Quote:
Originally Posted by Pat R
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Interesting how in the definition it says a rookie card is just the base card from a set put out by one of the major card companies. So is there a separate definition of what a "major card company" is somewhere? Doesn't say anything at all about having a national distribution either.
Mentions how in some instances Beckett would also go against the Major League Baseball rules of when a player was or was not a rookie, and how the card companies would also make their own designation of a card as a rookie card, also contrary to MLB, sometimes to get the card of a player out there for marketing and sales purposes.
So who in the collecting hobby ever gave Becket, MLB, or even the card companies, the right to decide for us as collectors what is or isn't a player's "rookie" card as defined by them? Beckett has attempted to assume the position of being the self-proclaimed, de facto voice of the collecting hobby, and supposedly then tell us what the rules are for what we collect and how we determine the condition and value of those items. When the initial card surge started in the 80's, let's face it, those Beckett price guides were everywhere, with their definition of what a NM or VG-EX card was, what was or wasn't a rookie card, and probably most important of all, what the perceived value was of a card and how the condition of it affected it's value as a percentage of that particular card's NM perceived price. All those new people jumping into the hobby back then used their monthly Beckett magazines they had picked up at the grocery store as their own condensed collecting bible, and blindly adopted and believed everything in them was the gospel of the collecting hobby.
Well that time has passed and no one that I know seems to really ever read or follow Beckett anymore. Yet the influence and bias of those early Beckett rules and ideas of value and condition were so pervasive back then that they still permeate and influence the hobby today. What I've always thought would be best is to eventually have some recognized group or organization formed by and for the collectors (not dealers, card companies, auction houses, TPGs, etc.) to be the one to decide what counts as a player' rookie or first year card or collectible, to determine and codify the grading standards of all cards so they are uniform and the same and subject the grading companies to independent, periodic, outside review of their grading standards and procedures, not allow each TPG to just do what they want, and to possibly set up an overall registry system for the hobby that includes all graded cards, and not just certain ones. These kind of changes would put more control and direction of our hobby in the hands of the true collectors, and not have the guidance and direction of it being dictated to us by those that have a more vested/monetary interest at heart. Probably never happen anytime soon though, but can still dream.
06-24-2021, 02:24 PM
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