1986 Donruss contains 660 cards including 7 unnumbered checklists. The front of these cards contain a player photo with the Donruss logo and year located at the top. Donruss changed the logo from just a simple d with the year to the actual world Donruss and the year '86. The players name and position are located at the bottom inside a color strip that is slanted upwards. The team logo is also found on the front of the card near the bottom. The backs are printed in black ink on blue and white and contain the typical player bio and stats.

The first 26 cards of the set are part of the Diamond Kings (DK) subset. Cards (27-46) are part of the Rated Rookie (RR) subset. These cards were issued in packs that contained 3 puzzle pieces that make up a Hank Aaron puzzle.