1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth sells for more than the T206 Wagner

[Runscott]

All we know is that at least two wealthy collectors wanted a rare card very badly. All sorts of personal factors could also have been part of the equation - tons of disposable income, alcohol, late- night auction high that's probably similar to gambling, etc.

It's a minor league card, the Wagner is in a different league...so to speak. Just a fluke I bet we don't see again.

[joeadcock]

What is this darn country coming to, something low grade for more than a Wagner? Like everything else, things are a changin.

[deadballfreaK]

I'm way in the minority, but an obscure minor league Babe Ruth doesn't compare to a Wagner for me. I guess it does for others. To each his own.

[travrosty]

comparing the babe ruth if it were an 8 and trying to extrapolate prices is like the comparisons of a pound per pound champion in boxing. saying that if sugar ray robinson were a bigger man, heavier man, etc. he could have beaten joe louis or muhammad ali so pound for pound he was better. It's fantasy, and an excercise in futility. until there is a grade 8 BN Ruth, we will never know if it would have sold more than the Wagner. All grade 1 Wagners or grade 2 Wagners are not made the same either. Same with BN Ruths, and one a collector with that type of money has one, doesnt necessarily mean he will buy another, or that another will take his place. You need two or more to drive it up to stratospheric prices. If bidders take a bit of a break you might see a Wagner go for a little less or a BN Ruth go for a little more, or vice versa, who knows.

[glynparson]

Higher grade unaltered Wagner outsells higher grade bn Ruth. On a 1 it all depends on timing etc. the demand outside the hobby is more for Wagner t206 then the bn Ruth.

[Bored5000]

Originally Posted by deadballfreaK

I'm way in the minority, but an obscure minor league Babe Ruth doesn't compare to a Wagner for me. I guess it does for others. To each his own.

Agree with this. If I was ever in the position to afford either card, I would rather have a Wagner T-206 card than a Ruth Baltimore News card. The Ruth card is far more rare, but there is a panache to the Wagner card that extends far beyond the hobby: It is from perhaps the most iconic set of all time, and there will probably never be a definitive answer as to why it is so scarce in comparison to most of the rest of the T-206 set.

[Sean]

Originally Posted by Runscott

All we know is that at least two wealthy collectors wanted a rare card very badly. All sorts of personal factors could also have been part of the equation - tons of disposable income, alcohol, late- night auction high that's probably similar to gambling, etc.

It's a minor league card, the Wagner is in a different league...so to speak. Just a fluke I bet we don't see again.

I agree. I also wonder if these two high bidders already own Wagners, so they have no reason to bid on this one, but will go as high as they possibly can for a Ruth that may not come around again for years.

[Runscott]

With rare cards like this, it's tough to predict things. Tony got it right, but some of the rest of us were baffled. People tend to forget that it only takes two bidders to give us this result - if one of them had dropped out for any number of reasons, it might be that no one would have taken his place and driven the price up.

There were crazy-high prices on a number of items last night (and in past auctions) - you could easily argue that this was a fluke, and there would be no evidence to go against you.