question about true rc's

[hawk2618]

Hopefully this isn't a dumb question...but if I don't ask..I'll never know.
What is the easiest way to find out which cards are true rc's in sets that are #ed to /99/199/299/399 etc.
I've witnessed a few breaks and cards pulled were called true Rc that were numbered.Its a bit confusing when you have numerous brands with different #ed to whatever..anyway..any info would be greatly appreciated.
Also....Ive noticed on ebay....some #ed cards....for example...lets say a Dustin Brown is #ed to /10.But after the /10,its labeled a 1/1.If its numbered out of /10...how can it be a 1/1 also???
This is what I get for starting to collect new stuff :( any help for a newby?? ty!
Dave C.

[RGM81]

It entirely depends on the product. "Usually"--and it is key that I have that in quotation marks--the card with the highest print run will serve as the release's "true RC." All others are variants/parallels. Unfortunately Upper Deck has not veered away from Panini's tendency in recent years to obfuscate the matter and instead continues to put out releases like Trilogy, which INCREASED the number of variants this year from three (which were all at least sequentially numbered in the set) to an astounding TWELVE. Overkill in the extreme to have that type of variation, if you ask me. In the case of this year's Trilogy and Curtis Lazar, the true RC is card #113. It has no autograph and is serial #'d /799.

With other cards and their parallels & variants, it's easy to distinguish between print runs. And no, a card /10 is not the same as a 1/1. Example: 2013-14 Prizm. I love shiny things. So much so that I have a lot of variations of PK Subban's card in the set. All of these are #40 in the set, but each one has its own print run and, where appropriate, serial numbering:

Orange Die-Cut /50


Toronto Expo Cracked Ice /30


And this very spiffy 1/1


As you can see, each card has a distinctive look, colouring, and serial numbering. There's also a Gold /10, but I don't have it. If anybody does, that'd be great. :)

Sometimes the variation is very subtle, others it is pretty apparent.

[30ranfordfan]

Which one is the true RC ?

It's the one that is the most like the rest of the "base cards". Numbering should match the regular set. In Upper Deck Series 1/2 for example.... the regular Young Guns is the RC, and the Exclusives /100 and HG /10 are parallels.

Getting into higher end sets, where everything is serial numbered, you can usually tell just by reading the product / insert ratios.

I took this from the sell sheet of last year's SPGU from Upper Deck:

The 2013-14 SP Game Used Hockey base set has 100 cards. In addition, there are Authentic Rookies short prints that are numbered to the player's jersey number. This makes for some extremely tough rookie cards. For example, Nathan MacKinnon has just 29 rookies in the release. Adding a little spice, the final rookie card for each player comes with an autograph (ie 29/29 for MacKinnon). Base cards and rookies have Gold Autograph parallels. Base versions are inserted 1:40 packs while Gold Autograph Rookies land approximately 1:10 packs.

So.... the base card is numbered to the player's jersey, with the last copy being autographed. Then there are "Gold Autographed Rookie" parallels, that are inserted much more frequently.

Sets like Trilogy are the ones that are really muddying the waters. UD knows that we won't accept a card as a "Rookie Card" unless it's part of the base set (i.e. has the same numbering as everything else, is not a parallel) so to cram extra "value" into packs, they make several different cards of the same player, and make them different numbers in the set. I'll use Lazar that RGM81 mentioned in his post as my example too:

2014-15 Trilogy #113 Curtis Lazar
2014-15 Trilogy #146 Curtis Lazar Auto /225

Those are your "base" versions of each card, they both follow the numbering in the set. I'd accept either one as RC, so long as the other didn't exist. Since both exist, and I will only accept one RC per player, per set, I'd call the lower number (113) the RC, and the higher one is now simply an autographed card (to me anyway).





As for your question on the card #ed /10 also being called a 1/1 in it's eBay title... that just eBay sellers trying to get more hits. If it's numbered 1/10 (i.e. the first one in the print run) or 10/10 (the last) and usually if it's the player's jersey number (say 23/100 for Brown) or even on patch cards, if the patch is something really unique.... some sellers will write 1/1 in the title, regardless of the fact that it's not a 1/1.

[eliteco3]

They are all rookie cards or true rookies. Any card of a first year player is a rookie to me. Beckett just likes to distinguish and put RC by certain cards randomly.

[subban7677]

There is some reasoning behind it. It may not be the easiest to understand, but it is a little more scientific than monkeys with a dart board. All first year cards of a certain player are most certainly not considered true RCs by the overwhelming majority of collectors.

[RGM81]

They are all rookie cards or true rookies. Any card of a first year player is a rookie to me. Beckett just likes to distinguish and put RC by certain cards randomly.

There's nothing random about the designation of rookie cards. It's a well-established process.

Please don't conflate your opinion as fact when a new collector is looking for information. It's already a difficult set of waters to navigate without incorrect information being so casually tossed around.

