Patrik Stefan: A Few Rookies

Now that I have officially started another player collection with Patrik Stefan, I thought the best place to start a show and tell of what I already have would be some of his rookie cards. I'm sure most of you probably know Stefan was taken first overall in 1999 by the Thrashers, so his rookie season would end up being 1999-00, which is where these cards are from. 

Let's get things started with some good old plain base set rookie cards. It seems like this was much more common back in 1999 than in today's world. I can't think of many sets nowadays that have regular base cards listed as RC's, and by that I mean cards that aren't part of a "Hot Rookies" or "Young Guns" sections of the overall base sets.

First I have one from Dynagon Ice. This was one of my favorite base card designs from that season. The only difference between this RC and the rest of the base set is the little "Rookie" stamp in the lower right hand corner.

Next is one from another Pacific set, Omega. While it's not the greatest design in the world, it's still pretty decent compared to some of the stuff out there now. Like the Dynagon Ice, this one has the same stamp designating it as a rookie instead of a regular base card.

Then I have yet another one from a Pacific set, this time Crown Royale. I always liked the horizontal designs they came up with for this set, as they stood out among other base set designs. Once again, the only difference between a standard base and a rookie card is the small stamp on the front.

Now I can move onto some of the UD rookies I accumulated over the years. First is this one from Black Diamond. Beckett lists this one as an official RC for Stefan, but as you can see from the scan, it is just like any other base card from the set, unlike the Rookie Gems distinction they have nowadays. 

The last one I have for today is from a now defunct UD set, Ovation. This is another listed as an official RC, but you wouldn't know it next to any other card from the base set. It does have a neat texture though, kind of like ice that's been skated on.

So how was that for a little bit of a blast from the past? I have to say that I am really looking forward to tracking down all of Stefan's cards from the 1999-2004 range as there were some pretty neat (and awful) base and insert designs back then.