Player Collectors: Which Rookie Cards are Your favourite?

[tuukkatime]

Hi everyone,


So I've started building a player PC and wanted to collect all the rookies available. However, in the process, I've realized that some cards are not what I'm looking for and others are really damn expensive. On top of that, I've recently created a side PC of another high-end player.


So I want to know what everyone here thinks. I know people will say "just have fun" or "whatever you like" but I want to know which cards you'd want if it were you.


So here is the list of available rookies for my players:


YG
BD
Trilogy
OPC Premier
SPX
FWA
FWA Patch
Ultimate
Ultimate Patch
Ice
Ice Patch
Black Letterman
Cup /99
Cup Gold
Cup Platinum
Cup Draft Board
Cup Limited Logos
Cup Emblems of Endorsement
Cup Draft Board

[canucksfan007]

I like to get atleast 1 key AUTO rookie of the big players each year, of course ..... for most people including myself, we cant go for the biggest card =P

My list goes like this:

1 - Cup RC Au Patch ( all the /249 or /199 are within my budget, so I try to stick with those for the mid range guys, but I like to find very nice patches )

2 - Ultimate Auto Rookies /99 ( these are usually reserved for the Cup /99s I cant afford. It really does depend on year though, as I do not like the Stamkos or Malkin Ultimate RC year design )

3 - SPA FW Au RC /999 ( basically only applies to pre 2005 stuff, along with the mentioned Malkin and Stamkos above )


For non auto true rookies, my list is:

1 - Ice Rookies ( only if they are /99 versions )

2 - Young Guns


And for my rookie parallels, it really depends what true rookie I have.

1 - If I have a true Cup Rookie, I want the gold and platinum to go along with it.é

2 - SPA FW Au Patches /100 and Ultimate RC Au Patches /25 are next

2b - Any other true rookie parallel ( OPC Premier Patch parallels, Young Guns /100 and /10, BD Parallels

3 - Any rookie year auto patches ( Limited Logos / Debut Threads Rainbow / other Cup stuff )



After writting my list, I see I havent put Silhouettes anywhere. I think I would have them beside the Ultimate Au RCs /99

[Comeatme]

My Favorite are the Young Guns. I find them middle of the road in price (depending on player) but overall very affordable. I Normally start with their YG rookie then expand from there depending on how much I like the player. I will branch out to autos and patches after. Again I tend to stick to middle of the road price range. Such as the Future Watch rookie autos.

[tuukkatime]

I'm thinking of something similar to Canucksfan

Cup (gold and /99 if possible)
Ice
FWA Patch
Ultimate Rookie /99
OPC Premier
Honorable Numbers

That way all the cards are either /99 or GU+ Auto RC

[Ray33]

Got to love the Young Guns RCs. But Victory Rcs are all I can afford.

[Craig2]

I would have previously said Cup ARPs, but I've gone away from them because the patches are just manufactured and have no real tie-in to the on-ice product.

For that reason, I'd say that Ultimate and Ice are my favorites. I like Ultimate because they're usually very limited (/99 for many of the big stars) and they always offer a clean, simple design. I also like Ice because they're the best of the "old school" cards with no autos and patches, and they're an attractive product year after year.

[theboxbreaker96]

I cant go for the biggest card. I like cards that look nice and are autoed. Out of that list my favorite is OPC Premier. The cards look awesome especially the rookies and are pretty cheap. The main reason that I like this set is that all 3 years it was made the rookie cards were very nice each year. I like SPA FWA but a few of the years I don't like the way they look. Number 2 on my list would be Ultimate Rookie Autos because they hold value and have some SP /99 that will make it a little more fun.

[sedinfan]

With my borderline OCD nature I would want them all... If I had to be more choosy and really limit myself to say 3 I'd go for one nice auto/patch, 1 nice auto, and 1 nice 'regular' card... So cup x/99, ultimate x/99 and ice x/99... Though might as well round out the collection with a couple staples in the SPA /999 and the YG.

[30ranfordfan]

For my Oilers collection, I add one rookie card of each player per year. I've picked up several RCs of some of the bigger name guys in the last few years, but that's more of a side thing outside what my main collection really is.

What I try to do, for that single RC, is go for the "best" one I can. I prefer something with both an Autograph & Memoribilia, and something limited.

For the most part now, what I try and land are cards from The Cup. This doesn't work though, with guys like Eberle, Hall, and Hopkins (nor Yakupov) so I've gone other routes. The Dominion ARP a beautiful cards (have a Hall), and can be had for a fraction of the price of Cup cards. Rearlly like the Silhouettes from Crown Royal too (which is the RC I picked up for MPS). Still looking for something higher end of both Eberle & Hopkins - but I would suspect that I'll be looking at Dominion (if available for a nice price) or failing that, Crown Royal, or Ultimate (99 copies, but auto only).

I think the one recent exception this (in the era of 'Cup' cards) where I would not consider someone's Cup ARP to be the best fit for my collection, was Taylor Chorney in 2009-10. His Cup Rc was an auto /199..... where his OPC Premier was an ARP.

[Topps Gold Label]

Seems like UD Premier Collectioon - first rookie patch autos - are underrated. Either that, or no one collects 02-03 or 03-04 players (Bergeron, Nash, Spezza, Staal, etc)