Question about RCs

[Cerialthriller]

I saw a show and tell thread where someone showed a pic of a Parallel RC and people are claiming that it is not an RC, even though the non Parallel is an RC. Are parallels not considered RCs? Can someone please explain this to me?

[RGM81]

That is correct. A parallel of a "true RC" is not considered to be a rookie card; rather, it is a rookie-year parallel card. This threw me as well at first, when I noticed that SPGU rookie parallels were booking at less than the /99 RCs despite having a lower print run (/50, /25, etc.) - I asked my hobby shop owner what the deal was with that and he said "they're parallels." With the number of parallel sets that you see in some products, it really makes you wonder, eh? Black Diamond has 4 different types of cards. UD1&2 have 3 types. Artifacts has 18 (only a slight exaggeration), and on and on.

[Cerialthriller]

oh and also cards from products such as ITG dont count as RCs either? I got a Steve Mason in Between the Pipes and its not listed as an RC, but I guess because he isn't in an NHL uniform?

[RGM81]

That is correct. One of the criteria for a card to be considered a rookie card is that it must be licensed by the league and its players association.

[Cerialthriller]

and since UD has exclusive licensing only UD non-parallels count as RCs then?

[RGM81]

Correct-o-mundo!

07-08 SPGU Carey Price /99 = RC
07-08 SPGU Patrick Kane Spectrum /25 = no RC
07-08 ITG Superlative Carey Price Auto Jersey /50 = no RC

[30ranfordfan]

Looks like Richard already did a good job of answering the question, but I'll throw in a bit of a "definition"

Rookie Cards come only from licenced products, must be part of the base set (even if they're Short Printed), and should also come only from a product that is available everywhere.

The licenced product part is why ITG cards do not count.

The base set rule is what removed things like parallels, and inserts from list (even if they say 'Rookie' on them).

The wide-range distribution is what creates the XRC tag on cards. This would be sets like Ovation, 90s sets like "Parkhurst International" or "Parkhurst Update", and should also include anything that comes out of food issue sets (like McDonalds) though there was an exception made for the Crosby McDonalds RC in 05-06 (and I still haven't figured out why).

[RGM81]

I think for the McDonald's thing they made the exception because a cross-Canada promotion with the magnitude of that release fit the bill of being widely distributed. If memory serves there's also a McDonald's Rob Schremp RC.

[Crater_Satori]

I might be mistaken...but don't other sports (ie - Football, Baseball) consider parallels RC's?

[30ranfordfan]

That sounds right (why they made they made the exception). I'm about 95% sure it was the first Crosby card to hit the market that year, and because they were relatively cheap to get (you could buy one for less than $30 even at its peak) I think there was a lot of people who wanted it to be a RC, and with enough people calling for it..... Beckett certainly revised their listing..... and I that was just because the hobby, in general, had also decided to consider it a RC.

You're right, they did the same thing for Robbie Schremp the following year. What confuses me is why they wouldn't have made the change retro-active.... and included (for example) Matt Stajan from the 03-04 set as a RC too.

The McDonald's set is obviously very well distributed throughout Canada, and there are a ton of secondary sales, that make them easy to get a hold of in the United States (or anywhere, for that matter) but I never liked the change in designation. I suppose it's not a huge deal though. I think we could probably count on two hands the number of rookie year cards that have ever come along in McDonald's.

I think for the McDonald's thing they made the exception because a cross-Canada promotion with the magnitude of that release fit the bill of being widely distributed. If memory serves there's also a McDonald's Rob Schremp RC.