When Did RC Become Most Important?

jchcollins · #1 09-27-2022, 12:19 PM

Not much before the early 1980's. Hobby publications from the 70's have a lot of stuff about error cards, which for a time were all the rage. But like in 1978, a Nolan Ryan rookie or something was not worth more than the Mantle or the Mays from the same set. Ryan then was not the legend he is now, but he was a superstar pitcher in the prime of his career with 4 no-hitters and a single season K record under his belt.

I started buying packs at age 9 in 1986, and by then of course rookies were all the rage. The obtainable one for my friends and I was the '84 Topps Don Mattingly. The most famous vintage rookie card then was probably the '63 Pete Rose, or the '52 Mantle - yes, people were referring to it as a RC even then - though we know the "First Topps" card designation is more accurate.

I too would agree that cards from an MVP or best season, or even a last season card to include the few that capture all career stats - should have some type of premium placed on them. As a kid who did not have the luxury of owning many vintage rookie cards, I would shoot for when the player was in his prime, or often just throw that out the window in favor of an "older is better" mantra. To my child's eye, a '51 Bowman Duke Snider was going to be more valuable than his '56 Topps - simply because it was older. Does that make any sense? It seemed to a lot more back then as compared to now.

rats60 · #2 09-27-2022, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jchcollins

Not much before the early 1980's. Hobby publications from the 70's have a lot of stuff about error cards, which for a time were all the rage. But like in 1978, a Nolan Ryan rookie or something was not worth more than the Mantle or the Mays from the same set. Ryan then was not the legend he is now, but he was a superstar pitcher in the prime of his career with 4 no-hitters and a single season K record under his belt.

Ryan had a career record of 151-145 and was coming off a 10-13 season. Mantle and Mays were legends. How many sets today have a RC worth more than the regular Mantle in it?

At that time Ryan's RC was only 11 years old. It was in the 2nd series and easy to find. There were a few RCs worth more than the regular Mantle card in it's set, Seaver, Carew, Rose, Brooks Robinson. Rookies in high number series that were in shorter supply.

The Ryan RC was his most valuable card as were the rookie cards of most players. The exception was when a star player had a difficult to find high number card, such as Mantle's 1952 Topps high number card. Rookie cards were definitely a big thing by 1979.

bobbvc · #3 09-27-2022, 08:11 PM

Haven't read all the other comments but I would say 85 or 84. Possibly 83 but definitely no sooner. At least not in San Diego at the time.

ncinin · #4 09-27-2022, 08:38 PM

Rookie Cards may have been a thing in other areas of the country but I never heard of a premium for a rookie card or the importance of a rookie card until 1981.

Tim Raines and Fernando Valenzuela were sought after and I began hearing the importance of a rookie card.

I thought it was a short term fad and argued that a card of a player of worth alot more than other years was stupid but I lost that argument. I still think it is silly that a rookie card is worth multiples over other years without regard to series the card is in, etc but I don't make the rules.

HistoricNewspapers · #5 09-28-2022, 10:21 AM

Ruth has so many earlier and rarer cards than his Goudey cards it is so comical that Beckett would do such a thing.

Maybe it was done as a way of making them more valuable because they are more common and more transactions could be done with them.

As opposed to the better earlier cards where they weren't sold as often because they are more scarce.

Same thing with 1949 leaf Jackie Robinson being proclaimed as his rookie card, which it isn't, and given a huge premium as a result. He has earlier, rarer, and more attractive cards than the Leaf.

Tony Gordon · #6 09-28-2022, 10:36 AM

I remember digging through the cello packs at the Convenient Food Mart looking for George Brett rookies in 1975. The old couple that ran the mart would scream at me whenever I flipped through the cellos. Never stopped me though.

bcbgcbrcb · #7 09-28-2022, 12:10 PM

My indoctrination to the RC thing came in late 1981. One of my elementary school buddies was at my house and we were talking trade for 1981 Topps baseball cards. I needed 3 more commons to complete my set and my friend had all of them. When I asked what he wanted in trade for them, he inquired if I had any of the Los Angeles Dodgers Future Stars cards. I replied that I had three extras of that one and he stated that he would trade the last three cards that I needed for my set in exchange for the 3 Dodgers FS cards. Afterwards, I wondered to myself why someone would want 3 of the same card but I didn't really care, I had just completed my season long journey of putting together a complete 1981 Topps baseball set.

Of course, after eventually looking up that Dodgers FS card in the price guide and seeing that they sold for $3 each at the time as Fernando Valenzuela's rookie card, I quickly realized that there was tremendous value in "Rookie Cards". I caught on pretty quickly though and by early 1982, I was buying unopened rack and cello packs with Cal Ripken Jr., Kent Hrbek, Johnny Ray, etc. on top and quickly became a major player in the rookie card investing game from there.

Griffins · #8 10-02-2022, 12:35 AM

I was active in shows, conventions, mail order auctions, etc from '72 to '76, and it was not a thing. Got a table at the first national in '80 to sell off my collection and it was an obsession by then, led by the '75 Rice rookie. I had it has part of 100 card common lots, and got so many requests I pulled it and sold it solo.
So I"m guessing somewhere between '76 and '79.

D. Bergin · #9 09-28-2022, 10:50 AM

I think people forget this, but for the longest time a Rookie card designation was only considered if the card in question was issued in a traditional gum or wax wrapper type "pack", and had a widely accepted distribution model.

Also, oddball sized stuff was not considered (ie, Exhibits, Goudey Premiums, etc.).

Nobody even guessed what the Rookie cards of tobacco era guys were.

Even in the 80's when all those traded sets came out. Darryl Strawberry's Rookie card was 1984, Roger Clemens, Kirby Puckett and Dwight Goodens Rookie cards were in 1985.

The Raines and Ripken traded set cards, may as well have been 2nd year cards of those players.

The earlier "Traded" cards were considered pretty neat, but mostly a novelty if you couldn't pull it from a pack at a convenience store.

D. Bergin · #10 09-28-2022, 11:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

The earlier "Traded" cards were considered pretty neat, but mostly a novelty if you couldn't pull it from a pack at a convenience store.

.....and if you remember in the late 80's, Topps and other companies began to combat this perception by finally beginning to issue Traded and end of year 2nd Series releases into Wax Box product, across all the different mainstream sports releases.

sreader3 · #11 09-28-2022, 07:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ncinin

Rookie Cards may have been a thing in other areas of the country but I never heard of a premium for a rookie card or the importance of a rookie card until 1981.

Tim Raines and Fernando Valenzuela were sought after and I began hearing the importance of a rookie card.

This is how I remember it. Fernando and Raines in 1981. They would sell for $3-5 each when you could get the whole set for $15-20. The card shop in my area (an L.A. suburb) would advertise discounted Fleer sets with �No Nando.�

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