Manufacturer: Donruss
Set Size: 660 Cards
Card Size: 2-1/2” x 3-1/2”
Set Notes: Somewhat similar to the 1981 Donruss debut set, 1982 Donruss offers some much loved upgrades. First is the release of “Diamond Kings”. A subset that Donruss would continue for decades to come. Also, the design while similar to other Donruss sets, includes a baseball bat and ball at the bottom which contains players name and position. Team name is located in the ball. This year also was the first time we saw the simple Donruss back side, with player stats and information in just two colors blue and black. This would be a hallmark of Donruss for the rest of the 1980s and beyond.
Key Rookies From 1982 Donruss: 73 – Dave Righetti | 252 – Lee Smith | 405 – Cal Ripken Jr.
Pricing chart includes raw card price & some graded card value estimates.
These values are collated from a variety of resources including recently sold listings, sales averages and a variety of other sports card pricing data sources. Please see full disclaimer on “Terms Page” for more information.
(Rookiecardprices.com only shows values for regular base set cards. No prices are shown for errors, parallels, subsets, misprints or other cards unless noted.)
DISCLAIMER: This data is not intended as financial advice and should not be used as such. Please do your own research before making any investment or selling/buying decisions.
(–) : No Pricing Data Available | ($) USD Price Value | (¢) USD Price Under $1
1982 Donruss Rookie Card Prices
| Rookie | Card # | Raw | 8 | 9 | 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Welsh | 44 | $1 | - | - | - |
| Jorge Bell | 54 | $2 | $10 | $15 | $32 |
| Dave Righetti | 73 | $1 | - | $10 | $30 |
| Tim Wallach | 140 | $1 | - | $10 | $30 |
| Matt Sinatro | 149 | 75¢ | - | - | - |
| Mark Brouhard | 154 | 50¢ | - | - | - |
| Fred Breining | 186 | 75¢ | - | - | - |
| Danny Boone | 187 | 50¢ | - | - | - |
| Joe Pittman | 218 | 25¢ | - | - | - |
| Juan Bonilla | 220 | 50¢ | - | - | - |
| Jody Davis | 225 | $1 | - | $10 | $37 |
| Von Hayes | 237 | $1 | - | - | $30 |
| Lee Smith | 252 | $2 | $12 | $15 | $93 |
| Brett Butler | 275 | $1 | $8 | $20 | $25 |
| Rufino Linares | 310 | 75¢ | - | - | - |
| John Martin | 343 | 75¢ | - | - | $125 |
| Rick Mahler | 349 | 50¢ | - | - | $65 |
| Brad Havens | 382 | 75¢ | - | - | - |
| Darryl Motley | 390 | 50¢ | - | - | - |
| Steve Bedrosian | 401 | 75¢ | - | - | - |
| Cal Ripken Jr. | 405 | $15 | $30 | $135 | $2,100 |
| Dave Stewart | 410 | $2 | $10 | $12 | $54 |
| Mike Witt | 416 | 50¢ | - | - | - |
| Ken Dayley | 501 | 50¢ | - | - | - |
| Rich Gedman | 512 | 50¢ | - | - | - |
| Gene Nelson | 513 | 50¢ | - | - | - |
| Johnny Ray | 528 | $1 | - | - | $25 |
| Pat Tabler | 529 | 75¢ | - | - | - |
| Kelvin Moore | 534 | 50¢ | - | - | - |
| Jack O'Connor | 539 | 75¢ | - | - | - |
| Bob Ojeda | 540 | 75¢ | - | - | $30 |
| Tim Laudner | 549 | $1 | - | - | - |
| Scott Fletcher | 554 | $1 | - | - | - |
| Shooty Babitt | 556 | 75¢ | - | - | - |
| Kent Hrbek | 557 | $2 | $7 | $20 | $58 |
| Julio Valdez | 560 | 75¢ | - | - | - |
| Mike Marshall | 562 | 75¢ | - | - | - |
| Steve Crawford | 564 | 50¢ | - | - | - |
| Paul Serna | 567 | 50¢ | - | - | - |
| Bob Brenly | 574 | 50¢ | - | - | - |
| Rick Leach | 583 | 75¢ | - | - | - |
| Luis DeLeon | 588 | 75¢ | - | - | - |
| Bryan Clark | 596 | 25¢ | - | - | - |
| Bob Bonner | 610 | 50¢ | - | - | - |
| Gene Roof | 615 | 50¢ | - | - | - |
| Keith Drumwright | 616 | 50¢ | - | - | - |
| Rickey Keeton | 618 | 50¢ | - | - | - |
| Luis Aguayo | 622 | 50¢ | - | - | - |
| Steve Sax | 624 | $2 | $5 | $15 | $72 |
| Terry Francona | 627 | 50¢ | - | $13 | $66 |
| Kevin Hickey | 631 | 25¢ | - | - | - |
| Orlando Sanchez | 636 | 25¢ | - | - | - |
| Ed Lynch | 641 | 25¢ | - | - | - |
| Ron Gardenhire | 649 | $1 | - | $15 | $25 |
| Data Updated: March 2026 | |||||
Overview of 1982 Donruss Baseball Cards
The 1982 Donruss baseball card set marks Donruss’s second year of production after breaking Topps’s long-standing monopoly in 1981. It represented a notable improvement over their debut set and introduced some innovative features.
Size: The set consists of 660 cards (653 base cards plus 7 unnumbered checklists).
Design: The card fronts feature a color player photo with the player’s name on a baseball bat icon and the team name on a baseball near the bat handle. They have a white border with a small colored frame. The Donruss logo and an “82” denoting the year are in the top right corner. The card backs have a horizontal design and include year-by-year and career statistics, along with condensed career highlights.
Card Stock: A key improvement from 1981 was the use of thicker card stock in 1982, addressing a major complaint about the flimsy nature of the previous year’s cards.
Diamond Kings: This iconic subset (cards #1-26) was introduced in 1982 and featured artistic paintings of star players by Dick Perez. These cards were a unique addition and quickly became highly sought after, setting Donruss apart from Topps and Fleer.
Babe Ruth Puzzle Cards: Since Donruss (and Fleer) were prohibited from including gum in their packs due to a court order, they introduced puzzle pieces. Each pack of 1982 Donruss included a card with three pieces of a Babe Ruth puzzle. There were 21 different puzzle cards, yielding 63 pieces that could be assembled to form an image of Babe Ruth.
Key Rookie Cards (RCs): The 1982 Donruss set is most famous for containing the rookie card of Cal Ripken Jr. (#405), which is by far the most valuable card in the set. Other notable rookie cards include:
The 1982 Donruss set is a classic from the “junk wax” era, meaning it was heavily produced. While complete sets and most individual cards (even Hall of Famers) are generally affordable in raw condition, the Cal Ripken Jr. rookie card stands out as the most valuable, especially in high graded condition (PSA 9 or PSA 10). Unopened wax boxes and packs can still be found and are a popular rip for collectors hoping to pull a high-grade Ripken.
Overall, the 1982 Donruss set is remembered for its improved quality over its inaugural year, its innovative Diamond Kings and puzzle inserts, and of course, the iconic Cal Ripken Jr. rookie card. It solidified Donruss’s place as a major player in the baseball card market.
Popular Rookies From 1982 Donruss Baseball
