When did the rookie card phenomena start

[goudey1933]

I started collecting cards as a kid around 1971.In those early years there wasn't a lot of talk about rookie cards...although at that time I was so young I may have missed it.Anybody remember around the time people really were giving a premium to those cards and did a certain player start the craze?
Scott

[spec]

Joe Charboneau 1980?

[swarmee]

Don Mattingly 1984 was where the rookie card phenomenon was cemented, as far as I know.

[clydepepper]

Originally Posted by swarmee

Don Mattingly 1984 was where the rookie card phenomenon was cemented, as far as I know.

+1

[glynparson]

Bob Horner, joe charboneau, Fernando, Steve sax, strawberry, Ron Kittle were all the rage prior to don mattingly. Mattingly was hot as hell in 1985-1990 ( yes I know 1984 is his rookie but he didn’t get sizzling hot TIL 1985). Maybe late in 1984. but the phenomenon predates this by at least 5 years.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by glynparson

Bob Horner, joe charboneau, Fernando, Steve sax, strawberry, Ron Kittle were all the rage prior to don mattingly. Mattingly was hot as hell in 1985-1990 ( yes I know 1984 is his rookie but he didn’t get sizzling hot TIL 1985. Maybe late in 1984. but the phenomenon predates this by at least 5 years.

And it just goes to show you how speculative buying new players is. Other than Mattingly, and even him to some extent, where are those cards now?

[gonzo]

My recollections as a collecter starting at the end of the 70s:

The first Beckett guide coming out in 1979 boosted older rookie cards, since now even beginning collectors knew which cards they were. But the first rookie card I remember being a big deal during the player’s rookie year was Fernando Valenzuela in 1981. Before that, I don’t remember even older rookie cards having a huge premium, outside their age and the desirability of certain sets.

I remember that, collecting in 1980, I felt kind of cheated when I got a multiplayer rookie card. But in 1981, the Topps Traded sets came out, providing full-card versions of Valenzuela and Raines. The trend continued, with the big year-of rookies that I remember being Ripken in ‘82, Boggs and Strawberry in ‘83, and especially Gooden and Mattingly in ‘84. (I don’t remember Gwynn or Sandburg being as big a deal during their rookie years, but that may just be due to the circle I collected in.) As rookie cards increased in value, demand rose for rookies of other active stars like Brett, Henderson, and so forth. Pete Rose took off big time as he passed Musial for the NL hit record in 1981 and continued his pursuit of Ty Cobb.

By 1984, it was all about the rookies. Beckett Monthly let people track card values as if they were stocks, and some folks were imagining that their stash of Mattinglys would someday put Junior through college.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by gonzo

My recollections as a collecter starting at the end of the 70s:

The first Beckett guide coming out in 1979 boosted older rookie cards, since now even beginning collectors knew which cards they were. But the first rookie card I remember being a big deal during the player’s rookie year was Fernando Valenzuela in 1981. Before that, I don’t remember even older rookie cards having a huge premium, outside their age and the desirability of certain sets.

I remember that, collecting in 1980, I felt kind of cheated when I got a multiplayer rookie card. But in 1981, the Topps Traded sets came out, providing full-card versions of Valenzuela and Raines. The trend continued, with the big year-of rookies that I remember being Ripken in ‘82, Boggs and Strawberry in ‘83, and especially Gooden and Mattingly in ‘84. (I don’t remember Gwynn or Sandburg being as big a deal during their rookie years, but that may just be due to the circle I collected in.) As rookie cards increased in value, demand rose for rookies of other active stars like Brett, Henderson, and so forth. Pete Rose took off big time as he passed Musial for the NL hit record in 1981 and continued his pursuit of Ty Cobb.

By 1984, it was all about the rookies. Beckett Monthly let people track card values as if they were stocks, and some folks were imagining that their stash of Mattinglys would someday put Junior through college.

These are my recollections too. Joe Charbaneau cards were hot at the beginning of 1981 coming off his ROY season. That was the first year there was real interest in a new card because it was a "rookie card." Gwynn and Sandberg became a big deal in 1984. By then people were prospecting, buying up rookie cards of players hoping they would hit it big and they could make a quick buck.

