Ruth vs Wagner

[Leon]

Originally Posted by benjulmag

They are both great cards and reading the various responses makes me think about what's so great about collecting -- it is so subjective. Each collector is free to enjoy it in his/her own personal way.

An interesting offshoot question which I think about is whether part of the Wagner's popularity is predicated on it being the only Wagner pose in the set. As has been noted, the T206 is one of the most iconic sets in the hobby and IMO the most iconic set of the dead ball era. Wagner was as prominent a player as any in the game at the time the set was issued, and I always felt that there being only one pose of him (and a portrait pose at that with an attractive orange background) is part of the perfect storm of events that fuels the card's popularity.

I agree Corey. What makes card collecting as great as it is, is the potential diversity in ways of doing it. Most collectors, of prewar, collect sets it seems. I go against the grain but that doesn't make me right or wrong, just different. Actually the Wags is a good looking card, but to me, it's not in the same league as the Ruth card (and maybe I am the only one that feels this way, and that is ok too)...