4-Sport Hall of Fame Rookie Cards Guide

[ALR-bishop]

Sounds like a great project Phil. Look forward to getting one.

In the meantime maybe you can post a copy of your Ruth rookie card selection in the pre war thread and resolve the debate that is going on now and pops up over there now and then

[bcbgcbrcb]

Sure, Al, consider it done.

[pawpawdiv9]

Likewise- any average collector knows better, its NOT the Goudey as the RC.
Also, Phil, i just read your reply on your new book. About the reading material part info.
As becoming a RC style collector, indeed tickles my fancy.

[bcbgcbrcb]

Thanks, Chris, I should have copies available for sale by the end of June.

[ALR-bishop]

Phil-- I am not a rookie card collector. I collect sets, mostly Topps and Fleer post war. So I have never gotten much into the debates that sometimes pop up on which card is a player's "true" rookie card...like the current Ruth thread on post war.

In selecting cards for your book did you encounter much or any controversy as to which card to use as a player's rookie card ? If so, what criteria did you apply or what criteria do you recommend be applied in such determinations ? Do you discuss it in the book ?

While I do not concentrate on rookie cards, I do collect variations to my sets, and there is not a standard accepted hobby definition of what constitutes a "true" or "legitimate" variation that should be considered part of a master set. Since value gets attached to cards that are accepted from an overall hobby standpoint as a variation, the debate is sometimes lively and even contentious. Is there much or any of that in the realm of rookie cards beyond the Ruth question being discussed on post war now ?

[bcbgcbrcb]

Al:

There is a brief discussion regarding the rookie card debate in my Introduction but more detailed parameters are set forth on the very first page of each section. Most of the parameters are pretty similar across the board for baseball, football, basketball and hockey. In my opinion, Ruth is one of the most clear-cut choices amongst pre-war baseball Hall of Famers. The discussion is almost always much simpler when it comes to basketball and football as those sets do not go back as far as the early baseball issues. Hockey is kind of in-between.