Card Spotlight: 9-4-09

1991 Upper Deck #744 - Bo Jackson

This card may not look like much, but it was the card to have when the High Numbers set was released by Upper Deck in 1991. It was perceived to be the first easily obtainable Bo Jackson card in a White Sox uniform.

Score and Topps would put him in their year end sets, but those were typically bought by the set. Little did we realize that a cheaper card stock version of the Topps Traded set would be available by packs that year. Nonetheless, this was the mecca for many collectors that year.

Upper Deck was generally thought of as having a low print run, so the fever for a superstar of this magnitude to be shown in his new uniform first was huge! Many companies had Darryl Strawberry in a Dodgers uniform already. No major trading card company had Bo in a White Sox uniform. No other card in the high number series caused this much excitement, back in 1991.

Card shops and table dealers immediately priced the card at the unheard of price of one dollar. Even with the card being widely available, this Bo Jackson card would fly off the shelves. I know many people who bought multiple copies of this card, priced at a dollar or more, thinking that they would be sitting on a goldmine. It never came to be.

Time has been very cruel to 1991 Upper Deck. This Bo Jackson card, which commanded a top line price in 1991, can be had for under a quarter now. Sometimes, I'll receive a few copies in a trade as an extra, just because the card is taking up space. Unloved and unwanted, the 1991 Upper Deck High Numbers Bo Jackson card is now tossed aside. The excitement has long vanished and the roar of the crowd has died. I'll always remember this card for what is used to be and what it stood for; the first major set release with Bo Jackson in a White Sox uniform.