I remember growing up as a kid anticipating the arrival of my dad coming home from work, especially when I wasn't in trouble. Fridays were payday, and on those days, most of the time, my dad would bring me a candy bar. He knew my favorites: Reg-gie bars, Baby Ruth's, or Rolos.
One particular Friday in the summer of 1981, my dad didn't bring me a candy bar. Instead, he got me packs of baseball cards. Fleer and Donruss, more specifically.
I remember playing with those cards day and night. I read the front and back and sorted them by the team, card number, or league. Then, when I got a buck or two, I would immediately go to a little convenience store directly across the street from our house.
You would think a ten-year-old boy would go straight to the candy. But, no sir/ma'am, I went directly towards the Topps Baseball Cards. They were 30¢ a pack! They sold the older ones, 1979 or 1980, for 25¢ a pack!
Moments like these sparked my love for sports card collecting and have led me to over 35 years of serious collecting.
Like you, I'm a collector of cardboard. My collection consists primarily of rookie cards of Hall of Famers. I love learning about the history of these all-time greats, and this inspires me to collect that player.
But I have noticed a problem, and maybe you have too. Many Hall of Famers only have one rookie card, while others have 50 or more. And future Hall of Famers will have 2,500 or more rookie cards attributed to them!
I often found myself confused and frustrated about which ones were prospect cards, true rookie cards, or insert cards. So many brands and so many parallels. Everything these days is branded with a rookie card identifier.
That's when I decided to devote myself to understanding how the rookie card has evolved. My research has shown me that many feel overwhelmed as well. I wasn't the only one!
So my crusade is to bring clarity to our beloved rookie card. I do this through education. So many are just unaware of the forsaken guidelines we once operated by.
My lofty goal is rookie card reform through the legal authorities of the industry. In its simplest form, I show how to correctly identify rookie cards using one of four identifiers: pre-rookie, true rookie, rookie-year, or post-rookie theme.
I am privileged to introduce myself to you and be a contributor to Hobby News Daily. Cheers!
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