When Did RC Become Most Important?

[todeen]

A question was posed on Twitter asking "When did the hobby staple become the RC?"

I have been collecting since 1991 (5yo), and by then the RC was very important. I have read on this site about collectors hoarding early 80s wax for the Mattingly RC, so it was a staple by 1980. So what decade before 1980 did collectors turn to the RC as the penultimate card in a collection?

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[G1911]

The early 80’s is when it becomes the norm, as adults and money started to really increase in the hobby. Dealers started to pump rookies, needing some common cards to be money makers, and it caught on. Mattingly’s hype was in 1984 and really cemented it. Hobby has never looked back.

[RCMcKenzie]

In about 1982 I traded a guy 9 1978 Eddie Murray's for a 1962 Mays. My mom wanted to call his parents to un-do the deal. I said, "Mom, we got those Eddie Murrays at Stop & Go for 35 cents a pack." In 1978 Eddie Murray rookie was not a thing. In 1982 it was a big deal that I had an Eddie Murray rookie, but I wanted a Mays, and to this day I would rather have a 62 Mays, than 9 1978 Murray's.

[hockeyhockey]

Originally Posted by RCMcKenzie

In about 1982 I traded a guy 9 1978 Eddie Murray's for a 1962 Mays. My mom wanted to call his parents to un-do the deal. I said, "Mom, we got those Eddie Murrays at Stop & Go for 35 cents a pack." In 1978 Eddie Murray rookie was not a thing. In 1982 it was a big deal that I had an Eddie Murray rookie, but I wanted a Mays, and to this day I would rather have a 62 Mays, than 9 1978 Murray's.

do you still have the 62 mays??

[RCMcKenzie]

I don't know. I think it's in a 5000 count box with my original stuff. It was not in nice condition, so I know I never had it graded to sell. I know it would be a better story if I could say, "Yes, I have it here on my desk, here's a scan.", like an Orson Welles movie. I do have a 1960 Fleer Wagner on my desk that I bought at a show in the 80's.

[scgaynor]

Early 1980's. There was a monthly price guide that competed with Beckett (until Beckett sued them) that was really promoting rookie cards and hyping them by putting a "RC" after the players name. There was not really that much real time market information available back then, so the kind of made up the prices, but it really advanced the rookie card market by bringing in the investors. Pretty much any card with an "RC" would bring a premium. SCD was filled with ads of dealers selling the rookie card in lots of 25, 50, 100 for the investors.

[JustinD]

Originally Posted by RCMcKenzie

In about 1982 I traded a guy 9 1978 Eddie Murray's for a 1962 Mays. My mom wanted to call his parents to un-do the deal. I said, "Mom, we got those Eddie Murrays at Stop & Go for 35 cents a pack."

During what I believe to be the exact same year I remember a neighborhood friend receiving a literal bushel basket of the most trashed cards from his uncle. I remember buying a small handful for around 3-5 bucks of mostly Kellogg's 3d cards and some rando late 60's & early 70's beaters. His mom called to undo that sale the same day because she was sure they were worth millions. Looking back at the cards, i probably was overpaying, lol.

Now the trade I made in 85' or so, which was the GI Joe Snake Eyes Silent Marvel Issue (A BIG deal at the time), straight up for a 1954-55 Topps #8 Gordie Howe and more really turned out to be lopsided in my favor long term. His mom should have called.

As to the OP's question: I have been in this fairly non-stop since 79 and can never remember a time that the RC was not the most valuable card for a player (generally). I guess it makes sense that catalog designations helped with focus. However, It is funny that some of the most talked about cards including the 52' Mantle are not a rc.

[Lobo Aullando]

Yeah, there's a predisposition in a lot of collecting hobbies that earlier is better, and thus it follows that earliest is best. Mix in some knowledge like availability is usually less as one works back in time, then start tracking the values, and that's a recipe for prices accelerating upward, as happened in the 70s and 80s.

Originally Posted by JustinD

As to the OP's question: I have been in this fairly non-stop since 79 and can never remember a time that the RC was not the most valuable card for a player (generally). I guess it makes sense that catalog designations helped with focus.

[BCauley]

My assumption is that it picked up in the 80s at some point. All I remember about caring about RCs when I first started collecting in the '85/'86 timeframe is the 1983 Topps Wade Boggs RC as he was my favorite player at the time. Anytime I'd go to a show or card shop and see one, it was like I was looking at my holy grail.

[Tere1071]

Originally Posted by BCauley

My assumption is that it picked up in the 80s at some point. All I remember about caring about RCs when I first started collecting in the '85/'86 timeframe is the 1983 Topps Wade Boggs RC as he was my favorite player at the time. Anytime I'd go to a show or card shop and see one, it was like I was looking at my holy grail.

At a store where I was the faux owner (his money, my knowledge), I constantly got harassed for the 83 Boggs card. In our cases at the time we had 1953- 1961 Topps in large quantities, including stars and over 100 nicely cut Post Cereal Baseball I'd recommend purchasing those cards as they were truly collectible; it wasn't a sales pitch, either, I honestly felt that way (and still do). The Boggs/early 80s rookie card collectors remained unconvinced and took their business elsewhere.

In 1987 I traded a 73 Schmidt rookie for a complete 1959 Topps Baseball set in very good to excellent condition for the store. At the time they were almost equal in value.

Phil aka Tere1071

Complete 1953 Bowman Color, 1971, 1972, 1974, and 1975 Topps Baseball sets which are constantly "under revision."

1970 Topps Baseball (missing 143 cards, mostly after #450) and a 1973 Topps Baseball near set, missing 30 cards.

[BioCRN]

Enjoying this thread and learning a bit beyond what I was exposed to.

I'm in my mid-40s, so my first calling to the heat of the RC side of the hobby besides known stars and hot emerging talent was the 83 Fleer Ron Kittle (and 83 Topps Traded). It was the first time I remember a dealer wanting to immediately buy a pull out of a current product.