Before inserts became the norm, Donruss had a pretty clever way of adding something extra to their baseball sets: puzzles!

The 1985 Donruss baseball set included a three-piece puzzle featuring one of baseball’s most iconic legends, Lou Gehrig. Each puzzle piece was included with packs, giving collectors a little extra reason to keep opening—and a fun challenge to complete the picture.

Gehrig was a fitting choice. The Yankees legend finished his career with 2,721 hits, 493 home runs, 1,995 RBIs and a .340 batting average, while earning six World Series championships and two MVP awards.

What makes these puzzles especially fun today is that they aren’t just a picture of a Hall of Famer—they’re a little snapshot of how the hobby used to work. No flashy inserts, no serial numbers, no guaranteed hits. Just three pieces scattered throughout packs and the satisfaction of finally putting them together.

The 1986 Donruss Hank Aaron puzzle is a great example of the era when baseball card companies turned the wrapper into part of the collecting experience. Rather than simply throwing away the puzzle pieces, collectors could assemble them to create a larger tribute to one of baseball’s greatest legends.

Featuring Hank Aaron, the puzzle celebrates a player whose career represented consistency, power, and remarkable longevity. Aaron finished his career with 755 home runs and held Major League Baseball’s career home-run record for more than three decades.

Like many Donruss puzzles of the 1980s, the Hank Aaron puzzle is a fun piece of baseball-card nostalgia. It reminds us that collecting wasn’t always just about the cards themselves—the wrappers, puzzles, checklists, and other extras were all part of the experience.

The 1989 Donruss Warren Spahn Puzzle is one of the more memorable pieces of Donruss’ classic puzzle tradition. Featuring Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn, the puzzle consists of 63 pieces, distributed across 21 three-piece panels. Collectors could find individual panels in wax packs, while factory sets included the complete puzzle.

Spahn was a fitting choice. A 20-time All-Star and the winningest left-handed pitcher in Major League history, he represents one of baseball’s greatest pitchers and one of the game’s most recognizable legends. The completed puzzle creates a striking portrait of Spahn and adds a little piece of baseball history to what might otherwise be remembered simply as a late-1980s “junk wax” set.

For collectors of the 1989 Donruss release, the Spahn puzzle is a reminder of what made opening packs so much fun—you weren’t just looking for cards; you were also slowly putting together a picture of a baseball legend.

The 1992 Donruss Rod Carew Puzzle was the final puzzle issued by Donruss, bringing an end to a tradition that had accompanied the company’s baseball cards for more than a decade. The puzzle consisted of 63 individual pieces, which were inserted into Series One packs—three pieces per pack—and could be assembled into a painted portrait of Hall of Famer Rod Carew. The artwork was created by renowned baseball artist Dick Perez, the same artist responsible for the iconic Diamond Kings artwork.

The puzzle is particularly significant because it was essentially the last remnant of Donruss’ workaround from the 1980s, when baseball-card companies faced restrictions involving how their cards could be packaged. By 1992, the hobby had changed dramatically, with insert cards becoming increasingly important. Donruss was already moving in that direction by turning Diamond Kings into an insert set that same year.

Interestingly, the puzzle disappeared after Series One—Series Two packs contained no puzzle pieces. That makes the 1992 Rod Carew Puzzle not only the final Donruss puzzle, but also a small piece of the transition from the traditional junk-wax-era pack experience into the modern insert-driven hobby.

For collectors of vintage Donruss, it is a fitting final chapter: 63 little pieces of cardboard that completed a portrait, and the end of one of the hobby’s most recognizable traditions.

– Roberto Clemente

The 1987 Donruss Hall of Fame Diamond King Puzzle featuring Roberto Clemente is one of the most memorable inserts of the junk wax era. While Topps included a stick of gum in every pack, Donruss continued its unique tradition of including puzzle pieces, giving collectors something extra to chase beyond the baseball cards themselves.

Each wax pack contained one puzzle card with three interlocking pieces. Collectors needed all 63 pieces to complete the full-color portrait of Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente, making it both a collectible and a fun challenge. Factory sets included the complete puzzle, allowing collectors to enjoy the finished artwork immediately.

The artwork was created in the distinctive Diamond King style by the renowned Perez-Steele Galleries, whose paintings became one of Donruss’ signature features throughout the 1980s. Rather than simply reproducing a photograph, the illustration captures Clemente with a classic, timeless feel that reflects both his greatness on the field and his enduring legacy off it.

Roberto Clemente was a fitting choice for the 1987 puzzle. A 15-time All-Star, 12-time Gold Glove winner, four-time National League batting champion, 1966 National League MVP, and two-time World Series champion, Clemente remains one of baseball’s most respected figures. His tragic death in 1972 while delivering earthquake relief supplies to Nicaragua cemented his reputation as both an extraordinary player and humanitarian.

Today, the Clemente puzzle remains a nostalgic favorite among collectors. While individual puzzle pieces are common, completing an entire 63-piece puzzle often requires patience, making finished examples especially satisfying to display. For many collectors who grew up opening 1987 Donruss packs, seeing the Clemente puzzle instantly brings back memories of sorting pieces on the floor, trading duplicates with friends, and hoping the next pack would finally contain the missing piece.

More than just a pack insert, the 1987 Roberto Clemente Hall of Fame Diamond King Puzzle represents a time when collecting was about the experience as much as the cards themselves. It remains one of the defining non-card collectibles of the 1987 Donruss release and a lasting tribute to one of baseball’s greatest ambassadors.