Quote:
Originally Posted by rats60
Who is your rookie in 1986? Agree to disagree on Puckett. It was the hobby and collectors not Beckett who decided that rookie cards had to be available to the majority of collectors and not regionals or limited releases like 1984 Fleer Update.
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Unless Beckett asked every collector, then it is Beckett who made the final determination.
That premise established by Beckett is slowly being chipped away. 1984 Fleer Update Roger Clemens and Kirby Puckett are their rookie cards and are far more desirable cards than any of their 1985 cards. The fact they were harder to obtain makes it even appealing...not worse. As long as they are baseball cards, and not photos or something, how they were distributed (widespread or not) is meaning less and less in the eyes of many collectors. At this point, I prefer the regional and/or tougher issued cards. The 'traditional' counterparts get a little boring since there are so many of them in circulation.
The 'true rookie card' has always been a moving target and viewed differently by everyone and is a contrived notion much like the Holiday of Sweetest Day is...so it doesn't really matter at that point.
What it comes down to is if the 1984 Fleer Update is a better card than any of the 1985 issues. I say 100% yes they are. The fact they are more rare is a far more appealing factor than what Beckett says is a rookie card or not...but to each their own. Nobody will convince anyone who already has their mind made up on that topic anyway.