Hi guys.
There are many early hall of famers that do not have a card from their playing days. For rookie collectors, would you rather add a piece like this to your collection to fill in the hole or a card produced much later, sometimes not until the 80's or 90's, just because beckett or a set registry classified it as an rc? Would you consider this to be Frank Mcgee's rookie card? Jim.

http://www.classicauctions.net/Default.aspx?tabid=263&auctionid=19&lotid=513

As the baseball side has started warming up to postcards as actual cards (still debatable), I have no problems with having a postcard like this. I personally think of it more as memorabilia, but to each their own. I would rather have a contemporary piece from a player's active career. IMHO, yes it is his rookie postcard, but not his rookie card.

I love old postcards like this! I would love to add some to my collection, but back to the real question. Since it's a team shot, I have a tough time calling this a rookie card. If it were a postcard of just Frank McGee, I might say yes. I don't really consider a card from 2010 to be a rookie care for a player who started playing in the early 1900's either. In the case of McGee, I don't think he really has a rookie card, regardless of what Beckett may say. This isn't a fun answer, but unfortunately that's the way it is in this case.

The issue of what constitutes a RC is certainly a controversial one. However, I personally would not consider a group picture to count as anyone's RC. Otherwise, the CCM photos of the 1930's would yield a lot of "rookies cards"! Then there are the Topps group pictures of the 1960's, and so on. As for modern cards, I would lean toward accepting them in certain circumstances.

A "rookie-presents" or "pre-rookie" or "nonce-rookie maybe a better consideration for things such as this, so not be confused with a rookie card, which then would give some extra consideration to items such as these.

So which pre-war cards would fall into this area!?

How about exhibits?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=350360316722&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT