RULES OF THE GAME

“I think the Topps Dice Game concept was a good one — playing a baseball game with your baseball cards,” said Hill, who was nine when the set was conceived. “But I think it was almost too sophisticated for the eightto-ten-year-old crowd.”

Here’s why … and you may need to take some notes.

Listed on each card back are 11 different dice roll possibilities (2 through 12) connected to four randomly selected outcomes for each roll of the dice representing both players’ at-bats during the course of a nine-inning game. In theory, one challenger might sport the NL lineup, with Dodgers great Don Drysdale on the mound, while his opponent would have the AL All-Stars with Twins right-hander Camilo Pascual toeing the rubber.

Both hurlers have four different pitches in their repertoire: fastball, curveball, slider and changeup. Once the dueling player in the field calls out his pitch selection (“fastball”), whatever his opponent rolls with the dice dictates the outcome of the at-bat. With 44 scenarios offered, the results could range from a home run, triple, double, single, walk or hit by pitch to a pop out, line out, fly out, ground out, bunt out or strikeout.

Suffice it to say, to complete a nine-inning game by rolling the dice and scanning the cards every time would prove to be a laborious task for both competitors. And most eight-year-olds don’t have a scorekeeper on speed dial.

Few athletes throughout history have captured the public’s attention like Vincent Edward “Bo” Jackson. As a dual-sport phenom out of Auburn University, people stopped whatever they were doing to watch whenever he dug in at the plate or stepped onto a football field. At any moment he might launch a moonshot home run or bulldoze over a linebacker or cut around the end and streak 90 yards into the end zone.

In an age of multiple two-sport athletes (think Deion Sanders, Brian Jordan and Charlie Ward), none was more popular than Bo Jackson. But like Johnny, the subject of Bad Company’s “Shooting Star,” Bo Jackson’s star shined brightly, but burned out quickly. He suffered a devastating hip injury as a Raiders running back in an AFC divisional playoff game against the Cincinnati Bengals on January 13, 1991. No one realized it at the time, but that proved to be the final game of his NFL career. Though he played sparingly over the course of three more MLB seasons, Jackson never fully returned to his former level of play on the baseball diamond.

Bo Jackson’s baseball career lasted eight seasons, half of which he only played infrequently. His football career spanned just 38 games played over four seasons. In either sport, he did not play long enough to be eligible for Hall of Fame consideration.

But it didn’t matter then.

And it doesn’t matter now.

Because when it comes to the hobby, collectability plays by its own rules.

Andy Grimmer — who grew up as a Bo Jackson fan and collected his cards from a young age — knows that better than anybody. Today his collection of Jackson cards is impressive; he holds #1 rankings in the Bo Jackson Rookie (baseball & football) and Basic Topps (baseball & football) sets. But what is a bit more interesting and far more unique are his unopened pack listings. He is the uncontested leader in three PSA Registry sets consisting of unopened packs with Bo Jackson cards showing on either the top or bottom: baseball, football and combined. He sat down recently and shared his thoughts about Bo’s influence on his collection.

PSA MAGAZINE - HOW DID YOU GET INTERESTED IN COLLECTING CARDS? WHAT WAS YOUR INTRODUCTION TO THE HOBBY?

ANDY GRIMMER - It was 1989 or 1990 when I first began buying Topps packs as a kid. I just used my allowance money to buy packs back when they were around 50 cents each. That was my initial introduction into the hobby. In later years I was in and out of the hobby, before getting back into it for good in 2014. I was collecting pretty much anything at that point because I could finally afford to buy some of the cards I had wanted as a kid; a Nolan Ryan rookie card, a Michael Jordan rookie card, and things like that.

I soon realized that I was collecting way too many cards. So then I decided to focus on just a couple of players and settled on Nolan Ryan and Bo Jackson. Being from Texas, Nolan Ryan is a legend, and growing up in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, Bo was just amazing. So those are the two players I picked to be the focal points of my collection. I eventually got very interested in unopened packs with stars showing on top — wax packs, cello packs, rack packs. They just intrigued me.

PSA had been grading packs for a while by that point; I think I sent my first packs to be graded in 2015. The first pack that I got graded was a 1993 Topps with Derek Jeter showing on the back. I thought it was a unique item, and so I made the decision to expand my Bo Jackson collection to include unopened packs.

I found and submitted most of the packs in my collection myself. I enjoy buying boxes, going through them and finding all of the star packs. I’ll either keep the Bo Jackson ones and sell the rest or just rip them for fun.

PSA - THAT BRINGS UP AN INTERESTING QUESTION. WHAT IS THE PROCESS FOR BUILDING A COLLECTION LIKE THIS? IT IS TABOO TO SEARCH UNOPENED BOXES AT STORES, SO HOW DO YOU ADD TO YOUR COLLECTION WITHOUT SIMPLY LOOKING FOR LISTINGS OF BO JACKSON PACKS ON EBAY?