[ls7plus]

'80's, and came into full bloom before the bust in the early '90's. No surprise it's with us again. Collectors simply like to have cards of the current players they root for and enjoy watching. It comes down to having a piece of the action!

Best wishes,

Larry

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

I remember being a kid in the mid 1980s and starting to hear about the importance of rookies like those found in the 1984 Fleer Update set, the 1985 Topps Mark McGwire Olympic rookie, the 1984 Donruss Don Mattingly rookie, etc. Not sure if the rookie emphasis started just then or if it was simply a matter of my becoming old enough to begin knowing and understanding.

Either way, it's a shame. While there are undoubtedly some rookie cards out there which are aestically pleasing, there are many which just aren't all that great and collectors would otherwise prefer not spending big rookie $$ in favor of another card of the player, but they "can't" because just gotta have that rookie. Pete Rose springs to mind. I would guess 98 out of 100 sober collectors would choose his 1964 Topps card over the 1963 floating head Topps rookie.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[Fetamore]

1981 Topps Fernando Valenzuela. Demand for a card has never topped this one.
Although the 1982 Topps Kent Hrbek is a close second.

[that T206 Guy]

Originally Posted by Fetamore

1981 Topps Fernando Valenzuela. Demand for a card has never topped this one.
Although the 1982 Topps Kent Hrbek is a close second.

What were they Selling for?

I remember 1986 Donruss Jose Canseco in Beckett for $150

[quitcrab]

Maybe it's my age, but the 75 Rice ,Lynn and Brett where pretty hot rookies to chase. The Fernando Venezuela was too as mentioned earlier.

[JTysver]

I recall there being a lot of interest in 1980 or 1981 for the Brett Rookie, especially the mini.

[CW]

Originally Posted by JTysver

I recall there being a lot of interest in 1980 or 1981 for the Brett Rookie, especially the mini.

It's funny how the mini cards used to be valued at about 2x the cost of the regulars due to their scarcity. Now it's basically the opposite.

[Fetamore]

The 1981 Topps Fernando Valenzuela card could be sold in quantity for about $3.00.

[Griffins]

I collected thru the mail and at shows '74-'76. Wasn't an factor then, but in '79 or '80 I set up at a show in L.A. to sell off my collection and everyone was asking for Rookie Jim Rice's, among others. Things had changed in that respect quite a bit in a few years.

[Bcwcardz]

Originally Posted by quitcrab

Maybe it's my age, but the 75 Rice ,Lynn and Brett where pretty hot rookies to chase. The Fernando Venezuela was too as mentioned earlier.

I know those 75s were hot in the early 80s but how about in 75-76? That predates me a bit. I didn’t start serious collecting until 82-83


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[deweyinthehall]

For perspective, I have a copy of Sport Americana #1 in front of me - it was published in 1979. Looking through it - in the 1975 set, the 4 player rookie cards all priced at .03, except Lynn (.15) and Rice (.20). In the 1973 set, all rookie high number cards, including Schmidt, were .12.

In general, because older cards had higher value, a player's "rookie" card, before we called them that, generally priced higher.

What people have said about the Fleer Update Gooden and the 1984 Donruss Mattingly is all true, but I also remember the Rosen "find" of 1952s in 1986 had a big impact. The term "rookie" card had already sort of been defined by then, and all of a sudden we had maybe 100 mint Mantle rookies on the market. I think it was a perfect storm of players (Gooden, Mattingly) location (New York market teams) and the Mantle thing (it didn't hurt that Rosen was a self-promoter and achieved something like celebrity status for a brief moment) that really drove things to the next level and started the whole notion of "I can pay for Jimmy's college with baseball cards!".

I seem to recall Fritsch selling Fleer Update sets at over $1000 per before things began to settle down - but hey, Larry Fritsch always marked things up a tad.

[Exhibitman]

I've been collecting for over 40 years and RCs have always carried a premium. In the 'old days' a lot of collectors would try to complete runs of favorite athletes, which meant RC determination and chasing. Beckett fomented the RC craze by listing them in its magazine. It was pretty much a postwar card collecting thing until the 1990s when people really started paying up for vintage rookies. What has changed over the last 20 years is the magnitude of the price differential between the RC and the other cards. In 1997, for example, I paid $1100 for a nice nm Aaron RC. A comparable 55 would have been about 25% of that. Now, it is closer to 10%.

[tedzan]

I got back into the hobby in 1977. Back then there was a hint of the rookie card interest. The "craze" really started here in the greater Philadelphia area with these two events.....

1....Circa Summer of 1980 when Bob & Rob (two local card dealers) of Warrington, PA auctioned off 3 so-called 1952 TOPPS Mantle "ROOKIE" cards for a grand total of $10,000.
This unprecedented sale went nationwide in the news media, and created quite a stir in the hobby.

2....In 1981, at the famous Willow Grove (PA) Show, dealers began hyping 1963 TOPPS Pete Rose cards. Rose had approx. 3600 Hits by then, and it was evident that Rose would
beat Ty Cobb's record of 4189 Hits in 4 years. Rose rookie cards in 1979 sold for about $5. I recall selling Rose rookie cards at the Willow Grove Show for $100 in 1981-1982. For
$200 in 1983. And, $300 in 1984.
I would bring as many as 6 - 10 Rose rookies to these Shows and they would all be sold on Friday night.

That's the story Folks.


TED Z

T206 Reference
.

[Exhibitman]

The 1952 Mantle isn't a rookie card, guys. It isn't part of the RC phenomenon.

[rats60]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

The 1952 Mantle isn't a rookie card, guys. It isn't part of the RC phenomenon.

At the time it was considered his Topps rookie card. It wasn't until a few years later that most corrected their error.

[seanofjapan]

Originally Posted by rats60

At the time it was considered his Topps rookie card. It wasn't until a few years later that most corrected their error.

I do remember Beckett for quite a few years designated cards as FTC for first Topps card, FDC for first Donruss card, etc. I suspect that was entirely driven by the need to provide some category for the 52 Mantle, then having to apply it to every other non rookie card of a player appearing on a company’s card for the first time.

[1952boyntoncollector]

Greg Jefferies.

Tom Goodwin

Darryl Strawberry Traded
1987 Will Clark

enough said

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

The 1952 Mantle isn't a rookie card, guys. It isn't part of the RC phenomenon.

Is that so?

[inceptus]

A small wrinkle: I grew up on Long Island in the 70s, attending card shows, visiting the nascent shops, and doing in-person deals through the Pennysaver, and I seem to recall paying a premium for MVP/Cy Young-year cards before rookie cards became a thing...

[irv]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Is that so?

Beautiful card, Peter!

[Exhibitman]

I thought this was fun: I recently had this exchange with some ass-clown on eBay re a 1926 Greiling Max Schmeling RC:

Him: I know that you “know your stuff” and the grading companies “consult you” but this is clearly not Carpentiers rookie. The ever abundant 1922-1923 Amalgamated Press Sporting Champions is.

I replied: I completely agree: it is not Carpentier's RC. It is, however, Max Schmeling's. And FWIW Carpentier appears in the 1915 Cope's set so the 1922-23 cards are not even his first British issues.

[mortimer brewster]

Originally Posted by goudey1933

I started collecting cards as a kid around 1971.In those early years there wasn't a lot of talk about rookie cards...although at that time I was so young I may have missed it.Anybody remember around the time people really were giving a premium to those cards and did a certain player start the craze?
Scott

The rookie card craze started in the late 1970's by card dealers. They bought up all Mantle rookies, Satchel Page rookies and Aaron rookies etc and added a premium price to them. By 1981 they were trying to pass off Boog Powell and Tony Oliva baseball cards as being just as desirable.

This topic was covered extensively in the Sporting News 1981 Baseball yearbook.

I never understood the rookie card thing. But fellow collectors fell for it.