The True Rookie Card of Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali???

[oldmanvintagecards]

This is a topic that everyone has a different view about. The first question you have to answer for yourself is what do you consider a CARD and what attributes make it a CARD? Here are the contenders and my view on them (you don't have to agree):

1. 1960 Hemmets Journal (Hand Cut)- If you are a person that says the first issue picturing a boxer is their rookie card, then this is the one for you. It was part of a 4 page sheet, that was meant to be put in a specific 2 ring binder, with Bio's on the back. The problem with this being considered a "card" is the fact that you can not evenly cut out all 4 cards, which is most noticeable by looking at the back of the cards. Seeing as you cant cut all 4 cards out of the 4 picture sheet (you have to sacrifice the other 3 cards to get the Clay "card" looking nice) then it clearly was never made to be cut.
CONCLUSION: It is an early memorabilia piece for Cassius Clay but was never meant to be cut in to cards. Were there any Hemmets Journal "cards" before card grading came out? Probably not. The Hemmets Journal Cassius Clay can be cut to look like a card but was never intended to be one. I do own 2 of these and it was after purchasing them that I came to these conclusions.

2. 1962 Rekord Journal (Hand Cut)- These are one of the first Cassius Clay items that you could cut in to card form. They come with small Bio's on the back and a line for Autographs. The Rekord Journal had two Picture Bio's on the bottom right corner of every weekly magazine. The pictures came on the front of the magazine made of normal paper.
CONCLUSION: Considering a cut out from a magazine as a card can lead to a very slippery slope. If you consider these player bio's as cards then you open up the definition of cards to include almost any picture with bios that are regular parts of the magazine or newspaper. If you call Rekord Magazine pictures "cards" then you have to consider the "Faces in the Crowd" Picture Bios from Sports Illustrated to be cards as well, because they are basically the same thing (just not on the cover). If we allow "Faces in the Crowd" cards to be considered rookies than we just changed the whole rookie game forever. So my conclusion is like the Hemmets Journal: they are not cards, but early memorabilia.

3. 1964 Simon Chocolates- This card is made of card stock, is factory cut and was distributed randomly in Simon Chocolates (Spain) from a numbered multi-sport set. It also has a great portrait of Clay yelling boastfully.
CONCLUSION: No matter who you are you can't deny that this is definately a card. This is the first "card" of Clay that is definately that, a card. For this reason I consider this his true rookie. You could also make an argument for his 1964 MacRobertson Quiz card but just like comapring any normally issued card from the same year as a card issued in a board game (or some other type of game) the normally issued card (packs or distributed as a bonus with packs of a product such as T206's with tobacco) is considered the rookie. The Simon Chocolates is what I consider to be Cassius Clay's true rookie because it his first memorabilia issued that I consider to be an actual card.

4. 1965 Lampo or 1966 Panini- I lumped these together for people that want there rookies to come from a well known card manufacturer. So if you consider the Simon Chocolates an XRC then one of these are the rookies for you, take your pick.
CONCLUSION: If you do not like the rare or oddball (although the Lampo's are pretty rare) and will not consider a card manufactured by a Chocolate company a real rookie, then this is the Clay Rookie for you.

5. 1971 Barratt Co.- HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA if you still think this is Clay's rookie than I have a 1991 All World Joe Louis rookie card to sell you: it is only $300 and graded PSA 10!!!!!


Although PSA grades the Hemmets Journal and the Rekord Journal Hand Cut cards that does not actually make them cards in my book. The first undisputed card of Cassius Clay is the Simon Chocolates, so that is the one that I am going to consider his rookie.

Let the ARGUING BEGIN!!!!!!!!!