It's hard not to be attracted to the Babe's cards...skinny left to right but bigger top to bottom than almost any seen.

https://luckeycards.com/r319ruth2.jpg

Leon
Nice looking card.

Everyone else who posted pictures some nice and diverse cards

I got this many years ago from the original owner. He got it as a kid.
This is an underappreciated/undervalued issue.

beautiful premium...these have gone from $1-300 to the low-mid 4 figures last 2-3 years.

Same story with so many other cards, in this latest boom. Though that topic has be discussed constantly within the past two years

Everyone knows I am a totally raw guy. I just want to collect cards. I have cracked every graded card I have ever had. But I am seriously considering having my 1933 Goudey Ruth and Gehrig cards graded. Perhaps a few of the others as well. At this point, it would be foolish not to.

Nice #144 Leon. Tough to find them with eye appeal like yours.

1929 Kashin Ruth still looks like a reasonable buy.

For me, I think his autograph is common and inflated. I put more effort into Grover Cleveland Alexander who died around the same time as Ruth but lived as a drunken vagrant for the last 20 years of his life and is much more rare but obviously not in as much demand. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...a35b622f59.jpg
.With that being said YES I would like to own one someday and my goal is to get everyone in that first HOF class photo. I’m at 6/10 (have Cobb). The story goes Cobb was too cheap to stay in Cooperstown and didn’t make it in time for the photograph.


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I honestly say only grade them if you plan on selling them.

j-yo thats awesome!!!!

If your cards end up in someone else’s hands to sell someday, it’s easier to value a graded card so people can look it up and get a solid idea on what it’s worth. My fear has always been some crook, friend of a friend kind of deal, shows up at my front door and tries to convince the wife that my Ruth card is only worth a few hundred. “And that’s actually being generous”.

Ran across this short article and photo while looking through an old Army publication. Thought it was kind of neat and relevant to the Ruth signing discussion. Lots of conjecture on the number of balls he signed, but one thing is for sure, and that is his signature was widely sought after at the time of his career and he willingly obliged.

After listening to Leon and others about how it's becoming vital to grade old cards, I can see your fear actually playing out with either my wife or daughter. I have given my daughter some cards, including a near mint 1960 Topps Mantle. I know she thinks they are cool old cards, and valuable. Valuable to her meaning a few dollars.

If you're planning to sell them, it's generally a mistake not to grade any vintage card that are worth ~$1000 or more, and in some cases it can be a big mistake. Most buyers are going to assume something is wrong with it and that it was rejected by a grading company for some reason, otherwise it would be in a slab already. There is still a market for raw, but the buyers in that market are mostly looking for bargains. Most of them are looking to get those cards graded and are often going to turn them for a profit after getting them back from the TPGs.

I think you are quite right. Like flipping houses.

I am keeping my cards; no intention of selling or trading any more of them. But what if? With Ruthian money, I guess it would be best to have Ruth and a few others slabbed.

Here is my Fro Joy. I got it many years ago and am pretty sure that it's real. Not sure if it's worth grading in this condition, but at least I can say that I have a Babe.

That's still a good-looking card!

If you ever contemplate selling it, I would definitely get it graded anyway. If not, why bother?

No one is jumping at my pretty decent 1935 Goudey Ruth 4-in-1 for under $2k :shrug: And you can get a really rough one for around $1.5k at times.

Churchman's is still available in that range.

My favorite "affordable" Ruth cards (and consequently these are the only two Ruths I own) are the 1935 Goudey and the W517 portrait. Both of these in the this poor/authentic condition can still be had under $2000 (although they've been inching closer to $2000 over the last couple of years).

Attachment 480665

Attachment 480666

Very Nice

To anyone who's thinking about how to acquire their first Babe, my opinion and advice is to buy anything you can afford when you can afford it. You will not regret extending yourself when you did.

Case and point, I bought this WWG for $500 when I was in grad school. I used my own loan money to do it and it meant not eating as much as I would have liked to. Do I regret it? No!

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...1608f2c0_z.jpg

I bought my Kashin at the start of the pandemic. I wasn't exactly thrilled about paying $1,800 for it. But, uh, another win I think:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...e318ebf5_z.jpg

My favorite Ruth issues are from the Blum's Bulletin

I think this is a very good point. While nothing is a sure thing, it doesn't get much safer than Ruth when it comes to buying a high dollar card and hoping it maintains it's value.

And there is something about owning a real, playing days Ruth card that is very satisfying. I mean, it's a baseball card of BABE RUTH!

They say nothing is recession proof but Babe Ruth is about as ironclad an investment you can make. I don't think any collector of any length of time has paid less for Ruth one year to the next.

Agreed. Ruth is a strong investment and a relatively low risk investment

IT is also great long term collection

I need more Babe Ruth cards lol. This thread has me convinced. Time to sell some of these basketball cards...

The Fro Joy and W517 are probably cheaper because they are oversized and PSA puts them in the big slabs. The Churchmans is cheaper because PSA refuses to put his name on the flip. I really like the Churchmans card though. If PSA ever decided to put his name on them, watch out! I bet they'd skyrocket in value overnight.

