Founded by Michael Cramer, Pacific released their first product for the 97/98 hockey season. They closed their doors in 2005, releasing only one product that season, their base Pacific set. All Pacific names and brands were purchased by Donruss.

Pacific was a company that catered heavily to hockey card collectors (though they also produced baseball and football cards as well). The majority of their products were relatively low-priced, and their card designs were often trend-setting due to the wealth of die-cut inserts they crafted. Pacific was the first to introduce a product that contained one memorabilia card per pack; this being 2000-2001 Private Stock Hockey. Pacific continued the line of Private Stock throughout it's remaining years and also introduced a similar product; Titanium. The inaugural issue of Titanium would also debut another hobby first - the first rookie card numbered to the player's jersey number. Pacific's last major memorabilia set was 2003-2004 Luxury Suite, which was roundly loved by collectors.

While Pacific held a level of appeal to many collectors, they were also a source of frustration for others. The biggest complaint against the company came from endless parallels their products would contain, and need to chase them through different releases (i.e.: hobby, retail, canadian, Jewel Collection, etc). Pacific also appeared to work towards added sales by making rookie sets and press plates available direct to the public instead of seeding said cards into packs. This drove down those card's collectability as well as value. A final point of contention came when Pacific closed their doors and sold off backstock to the general public and account holders, which in turn flooded the market with unnumbered cards that apparently had been printed for replacement purposes.