Bo Jackson baseball cards were hot items from the moment his rookie cards started popping out of wax packs in 1987.
Actually, collectors’ love affair with Jackson cardboard started even before then, thanks to 1) the hype that surrounded him as a two-sport, Heisman-Trophy-winning phenom taking his cuts in the batter’s box and 2) the rookie card mania that gripped the hobby in the mid-1980s and prompted companies to get some Bo cards into circulation at the end of 1986.
And, even though Jackson’s career was slowed down and ultimately cut short by a devastating hip injury suffered during an NFL playoff game in 1991, our fervor for his baseball cards has only grown over the years.
What follows is a rundown of the 20 most valuable Bo cards, with a few qualifier. Namely, all the cards on our list …
- Were issued during Bo’s career
- Are unique to the list in terms of appearance (so, you won’t find 1987 Donruss and 1987 Leaf, though there is one near-exception)
- Not one-of-one, buy-back, autograph, relic-added contrivances
The values listed below are based on recent selling prices for cards in PSA 9 condition, though if you look hard enough, you can find 10s of most of these without too much problem … at a much steeper premium, of course.
Alright, with our ground rules established, let’s dig in and wallow in the 20 most valuable Bo Jackson baseball cards, starting at the bottom …
(Note: The following sections contain affiliate links to eBay and Amazon listings for the cards being discussed.)
1992 Topps Gold Bo Jackson (#290)
We start off with Bo in the unfamiliar black and white of the Chicago White Sox, an advent brought about by the hip injury that ended his football career in January of 1991.
After the Royals released him in March, the ChiSox signed him in April, and he worked his way to (new) Comiskey Park by September.
That was enough to get him in the 1992 Topps set as a southsider.
But this is no ordinary base card – it’s a 1992 Topps Gold card!
Considered by many to be the first true parallel, Gold featured all 792 cards from the base 1992 set, but with gold foil over the player and team name bar at the bottom of the card. Gold cards were inserted in all pack types, including vending boxes (five per box) and even factory sets (ten).
Collectors could also send in 100 runs from the “Match-the-Stats” game cards (also included in packs) for ten gold cards. It didn’t take consumers – and Topps – long to realize that you could game the game by shining a flashlight through the Match-the-Stats cards to reveal the answers and “win” every time.
Topps’ response was to stamp the Gold cards sent out as part of the game with an extra “Winner” gold label. These Winner versions of the Gold cards (shown here for Bo) are more plentiful than the “plain” Gold cards, but none are exorbitantly valuable.
Value: $15-20
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1990 Kenner Starting Lineup (Black and White) Bo Jackson (#)
By 1990, Kenner Starting Lineup figures had become something of a staple in the hobby, even if they were tough to store and display.
And, you couldn’t have a mainstream issue without Bo Jackson,
(Jackson was also part of the 1989 Starting Lineup set, but his individual card from that series doesn’t come up for sale very often at all in graded condition. Hence, its absence here.)
Bo had two cards in his ‘90 package – a yellow-bordered one, and this one, which checks in at a slightly higher price point.
Value: $15-20
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1986 Donruss ‘The Rookies’ Bo Jackson (#38)
“The Rookies” was Donruss’ answer to Topps Traded and Fleer Update, and you have to hand it to them for their honesty. Because, make no mistake about it, all of those late-season issues were all about milking everything the companies could from the rookie card craze.
And 1986 was a perfect year to jump into the fray, thanks to an amazing rookie class that included Jose Canseco, Wally Joyner, Barry Bonds, Kevin Mitchell, Ruben Sierra, and so many others.
The Rookies captured them all, but it’s this Bo Jackson rookie card (along with Bonds) that sits at the top of collector wantlists today.
Value: $20-30
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1987 Donruss Opening Day Bo Jackson (#205)
The card companies of the 1980s whipped out some pretty innovative designs and creative ideas in an attempt to nose out the competition. Donruss Opening Day fit that bill to a “T.”
As the name implies, Opening Day included cards of the guys on every team’s Opening Day roster in 1987. As such, it was issued later in the season, when collectors were caught up in breakout rookies and looking forward to the fall issues – Rookie and Traded sets, mostly.
Opening Day gave Donruss a nice little hobby bump during what would normally have been a lull in new card sales, although distribution was limited. This 272-card run was offered only as a complete set, sold in a long flat box with five cellophane-wrapped bricks of cards face up.
The Barry Bonds-Johnny Ray error card is the most famous in this issue, but collectors still chase after Bo Jackson in his Kansas City Royals home whites, too.
Value: $25-40
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1987 Fleer Bo Jackson (#369)
While Topps and Donruss bought in on Bo Jackson with their year-end sets in 1986, Fleer held off until 1987.
That makes this 1987 Fleer not only Bo’s FFC (First Fleer Card), but also a true rookie card, since it was one of the first to be nationally distributed through retail outlets (i.e., through wax pack sales at your local drugstore, etc.).
Fleer’s 1987 blue fade has always garnered mixed reactions