AG - First of all, it takes a little bit of insanity. This is niche within a niche. First, I wanted to select a player where I could collect packs from his playing days relatively inexpensively. Bo Jackson’s career ran in line with the junk wax era, so there is still plenty of unopened material available and it is relatively inexpensive. I began by going to Jackson’s Basic Registry sets just to see what cards were included. Then I had to figure out which cards were issued in packs rather than in sets. For example, his 1986 Topps Traded card came in a 132-card boxed set, so there is no pack associated with that card.

I made a spreadsheet with that information and then began looking at card shops and on eBay, and today a lot of it is on Facebook groups. I would buy a box of 1991 Topps baseball, for example, and then search for a Bo Jackson pack. If I got one, then great. If not, then I would just rip the packs and enjoy the nostalgia. Most of the time the packs weren’t worth anything, so it wasn’t worth trying to resell them. So I would rip the packs with my son and tell him about the players we found and make sure he didn’t try to chew the 30-year-old bubble gum.

PSA - WHAT ARE THE DIFFICULTIES IN BUILDING THIS COLLECTION? WITH CARDS, YOU GET INTO CONDITION ISSUES. WHAT ARE THE

COMPARABLE ISSUES WITH PACKS?

AG - There are several issues you can run into. The biggest one is probably finding which sets actually have the potential to have Bo Jackson showing on the top or bottom of a pack. Sometimes, based on the sequencing, he can’t ever show up on the front or back of a pack. The 1988 Score set is one such example. Even though the collation is typically very poor for that set, he cannot show up on the front or back because of the way the cards were cut, sorted and packaged.

PSA - THAT IS VERY IMPORTANT KNOWLEDGE TO HAVE IN BUILDING THIS COLLECTION. WHERE DO YOU FIND THAT TYPE OF INFORMATION?

AG - The Facebook groups and the legacy Collectors Universe Forum are full of people who have all kinds of random knowledge and I’ve picked a lot of their brains. Some of them, for example, know the collation of 1973 Topps packs and can tell you which players cannot show up on the front or back of a pack. There are also people who know the junk wax era extremely well and seem to have encyclopedic knowledge of, for example, 1988 Score. So I have absorbed some of that knowledge and applied it to my collection.

There are other issues that might have stickers or contest cards in the back of their packs and so you lose the opportunity to see specific players in those instances. When this is the case a 36-pack box only offers 36 opportunities (front only) for a certain player to show instead of 72 (front and back) in packs without those stickers, puzzle pieces or contest cards.

Other pitfalls include the packs that you cannot see into. A good example of that is the 1989 Upper Deck foil packs. People have been able to determine which packs from a fresh box will likely contain the Griffey card. But the packs are made of foil and you cannot see who appears on the top or bottom. There are other sets that because of the wrapper art or the thickness of the wax paper, you cannot make out the top or bottom cards. Sometimes you can only see a fraction of a card back, so you have to try and match up the statistics on the back. It can be a tedious labor of love.

PSA - DO YOU KNOW THE ROUGH PERCENTAGE OF SETS BO JACKSON APPEARS IN WHERE HE CAN HAVE A CARD SHOWING INSIDE AN UNOPENED PACK?

AG - That’s a good question. I have around 100 different packs in my collection that have a Bo Jackson card showing. I might have multiple packs from a certain set such as wax, cello and rack, so I would guess that I have 75 different sets represented overall. But I don’t really have a good answer for that question.

When I started this project there was no Bo Jackson pack registry. I was able to start one for baseball, one for football and a combined one for both sports. I think I had about 15 packs when I started with the Registry. I would send in a submission whenever I collected another five or 10 packs. Once I got them back, I would contact the Set Registry and have them added to the set. Now the baseball set requires 59 different packs, the football set requires 13 packs and the dual-sport set needs 72 packs.

PSA - ARE PACKS MORE DESIRABLE WHEN THE STARS ARE ON THE FRONT AS OPPOSED TO THE BACK?

AG - They typically are, and even more so when it is easy to see inside the PSA holder. For example, the top card in 1987 Fleer cello packs is very visible and it is easy to identify the player. In that case it is much more desirable to find Bo Jackson on the front of the pack. Other issues, maybe a wax pack or a set where the top card isn’t as easily identifiable — like the 1987 Fleer wax pack — wouldn't make as much difference if Jackson is on the front or back.

You had mentioned earlier the print defects on cards. With packs, the condition of the pack trumps everything else in terms of the grade. Of course it first has to be authentic and not tampered with or resealed. If you are buying a raw Bo Jackson pack on eBay, there is a pretty good chance that someone opened that pack, put a Bo card on top and then resealed it. I have rolled the dice a few times with raw packs on eBay and got burned. Once I even got a pack that someone had scotch-taped back together on the back. So you can run into unsavory situations if you’re not careful. You really have to trust the seller if you are buying raw packs. That is what makes pack grading with PSA so valuable.

PSA - CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE PEACE OF MIND YOU EXPERIENCE WHEN BUYING PACKS THAT HAVE BEEN AUTHENTICATED AND GRADED BY PSA?