Beautiful set up!:cool:

PSA does not slab Fro Joy. I am not sure who does now. Mine are in Beckett holders that are thick enough to withstand Superman's heat vision.

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...Ruth%201_1.jpg

Agreed and like everyone wish we bought into more Ruth Earlier

i believe beckett is the only one who still grades these.

You are quite correct. You will not regret it. I bought my 1933 Goudey Ruth card (see OP this thread) and my Ruth signed ball (also signed by Gehrig and Cobb) both for $800 in 1988 upon completion of weather forecasting school at Chanute AFB Illinois and receiving my $20K reenlistment bonus (Air Force and Navy go to the same weather schools even now). Also bought a Ford Mustang that I put 326,000 miles on from Rantoul Ford. I thought the money paid for both was crazy, and the only way I could have afforded such high-end baseball stuff was because I had reenlistment money. But look what has happened over time. Usually my luck is the Midas Touch in reverse, whatever I touch turns to crap, not gold. I just gave away, literally, all my 1988 to 1993 cards. I did, however, hang on to a Stadium Club Jeter RC and a few others.

25-30 years ago I was at a show, and a guy was selling just the Ruth portion of a '35 Goudey for $100. I walked around trying to convince myself to buy it, but just couldn't think of any. First of all, at that time the full card could be had for less than $1,000. Second, by having only 1/4 of it is that even considered a card anymore? This thread got me thinking whether I had made a mistake to pass it up, but I still don't think I'd buy it today even at the same price. If you have just the upper-left part of the '35 Goudey, would you feel that you own a "Babe Ruth card"?

Probably not 30 years ago, but NOW I think $100 for the just the Ruth square seems about right. I don't think it qualifies as a card, but it's an authentic Goudey Ruth image from his playing days. It would have limited resale value, but if $1000 is out of a collector's budget (and let's face it, there are likely MANY collectors out there that want a Ruth card but can't justify spending $1000+), I can imagine there are collectors out there that would consider $100 a fair price.

I sort of follow the price history on that card, and a "Ruth square" came up on eBay within the last year or two....it's no longer in the Sold listings, but if I recall it sold in the $150 to $250 range.

I think there is some truth to that. I actually LOVE my w517 Ruth portrait...I think the large portrait image is unique for his playing days cards. And with the card stock, w517s definitely feel more like cards than the large Kashin pictures.

But I'm slowly colleting the set. I wanted to make it a binder set because most of my cards are raw and fit nicely in four pocket pages. And even though standard PSA and SGC slabs also fit nicely in four pocket pages I can't figure out a way to nicely fit the oversized w517 slabs in a binder, so my handful of graded w517s are separate from my binder set. And that kind of bothers me.

Someday I may just bite the bullet and crack them all out...(which I would hate to do because there are SO many fake/reprint w517s out there, you really need to buy graded for the high dollar cards if you are buying them online. So cracking them out would really hurt resale value in the future).

Benny Bengough in high grade perhaps?

Is this a somewhat recent change, or are the ones on eBay fakes perhaps? There are quite a few that I've seen in PSA slabs. Maybe those are all old?

The version I've heard is that he was still mad at Landis over the Dutch Leonard stuff and didn't want to be in any photos with him so he intentionally showed up late. Cobb was on a cross-country trip with his children that included shows in NYC, it's unlikely he was balking at the cost of one night's stay in Cooperstown.

Psa used to grade them…they look real.

If you want to read more about the Ruth Fro Joy cards here's a link to an earlier discussion about them:
https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=131343

And here are a few Ruth cards to keep the thread moving.

Speaking of cut cards, someone was selling pieces of the Universal Toy & Novelty cards some time ago (pre-boom) on eBay and I thought "who'd pay for that?" Wish I had.

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...-Alexander.jpg

I am not sure whether these cards were meant to be cut up. Guess we will never know.

With regard to the Fro Joy (at least the #1 card), one thing I've noticed that I don't know has ever been pointed out is that in the authentic ones, if you look very closely, there are a bunch of tiny crosses below Babe's chin and on his jersey. I have not seen that on any of the fakes or reprints. The top set of pictures below are of mine and one that Leon posted in a previous thread. The bottom two are being marketed as reprints. You can see the crosses on the top ones that are lacking on the bottom. I hope that helps anyone looking for a Fro Joy to add a Ruth to their collection.

damn! Never heard of this/noticed this? Still not sure if I can see it????

Looks like "noise" or pixels that actually look like tiny crosses or x's, is that right?

Pete and James, here's a comparison of the same area of the jersey. If you blow it up you can see the tiny crosses on the left picture that aren't on the right. I've never seen those crosses on the fakes, and always figured that they were part of the printing process and difficult to replicate.

Thats helpful thx steve!

