thecampbell
Verified Trader,
In this day and age of 200 rookie cards for each player, which card do you consider to be their one rookie card. This was easy until the 90's. Now, would it be their UD young gun? The most valuable base card?
Which card do you consider to be "the rookie card"
- Thread starter thecampbell
- Start date
SkyFire47
Verified Trader
i say there are 3 of them (in no particular order):
-UD Young Guns
-SP Authentic FW Auto RC
-The Cup RC
-UD Young Guns
-SP Authentic FW Auto RC
-The Cup RC
Rraincock
Lurker Only
Hmmmmm good question. Without getting into the endless debate of what qualifies as a true RC, lets set the stage for the debate.
I shall assume that to qualify for a RC, we are taking all of the regular base cards from all of the NHLPA approved sets, yadda, yadda, yadda. No ITG Heroes and Prospects etc.
I shall also assume that by "the RC" we are talking about the most widely collected and appreciated RC.... but that is where the debate begins....
1) Some people put a lot of weight on the most collected card. Usually this is the young Gun.... so that could be considered "the RC" but at the same time, would you rather have a Crosby Young Gun or an SP Authentic Autograph #/999. More people buy and sell the Young Gun every day... and to most people the YG is in their grasp.
2) Some people would say the most valuable.... which is usually The Cup RC. The super rookies are #/99.... and we all know what a Crosby Cup is worth ... but how many people have actually seen a Crosby Cup RC in the fleash (or cardboard, as 'twere). Yes a Cup Crosby would trump a YG.... or any of his other RC... but is it THE RC? I would say no.... purely on the basis that to be THE RC it has to be widely collected. There is also the delema of faked Cup patches... and the fact that CUP cards do not contain game used pieces.... just remember what has happened to the value of OPC premier and Black.
3) Rare cards are everywhere now. Aside from a 1/1 the rarest copies of a rookie card tend to be Victory Black (IRONY!) at a print run somewhere under 25. Yes, yes, they are parallels.... but they come out early enough in the year that they are around on eBay's Buy It Now section to taunt us for what seems like the entire season. My point here is that just because a card is rare doesn't mean that it is THE RC. If that were so the Crosby ICE RC would be worth the same as a Cup RC...
so what is the answer? Well, there really is no one. I like to consider the best rookie of a player something that is widely collected, relatively rare (but not so rare that there aren't player and set collectors after it), comes out relatively early (like a YG or a Black Diamond) or is interesting (like The Cup with auto patches).
For a mid level card, it has to be the YG. For an auto, SP Authentic. For memorabilia it has to be The Cup. Overall, I think it is either Sp Authentic or the YG.... but am I the only one that thinks that the only thing more inflated than the values of the top YG's are the bust profiles in the San Fernando Valley?
I would love to hear everyone weigh in on this... perhaps a poll is in order.
I shall assume that to qualify for a RC, we are taking all of the regular base cards from all of the NHLPA approved sets, yadda, yadda, yadda. No ITG Heroes and Prospects etc.
I shall also assume that by "the RC" we are talking about the most widely collected and appreciated RC.... but that is where the debate begins....
1) Some people put a lot of weight on the most collected card. Usually this is the young Gun.... so that could be considered "the RC" but at the same time, would you rather have a Crosby Young Gun or an SP Authentic Autograph #/999. More people buy and sell the Young Gun every day... and to most people the YG is in their grasp.
2) Some people would say the most valuable.... which is usually The Cup RC. The super rookies are #/99.... and we all know what a Crosby Cup is worth ... but how many people have actually seen a Crosby Cup RC in the fleash (or cardboard, as 'twere). Yes a Cup Crosby would trump a YG.... or any of his other RC... but is it THE RC? I would say no.... purely on the basis that to be THE RC it has to be widely collected. There is also the delema of faked Cup patches... and the fact that CUP cards do not contain game used pieces.... just remember what has happened to the value of OPC premier and Black.
3) Rare cards are everywhere now. Aside from a 1/1 the rarest copies of a rookie card tend to be Victory Black (IRONY!) at a print run somewhere under 25. Yes, yes, they are parallels.... but they come out early enough in the year that they are around on eBay's Buy It Now section to taunt us for what seems like the entire season. My point here is that just because a card is rare doesn't mean that it is THE RC. If that were so the Crosby ICE RC would be worth the same as a Cup RC...
so what is the answer? Well, there really is no one. I like to consider the best rookie of a player something that is widely collected, relatively rare (but not so rare that there aren't player and set collectors after it), comes out relatively early (like a YG or a Black Diamond) or is interesting (like The Cup with auto patches).
For a mid level card, it has to be the YG. For an auto, SP Authentic. For memorabilia it has to be The Cup. Overall, I think it is either Sp Authentic or the YG.... but am I the only one that thinks that the only thing more inflated than the values of the top YG's are the bust profiles in the San Fernando Valley?
I would love to hear everyone weigh in on this... perhaps a poll is in order.
thecampbell
Verified Trader,
The reason I've asked this question is I've been slowly collecting the RC's of all the 1,000 points, and 300 game winners. Now up until the 90's this was simple, the O-Pee-Chee over the Topps version.
Just talking about the early 90's, not even getting into the shorter print runs, etc, you've got the Young Guns, International cards from UD, O-Pee-Chee Premier rookies, which for the most part book more than the UD RC'.
