For kids of the 1980s, the Donruss Diamond Kings evoke feelings of nostalgia.
There was nothing like opening a pack and seeing those paintings of baseball legends from artist Dick Perez, the subject of a new documentary called "The Diamond King."
From a young Ken Griffey Jr. in 1990 to Bo Jackson at the height of his two-sport powers, the Diamond Kings ruled baseball. Cal Ripken Jr., Mark McGwire, Nolan Ryan and Ryne Sandberg were among the greats given the royal treatment in the subset.
But some Diamond Kings were ... a little less regal.
Like selections for the All-Star Game, when you need a representative from every team, it can lead to some questionable choices that look even odder through the lens of history.
Pitchers Matt Young (a 1984 Diamond King with a career WAR of 7.3), Charlie Lea (1985, WAR of 7.4) and Jeff Robinson (1989, WAR of 1.4) come to mind.
Young ended up with a career record of 55-95, but in 1983, he was an All-Star as a rookie for the Mariners. Lea also was an All-Star in 1984, and Robinson won 13 games in 1988 with an ERA under 3.00.
Digging deep into Baseball Reference, we find there's no Diamond King selection quite as baffling as Kurt Stillwell in the 1991 set.
Sure, Stillwell was an All-Star with the Royals in 1988, but he was the only AL offensive player not to get an at-bat in that game. The second overall pick in the 1983 draft, Stillwell bounced around to five teams in nine major-league seasons.
He had a negative WAR number in four of those nine years, finishing with a quite average 3.1 WAR for his career.
Stillwell debuted in 1986 for the Reds as part of one of a talented rookie class that included Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Greg Maddux, Bo Jackson, Bobby Bonilla, Rafael Palmeiro, Barry Larkin and David Cone. Stillwell hit just .229 with no homers and just 26 RBIs in his first season.
By the time he was named a Diamond King in 1991, he had a .251 career batting average with 24 home runs over five seasons.
So, was Perez running out of people to paint? Maybe he just needed a new Royals player to feature.
By 1991, 28 players had been a Diamond King twice. That included Kansas City legend George Brett (1982, 1987). Royals third baseman Kevin Seitzer got the nod in 1988, and it would be hard to showcase Jackson again after he was in the 1990 subset.
So, Stillwell was included in the '91 set, alongside future Hall of Famers such as Paul Molitor, Jeff Bagwell, Wade Boggs and Frank Thomas.
In his career, Stillwell never hit higher than .265 or had more than 10 homers in a season.
His autographed 1991 Diamond King can be had for a couple bucks.
Darren Rovell is the founder of cllct and one of the country's leading reporters on the collectibles market. He previously worked for ESPN, CNBC and The Action Network.