It seems to me the "major set" standard only exists for $$$. When dealers and Beckett made RC's a thing in the 1980's, the point was to make money off them by elevating the values of some cards. It worked very well and created the huge hobby spike and subsequent crash in the 80's and early 90's. But this doesn't work well if the card whose value is being raised is a tough card few people have. The rules are never consistent, because a consistent standard would escalate value on the wrong cards sometimes. By the "national standard" that excludes almost everything but Topps and Bowman in the post-war vintage era, I'm not sure any card before the late 1940's meets the standard. I'm not sure even T206 was a truly national issue. Many will claim Exhibits are not rookies, but the unauthorized and illegal 1949 Leaf's are, even the 2nd series cards that had a very limited geographical distribution.
I can see the excitement of a rookie card in having the first card of a player, even if I personally don't care about them (I'd rather have Bob Gibson in 1968 at the peak of his career than in 1959). I don't really get the excitement in having a "RC" of a player when it's like his 15th actual card, or why they still carry such a huge premium for a card sometimes issued years after his actual first cards. The first card of a player that is very easy to get or scores more points on a registry list doesn't seem as fun as the first actual card.
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