1915 Boston Red Sox Postcard vs 1905 W601 Detroit Tigers

[Rhotchkiss]

I started a thread about this a while back. https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=353304

I agree the Ruth beats the Cobb all day, but I also feel the price difference should be less than it is.

[bcbgcbrcb]

Sorry, missed that, Ryan. But, my comparison was to the W601 Tigers premium, notice that I said 1905 as my year of issue. I know, very confusing and most likely the ONLY ACC designation where the same identifier was used for two totally different issues. Much of the same logic applies to the '06 postcard, however. I see from your previous post that most everyone agrees that the Ruth should be worth more than the Cobb but that the Cobb is quite undervalued. More than a year later, don't think the view on the W601 Cobb has changed at all, nor has the perceived value since I don't know of any actual public sales. Doesn't really make sense to me, my best guess is maybe 1% of collectors can afford the Ruth postcard today and maybe 25% can afford the W601 Cobb. You would think with a much larger audience, that would be the one escalating in value more rapidly, but it seems to be the opposite. Thus, once again, it has become that the REALLY BIG cards can no longer be acquirable by anyone except the extremely wealthy, which might make up 1% of the collectors out there. If I saved up for the rest of my life, I likely couldn't afford to buy the Ruth postcard. That's why I try to advocate for things that are still affordable for a larger percentage of collectors but it seems with each passing month/year, more and more of the REALLY BIG cards are falling by the wayside for the vast majority of us. We all want the best and not have to settle for only what we can afford. Only 5-10 years ago, it wasn't this way. Why does it seem that those with big money to spend were controlling themselves back then and avoiding crazy escalations in prices while today, it has become the Wild, Wild West with unlimited spending. Seems to take away some of the allure of the hobby to me. Of course, that is coming from the perspective of someone who falls into the latter category.

[calvindog]

Phil, owning both (plus the W601 Tigers PC), I can tell you that the W601 Premium is not in the same ballpark as the 1915 Red Sox PC for the reason you stated -- it's not a card. It's also not in the same ballpark as the W601 Tigers PC for that same reason. As for "smarter" buy, the Ruth team PC is a card, and has Ruth's first major league image on it. There's no player who is more important to collectors than Ruth. To compare the 1915 Red Sox PC to the 1905 W601 Tigers Premium is like comparing apples to a fire hydrant. Not even on the same planet.

The better comparison would be the 1915 Red Sox PC to the W601 Tigers PC and for the reasons described above, I'd agree that the Tigers PC featuring Cobb's first image is undervalued. But there's no way it will ever be worth what the 1915 Red Sox PC is worth -- Cobb does not compare to Ruth in the eyes of collectors.

To me, the argument that makes more sense is why the 1915 Red Sox PC is worth so much less than the 1916 M101-5 Ruth cards, especially when you consider the PC is a year earlier and has a way lower population. But as Jay pointed out, the PC doesn't feature Ruth alone, and well, there you have it.

I also lament prices going up but then again, I also decry young people stepping on my lawn. That's how the world works.

[glchen]

Originally Posted by Rhotchkiss

I started a thread about this a while back. https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=353304

I agree the Ruth beats the Cobb all day, but I also feel the price difference should be less than it is.

Phil, I think the most likely reasons are stated in the other thread that Ryan pointed out, namely, there are other "rookie" cards for Cobb that have much better eye appeal that collectors prefer with comparable postmark dates, and for Ruth, there are hardly any Red Sox cards available for him, so even a third year card like a 1918 Boston Store is worth over 100K.

Personally, I'm waiting for my faded c1916 postcard (that I paid ~$3500 in 2019) where you can barely see Ruth to hit six figures sometimes. It's even rarer than the W601! lol.

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by glchen

Phil, I think the most likely reasons are stated in the other thread that Ryan pointed out, namely, there are other "rookie" cards for Cobb that have much better eye appeal that collectors prefer with comparable postmark dates, and for Ruth, there are hardly any Red Sox cards available for him, so even a third year card like a 1918 Boston Store is worth over 100K.

Personally, I'm waiting for my faded c1916 postcard (that I paid ~$3500 in 2019) where you can barely see Ruth to hit six figures sometimes. It's even rarer than the W601! lol.

Cool Piece Gary
IF you give up on it let me know.

[bcbgcbrcb]

Nice postcard, Gary. I had an accompanying Type 1 PSA photo taken from the same event likely only moments apart and at a different angle where Babe was partially obscured. Sold it last year, I think around $2,300, which was close to a grand below what I paid for it less than a year earlier. I guess comparing that one to the 15 Red Sox p/c is like comparing an apple to a fire hydrant.

Sorry, I couldn’t resist…..

[oldjudge]

And a well pissed on fire hydrant at that

[glchen]

Originally Posted by mrreality68

Cool Piece Gary
IF you give up on it let me know.

Thanks, Jeff.

Originally Posted by bcbgcbrcb

Nice postcard, Gary. I had an accompanying Type 1 PSA photo taken from the same event likely only moments apart and at a different angle where Babe was partially obscured. Sold it last year, I think around $2,300, which was close to a grand below what I paid for it less than a year earlier. I guess comparing that one to the 15 Red Sox p/c is like comparing an apple to a fire hydrant.

Sorry, I couldn’t resist…..

I know, Phil, I saw those sales. I think the issue there was that for some reason there were two sets of those photos from REA and LOTG, I think, that went to auction roughly at the same time, which likely depressed the prices. Anyway, I don't have high expectations for the postcard especially because you can't see Ruth very well, but still definitely cool to have.