Question about Bo Jackson RC values in both sports

[crazy4kinsler]

I don't collect football, but I had some trade credit at the card store from some extra Rangers I didn't need. So I picked this dude up to add to my trade box. But it got me to thinking about something regarding Bo Jackson's various RCs in baseball and football.

Why do his Topps football rookie cards go for so much more than his Topps baseball version? Is it because he only has 1 football card? It is because maybe football was less popular or printed in less quantity than baseball? I mean, they're all from the junk wax era.

He was a Pro Bowler in the NFL and an all-star in the MLB (even won MVP award in the 1989 All-Star game). So, he was popular and very good at both sports. He played in the NFL for 4 years, while he played MLB baseball for 8. So why is his football RC so much more valuable than his baseball counterpart? I'm just curious why that might be the case.

[Phishphan21]

Tough question
Perhaps asking the card store owner before acquiring something you don’t collect would have addressed this issue
I don’t drink but I vaguely remember that time I had a gift certificate to the liquor store and just happened to come home with a bottle of Wild Turkey

[Gidtheson]

Nice card. I think it has to do with the fact he has Topps, Donruss, and Fleer rookie cards for baseball, while just the one Topps for football. There also might be a bigger "what could have been" factor for football vs baseball

[Archangel1775]

1. Two-Sport Legend
2. Heisman Trophy Winner
3. Tecmo Bowl
4. Raiders
5. Only Topps Football Rookie Card
6. 1988 Topps Football Quality Sucks
7. First viral Marketing Campaign with "Bo Knows" (that I remember)
8. Legend
9. Royals Fans
10. Fans in general

[Archangel1775]

Originally Posted by Gidtheson

Nice card. I think it has to do with the fact he has Topps, Donruss, and Fleer rookie cards for baseball, while just the one Topps for football.

True, Bo Jackson falls into the 1986 Boxed/Traded Set timeframe so all of those are "XRC's" and have been accepted by the hobby as such. Then you have all the great 1987 Rookie Cards and sets. After that you have the iconic 1990 Score FB/BB card.

All his cards are on the rage right now in PSA 10.

[BigL7370]

Bo Jackson was more likely a better football player way before he entered the pros and was more likely to be a true superstar in the NFL if he had stayed the course.

He had immense talent to play baseball, but had more flaws and besides the hype machine, was more a work in progress with flashes of greatness.

[slyguy]

The 1990 Score pads+bat is card the Bo Jackson you want. As said above, marketing wins. Not a RC, but it's the one that sells and ppl want. That's what it comes down to.

Bo didn't really have a "career" of any sort in football (no good stats, no 1k rush season, really very little objectively). He didn't even focus on NFL at all, and he shared the backfield with Marcus Allen, so he didn't do much. His "ProBowl year" was under 700yds and 5td. He did a little bit more in baseball, but also not a great player. It's all just based on the what-might-have-been fantasy since he was a beast in track, baseball, football in colllege.

He's popular more in the style of Pat Tillman or Sean Taylor or others. It's mainly the sentiment of a hero that stopped playing young and "what might have been." People just pick the cards they like or that look cool to them. The typical deductive reasoning of RCs, brand, pop count, etc don't really apply. It's just popularity.

[Retired hobbist]

Originally Posted by slyguy

The 1990 Score pads+bat is card the Bo Jackson you want. As said above, marketing wins. Not a RC, but it's the one that sells and ppl want. That's what it comes down to.

Bo didn't really have a "career" of any sort in football (no good stats, no 1k rush season, really very little objectively). He didn't even focus on NFL at all, and he shared the backfield with Marcus Allen, so He didn't do much. He did a little bit in baseball.

He's popular more in the style of Pat Tillman or Sean Taylor or others. It's mainly the sentiment of a hero that stopped playing young and "what might have been." People just pick the cards they like or that look cool to them. The typical deductive reasoning of RCs, brand, pop count, etc don't really apply. It's just popularity.

Yes this is the reason why he is popular similar to a guy went to Hollywood and became Bert Reynolds (if he made the NFL).

[slyguy]

Yep, it's the same reason Joe Rogan cards for MMA have more value than a lot of the fighters ever did or Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee autos are more valued than some of the best karate guys ever.... the celeb / recognizable factor. Can't be underestimated.

Jackson wouldn't have even played NFL at all if not for Al Davis having the idea to SUPER-overpay him and let him play partial seasons. It worked for all involved. The legend was made.

