of the season.
In 1991, the George Brett who meandered through the first half of ’90 made a season-long appearance.
Slowed by injuries and wearing down in the 19th season of his Hall-of-Fame career, Brett took a direct elevator down from MVP candidacy to the level of a below-average hitter.
Brett hit just .170 in April before going down for a month with a right knee issue.
He heated up slowly upon his return in mid-May, but never looked like the 13-time All-Star and former MVP of previous years.
The 38-year-old hit a career-worst .255 in 131 games and fell below average in OPS+ (94) for the first time since his 1974 rookie season.
1991 Donruss #223 Cal Ripken Jr.
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $30
The "Iron Man" was one of my favorite players to watch as a kid and I am still stunned at how he played in 2,632 consecutive games.
He redefined how a shortstop approached the game, bringing power to the plate.
1991 was a career year for Ripken as he would put up career bests in home runs (34) and RBI (114) on his way to winning his second MVP award.
Oh, and he won a Gold Glove that year.
Ripken was an unbelievably talented ballplayer.
1991 Donruss #240 Ozzie Smith
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $30
Ozzie Smith was so exceptional in the field that even a slightly above-average hitting season was an absolute gift.
The St. Louis Cardinals shortstop was never a hitting clinician.
Over the first 13 years of his career, from 1978 to 1990, Smith hit over .300 just once (and never again) and posted a sub-average OPS+ in all but two campaigns.
If he hadn't been "The Wizard" with the glove, Smith would have been chased out of baseball many years before.
However, the Cardinals knew that his defensive impact made his offense a secondary concern.
So, imagine the team's joy when the 36-year-old turned in the best-hitting season of his career in 1991.
Named to his 11th consecutive All-Star Game, Smith slashed .285/.380/.367 with 96 runs and 35 stolen bases in 150 games.
His 112 OPS+ stands as the best of his Hall-of-Fame career.
Coupled with his MLB-best .987 fielding percentage, Smith's big year at the dish seemed that much bigger.
1991 Donruss #374 Greg Maddux
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $30
Guys like Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson may have been incredibly exciting to watch based on their power but Maddux was fun to watch for his craftsmanship.
He didn't have overpowering stuff but his pinpoint accuracy allowed him to break down hitter after hitter.
In his second to last season with the Cubs in 1991, Maddux was clearly emerging as one of the game's top pitchers.
And then he would go on that monster run from 1992-1995 when he won four consecutive Cy Young awards cementing his legacy as one of the all-time greats.
1991 Donruss #387 Rickey Henderson MVP
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $30
1991 Donruss #484 Dale Murphy
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $30
The Philadelphia Phillies had a plan at the beginning of the 1990s.
After several years outside the postseason, the Phillies finally had a talent-rich core laden with All-Star caliber talents like John Kruk, Lenny Dykstra, and Darren Daulton.
Philadelphia's front office felt they were a piece or two from contending in a wide-open NL East.
So, they swung a trade in August 1990 to bring in former two-time NL MVP Dale Murphy.
The problem was that Murphy just wasn't the same player anymore.
Atlanta had been trying to get out of its contract for some time, and their fortunes immediately improved in its first full year without him.
On the other side of the trade, the 1991 Phillies underperformed against expectations. Murphy finished second on the team in home runs (18) and RBIs (81), but his injury history made him a minus on defense.
He also got on base just barely above 30% of the time, making him essentially a league-average player.
Philadelphia finished 78-84, twenty games behind the division-winning Pittsburgh Pirates.
1991 Donruss #490 Kirby Puckett
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $30
The chants of "Kirby, Kirby, Kirby" were faint but steady when Kirby Puckett strode to the plate in the 11th inning of Game 6 of the 1991 World Series.
Leading off against new Atlanta Braves reliever Charlie Leibrandt, the Minnesota Twins superstar already had a single, a triple, a stolen base, a run scored, and two RBIs.
Puckett looked as calm as ever down three games to two, and with the season hanging in the balance.
He sat on a borderline strike before watching two Leibrandt off-speed pitches miss.
His first swing on the fourth pitch of the at-bat was the moment.
Puckett laced an off-kilter home run over the left-center fence, seemingly almost falling over from the impact.
The Metrodome ignited, and the series became the Twins' for the taking.
Puckett hit .250 for the series, but his six hits and five walks were all huge.
Minnesota took Game 7 in extras, winning their second title in a half-decade.
1991 Donruss #761 Rickey Henderson Award Winner
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $30
1991 Donruss #134 Randy Johnson
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $25
The "Big Unit" was always a flamethrower. However, it took a while for the fireballs to hit their target.
In 1991, Randy Johnson was already a strikeout machine.
The Seattle Mariners ace got close to 200 strikeouts (194) in his All-Star season the year before, and he'd pass that mark with room to spare by the end of the year.
Johnson struck out at least six batters in 24 of his 33 starts and touched double digits on seven occasions.
He ended the '91 campaign with 228 strikeouts, trailing only Cy Young winner Roger Clemens (241) for the AL crown.
So, why wasn't Johnson named on any Cy Young ballots, let alone mentioned in the same breath as Clemens?
Walks.
Lots and lots of walks.
Johnson gave out an MLB-worst 152 free passes in 201.1 innings.
He walked at least five batters in over half (17) of his appearances.
1991 Donruss #477 Frank Thomas
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $25
The "Big Hurt" was part of the Series 2 release that year and I've always loved how intimidating Thomas looks on this card.
Imagine being on the pitcher's mound and having this giant stare you down, ready to knock whatever you throw his way over the fence.
I love those old White Sox jerseys with the cursive writing and that old team logo, too.
Overall, this is a nice card featuring one of the biggest sluggers of the '90s.
1991 Donruss #536 Jose Canseco
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $25
In 1991, only one of the Bash Brothers was truly bashing consistently.
As his brother-in-bats, Mark McGwire, struggled through a .201 season, Jose Canseco took a step forward as the American League's most dangerous power hitter.
Canseco led all of baseball with 44 home runs, topping his career-best 42 from his 1988 MVP season.
Even without McGwire as reliable protection in the middle of the lineup, the 26-year-old DH/right fielder tallied over 100 runs (115) and 100 RBIs (122).
Oddly enough, Canseco was passed over for the All-Star Game in favor of McGwire.
He had 18 home runs in the first three months of the year compared to 13 for McGwire.
In addition, McGwire was hovering near the Mendoza line while Canseco sat in the .240s.
Whatever the reason Canseco was left out, whether bias or a stacked AL roster, he still finished as a Silver Slugger and fourth-place finisher for AL MVP when the season was over.
1991 Donruss Baseball Cards In Review
So there you have it, the ten most valuable 1991 Donruss cards.
As you can see, it will require them to be professionally graded in gem mint condition to be worth much.
This set was a monster and contained a 770 card checklist in total.
Within the set were also several different subsets, including:
- Diamond Kings
- Rated Rookies
- All-Stars
- MVPs
The cards was met with very little enthusiasm and excitement as collectors felt like the set really didn't include much creativity.
But for those of us who grew up collecting these as kids, they'll always have a huge nostalgic factor to them despite not having the most monetary value.
