When did the rookie card phenomena start

[Steve_NY]

Everyone is correct -- definitely started in 1979 or thereabouts. I can remember running several shows in Long Island in the late 1970s where Al Chipurnoi (CHIP) would come in and sell us all the rookie cards everyone was asking for such as 1975 Brett, Younts, Rice, Carter, 1973 Schmidts, etc. He would invest in large quantities of potential rookies -- like 1,000s and some would materialize and others wouldn't. He eventually became a dealer and passed on a number of years ago. But I would pinpoint 1979 as the beginning of the rookie hunt.

[stevecarlton1972]

I start collecting in 1979 as a kid and the first rookie card that drew my attention was the 1986 Donruss Canseco Rookie. I'm sure the rookie craze started before that (as many people have stated) but that was the first moment I really started to look at cards as a business/investment and sadly it was never the same as the innocence of collecting was gone.

I only collected Topps from 1979-87 as my whole goal was to complete the set by getting pack after pack throughout the summer (my mom would buy me a pack of cards after every little league game and then we'd hit McDonalds). But in 1988 I started to collect Fleer, Donruss, and Score and eventually Upper Deck in the early 90's and it became all too much.

Part of me would love to go back and erase from the part of my brain that understands the phenomenon of rookie card values and be able to enjoy collecting sets again without caring about a card value.

[pingman59]

I vividly remember the 3-day summer extravaganza put on by the Chicagoland Sports Collector's Association in 1978. Bill Henderson had an 8-pocket sheet full of Hank Aaron rookie cards for $20 each. It was referred to as his "Rookie Card" but the rookie card connection didn't seem to go up through the years of the 1960's and 70's until 1979, which seems to be the posted theme here.

I had purchased a 500 count assorted lot of 1968 Topps BB from The Card Collector's Company in 1976 and got 125 different (4 x 125=500) minty fresh cards, of which there were 4 Johnny Bench rookie cards. I remember thinking, "Oh, there's Johnny Bench as a rookie." When I set up at my first CSCA show later in 1977, I sold many of those 68's as singles probably for a nickel or dime apiece and thought nothing of putting the Bench card in the stack. Maybe someone knew what they were doing then by buying them, but by 1979 I felt some regret selling those sharp Bench rookies.

[Rich Klein]

Jerry's post about CPU pushing Rookie cards to the next level is correct but the RC phenomenon had actually begun in 1977 when Mark Fidrych RC came out and people were bidding for that card.

But that was an one-off until 1979.

Rich

[rats60]

Originally Posted by Rich Klein

Jerry's post about CPU pushing Rookie cards to the next level is correct but the RC phenomenon had actually begun in 1977 when Mark Fidrych RC came out and people were bidding for that card.

But that was an one-off until 1979.

Rich

Rich, if you want to be technical, it started in 1974 with the Aaron RC when he broke Ruth's HR record.

[Rich Klein]

I was not yet in the hobby in 1974 when the Aaron boom hit, however; the Fidrych (and probably Lynn and Rice in 75 in the Boston Area) was certainly a card dealers were bidding on in 1977.

But the explosion did come with CPU and their hyping of RC's. And it certainly helped that Rickey Henderson had the year in 1980 at the same time his RC came out. After 1979/80 it was RC old and new out the door.

Rich

[rats60]

Originally Posted by Rich Klein

I was not yet in the hobby in 1974 when the Aaron boom hit, however; the Fidrych (and probably Lynn and Rice in 75 in the Boston Area) was certainly a card dealers were bidding on in 1977.

But the explosion did come with CPU and their hyping of RC's. And it certainly helped that Rickey Henderson had the year in 1980 at the same time his RC came out. After 1979/80 it was RC old and new out the door.

Rich

In 1974, Aaron became a 10-20 dollar card overnight. I remember because my brother had one. Before that, I don't remember anything being more than 1.00. I was getting several mail order catalogs, but it is possible that they just didn't have certain cards like a 52 Mantle.

I don't know how much Fidrych was, but I don't recall mail order guys asking more for it. It is possible that it was hot, but it would have been a short time. Mark was hurt in preseason and didn't pitch in 1977 until May 27 and then was hurt again pitching his last game for the season July 12. I imagine if he had a 1976 card, it would have been a 1.00 card during the season.

Lynn and Rice were .15 and .20 in the 1st Beckett annual. Brett and Yount .08. Henderson and Valenzuela became 1.00 cards as rookies. I would put the 1979-1981 time period as when the rookie card really started taking hold. Although by 1981, Brett was a 10.00 card after his 1980 season, but Robin Yount was still .08 until he took off in his 1982 MVP season. By 1984, prospecting had taken hold with people buying 100 count lots of no name rookies hoping they would break out like Ryne Sandberg did in 1984.