Great Info Steve
 

Thanks for pointing this out. Acquired this raw example a while back and just never got it graded. Took your advice and there they are plain as day, thanks again.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3ebc759e_b.jpg1928 Frojoy, Babe Ruth`s Grip ! by Hugh Murphy, on Flickr

Very cool, TUM301. One thing I should say is that I haven't checked every type of reprint out there. I checked several just to make sure, and it holds true for the ones I saw for card #1. I imagine there are printers out there that can replicate things to the tiniest detail, like the crosses. So check other things, such as making sure that the box on the back is a full square, without any breaks in the corners.

EDIT: I just spent awhile looking through a bunch of Fro Joys advertised as reprints. Some better than others. But while I did not see any crosses on cards #1-4, I did see them on a few of the #5 (Grip) and #6 (Crack Fielder) cards. I attach an example of a #5 reprint that appears to have the crosses. However, in every one of those that I saw, the corners of the box on the back do not connect. I also attach a picture of that. While I can't say for sure as I haven't checked every single example out there, when it comes to the #5, the crosses on the front and the connecting box on the back are very good signs.

Amazing How many different types of collectible items there are from cards, to photos, to books, pins, Tins and so much more

Time to potentially expand the Search for Ruth Collectibles

I would for insurance purposes so that just incase something happens you get reimbursed for the graded value instead of get beat over raw values.

Ruth pick up today at the Long Beach Collectibles show

For the 1933 Goudey Ruth cards, I would have any of the four. It just happened to be that the seller had the batting pose #144 all those years ago. And I just happened to have the money at the time. If he had any one of the other three, and not the one I have, I am certain I would have bought it. These are my personal favorite Babe Ruth cards of them all. Not because I have one, or that they are worth a small fortune. I just like them.

Any idea when this was made?

I was told late 50's

Maybe if they made chicken flavored beer... :D

Oh, that's just wrong...

Very cool and I learned something new here! And I’m relieved to have just checked my three raw examples (1,4,5) and they all have all the characteristics of authentic examples…Lots of crosses and continuous box lineage.

Ruth had some great postcards...

https://luckeycards.com/ruth2.jpg

Just did the same check with my three raw Fro Joy cards (2,2,5), and they all exhibited the authentic characteristics as well. Great thread, had never heard about this feature on the authentic Fro Joys before.

But, if the existence of the small crosses/X's on the fronts, and closed/completed corners on the back, are really all that is needed to determine authenticity of the cards in this set, how come there has been so much perceived controversy and issues with TPGs authenticating and grading these cards in the past? This way to verify authenticity almost seems too good to be true, especially to those who like collecting raw cards. And we all know what is often said when something seems to good to be true..........!

I truly hope this thread and info is spot on. Just concerned a bit still because the answer seems almost too easy.

Good points...it certainly seems like more "collectors" have snapped up fro joys recently because they are cheap relatively speaking for their rarity/desirability.

I have a fake sheet I purchased back in college I will examine for x's/crosses when I get a chance.

Agree that if these 2 attributes are smoking guns this should change the whole collecting dynamic of fro joys.

I'm glad I just acquired my last one to complete my set!

I've got one of of those colored reprint sheets myself somewhere. I'm assuming that wouldn't be worth double checking though. But if you've got a black and white reprint sheet, will be interested in what you see when checking it out. However, earlier posters said they already did this, and the reprints don't show these specific traits. Again, just seems too easy of an answer all of a sudden for something that has been debated about for so long.

Maybe one of the reasons these have been so much more affordable compared to other Ruth cards is the questioning of authenticity by many, and lack of all TPGs being willing to authenticate them, especially PSA anymore. Kind of reminds me on how S74 silks are often viewed and valued in relation to T205/T202 cards since PSA will not grade S74 silks.

And Peter, congrats on completing your Fro Joy set.

I agree with all you've said here...the sheet I was ripped off on is a b/w albeit funky colored sheet compared to authentic ones...not a colorized one. But the borders are dotted lines which are not associated with authentic copies.

I can't say for sure that a Fro Joy with crosses on the front and a closed box on the back is authentic. But I feel pretty confident that if one or both of those features are missing, then it's a replica. I looked at a ton of #1s online (because that's the one I have), and I have yet to see a confirmed authentic not have both features, or a replica have both. I posted above what I found with the other numbers in the set. I don't know what BVG looks for when grading, or why the other TPGs won't touch it. If the crosses/closed box theory holds true, buy your Fro Joys now before the fakers learn to start replicating those features.

+1

I always liked ice cream.........

nice set jim!

Thanks Pete.

classic
 

Now thats a classic

I’ve been looking to pick up a w590 Ruth for a while now. Great example.

Attachment 571335

Wish I owned more Ruth cards! Prices have passed my budget years ago…

Wow I am jealous.

That is perhaps the cleanest example I have ever seen.

Great card to have

Congrats

nothing to show here, just wanted to thank you for resurrecting this thread. So much great information and cards/photos.

Amazing example. Thanks for sharing. Incredible Ruth.

A little different Ruth piece. A 1920 Spring Sports catalog printed just prior to the trade sending Ruth to the Yankees. So it came out for the Spring/Summer Catalog season with Ruth in a Red Sox uniform while Ruth was playin that Spring and summer in a yankee uniform