AG - You've got one of the most honest and reliable pack authenticators in the hobby [Steve Hart] working with PSA. It really gives me peace of mind when buying PSA-graded packs. There are plenty of knowledgeable collectors on Facebook groups and the Collectors Universe forums who are very good at spotting inconsistencies and tampering with packs. I’ve been on the PSA bandwagon for a long time with cards. I like the PSA brand. You mentioned peace of mind and that is a factor in not just making sure what I have is authentic, but also that it will maintain its value. If there ever comes a time when I need to trade or sell part of my collection, I have that peace of mind knowing PSA has deemed my items to be authentic and they will sell easier and likely for more money than if they were reviewed by any other company. Of course it is also fun to put together complete sets on the Registry and flex to your friends. The competitive camaraderie is great.

PSA - ALL THREE OF YOUR BO JACKSON PACK SETS ARE TECHNICALLY COMPLETE RIGHT NOW, BUT YOU ALSO SAID YOU ARE STILL LEARNING WHAT SETS COULD PRODUCE BO JACKSON PACKS. HOW MUCH FURTHER DO YOU THINK YOU CAN GROW THIS ONE COLLECTION?

AG - I have a handful of packs ready to send in that are not currently on the Registry. Once they get graded, I will have them added to the collection requirements. That is another thing that drew me toward collecting these packs, and that is that I can contribute to the growth and understanding of this area of the hobby. I believe that I will continue to grow this collection as long as it remains fun. It is still fun for me to hunt and find packs to add to the listing. Right now I am searching for a 1995 Topps Series II pack. It is the last year that Jackson had cards issued during his [MLB] career. I already found a rack pack, but I want to find a cello or wax pack that I can add to the Registry. But because 1994 was a strike year, Topps produced 1995 CyberStat cards that showed projected stats had the season not ended early. Those cards were issued one per hobby and retail packs and three per jumbo packs. There are a lot of hobby and retail packs for sale, but the design of the packs makes it really hard to see through to identify the top and bottom cards. I need to find a jumbo pack with Bo Jackson showing, but they are much more difficult to find.

PSA - IN ADDITION TO THE PACKS, YOU ALSO COLLECT BO JACKSON CARDS AND ARE RANKED #1 IN MANY OF THOSE REGISTRY SETS.

AG - Yes, sad as it is, his career was relatively short, so there aren’t massive numbers of cards to collect. In addition, he was prolific during the junk wax era, so his cards aren’t very expensive. So tackling those sets wasn’t that difficult and wasn’t a huge monetary investment. I think I share the top ranking with a bunch of other people as the sets aren’t that hard to complete, but they are fun to put together.

PSA - WHAT KIND OF RESPECT DOES BO JACKSON RECEIVE IN THE HOBBY TODAY?

AG - I think people who are over age 40 grew up with Bo Jackson in the spotlight. He was everywhere, particularly in 1989 and 1990 when he was having All-Star and Pro Bowl seasons and was in the thick of his Nike campaign. He was constantly on television, in magazines and all over. I think what cemented him in the hobby was when Score came out with the black-and-white baseball/ football card in their 1990 baseball set. I remember my grandmother telling me I could get one thing at a baseball card shop back in late 1990. I wanted that card. The dealer was asking $10, and my grandmother couldn’t believe it was that much. But I really wanted it and I still have that card to this day. He was larger than life and his ability to play two professional sports just blew my mind.

Also, the fact that his career ended so early elevates him to the point of “what if” and it has kept his legacy going. I was able to meet Jackson recently. He came to do a mall signing with a bunch of University of Texas players. I took my son and we got a picture with him. I kept trying to explain to my son what he did and why he was so incredible. My son listened, but really he was just hoping we would get ice cream afterwards. But I think that is also why he is still a big part of the hobby because he is out in the community and doing things in the hobby. Everything I have read online portrays him as a great person as well, which is nice to hear. He does a lot with charities and helps the community. It makes him an easy person to want to collect.

PSA - IF THERE COMES A TIME THAT YOU DETERMINE YOU HAVE COMPLETED THIS COLLECTION, WHAT WILL YOU TACKLE NEXT?

AG - Well, I have taken a shine to collecting autographed baseballs. I try to find PSA-certified autographed baseballs of the guys that I grew up watching like Cal Ripken Jr., Ken Griffey Jr., Bo Jackson and Mark McGwire. I also look back at Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Mickey Mantle. Most of their cards are so expensive, but I bought a PSAauthenticated Mickey Mantle ball for $500 about six years ago. I also think it is really cool that these guys actually held these balls to sign them. So I will likely go stronger into that collection once the Bo Jackson packs slow down.

Sometimes great cards are ignored. Sometimes forgotten. Sometimes their significance is not revealed until years after their release.

But isn’t that the fun of it?

Digging through collections and unearthing gems that we never knew were gems in the first place?

Often, the catalyst for a card’s sudden rise to prominence comes from the strangest places. Who knew that the infamous Menendez brothers were included on Mark Jackson’s 1990 Hoops card before everyone knew they were on the card? Or a 1994 Pinnacle issue of Sylvain Turgeon featured five-year-old Patrick Kane behind the glass? Sometimes a player gets hot, so hot, in fact, that a lesser-brand rookie card shoots up in value on the tails of other popular cards.

And sometimes it just takes a while for a great card to get its just due.