Headin' Home Ruth card

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Posted By: Pete Z.

Last weekend at a show here in VA a dealer had one of these cards in his case for $725. It was a very attractive pose (mid-torso to top of head with bat and cool ad back), but it measured ~1/4in short top-to-bottom and the sides of the card looked shaved, so I passed. (It wasn't the variety of Headin' Home with the actor "Tex" or "Rex" on the back btw). The dealer also had an authentic fro-joy (g+/vg-) in his case for $300, which I knew to be ~3xs too high--so for all I know his price on the Headin' Home was ~3xs too high as well. Are Headin' Home Ruth cards like fro-joys as far as collector's steering clear of them because of the number of repros out there, and grading companies not grading them either? What would you say one of these would go for in an SGC 20 holder? AUTH?

Thanks,
Pete

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Posted By: Brian C.

The Headin' Home cards are very tough to find, so tough that it's not a question of collectors steering clear of them so much as collectors finding an example of one to buy or to pass up. Any card can be reprinted -- a reprint Zeenut was ebay last week -- but Headin' Home cards are not in the same category as Fro-Joys when it comes to reprints (few cards are). There are definitely legitimate ones out there and they sell for substantial sums.

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Posted By: leon

Hey Pete
Some of my favorite esoteric cards of the Babe.....There are many reprints out there so you do need to be careful. Obviously the best way to tell a fake is to look at the paper and hold it and feel of it (you can sneak a smell of it you want to also). I won't soon forget the idiot that was selling some reprints on ebay. I alerted the board then he came on here saying how we were all wrong and being rather snotty about it. Next time I saw them they were on the back cover of an American Memorabilia catalog and being auctioned off. I called Victor Moreno (owner of AM) and told him what was up. In the mean time the idiot came back on here spouting off how they were being sold by AM so HAD to be good and we could all take a hike. Victor and I spoke and come to find out he knows Dave Forman pretty well so I had him call Dave. He overnighted the cards to SGC and of course they were as fake as a 3 dollar bill. These particular ones had a blue tint to them and were obvious fakes. The idiot never showed back up on the board and the cards were pulled from the auction. I think $725 is about the going price for the ones that aren't the Tex Ricard types.....Those are about 3x-4x of that. I wouldn't worry too much about size as all of the small type ones I have seen have been mostly hand cut (if that is what type you saw). There are 3 types of them to the best of my knowlege.....Last I knew was that SGC wasn't comfortable grading them but I believe that since Derek is back, and they might have seen some more by now, they might grade them currently....Not sure about it though.....Hope this helps....

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Posted By: ron diamond

You might have the largest collection of this set....amazing. I purchased one recently from (I think) FWK in Hawaii. I don't see it in your collection. It was graded authentic by GAI but they have no credibility in my eyes. You have probabloy seen it; it is the one SCD uses, where he is in the follow through of a swing. Do you have a wantlist...I have a number of interesting, prewar cards available for sale or trade. I recently broke up the #1 Ruth set on the PSA website registry. I have a few left, again, for trade or sale.

Ron

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Posted By: ron diamond

Would you please tell me how to initate a message on this website. I can only find out how to respond to a previous message.
Thanks
Ron

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Posted By: fkw

Ron it say "Post now" on the right side at top of the list of posts.

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Posted By: davidcycleback

Are the cards real photo? Leon's appear as if they might be.
If so, reprints would generally be easy to identity as the
reprints will have dot pattern in the image while real photos
do not. Also, period photo paper was thin and matte backed, and
you can't find that kind of photo paper anymore. The fronts of
period photos are usually glossier than the backs.

If the originals are real photo, collectors should be able to tell
the difference between genuine and reprint.

Movie studios had their own photography studios to make publicity
and still photos, and a lot of their promotional releases were
real photo.

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Posted By: Pete Z.

I called the dealer and bought it. The back's upside down. I gotta go on a buying hiatus now.