Since there will NEVER be consensus on what is considered a “rookie” or a “card”, I took out the guess work and think it can be any number of items (although the 1933 Goudey Ruth doesn’t make the cut) similar to the approach taken on the old cardboard website. But even they focused almost exclusively on items catalogued in the Lemke Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards book.
I’ve been working on a website (about 30% complete) that identifies all cards and photos (excluding only yearbooks and certain other magazine photos) to show the earliest collectible(s) for each hall of fame baseball player. The lists are mostly complete, but I haven’t finished uploading all the images. If you only want to see major league “rookie” cards, you can find them. If you just want earliest (including minor leagues), you can find them too. If you don’t care about size (“size matters not” - Yoda), there’s plenty of big and small items to peruse. If you want to know the earliest image with team items (like team postcards) or just composites or you’re okay with press photos and original photos or “one-of-a-kind” cabinets or magazine premiums, supplements, and woodcuts, you’ll find ‘em here. To each his own.
Take a look and let me know if you have any recommended additions.
HOF Earliest website:
https://imageevent.com/derekgranger/hofearliest
Enjoy the sneak peak. You won’t be disappointed. Once complete, I’ll add a reference page on this site. Obviously, a lot of credit has to go to Phil Garry on his early work on this topic. I’ve just added and added to the list after years of research and lots of AH catalog browsing. I hope to finish the site by the end of this year, but it’s a labor of love, so please be patient.