1995 Donruss Baseball Forum

Anyone have info on the samples for this set?

PSA has graded Griffey and Mattingly:

https://www.psacard.com/pop/baseball-cards/1995/donruss-samples/35896

But I'm suspicious that the Griffey is actually a mislabeled 1996 sample.  Mattingly doesn't have a 1996 sample though and the number matches his issue in the 1995 set.  Griffey has #4 in the 1996 samples:

https://www.tcdb.com/Checklist.cfm/sid/99898/1996-Donruss---Promotional-Samples

I found these with photos of the Mattingly:

https://mavin.io/item/1995-Donruss-SAMPLES-%2355-Don-Mattingly-RARE%21?itemId=124192835390&q=donruss%20samples%20mattingly%201995

https://www.ebay.com/itm/225238509574?hash=item347142e806%3Ag%3AjXoAAOSwu6JjZsVN&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAsNvXkx8XVqvw5T2p5dG9taJeboSAacvPsaURaPTj%2F2dWFxfhD599Z0m7N2eLecPCkPaKyx91g%2BG39T9nZ0ftwm5R0pONWezff51pKAnvilWHfE%2BuXfqt%2F4JtOBxii9DZ83mh%2BMMAVGjB9ezNdsAsEqMTRAjYyDBzG%2FMxVuwaf2Z0H36EoAvNw%2BvK3zfwrg07jbsDFfo2xhpGo6eiwwgVULaBsK6N%2BSyXD6BpFzXLmByu%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR8ru2JzDYQ&nma=true&si=I%252FRMo5JmsF9PqxltfetBIP9Vpus%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

From the images the only difference I can see to the regular issue Mattingly is the registered trademark on the back is in a different position, closer to his arm.

From BCP

"To preview the upcoming 1995 Donruss Baseball set, Donruss printed additional quantities of card numbers 5, 8, 20, 42, 55, 275, 331, and 340 and mailed them to dealers and Hobby media. Unfortunately, unlike other "promo" cards of the era, these cards are not marked and are exactly the same as any other base card."

Edit: Added link that already exist within the set's page 1995 Donruss - BaseballCardPedia.com

Thank you!  Well, I guess in that case it would be difficult to put these in here as a separate checklist if they are supposedly identical to the regular issue.  With the Mattingly I did identify a small difference though.  Not sure if the same could be said for the rest.

Ok, I reviewed the images, and the pic of Mattingly is definitely shifted more to the right on the back of the promo compared to the regular issue. If we could get some confirmed images of the other promos, we could have a means of adding them to the database - but we'd have to be able to spot differences such as this one.

"Unfortunately, unlike other "promo" cards of the era, these cards are not marked and are exactly the same as any other base card."

100% inaccurate info from BCP. Like so many other uncataloged variations and promos, collectors did a lot of the legwork on this set through forums like freedomcardboard, beckett, net54, etc. Lots of solid info out there in the old forum discussions.

Other than genaralities, can you provide these specifics so we can get these listed here?

Well, never did say it was perfect... Just pointed out a reference point. Beckett had nothing and I didn't see much else out there. Of course, you have been a great source of info on variations so as Dan stated.... 

Here's the information I have for each of the promo cards that differentiate them from the base cards:

#5 Mike Piazza - TM symbol visible on back

#8 Barry Bonds - stats are set farther to the right

#20 Jeff Bagwell - name on back is set farther to the right

#42 Juan Gonzalez - more of the "R" in Rangers is visible on back

#55 Don Mattingly - copyright symbol on back is blocked

#275 Frank Thomas - back photo is set farther to the left

I'm not sure what the differentiation is for the promo cards 331 and 340.

Do you have these cards?

I don't have any of them - I just have a contemporary variation guide that describes the differences between the base cards and the promos.