When Did RC Become Most Important?

[rats60]

Originally Posted by HistoricNewspapers

The ironic thing is that the 1986 fleer Jordan is his third year card. All one had to do back then is look at the back of his card and see he has two years worth of stats on the card. Then look at the Star Company cards and one had his college stats and the next year had his NBA rookie stats...then the third year Fleer arrived.

The Star Company cards were also much better sets representing more players from each team.

Imagine how many young people in the 1980's and thought that baseball cards were only made in 1909/11 with T206, 1933, and then 1948. Then they got the year wrong for 1949 Leaf and that stuck too. There were probably people that figured there was nothing in-between those years.

I would say that greatly suppressed the prices of any card not listed in the Beckett Monthly and grossly inflated the ones that were.

The astute collectors knew better of course.

As for Ruth, how on earth could the 1921-1922 Caramel sets not be included? Probably because the people making the decisions to decide RC's didn't have any, or as many, as the more common cards...

The 1969 Topps Reggie Jackson has two years of MLB stats on the back. Is it no longer a rookie card?

The hobby adopted the definition of a rookie card to be inclusive. They knew that if the hobby was to grow and survive, a player's best card had to be accessable to everyone, not just to dealers and wealthy adults. That is why Jackie Robinson's RCs are 1949 Leaf and Bowman and Michael Jordan's RC is 1986 Fleer. It doesn't stop you from collecting earlier cards.

The hobby is no different today. Julio Rodriguez's RCs are in the 2022 products. It doesn't matter that he had a 2021 Bowman's Best card.

[HistoricNewspapers]

Originally Posted by rats60

The 1969 Topps Reggie Jackson has two years of MLB stats on the back. Is it no longer a rookie card?

The hobby adopted the definition of a rookie card to be inclusive. They knew that if the hobby was to grow and survive, a player's best card had to be accessable to everyone, not just to dealers and wealthy adults. That is why Jackie Robinson's RCs are 1949 Leaf and Bowman and Michael Jordan's RC is 1986 Fleer. It doesn't stop you from collecting earlier cards.

The hobby is no different today. Julio Rodriguez's RCs are in the 2022 products. It doesn't matter that he had a 2021 Bowman's Best card.

Jackson's card would most certainly not be a rookie card if he had cards in each of the two year's prior like Jackie Robinson or Michael Jordan did.

If you hold up a 1986 Fleer Jordan and say this is his rookie card....then what the heck are the two cards made two years prior? So they aren't cards? If they are cards and pre-date another card, then it seems awfully foolish to still cling to the third year card as a rookie card. Well, either foolish, or done by design to arbitrarily bump its value. You can still collect the third year card. It just isn't a rookie card, regardless of what the arbitrary 'rules' state.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by HistoricNewspapers

Jackson's card would most certainly not be a rookie card if he had cards in each of the two year's prior like Jackie Robinson or Michael Jordan did.

If you hold up a 1986 Fleer Jordan and say this is his rookie card....then what the heck are the two cards made two years prior? So they aren't cards? If they are cards and pre-date another card, then it seems awfully foolish to still cling to the third year card as a rookie card. Well, either foolish, or done by design to arbitrarily bump its value. You can still collect the third year card. It just isn't a rookie card, regardless of what the arbitrary 'rules' state.

The 1985 Star is an XRC. The 1986 Star is nothing. The 1986 Fleer is a RC. You may think it is foolish, but the hobby does not.

[HistoricNewspapers]

Originally Posted by rats60

The 1969 Topps Reggie Jackson has two years of MLB stats on the back. Is it no longer a rookie card?

The hobby adopted the definition of a rookie card to be inclusive. They knew that if the hobby was to grow and survive, a player's best card had to be accessable to everyone, not just to dealers and wealthy adults. That is why Jackie Robinson's RCs are 1949 Leaf and Bowman and Michael Jordan's RC is 1986 Fleer. It doesn't stop you from collecting earlier cards.

The hobby is no different today. Julio Rodriguez's RCs are in the 2022 products. It doesn't matter that he had a 2021 Bowman's Best card.

That sure looks like the definition of manipulation. At best, it is an artificial designation. A foolish definition for certain.

Robinson and Jordan third year cards...are not rookie cards.

XRC lol....still says it is a rookie card, just an extra one...and two years earlier.

[midwaylandscaping]

Fun thread. I dabbled with card collecting from 1978-82 before the deep dive in 1983/84.

** Fernando Valenzuela 1981 RC's are the ones I think of first as being sought after. Dale Murphy RC's had a strong following in my area also in 82-83 (S.C)

** One local dealer was a Star Co. seller. Spring of '86 he had quantity of the bagged team & all star sets 83-86. I had no interest, naturally, I needed Dan Paqua 85 Donruss rookies

Late Spring / early Summer of 1987 Fleer basketball wax boxes were readily available in the Roses Dept store in Boone NC for some ridiculous price of 7.99 or that range. Of course I said nah, I need Greenwell rc's not worthless basketball

Ahh, for a time machine