2008 Upper Deck Goudey #212

Type: Subset Card
Acquired: Bought Online
Here is another example of what an "Art Card" should look like. The image of Bo in his Kansas City Royals uniform is awesome and the graphics behind the portrait really don't take away or distract from the beautiful artwork. These cards were part of a subset in the 2008 Upper Deck Goudey set that featured commentary that allegedly came from The Captain himself, Mr. Derek Jeter. I honestly was expecting a little bit more of a personal commentary of each player on the back of these cards, but they just feature a generic write-up of some highlights that have been used many times before. A little disappointing, but still a nice looking card nonetheless.

Living Legend #14

Type: Oddball Card

Acquired: Bought at Show

Again, we have another one of these "Living Legend" oddball cards. As we've seen in the past, the quality of the card is lacking. The back has the generic Living Legends graphic, no color, no bonus photo and worst of all...no stats! That all can almost be overlooked due to the unique photo sported on the front of this card. The majority of these oddball cards have photos that have never been used before on them. You will never see this photo on a Topps, Upper Deck or Donruss card and that alone makes it worth the purchase!

1990 Bo 90 NO#

Type: Oddball Card

Acquired: Bought At Show

This card represents one of the first "Oddball" cards, maybe even THE first, that I ever purchased. Before buying this card, I thought Topps, Donruss, Fleer & Upper Deck were the only game in town. Man was I wrong! The 90's were an exceptionally lucrative time for the card collecting hobby and everyone wanted to take advantage and so many of these unlicensed cards flooded the market. Of course I didn't care if they were legit or not, as long as Bo was on the front of the card, you could take my money. This style of Bo card was not only used for baseball, but a few football cards were also created with the same look and style. I've posted some of these in the past and I'm sure I have more in my collection, so you will see more in the future!

Living Legend #13

Type: Oddball Card

Acquired: Bought Online

Here is another one of those generic "Living Legend" cards, but hold up...that photo on the front is actually pretty AWESOME! Bo on the base path getting ready to snag another bag! Again, I am completely surprised by the choice of photo for this type of card, but also I am yawning at the extremely boring and repetitive back of the card. Still have no idea what year these were made as there is no year printed on the cards, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say it was the early 90's.

Living Legend #15

Type: Oddball

Acquired: Bought Online

Bo Jackson in flip top shades! Was there anything cooler than that in the early 90's? Besides the fantastic front photo, there really is not much else to say about this card. The back is bland and these "Living Legend" cards all use the same black & white image. I have a few more of these types of cards in my collection, so get ready for that!

2005 Topps Pristine #21

Type: Base Card

Acquired: Bought Online

This is another card from that early 2000's spending spree I was on. It is a very nice looking card. The chrome and the graphics on the front almost make me miss the fact that it has a pretty bland, white background. The retro looking backs are a nice touch and it has an overall nice design.

2005 Studio Portraits #SP-16

Type: Limited Numbered Set

Acquired: Bought Online

I bought this card when I was on a Bo Jackson online purchasing kick. I was buying every card I could find that was not already part of my collection and this was on of those cards. I think I paid around $5 for it. With only 40 of these cards produced, I think I got pretty lucky with that price. I have seen online that there are several color variations of this card and the one I received was the "Sepia" variant. It is a beautiful looking card and I am glad I was able to snag it for a decent price and add it to my collection.

1987 Topps Tiffany #170

Type: Base Card

Acquired: Bought Online

I never really knew about the Topps Tiffany sets until the late 90s. I never saw them anywhere for sale at shops or shows. Maybe I did, but just thought they were the typical base cards? Honestly, they are hard to spot unless you flip over the cards and see the whiter, brighter back sides. Unless you do that, you are likely to miss them. I bought this card online and it is now part of my 1987 Bo Jackson "Future Stars" collection of variants.

1986 Topps Traded #50T

Type: Rookie Card

Acquired: Bought Online?

I can't quite remember how I acquired this card, but it was always on my wish list when I was a kid. The only thing keeping me from getting it back then was the price. I did not get a huge allowance and any card over $5 had to be approved by my Dad. Every now and then he would chip in and get us a more expensive card if he knew it meant a lot to us, but he never did with this card. Not sure why? I do remember him springing for a 1991 Upper Deck Todd Van Poppel rookie card though. Wonder what he was thinking there?

1986 Donruss The Rookies #38

Type: Rookie Card

Acquired: Bought From A Friend

I got this card from a friend who was selling off a bunch of their collection. I had to purchase the whole set to get just this 1 card that I really wanted. I'm not complaining though, I also got Rookie Cards of Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla and Wally Joyner to name a few. Think I paid around $20 for the set and I was more than happy to do it!

2016 Topps Berger's Best #BB-36

Type: Insert Card
Acquired: Bought at Card Shop
Here is another pickup from my family's trip to South Dakota. I saw this in a box of random Royals cards at a downtown card shop and assumed it was another 1987 Topps Bo "Future Stars" card, but when I flipped it over I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was yet another reprint in a recent Topps baseball set. This is a card that I had never seen before. I paid my $1 and now it is a nice addition to my Bo Jackson card collection. 

