I really hadn’t planned on collecting this year’s Donruss set in any way. While it was my favorite non-premium brand in the late 1980s/early 1990s for its “Rated Rookies,” “Diamond Kings,” and for including players’ full names and “how acquired” information on the card backs, I’m not a fan of the modern version because Panini can’t use team names, logos or exact uniform color combinations.
But during the course of the year, I’ve gotten a number of them in trade packages, as gifts or in contest prizes… and they are beginning to grow on me despite their flaws. So I figured out which Mets cards I have and which ones I’m missing, and I added those to the group of wantlists linked over in the left sidebar. I doubt I’ll chase after them with the enthusiasm I would have shown if Panini did have an MLB license, but I’m going to try to put together the basic team set and get some of the inserts that inspire nostalgia.
How do you feel about Panini’s baseball cards?
Here is a list of the Mets included in both series, not including any parallels or buyback autographs.
2014 Donruss Series 1
Diamond Kings
15 David Wright
Rated Rookies
36 Travis d’Arnuad
43 Wilmer Flores
Base Set
68 David Wright
110 Matt Harvey
164 Curtis Granderson (I still think this should count as a Yankees card)
166 Zack Wheeler
191 Mike Piazza
Breakout Pitchers
8 Matt Harvey
30 Dillon Gee
Elite Dominators
6 Matt Harvey
Donruss Signatures
17 Andrew Brown
28 Jeurys Familia
29 Wilmer Flores
44 Zack Wheeler
Elite Series
8 David Wright
Box Toppers
5 Matt Harvey
12 David Wright
Game Gear
12 Dillon Gee
21 Jonathon Niese
34 Johan Santana
41 Ike Davis
Hall Worthy
13 Johan Santana
Power Plus Autographs
13 David Wright (serial numbered to 15)
No-Nos
5 Johan Santana
The Rookies
6 Travis d’Arnaud
7 Wilmer Flores
2014 Donruss Series 2
Diamond Kings
218 Matt Harvey
Base Set
316 Travis d’Arnaud
Bat Kings
9 David Wright
Elite
31 David Wright
70 Matt Harvey
84 Travis d’Arnuad
Elite Dominators
7 David Wright
Jersey Kings
22 Matt Harvey
Turn of the Century Signatures
16 David Wright
89 Matt den Dekker
90 Juan Centeno
91 Wilfredo Tovar
Checklist information courtesy of Sportscard Radio and The Cardboard Connection.
PaulHadsall.com 
Hey, the Heritage Update has Dice-K!
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I should point out that these are images from future Topps Vault auctions and may include cards only produced for autographs and not in the 100 card set. That said, I’ve seen images for deGrom, E. Young, Montero, d’Arnaud, Flores, Campbell and Dice-K. That seems like a lot of Mets in a 100 card set, which is why I mention the autograph possibility.
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Matsuzaka’s had autograph cards turning up in a few sets lately, so I could see that being the case here too. (Not a bad thing – I still need his autograph for my collection and I’ve been reluctant to spend the money for a signed Red Sox card.)
I think deGrom is the only lock to be on the regular 100-card checklist with maybe one or two others.
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