Valuable Cardboard |
A few weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to stumble across a yard sale selling John Elway's rookie card, a Topps 1984 #63, graded and priced to move. I didn't hesitate when I bought it; retired HOFs are usually a safe investment. The purchase did get me thinking about rookie cards in general, however. Elway was drafted in 1983 by Baltimore (Colts), traded to Denver after one summer flirting with the Yankees and major league baseball. He would start for the Broncos opening day and begin the long and arduous journey from hyped rookie to elite quarterback. In the world of cardboard, Topps included him in their 1984 set (along with fellow future hall of famer Dan Marino). But if John was drafted (and started) in 1983, why not feature him in the previous year's set? The answer lies in how much the hobby has changed in the last 28 years.
Before
short-printed inserts and rookie speculation were driving factors in the hobby,
card enthusiasts' primary focus was on set and team building. Only two
manufacturers were printing and selling football cards in the early 1980s:
Topps and Fleer. The former's 396 card set was an early year release highly
anticipated by collectors for its focus on current and emerging
superstars. Unlike today, rookies were
less important; players were sometimes featured years after their inaugural
season. Combined with the fact the set came out before the start of the football season, and it's easy to
understand why Topps held off on including rookies like Marino and Elway until
the following year.
As the 80s
moved on and interest from investors caused the hobby to explode in popularity,
Topps borrowed a page out of their baseball playbook. Beginning in
1989 and continuing through 1990, Topps put out a short-printed,
supplemental set called Topps Traded
that highlighted midseason trades, acquisitions and high profile rookies. Players such as Troy Aikman, Barry Sanders
and Emmitt Smith made their first appearance on cardboard in these Traded sets.
By 1991,
card collecting became a national obsession and manufacturers Score, Pacific,
Pro Set and Upper Deck joined the fray.
Unlike Topps, their sets were massive (up to 700 cards) and featured rookies
drafted in the same year. Topps had no
choice but to follow suit, expanding their yearly set to 660 cards (and
including rookies). After the bubble
burst in the mid ‘90s (taking much of industry with it), set sizes would come
back down to earth (e.g. Topps 2012 base set is 440 cards with a handful of variations).
Never again would rookies be neglected, however. In fact, the chase for the
next John Elway (or Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, etc.) continues to this
day. Cards featuring autographs of rookie
QBs Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III are currently fetching hundreds on EBay,
and neither has played a down in an NFL game.