Spending a couple of years at the top of MLB’s annual rankings of baseball’s top 100 prospects will get you plenty of hobby attention. That’s exactly the case with collectors looking for a Wander Franco Rookie Card. He isn’t some tightly held secret. In fact, even his earliest MLB cards arrived with plenty of fanfare.
At the time of his call-up to the Rays in June 2021, there were already more than 1,700 different Franco cards. That number is only going to continue to grow. But it also means that there’s plenty of variety as well as some early standouts.
The following list includes base Freeman cards with the RC tag in the Beckett database. Inserts and parallels have not been taken into consideration.
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Wander Franco Rookie Card
2021 Bowman’s Best Wander Franco Rookie Card #50
Originally, it looked like collectors were going to have to wait until 2022 to get the first Wander Franco Rookie Card. But then something strange happened. Instead of breaking apart the veterans and prospects like Bowman products have for 15 years, 2021 Bowman’s Best Baseball mixed them all together. Franco is in a mainstream base set alongside current players like Mike Trout and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Intended or not, it meets all the criteria of being an RC — the only Wander Franco Rookie Card. It’s worth noting that his 2022 cards carry the “RC” badge. That carries a lot of weight today. Years from now, these 2022 cards might be more desirable. But desirability isn’t one of the criteria for what is and isn’t a Rookie Card. Just look at the 1951 Bowman Mickey Mantle compared to his 1952 Topps card. Going by standards established decades ago, before Beckett was established, the 2021 Bowman’s Best Wander Franco is a Rookie Card.
Parallels: Refractors, Atomic Refractors, Purple Refractors (/250), Aqua Lava Refractors (/199), Blue Refractors (/150), Green Refractors (/99), Gold Lava Refractors (/75), Gold Refractors (/50), Orange Refractors (/25), Red Refractors (/10), Red Lava Refractors (/5), Superfractors (1/1)
Other Key Wander Franco Cards
2022 Topps #215 Wander Franco (RC)
Released in 2022 Topps Series 1, this card was selling for $25 right out of the gate. The card carries an RC logo, but was released after Franco appeared in the 2021 Bowman’s Best base set. Some collectors may refer to this as a Wander Rookie Card, but the Beckett database recognizes the Bowman’s Best as the true RC for the reasons previously listed. Still, as Franco’s first appearance as a major leaguer in Topps flagship, this card drove early sales of Series I.
Parallels: Gold Foil, Premiere Party, Rainbow Foil, Rip Party, Royal Blue, Gold (/2022), Green Foilboard (/499), Advanced Stats (/300), Orange Foilboard (/299), Red Foilboard (/199), Vintage Stock (/99), Independence Day (/76), Black (/71), Father’s Day Powder Blue (/50), Mother’s Day Hot Pink (/50), Memorial Day Camo (/25), Clear (/10), Platinum (1/1), Printing Plates Black (1/1), Printing Plates Cyan (1/1), Printing Plates Magenta (1/1), Printing Plates Yellow (1/1)