Pujols, Ichiro, short prints, true rookies...know this:

This is one thing that should help alot of new collectors, and that thing is to really do your research and know what you are buying. There are alot of hobby box sales from 2001 products where the vendor claims that it is possible to pull an RC of either Ichiro or Albert Pujols, where in fact it would be impossible because the manufacturer never had one made for that particular product, or it was available only through mail-in redemption. 2001 Bowman Chrome boxes will not allow you to pull the most elusive gem of the set, the $$$$$ card that is the Pujols Rc autograph. This was available via redemption- which is, of course, expired. The same goes for Fleer Premium, where there was a redemption program for 5 prospect.rookie cards- Pujols being one of them. You absolutely will not get that card out of a hobby box. Also, there was the product called Fleer Platinum RC, which "updated" alot of Fleer sets from 2001. This product gave you the chance to pull Pujols rookies from such brands as Fleer Ultra, Fleer Futures, and others. If you tried to buy a regular box of Fleer Ultra, well...you wouldn't have a chance of pulling that sought after card. Aside from chasing those key rookies from 2001, you want to keep an eye out for sales terms that appear in headlining text of items for sale. One that stands out to me is the term "sp". This universally is accepted as meaning a card is short printed within a base set of cards. Well, salesmen are using this term for regular cards- that are equally attainable apart from cards within the same set! Watch out for people selling a short printed Randy Johnson rookie issued by Topps in 1989. The news there is that there's probably millions of that same card across the world! It is 1989 Topps for crying out loud!!! (Thank God I haven't actaully seen this scenario...yet) Lastly, true rookies are pretty ambiguous nowadays...we have cards of 18 year olds in rookie league ball who don't make their MLB debut until they are in their early to mid twenties. In that time, a plethora of cards, from different years, are labeling the card as 'rookie", "prospect" or some other denotion that will lead you to believe that it is a true rookie card. I have seen guides that were recently written by Beckett Media that are obviously a real helpful tool if you are unaware of a players true rookie card. Minor League cards are not accepted as rookie cards, but manufacturers are making very affordable and collectible cards of hot prospects...where you could buy key autographs for a fraction of the price of major league manufacturers rookie year autographed cards (sometimes not actually noted as rookie cards, such as 2004 SP Prospects Bonus autographs).The key of knowing this stuff is to not buy items under false pretense. Knowledge allows one to be the best consumer one can be, and not allow others to wrongly benefit. Go check out chat rooms for topics that may help you as a guide, or buy books/magazines from well respected publications.***Recently, an okay member stated that you can possibly pull a Bowman Chrome auto rc of Pujols out of the hobby boxes. I called him out on it, but then he stated that he contacted Beckett personnel and they confirmed a handful may have made their way into packs. I remember a Beckett article where Topps officials stated that unredeemed autographs (including the Pujols) were destroyed, so there is some conflicting evidence regarding 2001 Bowman Chrome and your chance to pull a Pujols auto!