The Rundown
For several years in the mid-80s Donruss released an oversized baseball card product titled “Action All-Stars”. Actually, from 1983-1985 they were called Action All-Stars, but in 1986 and 1987 the “Action” was dropped and they were simply known as “All-Stars”. In 1985, each cellophane pack contained five cards and three pieces to the same Lou Gehrig puzzle that was included in the traditional flagship release. The 60 card set is packed with superstars, which I guess should be expected given the name of the set. Tim Raines, Cal Ripken Jr., George Brett, and Wade Boggs are just a few of the names that can be found.
The black bordered 1985 design was somewhat similar to the flagship set design with a “grid paper” like addition which provides a more unique twist. The card uses two images. an action shot serves as the main photo, and a smaller head shot is in the lower corner.
The back of the card is predominantly blue, and contains a good chunk of player data that isn’t always found on card backs. Player name and position, biographical info, career highlights, a description of how the player was acquired, and their contract status are a few of the things collectors can learn by flipping the card over. Typically, when I put cards into binder pages I put them back to back, but when I come across cards like these with more unique content on the back, it makes me want to leave them exposed for easier reading pleasure! The added enjoyment more than makes up for extra cost of a few more binder pages.
As of 1985 Gary drove in 6 runs in one game on two separate occasions. Just some of the info you can learn while reading the back of his card!
While I love oddball sets, I’ve held off collecting some of these oversized sets due to challenges in storing or displaying them. These cards measure 3.5” x 5” and don’t really fit into standard boxes or card holders. I’m not sure why it took me this long to research, but I was thrilled to learn that 4 pocket pages are available that fit these cards perfectly! Now that I know that, I’m going to go after all six releases!
As with many of these 80’s oddball releases, the 1985 Donruss Action All-Stars set is very affordable. Complete sets can be found on eBay for about $10 shipped, and wax boxes can be picked up for $15-$20. If you come across packs with a star on top, you can expect it to sell for a bit more of a premium. If you just want to cherry pick your favorites, singles can be picked up for .18 plus shipping on Sportlots. These sets are a great example of how nostalgia and uniqueness are the primary driver of my collecting interest. You’re not going to get rich off these products.
I picked up several of these sealed packs in a recent collection, and I took to my YouTube channel to open a few up for the world to see!
I have so much fun opening this type of stuff! There is still a thrill there for me when I find some of my favorite stars from that era. These will go straight into my Action All-Stars binder, and I’ll be opening up the rest of the packs with the hope that I’ll have the full set when it’s all said and done!
Check out my growing collection of oddball set reviews in the blog section of the website. The 1975 Hostess and 1984 Ralston Purina articles are a couple of my favorites! I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below or via Twitter!
Thanks for reading.
Checklist
1 Tim Raines
2 Jim Gantner
3 Mario Soto
4 Spike Owen
5 Lloyd Moseby
6 Damaso Garcia
7 Cal Ripken, Jr.
8 Dan Quisenberry
9 Eddie Murray
10 Tony Pena
11 Buddy Bell
12 Dave Winfield
13 Ron Kittle
14 Rich Gossage
15 Dwight Evans
16 Alvin Davis
17 Mike Schmidt
18 Pascual Perez
19 Tony Gwynn
20 Nolan Ryan
21 Robin Yount
22 Mike Marshall
23 Brett Butler
24 Ryne Sandberg
25 Dale Murphy
26 George Brett
27 Jim Rice
28 Ozzie Smith
29 Larry Parrish
30 Jack Clark
31 Manny Trillo
32 Dave Kingman
33 Geoff Zahn
34 Pedro Guerrero
35 Dave Parker
36 Rollie Fingers
37 Fernando Valenzuela
38 Wade Boggs
39 Reggie Jackson
40 Kent Hrbek
41 Keith Hernandez
42 Lou Whitaker
43 Tom Herr
44 Alan Trammell
45 Butch Wynegar
46 Leon Durham
47 Dwight Gooden
48 Don Mattingly
49 Phil Niekro
50 Johnny Ray
51 Doug DeCinces
52 Willie Upshaw
53 Lance Parrish
54 Jody Davis
55 Steve Carlton
56 Juan Samuel
57 Gary Carter
58 Harold Baines
59 Eric Show
60 Checklist