Are post cards rookie cards?

[Mark17]

The whole "Rookie Card" thing was created as a commercial gimmick. I remember when Card Prices Update (CPU) ruled the world of card perceived value/pricing. Every month prices would bounce up or down, 90% of the time up, and beside some cards was the designation "RC." I think the rationale was that it was similar to the first edition of a book, and therefore more valuable.

They even had the 1952 Topps Mantle designated RC, to get that price elevated.

My point is, "rookie card" was basically a money-making gimmick from the beginning, and people have been trying to bend and twist its definition for decades, to suit their own purposes (and inventories/collections.)

Seriously, for you actual collectors, would you rather have a 1963 Topps floating head Pete Rose, or a 1964 Topps Pete Rose, if the bogus "rookie card" phenomena didn't exist?

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by Mark17

Seriously, for you actual collectors, would you rather have a 1963 Topps floating head Pete Rose, or a 1964 Topps Pete Rose, if the bogus "rookie card" phenomena didn't exist?

I completely get where you're coming from with that question, as the '64 is a thing of beauty, as is the '69 Bench and, to a lesser extent, the '69 Ryan. The '76 Yount ranks right up there, too. There are so many cases of this, aren't there?!

But, I do love that '63, perhaps because I'm focused on autographs. Love, love, love multi-player RCs when they're all signed up! Forgive the reprint here, but the autographs are real. This card sure made the rounds, including a flight to the Dominican via Puerto Rico in order to get the inaccessible Gonzalez to sign. By that time, Pedro had lost a leg to diabetes.

The saddest part of this tale was that I also had two genuine copies of this card ready to be sent along to Pedro, but a shady, two-bit huckster who fancies himself a promoter promised me that he was having a "hush-hush" signing with Rose that ended up being a complete fabrication. He held on to my cards forever; poor Pedro passed in the meantime. No point in only getting three players on the card...then Rose and his autograph handler were going through their phases of "no RCs" or "RCs signed for a ridiculous upcharge". So, here I sit with my fully-signed reprint and two unsigned RCs sitting in a box somewhere. Guess I should really try to find them!