Posted By:
HandsAtNeckI know that it seems silly, but why not call a rookie card a player's first card after he made it to the big leagues? Forget about cards which preceeded that, forget about widespread distribution, forget about cards which followed that.
If you want to collect a player's first card, his last card, his first year making the all star team, or other career commeratives, that is a different subject, perhaps.
Edited to add: A unanamous definition of what constitutes a card will never be achieved except by Imperial Edict from PSA or other such high ranking authority, imo. Until such edict, I do not agree that a card's size affects its legitimacy, nor do I believe that a card is a postcard if it has never been used as such. It is a collectable until mailed.
Edited again to add:
Pictures on paper are not cards imho. In order to be a "card" the candidate object must pass a rigidity test such as: being able to support it's own weight if held fixed at any edge.