Looking for a Wade Boggs rookie card?
There’s not a lot of choices that you can choose from, but there are some cards that could be historically significant if you’re willing to invest in them.
Wade Boggs is known as a supreme batter from his professional career, but also something of a character off the field.
One time, Boggs bragged about downing 107 beers in one day – whether that’s truth or a lie, you can’t lie that is… crazy but impressive at the same time.
Let’s focus on Wade Boggs rookie cards instead, shall we?
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The Best Wade Boggs Rookie Cards to Choose From
As I said, there aren’t that many options to choose from, so let’s dive right in.
1983 Topps Wade Boggs RC #498
The first option you have is the 1983 Topps Wade Boggs rookie card, numbered 498 in the massive set released by Topps.
If you’re looking for the best and most reliable option, this is probably the one you want to go for.
Topps has a good reputation when it comes to older cards – and newer cards, for that matter. You can’t go wrong with this one, considering that there are not many other rivalling options you could opt for.
What I find interesting about these Topps cards from the 1980s is the images – one action shot and one frontal face shot in the bottom right corner – just so you can admire that moustache even further.
The graphics on the bottom of the card are also slightly different from some other Topps cards released in those few years.
In addition to that, you get your run-of-the-mill summary of the player on the back of the card, including his stats.
Overall, a great starting point if you’re looking for the best and most reliable Wade Boggs rookie card.
1983 Fleer Wade Boggs RC #179
The second card that might tickle your fancy is the 1983 Fleer Wade Boggs rookie card.
Boggs hit the ground running for the Red Sox in his first full season in 1983 when he won the Silver Slugger award for his offensive displays during that season. He batted an impressive .349 in his rookie year alone, which was his standard throughout his career.
He was also the 1983 AL batting champion and from that season, Boggs’ career only improved.
Don’t forget that Boggs was 25 in 1983, so he was by no means a youngster at that point, although still fairly inexperienced in the league.
Compared to the Topps card, this Fleer card is not as popular, but still, a great and reliable option that will suit most people. With that in mind, it’s also a bit less expensive than the Topps card but still a great option if you’re looking for more variety.
If you already own a Topps card of Boggs, for example, then the Fleer card would be an excellent addition to that one.
1983 Donruss Wade Boggs RC #586
This 1983 Donruss Wade Boggs rookie card completes the Holy Trinity of Boggs rookie cards.
If you’re choosing between Donruss, Topps, and Fleer, it’s important to know that Topps is the most valuable one, Fleer is the least expensive one, while this Donruss card is stuck somewhere in between the two.
For those who love retro cards and designs, then this one will invoke that 80s feeling in your heart like no other cards on this list. It’s a real classic, this one, and you’re going to love it if you loved baseball in the 80s.
Back in 1983, there weren’t nearly as many card options that we have today.
You had your main card brands such as Topps, Fleer, Donruss, occasionally Score and Bowman, but not what we can choose from nowadays.
For this reason, these cards were the go-to options for baseball collectors. But the good thing about these cards is that they’re still around nowadays, and they shouldn’t be very expensive, either.
This Donruss card is just a tad less valuable when compared to the Topps card, although still a great alternative if you’re looking for something different.
1983 Topps Stickers Wade Boggs RC #308
This next option is not a card, but a sticker; now, if you don’t like to collect stickers, then you should look at the other options we’ve looked at on this list.
Something is challenging and special about collecting stickers. When you own one of these, you know that you might be one of the few people to own a sticker in good condition without ever having used it.
Collecting stickers usually means sticking them in an album or sticking them somewhere in your room, perhaps. But if you’re careful enough to take care of the sticker and keep it for a long time, there’s some real potential to be had with them.
On the other hand, many people don’t like stickers and prefer cards instead, but if you don’t have a strong opinion either way, then you should take a look at this Wade Boggs sticker.
The most appealing thing about this option is that it’s rarer. It’s rarer than Topps, Donruss, or Fleer cards, which is mainly because of the factors we’ve spoken about. It’s even tougher finding one in a PSA 10 condition because not many people take good care of these.
For this reason, you might have to spend a bit more to get a good sticker of this type that also carries a good amount of value and potential for the future, if you preserve it well.
Other Cards
Now that we’ve exhausted the main rookie cards that you can choose from, let’s take a look at some alternatives that might interest you.
1981 TCMA Wade Boggs Pawtucket Red Sox
Something is interesting and unique about how Wade Boggs’ career developed as a baseball player.
He was drafted by the Red Sox back in 1976 in the seventh (!) round of the draft at the time. With all due respect to Boggs, it seems as though not many people expected him to become what he became back in the year of the draft.
Boggs only made his debut in 1982 in the MLB after spending several years with the Pawtucket Red Sox.
One of the most interesting facts about Boggs’ career with the Pawtucket Red Sox is the fact that he participated in the longest ever game of baseball, which lasted 8 hours and 25 minutes.
Imagine spending that amount of time on the field, it’s like a whole working day and then some.
Boggs slowly but surely improved during his time with the Pawtucket Red Sox to the extent that he was eventually ready to enter the league at the age of 25. And the rest, as they say, is history.
1984 Topps Wade Boggs #30
After Topps 1983 card, this 1984 Topps card is the second-most popular card of Boggs ever to be released.
At this point, it was still pretty early in the career of Wade Boggs, but he was, at the time this card came out, already an established baseball player.
In 1983, Boggs won the Silver Slugger award, and the AL Batting Champion award, which was two of the finest awards dealt out to the best-attacking players in the league.
The interest for Wade Boggs and his cards shot up quickly in 1984. This resulted in a slight increase in demand for these Topps cards, but ultimately, Boggs went on to collect even more successes in the future.
While this card is not as expensive as the 1983 Topps rookie card, it’s still a worthy card if you’re looking to add to your collection or if you’re looking for a card to invest in.
1984 Donruss Wade Boggs #151
As we’ve already mentioned, the interest in Wade Boggs cards grew and in 1984, it reached a high.
Boggs was not included in the All-Star team in 1984, but from the years 1985 to 1996, he was always present in the team. This just goes to show the continuity of success that Boggs was able to amass during his career, which is a testament to his never-say-die attitude and character of steel.
One feature that stands out on this card is the image. It’s perhaps the clearest of all images that we’ve seen so far on the cards on this list, so if you’re focused on the looks of the card, this might be one of the best-looking options on the list.
Again, it’s not the rookie card so the values are going to be slightly lower than the 1983 Donruss card. It’s also quite easily available and not very expensive, making it a good starting point if you’re just starting out with baseball or Wade Boggs cards.
