I showed off the inserts in that post, but one other card caught my eye.
I like this kid. Yes, I can call him kid because he's 1/2 my age. I really enjoyed watching him pitch for the Pirates this year, and I hope to get an opportunity or two in 2014 to watch him throw live.
It seems like I've been hearing about him for a while, but it's only been 2 years since he was drafted by the Buccos.
But I digress.
Upon seeing this card, I saw the rookie card logo in the lower left, and it got me to thinking.
Do rookie cards excite me anymore? The one and only RC that I've "chased" since this blog started was the 2010 Topps Buster Posey card. The reason I hunted for that card was to complete that set, not because I was a big RC/Posey fan.
I can't say that I've chased any rookie cards at all since the early 90's, when it was all the rage to buy 50 or 100 counts of RC's to try and cash in on the next big thing. Now, outside of trying to pick up the big RC's from vintage sets, rookie cards just don't do it for me anymore.
Is it because I've changed? Is it because I've become more of a set collector now? Is it because the hobby has other avenues for people to chase the almighty dollar? I don't know to be honest.
I'm sure that the legions of Yasiel Puig/Bryce Harper fans probably have different thoughts on this subject, but honestly there's not one player out there that excites me enough that I need to rush out to the next card show and snatch up a bunch of their RC's.
Am I trying to diminish the importance of the rookie card? No. Never. But for some reason, seeing Gerrit Cole reminded me of the rookie card "chase" of the past, and that I don't miss the chase one bit.
Maybe I'm just getting old.....
thanks for reading, Robert
I think this is the big one: "because the hobby has other avenues for people to chase the almighty dollar"
ReplyDeleteWith high end products such as Topps Museum and Tribute out there, plus all the really low numbered parallels it's easy to overlook a base rookie card.
Personally, I still get excited, but you're talking to a guy that's never bought a pack over $4, unless it's a jumbo of Topps flagship.
I think all the fuss has shifted to rookie card autos. A Bryce Harper base rookie is okay but a rookie auto oh baby!
ReplyDeletePeople should be excited about Gerrit Cole rookie cards, but I don't think they really are. For whatever reason, cards of pitchers hardly ever seem to hold much value. And, yeah, I guess the whole autograph thing and many different options of what constitutes a "rookie card" seem to make these things pretty ordinary. It's too bad.
ReplyDeleteI'm only half serious but maybe adding the rookie card logo is like putting "special collector's edition" on a magazine. It makes it seem more artificially valuable and turns people off.
ReplyDeletei dont think they hold the same luster as they once did, especially when there are card sets littered with hundreds of rookies who may never see the light of day in the Majors... Bowman is particularly guilty of this.. Its hard to tell nowadays what a real rookie card is anymore.. Profar has the RC designations on his 2013 cards, but he has major league issue cards from a few years prior.. and autographs/jersey cards dont hold as much appeal to me anymore because there are just sooooo many of them out there with all the sets and parallels and years... i just like to stick to my favorite teams and players anymore..
ReplyDeleteRookie cards are cool, but it seems like a guy has a few years of prospect-type cards before he gets a Rookie Card, so the RC designation loses some of the luster of being a player's first card. And there are so many cards of each player that are rarer and in higher demand than the base Rookie cards that the lowly base cards get lost among all the colored parallels, relics, and autographs.
ReplyDelete