In baseball, I've always considered the first card of them in an MLB uniform OR the first one with MLB stats as their Rookie Card. Another good example from the 80's would be the first Mark McGwire card that showed him in his Team USA uniform. That's not a RC to me. Manny Ramirez had several cards in 1991, 92 and 93, but IMO his true RC is from 1994. The 1992 cards are considered his RC's. There's 2 problems there: The Indians MiLB affiliates mostly have the same logo and uniform as the MLB team and the 1992 cards aren't even his first cards. His 1994 cards have him in the Cleveland uniform AND have MLB stats from the last half of the 1993 season. It's too bad that MLB cards can't be as simple as NFL cards. In football, if it's not an NFL product, it's not a RC. College products are not rookie cards.
In NASCAR, there can be up to 4 different-level RC's. The last one would be the CRC (Cup Rookie Card) at the highest level. That is usually the most desired one, but not always.
Personally, I just don't care about the RC labels or moniker anymore for any sport. If it's a team or person I collect, I want all the cards anyway.
NO PWE's EVER!!! PLZ PM me 1st before sending any offer. ONLY selling cards as of March 2024. No trades or purchases right now.
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Largest total PC card collections by Team, then Athlete (as of 3/22/24):
STL Cardinals (MLB) - 8810; Carolina Panthers - 2888; GB Packers - 1790+ cards
Mark Martin (NASCAR) - 2038 cards; Jimmie Johnson (NASCAR) - 1875 cards; Jeff Gordon (NASCAR) - 1594; Ricky Rudd (NASCAR) - 839; Ozzie Smith (MLB) - 707