1933 Ruth rankings
 

As I hunt for my first Ruth, I notice pricing for his four 1933 Goudey issues go in this order--high to low:

#53 - yellow
#149 - red
#144 - whole body
#181 - green

Am wondering what factors drive the pricing. I gather 144 is DP, which explains things a bit. Beyond that, is it just aesthetic preference that differentiates the others? Myself, I'm completely neutral as to red vs yellow; however, I don't like the look of green quite as much.

Thanks!

Demand drives pricing. Personally I like the batting pose. With demand being most important, the registry can drive some high end pricing. You could add a very easy poll too but that might not answer the "why" question....

I think I am in the minority, but I always preferred the 181. I just think the pose reflects him where he was at the time as an aging slugger who had seen and been a part of a lot o history.

Huge fan
 

I have 144 and 181 and am hugely partial to the whole body pose. Classic card IMO. But to each their own.

I think if I had all four, I would appreciate exactly that. But having none, I am definitely feeling the need for one of the other three.

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Green is my favorite, then red. The face is too small on 144 for my taste/old eyes.

I like them all for different reasons, but 53, 181, 149, 144.

Oops!!!

I thought this was the "Why is Ruth in the Hall of Fame?" thread.:o

I'm always partial to action shots rather than portraits. These are baseball players, let's see them playing some baseball.

That said, I wouldn't complain about getting my hands on any Ruth card. Good luck on the hunt.

I have owned the yellow and the green background...and I think my favorites are the yellow and red type batting pose. I have never loved the double printed number 144 ... while colorful he is kind of far away and cartoonlike .

In honor of this thread I have changed my avatar, at least for now :).

Aesthetically, I like 149 and 144 about even. 149 and 53 are same image but I just like the look of the red more although the yellow is the tougher card.

So for me all of those 3 are pretty even and 181 would be 4th for me. 181 is nice in itself but I like the other images more.

Same. +1.

Isn't the #53 in a short-printed series?

My preference has always been for the #144, then #53 and then #181. The #149 is a rehash of the #53 (except for the color), and I've never particularly cared for the red background.


Steve

The #144 batting pose is one of my favorite cards in the hobby. Just a classic image. It's currently the only Ruth I own. I will add the yellow #53 eventually and hopefully a 1916 RC some day. But the 144 just has a classic, iconic look in my opinion. My order would be 144, 53, 149, and 181, with the last three a very distant second, third, and fourth.

I'd say ....

1. Yellow (tough to get in high grade (

2. Red (like the closeup)

3. Green (as someone said, it's an honest look for the babe at that phase in his career....also like the green hue....finally, it's the only card that has a different image as 144 is just a zoomed out version of the red and yellow)

4. #144 (DP so easier to find , babe is distant in the image ....but it is a cool pose for a field shot)


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For me, it's
#144
#149
#53
#181

But honestly, I'd just be thrilled to own any of them. I like that #144 is a dp, as it should make finding one that will have the eye appeal I want that much easier.

lmao!!!
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REA has a Yellow PSA-6 if you want to take out that extra mortgage.
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COOL! Your avatar is sporting the same cap David Wells wore that day!
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The card was an easy choice since I have approx. 3 cool cards now. :o

1933 Ruth
 

I`m with Todd on this one, always liked the green #181 Ruth out of the set. I think the pose just captures Ruth at this stage of his career the best of the 4 cards. My 2 cents.

Any thoughts on where Sport Kings rates? I like the look but wouldn't want my first and only to come from a multi-sport set.

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For me it is #181. Not even close.

I'm partial to 181. I like the way his image fills the card and for me it captures his essence perfectly.

I know we probably don't want to go down this road again so soon, but I want to add quickly that I think he belongs in the HOF. I acknowledge there is a pro-Yankee bias at times, and people will point to his middling stolen base percentage (51%) and low saves total (4). Still, a close look at the numbers suggests he was one of the elite hitters of his day (to avoid arguments about different eras I'm limiting "his day" to the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries) and it's always been very challenging for starting pitchers to compile big save totals. Measured by some of the more nuanced metrics (wins, earned run average) he was actually quite effective as a pitcher.

The baseball knowledge on N54 is amazing. Within 24 hours I feel like I have seen thoughtful and persuasive arguments for the HOF credentials of Ruth, Clemente, and Jackie Robinson. Would love to hear the N54 community's take on other marginal guys like Wagner, Cobb, Mays, and Williams. All compiled gaudy batting stats, but could any pitch?

I love the Sport Kings. I like it more than 181 but maybe bellow the other 3 (2 images) but very close. The 181 image is one that some people love and others not so much. Don't get me wrong, I really like them all. But the other ones are more classic images to me.

Somewhat related, anyone know why the Babe didn't make it into 1934 Goudey or the Diamond Stars set?

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Good luck with which ever ruth u choose, u really cant go wrong so many are so nice for different reasons. Please post a scan of which ever u choose.