1988 Donruss Baseball Forum

I have read many posts about this set. The ?? I have is exactly what does a factory set consist of. I have a factory set box and in that box are SEALED packs of cards #1-55, 56-110, 111-165, 166-220, 221-275, 276-330, #331-385 386-440, 441-550, 551-605, 606-660. Each pack has a Stan Musial card. It also has 2 Musial puzzle sets without periods. Should there be 2 Musial puzzle sets or am I missing something for this factory set? The factory set isn't factory sealed just the packs. Also, does the Musial puzzle come with and without periods as other Donruss puzzles do? I don't have other '88 cards to compare to or I wouldn't ask for clarification..

That's what the factory set consists of.  The box itself was never sealed, just the bundles of cards.  Not sure about the puzzle question.

I wouldn't  be  surprised  if  they  came in a variations

From whatI understand, the Musial Puzzle pieces are all the same.

Just because there are multiple of a single card enclosed in a factory set doesn't mean we list it here multiple times. The card is the card (or the puzzle is the puzzle). If you opened a factory set and a random card had 2 copies in the set, we wouldn't list that twice - you just note it in your collection that you have 2 of that item (or you put 1 FS/FT).

Thanks.

Ok...First off, I know I am going to inspire a lot of critism for asking this...but I am looking into my 1988 Donruss right now. What is the defining difference between the factory and retail card? I look at the examples in the 1988 Donruss section and can't see anything. Is it the trademark line? Is it the markings on front? I go back and forth between two cards, and because I cannot put the images side by side, am not seeing it. I have looked at the 15 some odd threads on this subject but must be missing the point. I looked at the 1988 Donruss listing on the data base, and tho it shows the variations, I could not find where it actually says what the difference is other than "Factory Set Version". I am old, be patient and kind...thanks.

One of the biggest differencces between the 2 is the front border. You'll notice that on many of the cards, when side by side, that one may have a blue top-left corner and the other may be in black. There are also differences in how the back bio info is laid out. the info is the same, but the sapcing is noticable different. Becase the Base and FS haven't been merged yet the VAR notes aren't fully there yet. I tend to have two browser tabs open with the 2 different sets and visually compare.

The most common difference is in the bio paragraph where the different font causes the last line of the text to start differently.