The Most Iconic Card of the 90s? Bo Knows!
If you collected cards in the 90s, you know the 1990 Score Bo Jackson #697. The black and white image of Bo Jackson in his shoulder pads holding a bat was everywhere. From the Nike “Bo Knows” campaign, to posters, to the cover of Beckett Magazine, sports fans couldn’t escape the image. Around the same time, Score used a similar image in the 1989 Score Football Supplemental box set which I wrote about in this article about some other great cards from the Junk Wax Era.
The Score baseball card became one of the biggest chase cards of 1990 and the base card climbed to double digit values throughout the summer according to Beckett Magazine. The front of the card grabs your attention, but the back of the card only adds to my love of the card. It is simply two letters BO. The B is in Royals blue and the O is in Raiders black.
Even though injuries derailed Bo’s football and baseball careers and left fans wondering what might have been, they continue to love Bo Jackson and his cards.
It has been almost 35 years since the card was released and hobbyists are still adding them to their collections. A quick eBay search shows hundreds of ungraded copies selling each month for about $10, and graded PSA 10 copies can sell for north of $200.
Those are some solid prices, but they don’t compare to what an autographed copy of the card sells for. A copy of the card which had been signed by Jackson and authenticated by PSA sold for $2,250 in September. The cheapest authenticated copy for sale today is north of $4,000.
You can get a Bo Jackson autograph at an in-person event for $100-$200, and you can find pack issued autos for about the same price. So why does an autographed 1990 Score card sell for so much more?
A Lawsuit.
In 2013, photographer Richard Noble sued Nike over improper use of the image. The case was ultimately settled, but one outcome from the lawsuit is that Bo will no longer sign anything with the bat on shoulders image. That makes copies of the card he signed prior to the lawsuit very desirable.
Hopefully someday an agreement can be reached allowing both Noble and Bo to benefit from the use of the image. The market has clearly shown collectors would love it!
Mike Sommer is a lifelong collector who has a passion for teaching others how to have a self-sustaining hobby. You can find more from him at WaxPackHero.com, Hobby News Daily, and on the WaxPackHero Sports Card Minute podcast.