Rookie Cards of Baseball Hall of Famers

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by rhettyeakley

The "stickers are not cards" thing is silly! People get so freaking wierd about the whole "what is a card" thing. It was distributed with the intent of being collected and the stickers are even roughly "traditional card" sized. Such a silly argument...maybe T3's shouldn't be cards because they are roughly the same size as the Dean's card above (both the same size, they depict baseball players, have advertising on them, and were distributed with the intent of being collected by people...how are they different again?). Caramelo Deportivo cards were meant to be stuck into an album so they are basically stickers, too... better take them off the list! Why be so exclusionary? There exists a collectible item of Mike Schmidt that predates his first Topps card so why would it not be on the list because there is some adhesive on the back? There are many items cataloged in the CARD CATALOG that are fairly large (R309-2, T3's, R311, etc.) I don't really understand why today we get so caught up on the little dstails of what a "card" is.

Some would have you believe that if it isn't between the size of T206 and a Topps Tall-Boy than it isn't a "card" (No exhibits, no postcards, no premiums of any kind like R313, R314, etc.). Also it can't be round (no E254, E270, E286, Dixie Lids, etc.). It can't be too small (no Baguer Chocolates, R423, etc.). It can't be a part of a box (no J=K, E271, Orange Borders, Wheaties cards, etc.). It can't have sticky stuff on back (no "stickers", Topps test issues, etc.). It can't be made of anything other than traditional paper (no coins, pins, Salada, Topps Plaks, etc.). It can't be part of a deck of "game" cards (no Tom Barker, Walter Mails, Allegheny, etc.). and this is the first time I've seen it, but now it can't be one-of-a-kind because you know those don't "really" exist do they? (no Allegheny, 1921 Herpolsheimers, etc., etc.).

If you are cool with collecting Only Topps, Bowman, and maybe some T206's then those are great rules BUT if you want to collect the earliest known CARD (insert the most liberal interpretation of "card") then that is a list that would be of some use to the collecting world.

-Rhett

Don't forget all those Zeenuts that predate the cards on the list. Gotta be a dozen or more HOFers there. And the 1928 Exhibit PCL Earl Averill. And team issued mail reply cards and PCs. 1949 Philadelphia Bulletin Ashburn and Nellie Fox. And the 1958 Bob Gibson minor league card. Modesto A's Rickey Henderson. San Berdoo Junior [next year]. Rochester [?] Ripken. Baltimore Lefty Grove. 1956 Frank Robinson. 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers team issue PC Drysdale. Come to think of it, the more you exclude the more fun this can be! We could literally build an entire parallel list of cards of HOFers that predate the 'rookie' cards on the list.