This is the Bo card most ppl buying want... highest buy/sell volumes by far :

[rogueriver]

If you fail to see Bo Jackson’s greatness then you have never played Tecmo Bowl

[slyguy]

Originally Posted by rogueriver

If you fail to see Bo Jackson’s greatness then you have never played Tecmo Bowl

Lol, that too. The legend is far and wide.

He's a great athlete. Prob one of the best the world has seen (Thorpe, etc).

But a jack of all trades is a master of none. Bo's claim to fame these days is his minor celebrity and the potential he might have had if he'd focused on NFL, MLB, or maybe track back in the day.

In reality, he did all sports with part efforts, got hurt. That works ok in college but not in pro level. He cost the Bucs the #1 overall pick and then only played at an ok level for the LA Raiders for a few years only due to insane $$$ they offered (and despite not mediocre production, I'd say they got their $ back in legend/eyeballs from it).

...For cards, trying to apply the card brand or the rarity or the RC factor won't work on a guy like him. It won't even work every time for a HOF player either... but definitely not for one that sells based more on sentiment and recognizability more than actual stats/achievements.

Buying Bo cards/autos is more akin to buying Mike Tyson or even celeb stuff than most other NFL players.

[Retired hobbist]

Originally Posted by slyguy

Lol, that too. The legend is far and wide.

He's a great athlete. Prob one of the best the world has seen (Thorpe, etc).

But a jack of all trades is a master of none. Bo's claim to fame these days is his minor celebrity and the potential he might have had if he'd focused on NFL, MLB, or maybe track back in the day.

In reality, he did all sports with part efforts, got hurt. That works ok in college but not in pro level. He cost the Bucs the #1 overall pick and then only played at an ok level for the LA Raiders for a few years only due to insane $$$ they offered (and despite not mediocre production, I'd say they got their $ back in legend/eyeballs from it).

...For cards, trying to apply the card brand or the rarity or the RC factor won't work on a guy like him. It won't even work every time for a HOF player either... but definitely not for one that sells based more on sentiment and recognizability more than actual stats/achievements.

Buying Bo cards/autos is more akin to buying Mike Tyson or even celeb stuff than most other NFL players.

You could argue the backfield controversy with Allen being forced to being a blocking back cost the team wins.

[jcp2]

As someone who bought cards back then i would think it is because there are so many fewer football cards than baseball cards back then. Football was not what it is now and the cards were kind of an afterthought to baseball. I can't imagine there are anywhere near as many football rookies out there as there are baseball rookies.

[Archangel1775]

Originally Posted by slyguy

Lol, that too. The legend is far and wide.

He's a great athlete. Prob one of the best the world has seen (Thorpe, etc).

But a jack of all trades is a master of none. Bo's claim to fame these days is his minor celebrity and the potential he might have had if he'd focused on NFL, MLB, or maybe track back in the day.

In reality, he did all sports with part efforts, got hurt. That works ok in college but not in pro level. He cost the Bucs the #1 overall pick and then only played at an ok level for the LA Raiders for a few years only due to insane $$$ they offered (and despite not mediocre production, I'd say they got their $ back in legend/eyeballs from it).

.

While Bo was still playing for Auburn, the Bucs owner convinced Bo Jackson that a private visit to the Tamp Bay facilities was cleared by the NCAA. It was not. Bo Jackson was suspended by the NCAA for the remainder of the baseball season. Allegedly it was TB's effort to have Bo Jackson only play football. Every single human being would be pissed, so baseball became his priority and he signed with the Royals instead.

Originally Posted by slyguy

Bo didn't really have a "career" of any sort in football (no good stats, no 1k rush season, really very little objectively). He didn't even focus on NFL at all, and he shared the backfield with Marcus Allen, so he didn't do much. His "ProBowl year" was under 700yds and 5td. He did a little bit more in baseball, but also not a great player. It's all just based on the what-might-have-been fantasy since he was a beast in track, baseball, football in colllege.

He's popular more in the style of Pat Tillman or Sean Taylor or others. It's mainly the sentiment of a hero that stopped playing young and "what might have been." People just pick the cards they like or that look cool to them. The typical deductive reasoning of RCs, brand, pop count, etc don't really apply. It's just popularity.

WTF? Ha, you couldn't be more wrong. Haha. Did you even watch him play? You do understand he only played just over half the NFL season, right?

