Let's talk about "over-looked" true Rookie cards....Pre-war and early Post-war

[packs]

My Ichiro rookie (maybe?):

[Peter_Spaeth]

Yeah I think there are three 1993 Japanese Ichiros, the Takara I posted, the Tomy, and the more common BBM.

[Kidnapped18]

People can call a card what ever they want but calling a Rookie Card when it clearly is not doesn't make it so...generally to me a Rookie Card is the players first card(s) issued at or very close to their MLB debut year
If a player debuted in 1933 and a card was made in 1933 that would be his Rookie Card and subsequent years 1934, 1935 etc would not be Rookie Cards

If a player debuted in 1933 but his first card was made in 1934 then that would be his Rookie Card

If a player debuted in 1933 but his first card was made in 1953 then I would say the player has no Rookie Card

1951 Bowman is Mantle's rookie card, the 1952 Topps is not, it is simply his first Topps card

Players can have multiple Rookie Cards ie Ken Griffey Jr's 1989 Bowman/1989 Donruss/1989 Score/1989 Upper Deck etc.

Modern Rookie Cards should be clearer with a few exceptions such as Ichiro
I would consider his 2001 US cards as his Rookie Cards since that was his first year in MLB
I would not consider his Japanese cards as Rookie Cards since he was not in MLB

Vintage Rookie Cards can be more problematic since players could have played a few years before a card was ever issued

[maniac_73]

So since Mike Trouts 2011 Topps was in Update does that make his 2012 Topps his true Rookie?

Personally I feel his 2009 Tristar Prospects card is his Rookie but only because thats the one I have lol

[darwinbulldog]

I'm just here to remind everyone that Derek Jeter was the 1996 Rookie of the Year.

[Scocs]

Don’t have a picture handy, but a 1956 Kahn’s Weiners Frank Robinson beats out his Topps rookie by a year.

[h2oya311]

Originally Posted by Scocs

Don’t have a picture handy, but a 1956 Kahn’s Weiners Frank Robinson beats out his Topps rookie by a year.

Not the best example, but it's an example, and it's my example. And it's definitely not his nicest card (did he just wake up?):

[grandcards]

Originally Posted by darwinbulldog

I'm just here to remind everyone that Derek Jeter was the 1996 Rookie of the Year.

This is my favorite example that lays bare how silly even the most ardent "True RC" arguments are. As far as I can tell, there is absolute consensus that 1993 Topps is Jeter's rookie card, despite the fact that he made his debut with the Yankees in 1995.

Heck, Carl Yastrzemski made his Major League debut in 1961 -- something that I didn't even know because I had always assumed it was 1960 because of his Rookie Card! (also accepted as such by consensus)

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by grandcards

This is my favorite example that lays bare how silly even the most ardent "True RC" arguments are. As far as I can tell, there is absolute consensus that 1993 Topps is Jeter's rookie card, despite the fact that he made his debut with the Yankees in 1995.

Heck, Carl Yastrzemski made his Major League debut in 1961 -- something that I didn't even know because I had always assumed it was 1960 because of his Rookie Card! (also accepted as such by consensus)

In 1993 MLB didn't have a rule about when players could be included in big league sets.

[darwinbulldog]

Originally Posted by grandcards

This is my favorite example that lays bare how silly even the most ardent "True RC" arguments are. As far as I can tell, there is absolute consensus that 1993 Topps is Jeter's rookie card, despite the fact that he made his debut with the Yankees in 1995.

Heck, Carl Yastrzemski made his Major League debut in 1961 -- something that I didn't even know because I had always assumed it was 1960 because of his Rookie Card! (also accepted as such by consensus)

Close, but not absolute consensus. I personally make zero exceptions to the rule that a card issued in a year earlier than one's major league debut is not a rookie card. Jeter happens to have many minor league cards, and some of them happen to be popular in part because some of his minor league uniforms were indistinguishable from New York Yankee uniforms, but his MLB debut was 1995, and I (even if no one else goes along with it) regard his 1995 cards as his true rookie cards. I will die on this hill.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by darwinbulldog

Close, but not absolute consensus. I personally make zero exceptions to the rule that a card issued in a year earlier than one's major league debut is not a rookie card. Jeter happens to have many minor league cards, and some of them happen to be popular in part because some of his minor league uniforms were indistinguishable from New York Yankee uniforms, but his MLB debut was 1995, and I (even if no one else goes along with it) regard his 1995 cards as his true rookie cards. I will die on this hill.

It's logical but the hobby consensus at the time was first card in a big league set. Thus the 93 Jeters, 92 Mariano, and many more from that era.