Rafael Devers
 

I'm not a post-war collector, but I have been intrigued with Red Sox 3rd baseman, Rafael Devers and was thinking about picking up one of his cards. If you could have one Devers card, what would it be and why?

It depends on your motivation for collecting and what speaks to you. His first card was 2014 Bowman Draft. But the card that will always be his best and most desireable is his 2015 Bowman Chrome Autograph because it is his first Chrome Auto. You can get the base autograph or spend more to get a color border numbered auto. The lower the number the better. I hope that helps.

Certified autos can be fun and whatnot, but I'm not a big fan of the different colored bordered cards. To me, it's just not different enough to the base version (but I get that to other people it's a much more desirable version).
However, I do like the photo variation options that Topps makes (most of the time), and Devers has a few in the 2018 set. On top, from left to right, are the 2018 Topps base, the SP variation and the "complete set" version, and the graded card below is the SSP image variation. If I could only have one, it would be the SSP.

This all makes good sense. What would people consider to be his most valuable card?

Got to be some sort of auto-refractor-low serial number thing.

His 2018 Topps Archives auto card is pretty sweet, and depending on your tastes, there are those Topps Living and other online exclusives that may have auto versions, too.

But I think if this is an investment, the typical target would be one of those Bowman auto-refractor things, if you can afford it. If it’s more for fun and less investment, some of the others may be more appealing.

Here’s his cards on the trading card database:
https://www.tradingcarddb.com/Person...tName=&sBrand=




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I'd go with the Heritage auto. I look for Heritage first for anyone I'm interested in. The Bowman cards are usually not all that much to look at.

If you wouldn't mind my curiosity, I'd be very interested to hear about what you end up with and what your ballpark budget is for it. Looks like Heritage auto cards are selling for a few hundred dollars, while some of the low-numbered Bowman auto cards can get into the four figures and approach five figures. For that kind of scratch, one could also readily acquire a high-grade Mike Schmidt rookie (PSA 9 in the $2k range, I believe), which makes for an interesting comparison, I think.

Yeah, I agree. I'd like to get one of his top shelf 2014 or 2015 cards. Willing to spend a fair amount.