Sporting News Ruth Rookie Buy in Price
 

I haven't been very active lately and I haven't tracked this card much but I am curious what the buy in for this card is. I assume the blank back would be the cheapest. I saw a really nice fair in a SGC holder that appears to have sold for 75K. That seems extreme so was curious what the thoughts are here. Thanks

James G

id say for a card that presents reasonably well yet is graded lower on the scale...75K is right about there for the entry point.

this card has been on the steady rise as of lately.

For the past year and a half that is where it has seemed to be heading.

I thinking more a beat card, not a lower grade card that presents well. I know there was one example with 1/4 of the card missing....

Just not sure I can stomach a 75K card.

i hear you...I know I cannot!!!!!!! Well maybe for a piece of a ruth rookie or a card in pretty rough shape im sure the buy in would be closer to 20-30K

my guess
 

I'm thinking right now the new buy-in for the worst of the worst is $40k. how many of these are there to go around? 70? Of a RUTH ROOKIE? $40k seems right (at the moment) to me. Further - I think down the road could easily one day reach $100k buy-in.

The $75k card was a "best offer" - I believe it actually sold for $55-65k (just can't remember what exactly).

I remember watching an altered Ruth rookie not too long ago that presented well. I placed a couple of bids and hoped it would stay in the 20-25k range. It did not. I believe it went for 40-45k. But even a completely hammered example would probably bring 20k or more.

SGC 20 blank back sold for $36K in REA 2015 spring auction. That's with 20% juice
Had decent eye appeal

Was that the SGC 20 that we're talking about that was on eBay w/$75 BIN/OBO?
Was wondering myself what it actually sold for

+1. The last time for most collectors who don't fit into the big bucks category of collectors to buy this card at a reasonable price was really the early 2000's. By 2007, by my recollection, a VG example would have set you back about $15K. The real question is what cards may take a similar appreciation trajectory in the future.

Happy collecting,

Larry

There's probably closer to 150-200 total out there, including all of the different backs. One knowledgeable dealer I respected re his estimates of surviving populations of key cards gave a figure of 200 in the early to mid-'90's. The price is so high because the demand is enormous for each and every example, and why not? It is the real (read major league) rookie of the Babe, after all.

Best wishes re your collecting,

Larry

graded pop-reports on the ruth rookie
 

I believe the combined sgc and psa graded pop reports show less than 60 total examples ever graded (I could be wrong - someone please check if possible).

Much like the Holy Grail Wagner, it seems new raw examples of these rarely show up anymore.

Any thoughts on what those cards might be?

I would guess any player that is consistently in the Top 20 list of greatest baseball players ever. And the RC or early card of that player, and if it is more vintage, then high grade. Finally a card that is always on people's want list, but probably goes under the radar. Given this criteria, my guess is: Zeenut Joe DiMaggio. (Note that I do not own one of these cards yet.)

Might be too obscure of an issue for a take off?

It is the 51 Bowman Mantle card. It has already begun, with that Hunt Auctions PSA 5 breaking $20,000 and the 4.5 at PWCC $7700. It still has a ways to go upwards in price at all grade levels. PWCC had a PSA 3.5 that just sold for about $4200. Few cards are they expensive at that low grade. When a card is costly in even low grades I know it is in wild demand.

1916 ruth pop report
 

It seems to me the combined psa and sgc graded population of the ruth rookie is at a total of 82 (unless I'm reading the reports wrong). Of course re-submissions likely make the true outstanding population lower.

A tad more populous than Honus - which has what? 50 total or so known?

agree...not a chance!!!!

If not a DiMaggio Zeenut, then for sure a 1925 Exhibit Gehrig!

this card has already kinda taken off...but I don't see an exhibit...or a zeenut ever having universal appeal enough to run up prices that much. These are more for the hard core collector.

Agreed. Would seem the 4.5 offers a much better value to the collector. ;)

The last PSA 2 Zeenut Dimaggio sold for north of $25k on ebay not too long ago, and I believe that low grade Gehrig exhibit rookies are now selling in the $7-10k+ range. It seems like the big 4 Yankees (Ruth, Gehrig, Dimaggio and Mantle) are all pushing much higher. The Gehrig and Dimaggio rookies are certainly less mainstream (if you can call a M101 sporting news mainstream) but the demand certainly outstrips the supply.

What also helps all 4 players is that there is a clear top 1 or 2 cards that you can consider rookies, while someone like Cobb, who is just as collected if not more so, has several "rookie" cards to pick from, although it does seem like all of Cobb's 1907 postcard rookies are moving up as well to a much lesser extent.