His rookie season, he averaged 6.8 yards per carry,690 yards all-purpose yards and scored 6 touchdowns in 7 games. That includes the legendary Nationally Televised Monday Night Football game, announced by John Madden, where he rushed for 221 yards. That's more than "ok". Afterwards he would split carries with Marcus Allen through 1988. In 1989 Allen was injured and Bo came back early where he would tear it up. He would rush for 950 yards in 11 games, averaging 5.5 yards per carry. Bo had 1,019 All-purpose yards. 1990 was more of the same dynamic Bo until he got injured in the playoffs. Nobody had ever seen an athlete of his caliber play at the two highest levels of professional sports at the dynamic level he did outside of old-timers that may have seen Jim Thorpe. The man had a great football career for the time we got to watch him. As for baseball, he was the same dynamic Bo that people wanted to watch. Even after the injury, the man played on an artificial hip where most humans would be on permanent disability. The man is a living legend for what HE DID on the field not just for what he may have done.

[Archangel1775]

As for the hobby, I'm positive he's a Top 3 player when it comes to PSA 10 junk era (1985-1995) sales. He's right in line with Ken Griffey Jr. and Nolan Ryan when it comes to base card PSA 10s. His values may even align with Griffey Jr. and signed rookie cards. That reminds me, had he played in the late 90's, we may have seen some pretty cool cards like Mirror Golds, Crusades, cool serial numbered inserts and even Upper Deck Game Jersey Autographs.

[Onepocketj]

Originally Posted by Archangel1775

While Bo was still playing for Auburn, the Bucs owner convinced Bo Jackson that a private visit to the Tamp Bay facilities was cleared by the NCAA. It was not. Bo Jackson was suspended by the NCAA for the remainder of the baseball season. Allegedly it was TB's effort to have Bo Jackson only play football. Every single human being would be pissed, so baseball became his priority and he signed with the Royals instead.



WTF? Ha, you couldn't be more wrong. Haha. Did you even watch him play? You do understand he only played just over half the NFL season, right?

His rookie season, he averaged 6.8 yards per carry,690 yards all-purpose yards and scored 6 touchdowns in 7 games. That includes the legendary Nationally Televised Monday Night Football game, announced by John Madden, where he rushed for 221 yards. That's more than "ok". Afterwards he would split carries with Marcus Allen through 1988. In 1989 Allen was injured and Bo came back early where he would tear it up. He would rush for 950 yards in 11 games, averaging 5.5 yards per carry. Bo had 1,019 All-purpose yards. 1990 was more of the same dynamic Bo until he got injured in the playoffs. Nobody had ever seen an athlete of his caliber play at the two highest levels of professional sports at the dynamic level he did outside of old-timers that may have seen Jim Thorpe. The man had a great football career for the time we got to watch him. As for baseball, he was the same dynamic Bo that people wanted to watch. Even after the injury, the man played on an artificial hip where most humans would be on permanent disability. The man is a living legend for what HE DID on the field not just for what he may have done.

Yep - Bo was a human highlight real. People went to events just to see him. That Monday night game was insane. Also the only guy I ever saw throw someone out with a ball from the center field fence to home plate on the fly.

[Scottish Punk]

Yes, Bo Jackson was the best RB in football in those brief 4 years. True, his popularity is the what could have been scenario. Modern offensive coordinators would be able to keep Allen and Jackson on the field at the same time. That era was still stuck with blocking only FBs.

[ReggieBush22]

Combo of FB only having 1 RC while baseball had literally 15+ if you account for off brand stuff like Classic, Sportflics and those boxed sets. He was also greater in FB, 88 Topps print quality was not so good and the card itself is close to "iconic".

[ReggieBush22]

Originally Posted by slyguy

The 1990 Score pads+bat is card the Bo Jackson you want. As said above, marketing wins. Not a RC, but it's the one that sells and ppl want. That's what it comes down to.

Bo didn't really have a "career" of any sort in football (no good stats, no 1k rush season, really very little objectively). He didn't even focus on NFL at all, and he shared the backfield with Marcus Allen, so he didn't do much. His "ProBowl year" was under 700yds and 5td. He did a little bit more in baseball, but also not a great player. It's all just based on the what-might-have-been fantasy since he was a beast in track, baseball, football in colllege.

