Most affordable Ruth cards
 

I saw this German issue went for less than $800 in the Sterling auction. Are there other ‘20s-‘30s Ruths out there that typically go for <$1,000 in decent shape?

Any of the foreign issues from the early 30s are reasonably priced Ruth cards like the Sun the Bulgaria, the Abdullah there's more than a handful of foreign issues that are reasonably priced. You may also find a raw fro Joy card for under $1000 or perhaps a Quaker premium raw in pretty beat up condition.

Maybe if lucky, for under $1K: 1934 Quaker Oats Premium, 1934 R310 Butterfinger, 1931 W517, or 1929 Kashin Publication…Low grade strip cards will be $1.5-2K min. A low grade 1933 Goudey could be $3.5K-$4K, but you can get a 1934 Goudey Premium for under $2K. Best of luck.

There are plenty of affordable items from his playing days if you are looking for non card items. For example, the Quaker Oats pamphlets are cheap (50-75 each), small and relatively flat so they store well with cards. There are a bunch of other premiums from Quaker Oats that are also inexpensive. Photos are also relatively affordable but not if he is in full uniform and batting. You can also get a store mode bat from his playing days for a few hundred or so.

If you have to have a card, I think there is a Ruth board game that has cards. I got one of the cards for 25.00 several years ago. I don't think they have risen too much in value since then.

I hope you enjoy whatever you decide to purchase.

Alan

I think you’d still be able to pick up a 1935 Goudey Ruth in a 1 for around $1,200 or so. Maybe slightly more. That’s the cheapest card in my opinion. Kashin is also a nice alternative with a great image but I’ve noticed it creeping up in price.

Appreciate all the insight -- thanks!

The best affordable Ruth is, by far in my opinion, the 1929 Churchman's card.

Hi Brent, I agree with many above. I think if you are going for facial recognition along with likeness a premium is a great way to go. The foreign issues are great and no doubt show a slugging ruth, but their greatest setback (to me, and presumably others) is the generic blank/untextured face. And is the reason I don't love them. If I was going for an "affordable" Ruth it would be either his 1934 Goudey Premium, (#1 by far love this one) his 1934 Quaker oats, or his 1934 Butterfinger. They would all be a bit more $ than the sanella or churchman. Probably $750-$1300 for a nice presenting 1 of each depending which (a nice Quaker oats psa 1 sold for under $800 recently!). But to me they are much nicer because babes face has definition.

No offense to packs or any '35 goudey lovers, it's a great colorful set. But It is the ugliest card ever made during Babes playing years hands down. And is only a quarter of the card on top of that. Don't kill me for saying that, somebody had to!
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The 1952 Look n See Ruth is growing on me in terms of an affordable Ruth card. Yeah I know not a playing days Ruth. Heck the guy wasn’t even still alive when they printed it. But it’s a really interesting and somewhat under appreciated set. Definitely prefer it over the Sanellas. I also like the 1959 Ruth/TedW card. Both of these cards have room to grow in value IMHO.

I love that card! The entire set is great. I'm building a centered set, which is probably a little more than halfway complete. It's a slow build. Here's my Ruth.

Pete mentioned the 1932 Bulgarian -- pretty interesting card w/ Max Schmelling, and seems quite available/affordable.

I'm with you on facial recognition, Lucas. That Goudey premium is a beauty.

Hey I don’t love the 35 Goudey either but it’s Ruth’s final card and is pretty affordable in even mid grade!

I do think the Kashin is the best alternative for a really great image and a cheaper price.

The lowest current BIN for a Kashin on eBay is $2,500. I’ll definitely watch for it in auction.

I can see why, I'd sell it for a very affordable price if I had one! Haha, Kidding.

I agree, on the kashin, looks like you can get one for under 1000 raw in 1ish condition. Add that to my list of ones I mentioned. For some reason I'd thought even rough looking 1s were something more like $2000 minimum.

Ruth has been one of my main collecting focii the last 6-8 years or so. Personally I believe most of the foreign issues are less desirable to most collectors. Many serve as "gateway" cards to get into a period ruth. The pandemic caused a run on many of these but to me they are the least desirable of all ruth cards.

If you're going to go foreign...I live the WWG's as a cheaper, rarer alternative to goudeys...I DO realize these are much more $$$$ than you're looking for. And I like the shonen postcard. Most of the others are quite common and can be found raw or still in original stamp books like the sanellas or bulgarias.

I live raw fro joys...raw quaker premiums...maybe raw strips in your desirted price range.

Good luck in your hunt!!

A bonus, if you are lucky enough to find one, is this guy who shared the backside of Ruth's Bulgaria sports card album page. I like how, due to the positioning of my scans, the distinguished gentleman is looking benevolently down upon Max und Babe.


Brian (and just to point out, the Bulgaria cards are actually a German issue, so don't be thinking you will be getting a card from an exotic Eastern European country)

One of my best garage sale finds when I was a kid was a stack of Look & Sees, including the Ruth. It was quite the surprise considering the absolutely worthless junk that was sitting out.

It was being held by two roommates, both slovenly 30's-40's guys, and heavy drinkers. One of them turned to his friend and directed, "Offer everything for $50 to the next person to show up. That will get us some cases of beer for the weekend."

In terms of garage sales, it was one of the worst I had ever seen. These poor guys didn't have anything of value; it should have all been thrown out. Just for fun, I asked if he had any cards. Out of his front shirt pocket, he pulled a thick stack of Look & Sees. In spite of my young age, I was familiar with the set and knew there could be a Ruth in there. He let me look through them, and yep, there was a Ruth. I asked what he wanted for them. He was adamant that he'd only part with them if I took everything there for $50. I reminded him that I was a kid and had no means of even taking the stuff, let alone $50. We settled on $4 for the cards.

I have all but ten of them, which I traded to a father and his young son at a local show not long afterwards for a '56 Topps Mantle, which I also still have. I'm not sure what the father was thinking, but I was fine with it. It was his idea how many to trade. He wanted the Ruth, but that was never in the equation, so he offered this other proposal which was naturally fine by my 11 year old self.

I think Schapira Ruth cards can be had for around $1K if they are somewhat beaten up.

I know they are ugly cards but one is a Fleer first

I thought about this same question for a while and went with the Kashin, myself. I really like the image and didn’t want to dish out Goudey $. I really like a similar looking Gehrig Kashin to pair with it.

I’ve also got the duo with the Baseball Magazine inserts, that I’ve had framed up for years. They were my only option when I was starting out in prewar.

Good luck with the hunt,
Bob

Here's my Kashin:

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