2017 Topps Archives #52

Type: Numbered Paralell

Acquired: Bought at Card Shop
A few weeks back, myself and my wife took our kids on a week long vacation to South Dakota. We saw so many great and historical things while we were there like Mount Rushmore, Cosmos Mystery Spot and Dinosaur Park. Those places were cool, but of course I had to see if there was a card shop near by. There was and I brought the family. I dug through some boxes and searched a few binders and uncovered a few Bo cards that were not currently in my collection. One of these cards was this 2017 Topps Archive card numbered 36 out of 75! Nice card had for a decent price.

1990 Upper Deck #75

Type: Base Card

Acquired: Pulled From Pack

This card commemorates Bo Jackson's 1st and only All-Star game appearance in 1989. In that one appearance Bo was the top vote getter for the American League, hit a home run, drove in 2 runs and won the 1989 All-Star game MVP Award. Not a bad debut for Bo in the midseason classic! Maybe I am being selfish, but I wish we could have seen more of him competing with the best players in the game. At least we were able to witness this terrific performance.

1990 Jumbo California Sunflower Seeds #4

Type: Oddball Card
Acquired: Bought Online
This 24 card set boasted some amazing Hall of Fame talent including Ken Griffey Jr., Robin Yount, Tony Gwynn and Rickey Henderson! Of course the card I hunted down was of Mr. Vincent Edward "Bo" Jackson! The front design of the card is pretty solid and the back has complete career stats for Bo, but the lack of MLB logos kind of takes a bit of the fun away from this card. 

1989 STAR #2 of 11

Type: Limited Set
Acquired: Bought Online
Yes, it is another boring STAR card from 1989, but I actually give this one some small kudos due to the image on the front of the card. It shows Bo in mid swing at the plate. The photo is unique and that is why I can't say this is one of my least favorite Bo cards in my collection. It is near the bottom though. That's due to the dull graphics on the front of the card and the bland back of the card. At least it gives us Bo's career minor league stats. I know I am complaining about this card quite a bit, but I have quite a few reasons to do so.

1990 Wonder Bread #1

Type: Limited Set
Acquired: Bought Online
Back in the day, there was nothing cooler than getting free baseball cards in your snack cakes, breakfast cereal or bread! The photo on the front of this card features Bo in a very serious mood. Not sure why? Did the photog grab him unexpectedly? Did Bo just go 0 for 4? What was the deal with that look? Either way I actually like the photo, my only complaint is that the team logos have been swiped from the uniform. The back is actually pretty decent looking for a freebie and includes the classic Wonder Bread logo. One of my favorite free premium cards in my Bo collection!

1989 STAR #1 of 11

Type: Limited Set

Acquired: Bought Online

These STAR cards from the late 80's really are pretty boring. I understand that colors match the Royals colors, but it is just so bland. The photo is okay and the back of the card offers little in the way of anything! This card is the checklist for an 11 card Bo Jackson set. Despite all it's negatives, it's good to know there are sets devoted to my favorite athlete of all time out there and as a collector it is now part of my collection!

1990 Aamer Sports

Type: Oddball Card

Acquired: Bought at Show

Despite the odd editing of the phot, I really like this unlicensed Bo Jackson Card! I like the mix of having Bo representing the Kansas City Royals and the Los Angeles Raiders. I like the unauthorized use of the Topps "All-Star Rookie" trophy logo and I really like the inclusion of stats on the back for both Bo's football and baseball career. I think I spent $1 on this card at a show at the Hackettstown Mall back in the early 90's. I would say that is money well spent for this unique oddball card!

1990 Collect-A-Books #1

Type: Book Card

Acquired: Pulled From Pack

These Collect-A-Books were pretty popular back in the day. They were the size of a trading card, but you read them like a book. As a matter of fact I actually passed one of these off as literature when I wrote a book report on Bo Jackson based off of this very Collect-A-Book while I was in high school! These didn't come in packs like standard cards, but they came in sets. Bo was in the first set released along with Dwight Gooden, Ken Griffey Jr., Rickey Henderson and 8 other baseball stars. They may be a collecting footnote now, but these were actually pretty cool, they fit in standard baseball card collector sheets and cases and gave you some decent info on your favorite players. I scanned the rest of the book and you can check it out for yourself below!

1990 Mini Poster

Type: Oddball Card

Acquired: Bought Online

I'm pretty sure this card was included in a lot of Bo stuff that I bought online. This card holds some really great sentimental value for me. I actually had a framed version of this poster hanging on my bedroom wall for at least a decade! What's special to me is how I got this poster. My family was at the New Jersey State Fair and I was about 9 years old and a huge Bo Jackson fan. I saw that one of the carnival games had this framed poster as a prize. I can't quite remember what game it was, but I do remember failing hard! I went away upset and broke. Little did I know that my older brother had gone back to the game and won me this Bo "Black & Blue" poster. I was ecstatic! This was so out of character for my brother that it really caught me by surprise. Even though he would give me wedgies, ruin my works of art (at least I thought they were) and blame me for anything that went wrong in the house, I still have those great memories of the few times he wasn't a jerk! This was one of them. Thanks bro!