I have never felt the need to collect rookie cards, but I could see building a collection of images of each great pre-wwi player.

'HOF' designation doesn't mean much to me, as the HOF is missing a lot of key players. 'Card' doesn't mean much to me, as a beautiful cabinet photo beats the hell out of an ugly 'rookie' card - besides, everyone has a different definition of 'card', and everyone has a different definition of what a 'rookie' card is.

Example - My cabinet of the 1906 Pirates has the greatest Fred Clarke image I know of. Why would I need a card that wasn't part of a set I collect?