Hall of fame rookies

Here’s an in-progress HOF RC collection. It is certain to grow with new inductees. Beyond that, it’s hard to say. There are certain “grail” RCs that likely will never make it, including Mantle, Williams & Mays. But there are also some hard-to-find RCs issued primarily in the 1920s; I’m on the lookout, sort of in the way Captain Ahab was!

Note, too, that what counts as a “rookie card” is not set out in any sort of binding “Collectors Code.” I generally treat any card manufactured in the first year of a player’s MLB career as eligible. When multiple cards qualify, I select the one I like best. For example, I often substitute an individual-player card for a multi-player one, even if the latter is generally perceived to be the “iconic” or “true” RC. Where a card wasn’t manufactured in (or the season after) a player’s true rookie season, I try to include his “first” card.  Finally, not all cards are “cards”: e.g., stamps, pins, magazine inserts. But where one of those is generally regarded by collectors as a qualifying “rookie card,” and I like it, then I happily treat it as eligible.

In borderline cases, I leave the decision to my collection curator….

Here’s a nice source for HOF RCs, although it is not perfectly up to date.

Individual cards featured in this collection: