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Working pick#1
Rookie research

Royce Gracie
Rookie Card Case

The candidates, the evidence for each, and which card FightCardboard treats as the working pick.

  • Working pick2009 Topps UFC Round 1 #1
  • SubjectRoyce Gracie / Art Jimmerson
  • Year2009
  • ManufacturerTopps
  • ConfidenceHigh confidence
  • Print runUnknown — not estimated
High confidence×2Uncertain×1View sources & research

Why this is the working pick

2009 Topps UFC Round 1 #1 is his first card in a UFC-licensed product and the first card of the first Topps UFC set, depicting his UFC 1 win over Art Jimmerson. eBay's catalogue sells it as '(RC)', Collectibles.com's register says 'Royce Gracie debuted as a Rookie in 2009' and lists it as RC, and Topps' own article presents the Round 1 cards as his earliest. The 2006 Pride FC card is earlier but is not UFC-licensed and carries no rookie designation anywhere.

Topps opened its first UFC set with UFC 1: Gracie against Art Jimmerson and his single boxing glove, 12 November 1993. It is the hobby's rookie card for Gracie and the card most collectors mean when they ask for one, and being card #1 of the licence's first set gives it a status nothing later can take.

The dispute

SportsCardsPro's data field marks Round 1 #1 'No' for rookie card, while eBay's catalogue title and Collectibles.com both call it an RC. This mirrors the same disagreement across the whole 2009 Topps UFC class.

Commonly misidentified

Sellers occasionally list 1990s-dated Gracie items as rookie cards; no 1990s licensed card of him was found in this research, and those items are customs, reprints or non-card memorabilia. Topps also made him card number 1 in five different products, so the 2010 Topps UFC base card is frequently listed as the rookie on the strength of its number alone.

Identifying it

  • Card #1, the first card of the 102-card common set per Jeff Allender's checklist
  • Two-fighter matchup front: Gracie vs Art Jimmerson at UFC 1
  • Silver parallel is serial numbered to 288; Black retail parallel to 888; Red is a 1/1; Gold is unnumbered

What gets mistaken for it

What you'll readWhat's true
Gracie has a 1990s UFC rookie card from his UFC 1-4 run.No 1990s UFC-licensed card of Gracie turned up in this research. Topps only took the UFC licence in October 2008, and the 1990s-dated Gracie items sold online are customs or later reprints.

Parallels

Base
—
Unnumbered
Gold
—
Probable
Silver
/288
High confidence
Black
/888
Probable
Red
1/1
Probable

Grading & population

Population figures will be taken directly from the grading companies and dated when they are. None are shown yet.

Sources & research High confidence×2Uncertain×1

Every factual claim on this page, the evidence behind it, and an honest confidence level. Where sources disagree the disagreement is kept, not quietly resolved.

High confidence

Royce Gracie's rookie card: 2009 Topps UFC Round 1 #1 — Royce Gracie / Art Jimmerson.

2009 Topps UFC Round 1 #1 is his first card in a UFC-licensed product and the first card of the first Topps UFC set, depicting his UFC 1 win over Art Jimmerson. eBay's catalogue sells it as '(RC)', Collectibles.com's register says 'Royce Gracie debuted as a Rookie in 2009' and lists it as RC, and Topps' own article presents the Round 1 cards as his earliest. The 2006 Pride FC card is earlier but is not UFC-licensed and carries no rookie designation anywhere.

High confidence

2009 Topps UFC Round 1 #1 — Royce Gracie / Art Jimmerson.

Uncertain

Rookie status is flagged inconsistently: eBay's catalogue title carries (RC) and Collectibles.com says 'Royce Gracie debuted as a Rookie in 2009', while SportsCardsPro's rookie-card field for this exact card reads 'No'.

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