Now I love the collection, but 3 Sundin', Roenick',Cujo' etc are taking up too much box space...haha
Just talking about the early 90's, not even getting into the shorter print runs, etc, you've got the Young Guns, International cards from UD, O-Pee-Chee Premier rookies, which for the most part book more than the UD RC'.
Now I love the collection, but 3 Sundin', Roenick',Cujo' etc are taking up too much box space...haha
lucscaps
Verified Trader,
I looked at project like this once also, I personal said if I did it I would take the most valuable non auto, non mem card of each player on the list.
My reasoning was that it would keep all cards uniform and within grasp. Earlier cards didn't have any of the frills.
My reasoning was that it would keep all cards uniform and within grasp. Earlier cards didn't have any of the frills.
Fred Bear
Verified Trader,
Personally, I prefer the balance as I am working on putting together some rookies to store away...
Pre-1990 - OPC & Topps
1990-1996 - Mixed Bag (try for 'high-end' :giggity
1997-current - UD YG & SP Authentic FW
I prefer 2 'different' rookies, but it obviously depends on the year, etc. etc.
That's my 2 cents...
Pre-1990 - OPC & Topps
1990-1996 - Mixed Bag (try for 'high-end' :giggity
1997-current - UD YG & SP Authentic FW
I prefer 2 'different' rookies, but it obviously depends on the year, etc. etc.
That's my 2 cents...
Q
quincy
Guest
I can add one to the "Isn't" pile:
The Mcdonald's Crosby.
The Mcdonald's Crosby.
Triple B
Verified Trader,
I'd like to nominate "the Zamboni Crosby" as well.
deankal
Verified Trader
I agree 100%. If you're going to pick 3 "must have rookies" and the money side of the hobby is decent with you I'd definitely try to grab a rookie out of each of those products. The young gun is the staple of rookie cards, the spa rookie is as cleans as a rookie card you can get with a hard signed auto and The Cup rookie is the cream of the crop. You can also just get a 1 color patch for relatively cheap and that usually won't break the budget.....
sdpdesign
Registered Trader ,
The best rc card to have is the one that is in the long run set...UD. This has and will probably be the most recognized rc card for any collector.
A lot of sets have come and gone, gimmick sets, like Pros & Prospects, UD 3. These are only good to get the "only" rc.
After all, if you like the look of the cards, or the amount of chase inserted, you'll prefer the set over others. There are always the "I wish cards" for the high rollers.
The greatest concept was the ultra short rc prints from Pacific Titanium that one year...Ty Conklin's rc year...numbered to the jersey number...great concept but established that you could have a very limited number of cards, serial numbered under 100 and still have them considered true rc's.
These days, the best rc is the $$ rc...the one that has atleast a jersey swatch, patch swatch, and/or the autograph. It feels like the UD rc, which is still very respected, is taking the backseat to the flashier cards.
Sets that I like to get rc from are UD, SPA, SPGU, and Artifacts...these are also the only boxes that I will buy, eventhough I haven't bought a box of UD in a couple of years.
A lot of sets have come and gone, gimmick sets, like Pros & Prospects, UD 3. These are only good to get the "only" rc.
After all, if you like the look of the cards, or the amount of chase inserted, you'll prefer the set over others. There are always the "I wish cards" for the high rollers.
The greatest concept was the ultra short rc prints from Pacific Titanium that one year...Ty Conklin's rc year...numbered to the jersey number...great concept but established that you could have a very limited number of cards, serial numbered under 100 and still have them considered true rc's.
These days, the best rc is the $$ rc...the one that has atleast a jersey swatch, patch swatch, and/or the autograph. It feels like the UD rc, which is still very respected, is taking the backseat to the flashier cards.
Sets that I like to get rc from are UD, SPA, SPGU, and Artifacts...these are also the only boxes that I will buy, eventhough I haven't bought a box of UD in a couple of years.
Tripredacus
New Member, Must Send First
This exact question is why I can't accept Jimmy Howard as being a Calder Trophy candidate.
richie.rocket.cards
Verified Trader,
Personally, I prefer the balance as I am working on putting together some rookies to store away...
Pre-1990 - OPC & Topps
1990-1996 - Mixed Bag (try for 'high-end' :giggity
1997-current - UD YG & SP Authentic FW
I prefer 2 'different' rookies, but it obviously depends on the year, etc. etc.
That's my 2 cents...
This is me as well, pre 1990 must be O-Pee-Chee and back further, there's Topps and Parkhurst in the mix. From 1990 through 2000, I went for the highest end RC possible (the most expensive one off the top of my head would be the Thornton Black Diamond RC from 96-97).
In the 2000s, I've been trying to get autographed RCs of the players I like. For those without autographed RCs, I go for the RC I think looks best, or comes from a set I like (e.g. Sp Authentic).
A lot of times, I also judge based on aesthetics. Sure, the 91-92 UD Kamensky RC is supposedly worth 0.25 more than the OPC version, but the OPC version had way cooler photography on it.
rich
Q
quincy
Guest
Yes, because clearly that was an unbiased poll, free of self-interest.
And the mastermind behind that logical fait accompli will be sure to deliver more hobby joy...
