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Posted By: PC

I may be wrong here, but I thought the traditional qualification for a baseball "card" was that the cardboard had to be included in the purchase of something else ... like tobacco, or gum, or garters, etc., as an incentive or a bonus for buying that product. It could not have been printed solely as a collectible in and unto itself (like an exhibit), and not for some other primary purpose (like a postcard).

However, even if it is not a card, it could still be a "rookie", if one decides not to limit "rookies" to "cards".

And regarding T206s, they were printed and inserted to create an incentive to buy more cigarettes. They had the added benefit of making the pack stronger, but to tobacco co's could have accomplished that at less expense by putting plain cardboard in the pack, or simply using stronger stock for the pack.