I'm not joking either. Some of you are familiar with my obsession with 2005 Diamond Kings. It's about time I write a review of the product.

Here are some basic facts.

Series 1 boxes come with 2 gu/autos per box in 12 packs. There are 300 cards in the Series 1 base set. Each pack will also have an insert/parallel in it, unless it's got a gu/auto.

There are several variations of parallels. There are parallels of the base cards that are numbered from 100 to 1. There are framed parallels of the base cards that are numbered from 100 to 1. The gu/autos also have similar parallel versions.

There are also several inserts in Series 1. There are Heritage Collection cards, Timelines, and Team Timelines, as well as Hall Of Fame Heroes. Each of these also have gu/auto parallels.

There is another gu/auto set called Diamond Cuts. They are not cut autos, but just regular gu/auto cards. I like this subset the least. The checklist is the weakest for the entire product.

The HOF Heroes are my favorite gu/auto subset. They feature HOFers from Ruth to Clemente. The autos are of undead players, while the deceased players are featured with dual game-used pieces. These come in several different parallel versions including framed parallels. They can be numbered from 100 to 1.

There are several things going for this product.

1. The checklist is extensive and basically all your favorite players (that were active in 2005) have autos and game-used cards in the set. Plus you have the chance of pulling HOFer autos or game-used including guys like Ruth, Clemente, Feller, Ryan, McCovey, Mays, Yount, etc.

2. The price point is great. You can find a box for under $50 most of the time.

3. Every game-used card (except the Diamond Cuts and Heritage Collection) are dual game-used. So, unless you pull a Diamond Cuts/Heritage Collection card, you are going to get two game-used pieces on every card.

4. The HOF Heroes subset is a beautiful set, especially the framed versions. Actually, I like all the framed cards.

Here is a list of the best cards I've pulled from 2005 Diamond Kings Series 1:

Carlton Fisk Auto 1/1
Gary Sheffield Jersey/Bat/Auto 1/1
Mike Mussina Auto 1/1
Roy Halladay jersey/jersey auto 1/1
Craig Biggio Auto 1/1
Pedro Martinez auto 1/1
Todd Helton jersey/bat/auto 1/1
Craig Biggio bat/bat/auto 1/1
Carlos Lee auto 1/1
Jamie Moyer auto 1/1
Roger Clemens Jersey/Bat/Auto 5/5
Rafael Palmeiro jersey/bat/auto 1/5
Phil Rizzuto auto 3/5
Gary Carter auto 1/5
Nolan Ryan Dual Jersey/Jersey/Auto /10
Dale Murphy jersey/jersey/auto /10
Travis Hafner auto 04/10
Matt Williams auto 10/10
Carlton Fisk jersey/bat/auto /10
Harmon Killebrew Bat/Bat/Auto /25
Don Mattingly jersey/bat/auto /25
Robin Yount jersey/auto /25
Dennis Eckersley jersey/jersey/auto /25
Duke Snider jersey/jersey /25
Duke Snider jersey/jersey /25
Willie McCovey jersey/jersey /25
Nolan Ryan jersey/jersey /25
Bob Feller jersey/jersey /25
Bob Feller auto /25
Carl Yastrzemski jersey/bat /25
Orel Hershiser jersey/jersey/auto /25
Carl Yastrzemski jersey/bat /50
David Ortiz jersey/bat/auto /50
Dennis Eckersley jersey/jersey/auto /50
Carlos Zambrano jersey/bat/auto /50
Aramis Ramirez jersey/bat/auto /50
Dale Murphy jersey/jersey/auto /50
Roberto Clemente bat/bat /50
Andre Dawson jersey/auto /100
Brad Penny jersey/bat/auto /100
Carlos Lee jersey/bat/auto /100

And here are some pics, so you can get an idea of what the cards look like:


300 card base set



Diamond Cuts Auto Jersey


Team Timelines Dual GU


Timelines Dual GU


Base Dual GU


Base Framed Dual GU (This one is Blue, there are other colors as well)


Base Autographed Dual GU


Base Framed Autograph


Base Framed Autograph Dual GU

HOF Heroes Dual GU


HOF Heroes Framed Dual GU


HOF Heroes Auto (by the way, this is a 1/1)


HOF Heroes Framed Autographed Dual GU


Heritage Collection Autographed Dual GU


Heritage Collection Single GU

By the way, I have an 05 DK Aramis Ramirez 1/1 for trade. It's not GU or AUTO so I don't know exactly what parallel it is, but it is a 1/1.

pm sent
5

Nice stuff. Thanks for the review.

excellent write up J!!

Watch those obsessions though.. Better ask Richard for some of his meds..

I only bought 1 box of it but I liked it. I could easily see myself buying another.

I agree this product is beautiful. Mike(Damnws6) and I busted a case of this. (Thread is here somewhere) We enjoyed it but got hosed. Our best hit was a Roger Maris dual GU. One of the GU pieces had a piece of the button hole. It was a beauty.

I wish you the best in your collecting.
-Jeremy

Zombie autos! Run!

But seriously, when I got back into the hobby in 2005, this was the first box I bought. By far the most fun you can get for the price. I pulled 2 1/1s from the 8 or so boxes i opened, one of which was an auto/jersey. Aubrey Huff and Kevin Milwood aren't the best players, but it made an exciting pull that much more exciting.

I'm not a big spender or a case breaker, but a case of this is the most tempting thing I can think of.

I totally agree on the case idea. I would love to do a 32 box group case break of this, but I can't get enough people involved to pull it off. There are 16 box cases as well. Might attempt to do one of those. They usually run around $750.00.