2025 Donruss Value Pack Break - Auto hit!

This pack certainly exceeded my expectations beyond that of "first one in the stack" at Wally World.

The make-up of the pack was interesting. I'm so used to having all the inserts/parallels grouped together in one part of the pack, but here they were scattered into several places.

I've taken to calling Donruss and other Panini releases 'Heroes and Prospects' after the old ITG hockey sets, since they'd feature a mix of retired greats and minor leaguers. The same here, with these as an example of the former.

The backs give the vibe of some early UD releases, with the cards mixing the horizontal and the vertical.

I'll scan everything. Why not? As always, Oakland's stuff is so instantly recognizable that it doesn't matter that there's no logos on their cards. Also instantly recognizable - old Comiskey Park behind Billy Martin. I was surprised to see Deion with the Reds, but then checked and he did spend almost as much time there as with the Braves.  

The first two parallels. The first is an Optic, with the second is a Green Laser.

Now that is definitely unexpected from a retail hanger pack. Not just an auto, but probably one of the top prospect autos in the product. You can't be disappointed getting a hit from a 3rd overall draft pick. Even if it isn't the 1st Bowman version. Still, for me, a Donruss auto is more my collecting speed anyhow.

There's my first Mets card of the pack. Jim Leyland is a nice little surprise to see on the checklist. It doesn't complete the managerial portion of the base set, since there's also a Terry Francona appearance in there. 2/3 of the managers isn't a bad result from a single pack.

Parallel #2 is Mets card #2. That's well above the zero Jays cards within.

I would have thought that making their MLB debuts a couple years back would mean that guys like Wells or Carter wouldn't appear in these sets, but I'll just assume they've got individual contracts with Panini. I can't imagine anybody risking lawsuits over base cards of Austin Wells.

The insert finale. 

The final cards in the pack. This provides me with my only complaint about this pack - the collation. These cards were numbered 170, 180, 190 and 200 in the set.  That and the final 100 Rated Prospects all appear to be slightly SPd.

But if that's the worst I can say...

There you have it!