The First Baseball Card?

[z28jd]

Originally Posted by bn2cardz

I still don't get why it being a card makes a difference. What you call it doesn't change the size or the way it was distributed. So you are saying that it needs to be called a card by your peers before it is worth a certain amount of money? Again it comes down to semantics. Who is the official that gets to make the claim of when it is a card or not and how did that person get the authority?

Your example of Picasso here doesn't work. If you collect Picasso and you aren't sure it really is a Picasso that would be a better comparison to whether the person on this piece was really Harry Wright. Whether the Picasso painting was really a painting or sketch may be a better analogy, but even then it is more about the looks of the piece some people prefer paint over sketch. Or maybe if you were to discuss what phase of Picasso it was. That would be a better comparison. Though I would still say it doesn't matter what phase it was, if you like Picasso and you like the art, then buy it.

What you are talking about is whether something is worth your time because someone else told you it was. Again you are debating semantics to decide your collecting tendencies instead of enjoying the piece for what it is in cold hard facts. We know what the item was used for, you know who is pictured, you know what year it was distributed. If you can't decide you want it in your collection until someone else designates it with a certain word to describe it then so be it, but that doesn't make any sense to me.

I'm just trying to tell you what people think based on my knowledge of collecting since I was five. I'm not an economy major and I'm done playing one. Think what you want about it, I honestly have no opinion as to whether it is a card or not. Sorry if you didn't get the analogy either, I used about ten for you, so pick another.

[drc]

There are a lot more baseball card collectors out there than baseball ticket or First Day of Issue envelope collectors, so if something is considered to be a baseball card there will be more demand and be financially worth more.

That's the financial answer to why whether or not something is a baseball card is important. I'm not at all saying financial value is the only way, or the best way, to consider or justify or measure a piece of memorabilia.

P.s. I don't believe anyone knows what is the first baseball card. In the area of early cards there is a lot of gray area, unanswerable questions and missing information, differing definitions and points of view and we're not certain when some cards were made. For two given early cards, the hobby may not know which one was made first.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by drc

P.s. I don't believe anyone knows what is the first baseball card. In the area of early cards there is a lot of gray area, unanswerable questions and missing information, differing definitions and points of view and we're not certain when some cards were made. For two given early cards, the hobby may not know which one was made first.

Once SGC began slabbing cdv's, the definition of 'baseball card' changed - all sorts of cdv's became eligible.

But ultimately, if two people who want the first baseball card both think this is it, then the price will reflect their thinking (even though it isn't)

[drc]

These items fall under the category 'Origins of baseball cards.' They resemble baseball cards in ways, but aren't baseball cards as we know them today. They are from the days when baseball cards were being formed, like the intersection of of townball to basesball.

There are a few early items that fit my definition of baseball cards, a few near misses and many that do not. Calling something you own or are auctioning a baseball card only because that means it will sell for more is, of course, intellectually corrupt and following the path of Shop at Home and QVC. I remember when Shop at Home would call about anything a 'rookie card,' because rookie cards sold for more. Joe Montana's first appearance as a Kansas City Chief would be offered as his 'Kansas City Rookie Card.' A Ted Williams 1959 Fleer was his "Fleer Rookie Card."

I'm not an active baseball card collector. It's the baseball card collectors who make the 'baseball card' label such a big issue. I like baseball cards, but tickets, studio CDVs and cricket cards are nice too. Having said that, I have a personal definition of what is a baseball card and sometimes voice my opinion as to whether an item is baseball card.

[FirstYearCards]

The definition of a rookie card: whatever you chose as you own personal guidelines. I have been collecting for years(HOF rookies), and have set my own rules. For my own purposes, here is how I collect:

http://www.firstyearcards.com/FAQ.html

[bcbgcbrcb]

Great stuff, Bill. I'll have to check that out much closer when I have a chance.