[Cozumeleno]

I, too, prefer the First Card designation, as others have said. It's a little tricky in many instances compared to the rookie card designation, though.

Many players have more than one rookie card, which is accepted. They're all simply known as rookies. But 'first card' infers that it's an individual's very first card -- even if that technically isn't the case. And many non-sports subjects have more than one card debuting in the same year (i.e. Queen/Princess Elizabeth, who has a few from 1935).

I'll leave it up to the pros to figure it all out. In the meantime, here's a card of Beethoven. Given the abundance of cabinets, CDVs, and what defines a card, I'm not bold enough to call it his first. So let's just say 'early.'