Rules for Rookie Cards:
1. Must come from a fully licensed product--i.e. both the NHL and the NHLPA.
2. The player must have played* in at least one NHL game.
3. The first card featuring the player in the standard sequentially numbered set gets the designation of RC.

* For goalies, if the player dresses as the backup, he qualifies for rookie cards, even if he doesn't play during the actual game.
Example: 2006-07 Upper Deck Kelly Guard - Guard dressed as the backup for a couple games with the Senators and has a handful of rookie cards. He never played during a game, though.

More info on each:
1. For the past ten years, this means that the product must be from Upper Deck, or if it was from 2010-11 to 2013-14, Upper Deck or Panini. Cards from non-licensed producers such as In The Game and, more recently, Leaf, do not qualify.
2. Cards are produced of players as early as their first season in the Canadian Hockey League. Now that Upper Deck has the Hockey Canada license, they can also produce sets featuring players from the World Juniors such as Connor McDavid, Zach Fucale, and others. None of those cards, however, have RC designation even if the player has NHL experience.
3. This applies only to the standard set - if a product has parallel sets (i.e. Upper Deck Exclusives, SP Authentic Limited) those parallel set cards do not get RC designation. Moreover, any insert sets (i.e. Upper Deck Trilogy Crystal, Black Diamond Lustrous Rookies, SPx Finite Rookies) featuring first-year players do not get RC designation.

Print Runs: the rules have been relaxed on this one in recent years. It used to be that a card had to have a minimum print run of 99 copies (as seen in high-end releases like The Cup, Dominion, etc.) so that the cards could be accessible to collectors. This was in response to 2001-02 Titanium, which had S#'d its rookie cards to the numbers worn on the players' jerseys. One card in particular: 2001-02 Titanium #158 Ty Conklin - was a massive headache, because Conklin wore #1. So his Titanium RC was a 1/1. The collective frustration led to the 99 copies rule. However, in the past couple years, Panini's Titanium releases and Upper Deck's SP Game Used have gone back to that "RC's numbered to the player's jersey number" model, and it has been generally accepted by the hobby that this OK again.

So there you go, OP. Hope that helps!

[30ranfordfan]

While RGM81 has added a lot information already, after reading a post like this - one that could not be more wrong - I feel I need to comment just a little bit more.

If getting a card from a player's first season is what you want for your collection, then that's absolutely what you should do. Do not let me, Beckett, or other members here tell you what to collect. That's what makes this hobby fun. There are all sorts of different cards, different tastes, and there is no "right way" to collect.

Having said that, one of the really nice things about this forum is trading with other members. To be able to do that, you need to have (at least) a basic understanding of what members are asking for in their trade threads. If I posted a thread saying I was looking to trade for an Auto / Patch / Rookie from The Cup of Darnell Nurse (he'll get one later this year) and you came offering me the Jersey numbered parallel, my response would "no thanks. That's not the card I'm looking for." Why??? Because I want a rookie card, not a parallel card.

Beckett does NOT use that tag at random. They stick it beside cards that the hobby considers to be rookie cards. They'll even change those tags if there is enough support to do so. The "must have 99 copies" thing was largely introduced because Beckett said so. Many people never took that "rule" seriously, and it's been dropped (finally) in the last couple of years. The McDonald's Crosby RC is another example. There was overwhelming consensus to call it a Rookie Card, despite the fact that it was a regionally (Canada Only) distributed set, that would never have counted as a RC earlier. After enough call for Change, Beckett gave it a RC.... and any other McDonald's card that would have otherwise been considered a RC (past or future releases) got that RC tag.

Upper Deck Series 1/2 is a great example: There is a Young Guns RC. That's it. It's the only one with the RC tag. It's part of the base set. The Exclusives /100, the HG /10 (parallels of the YG) are NOT rookie cards. Neither is the Rookie Materials Jersey card in Series 2, or the Patch Parallel of that. Neither is the Canvas Young Guns, or Program of Excellence Young Guns. The Acetate Young Guns, not a rookie card either. Same with any other insert (Profiles?) that Rookie made it in to.

I would never try and tell you how to collect cards. My collection is filled with stuff that most collectors would have little value for. It really bothers me though that someone would post something untrue. It is not random, not all first year cards are "true" rookie cards, and MOST collectors follow a pretty straight set of rules one what is & what isn't. If you don't care for those rules, that's fine by me, but please: Do not try and pass your personal tastes off as fact.

They are all rookie cards or true rookies. Any card of a first year player is a rookie to me. Beckett just likes to distinguish and put RC by certain cards randomly.

[CeckaCards]

Good thread, loaded with info. Thanks for that guys.

[KingKuba]

Just go to beckett and check for RC beside name.....simple.
Usually right 99.9% of the time.

[RGM81]

Good thread, loaded with info. Thanks for that guys.

We aim to please. :)