REVIEW: 2025 Donruss (hobby box)

Last week, I ran my first-ever Patreon group break where we busted a hobby box of 2025 Donruss.  Each box promises 3 hits (autographs or relics) spread out among the 24 packs (eight cards per pack).  

Since Donruss doesn't have a proper licensing agreement with MLB and its players, you should expect a healthy dose of up-and-coming rookies combined with retired stars.  That said, our box did include several current players as well, so I must admit that I don't fully understand all of the intricacies of the legality of who can (and cannot) be included in Donruss products!

Base cards:

The 2025 base set has a pleasing design that is reminiscent of previous Donruss sets.  I appreciate the white borders combined with the subtle hints of team-specific colors on the sides of the cards.  The photos and backgrounds seem to be brighter than usual, probably helped out by the small white border around each player photo, which makes the cards pop nicely.

Parallels:

Each pack comes with an Optic parallel, and the Optic cards also have parallels.  I didn't bother scanning any of the Optic cards, just imagine the regular base cards a bit shinier, and you've got the main idea.  That said, we did pull several other parallels worth noting (and scanning).  

My favorite parallel design is the clear acetate cards.  Our box featured one (Brock Wilken of the Brewers).  If I had infinite money, it'd be fun to build a full acetate set sometime.  Unfortunately, I most definitely do NOT have infinite money, so don't expect to see a full set featured on my blog anytime soon!

While the acetate cards are not serially numbered, we did find eight other parallels (plus an Elite Series insert) that were numbered:

Here's what each card is numbered out of:

• Owen Hall #/250
• Jackson Churio #/199
• Dylan Crews #/199
• Prince Fielder #/199
• Brandon Sproat #/149
• Kendall George #/149
• Luisangel Acuna #/99
• Cliff Lee #/25
• Theo Gillen #/25

As you can see, we killed it with the serially numbered goodies!  The Churio is a great-looking insert, and getting numbered cards of Dylan Crews, Luisangel Acuna, and Cliff Lee (among others) made for a fun box rip!

Inserts:

I already showed off the Jackson Churio insert above, but that wasn't the only insert in the box.  In fact, we ended up with a nice handful of cards, including one of Johnny Bench (yay!) and my favorite of the batch, the Rickey Henderson Hit List card.

We also pulled four of the Bomb Squad cards, which I like, though the clear winner is the parallel version of Seaver King.  The extra shine on the card really makes the design pop!

Hits:

As I said at the top of the post, each hobby box of 2025 Donruss contains three hits.  Our first two hits were of the prospect variety.  We got a Jersey Kings relic of Carson Benge for the Mets and then an AJ Ewing autograph (also for the Mets).  As a group break host, I would have preferred to see the hits spread out across multiple teams, but that's the nature of a box break, I guess!

While the first two hits weren't super exciting (though I suppose they might be in the future if either player pans out), our third hit definitely didn't disappoint:

That's a Roger Clemens autograph from the Signature Series set!  It's an awesome card (though I'll admit that there's no way I can see "Roger Clemens" in that autograph sticker!  

Overall, I give the 2025 Donruss hobby box the following rating:

Set Design:  B+

Collation:  A

Opening Thrill:  A

Overall:  B+

Donruss is consistently a fun rip, especially for group breaks.  I will admit that I'd like the set a lot more if it had team logos, but I suppose that ship has sailed a long time ago.  If you don't mind the mix of retired stars and up-and-coming prospects, then you'll enjoy your time ripping Donruss!  Each pack had a nice variety of base cards, parallels, and inserts, and with three hits in the box, you do have a decent chance of getting someting good that you'll like.  If nothing else, it's a perfect box for a group break!