He's popular more in the style of Pat Tillman or Sean Taylor or others. It's mainly the sentiment of a hero that stopped playing young and "what might have been." People just pick the cards they like or that look cool to them. The typical deductive reasoning of RCs, brand, pop count, etc don't really apply. It's just popularity.

If you're somehow insinuating that there wasn't actual substance behind him, you need to watch some highlights. This guy flashed greatness like few ever have. One can argue he's the greatest athlete ever. Tillman and Taylor can't carry Bo's jockstrap.

[ReggieBush22]

Originally Posted by jcp2

As someone who bought cards back then i would think it is because there are so many fewer football cards than baseball cards back then. Football was not what it is now and the cards were kind of an afterthought to baseball. I can't imagine there are anywhere near as many football rookies out there as there are baseball rookies.

True but by 1988, production ramped up tremendously and kind of ushered in the wax junk era for FB. Pre 1988, peoduction run was significantly lower. Beckett for FB first came out in 1989, when the hobby started blowing up.

[corndog]

Originally Posted by slyguy

The 1990 Score pads+bat is card the Bo Jackson you want. As said above, marketing wins. Not a RC, but it's the one that sells and ppl want. That's what it comes down to.

Bo didn't really have a "career" of any sort in football (no good stats, no 1k rush season, really very little objectively). He didn't even focus on NFL at all, and he shared the backfield with Marcus Allen, so he didn't do much. His "ProBowl year" was under 700yds and 5td. He did a little bit more in baseball, but also not a great player. It's all just based on the what-might-have-been fantasy since he was a beast in track, baseball, football in colllege.

He's popular more in the style of Pat Tillman or Sean Taylor or others. It's mainly the sentiment of a hero that stopped playing young and "what might have been." People just pick the cards they like or that look cool to them. The typical deductive reasoning of RCs, brand, pop count, etc don't really apply. It's just popularity.

Just a truly awful take.

You don't know Bo.

[Scottish Punk]

Originally Posted by ReggieBush22

If you're somehow insinuating that there wasn't actual substance behind him, you need to watch some highlights. This guy flashed greatness like few ever have. One can argue he's the greatest athlete ever. Tillman and Taylor can't carry Bo's jockstrap.

Correct. If Bo just did Football from the start. I think a conservative estimate for his career would be 10,000 yards and 70 TDs. I would bet the over on both of those, but injuries and wear down is a real thing for running backs. I do think he would have joined Emmitt and Barry atop the yearly rushing leaders. He had all the makings of a HOFer in football.

[daveyc1]

The reasons that Bo's football rookie outpaces his baseball are that he only has one, compared to multiple baseball rookies. He also was a much better football player.

the notion that one poster makes that Bo was not a great football player is a monumentally bad take. He was a fantastic football player. could have been transcendent. He only ever played, at most, half seasons. He averaged 5 1/2 yards per carry and led the league in longest rush 3 of the 4 years he played. he was electric.

had he focused 100% on FB, and played full seasons, he would have gone down as one of the handful of greatest RBs of all time.

He is the modern day gale sayers. the ultimate what if...

[slyguy]

Originally Posted by ReggieBush22

... This guy flashed greatness like few ever have. One can argue he's the greatest athlete ever.....

Originally Posted by Scottish Punk

... If Bo just did Football from the start. ...

... He had all the makings of a HOFer in football.

Yes, nobody debates this. Agreed all around.

But it's all conjecture. Projections. Flashes. Estimates.

In reality, Bo played (very well) in NFL... but only for a few partial seasons.

The cards for him can't be looked as typical football cards... and that's the topic of the thread here.

[Archangel1775]

Originally Posted by slyguy

Yes, nobody debates this. Agreed all around.

But it's all conjecture. Projections. Flashes. Estimates.

In reality, Bo played (very well) in NFL... but only for a few partial seasons.

The cards for him can't be looked as typical football cards... and that's the topic of the thread here.

Bruh, you act like the man played one season and got injured? Again, you do understand that the games he missed in the NFL were because he was playing MLB baseball, right? I'm pretty sure there were a few instances he would play one sport in the morning and the next sport and night. You've got to be under 30 to believe it's all "projections". When he played, he was great, not "very well". It's like saying Barry Sanders retired so its just all conjecture and estimates that he would've been the All-Time rushing leader. I'm not saying Bo is the ATG but for many , he IS an All-Time great. His card prices in both sports reflect that. People are not spending the type of money they are because of "projections"