Biggest bucks: Wagner or Ruth?

[Archive]

Posted By: JimB

Prices on the Ruth are tougher since there have been so few examples sold - albeit one in each of the last couple of REA auctions. But I think the market possibilities are wide open.

This is only the second Wagner to be offered after the Gretzky Wagner more than doubled in price. The last one, at the National auction last summer, set a record. This one has already beaten the record set last summer for a Wagner graded 1. If to some degree the value of the others are tied to that Gretzky, it makes sense that low grade examples have increased at relatively similar rates.

Who knows which of these will be more in the end. It really just comes down to the bidders, their means, and their levels of desire. On cards like these, they are both so over-the-top that it almost does not make sense to talk about relative merits of the cards. The Wagner is the premier card in the hobby and BN Ruth is only a half step down and in a group of maybe a half dozen elite cards at that next tier.
JimB