Alternative rookies I will never find
 

Unless a certain collector gives up his, I have pretty much abandoned hope of finding these team issues:

1963 Pete Rose
1965 Jim Palmer
1967 Johnny Bench
1975 (update) Dennis Eckersley

It's amazing how scarce these are, I guess almost nobody kept theirs who had them back in the day.

Anyone have a similar experience looking for these or others?

I feel like these are items that most people, even some seasoned collectors may have but don't realize it. They aren't easy to date and are usually poorly listed on sites like ebay.

Here's a few fun ones I have.

A very early, possibly rookie era Eddie Yost.

And a 1966 Joe Morgan. Cool thing about this copy, looks like it was used for publication purposes. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...ee95eaf669.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...c03fbc9b24.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...5b884ffd70.jpg

If you think about it, that first year TI was usually of a scrubeenie, not a star, so who would want it? Probably did not generate much interest from fans so most of the surviving examples would be in press archives and those were routinely thrown away after a time.

Definitely an area in need of more study and much more respect in the hobby. Pinning them down is a challenge.

Basketball is even more fun than this because a lot of the big players had team issues in college. How cool would it be to own a Jordan UNC team issue? I know there is one but it is mega-rare and mega-pricey when it comes up. Best I can do is his rookie year Bulls TI:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...ize/image.jpeg

It took me a long time to land the 67 Bench team issue. You just never see it come up for sale. I have read that Bench was called up later in the season in 67 and that his team issue was not part of the first release and was released later in the season. My guess is there are a lot less of Bench than the others.

https://www.collectorfocus.com/image...issue-pc-psa-1

What does tge 1965 Palmer look like ?
Thanks, Scott

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...50877beb86.jpg

Same image was used for the 1966 team issue as well, not sure how to tell the difference.

Awesome but too much for my budget.

1963 Reds Rose PC
 

I picked this one from a board member a few back. I also like the '67 Mets Seaver PC. That Bench is very nice.

They were all such kids, you know? Reminds me of my alternative RC of Gretzky

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...%20Gretzky.jpg

Of course, some of these guys looked like mature men early on

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...ne_%20Karl.jpg

I bet The Mailman was shaving when he was in third grade.

Another Gretzky option. PSA stopped grading the JD McCarthy that Adam posted, not sure why, it's a great card.

Alternative rookies I will never find
 

I think with those JD McCarthy Gretzkys there’s a problem with them being originally identified as 1979 issues but then people observing that the equipment he’s wearing were not from that year and so had to be issued later. I think even SGC won’t identify a year on them anymore.

Thanks for that information. And as long as we're on hockey, here is a 1985 team issue of Patrick Roy, relatively hard to find.

I'd like to see that information. I searched and did not find anything.

Alternative rookies I will never find
 

Yeah, it’s just something I came across in the “Wayne Gretzky Collecting” group on Facebook. So just Gretzky nerds talking about it. Here’s what I saw (grayed out area in last image is just duplicate of posts included in previous image).
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...c2e69a558f.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...893ee372af.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...47ef07f3de.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...6b2e6f4738.jpg

Those guys sound pretty knowledgeable to me. Continuing with the theme, here are alternatives for Dryden and LaFleur.

Well. pop goes the bubble on the Gretzky.

I know this Drysdale is an alternative RC:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...Autod%20PC.jpg

Postmarked in August 1957 in Brooklyn.

Reggie alternate Rookie
 

I bought a complete team set of 1969 A's and had Reggie sign this last year at the National. Shamless plug it is available. The Hunter from the set is my favorite.

Tim Howard Metro Stars Team Issued card from packs they gave away

A pre-rookie rather than an alternative rookie, but a card one does not often see.