Thoughts on final prices in Goldin/Ruth auction?

[WillowGrove]

Did the auction actually end?

[Sean1125]

I personally find it incredibly stupid of any auction house to run a large auction right before the national.

I think there were some huge 'hits' in terms of prices, but across the board I believe they were lower than expected (on cards, I paid no attention to memorabilia).

Sean

[GregMitch34]

That R315 is not even that scarce, right?

Yes, a few cards did not meet reserve.

[oldjudge]

The reserve on the BN Ruth was $500K with the buyers penalty. That is a lot more than it sold for in REA a year ago. Trees don't grow to the sky (sometimes they fall). As a card that is not part of a major set, and possibly not a card but a schedule, it needed to take a break on its appreciation.

[scooter729]

I thought the T206 near-set went a bit low at about $13K all-in. I know about half the cards had a corner clipped, but still for about $25 per card for a near set, I thought that was a good price for the buyer.

[MattyC]

No knock at all on the Balt News, its rarity and importance are serious-- but I always felt it should not be so far ahead of the rookie card, in terms of value.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

Originally Posted by scooter729

I thought the T206 near-set went a bit low at about $13K all-in. I know about half the cards had a corner clipped, but still for about $25 per card for a near set, I thought that was a good price for the buyer.

I agree $25/card is a good price since you don't have to hunt them all down. However, the hunt is half of the fun for me.

[veleno45]

Originally Posted by I Only Smoke 4 the Cards

However, the hunt is half of the fun for me.

+1

[hshrimps]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

The reserve on the BN Ruth was $500K with the buyers penalty. That is a lot more than it sold for in REA a year ago. Trees don't grow to the sky (sometimes they fall). As a card that is not part of a major set, and possibly not a card but a schedule, it needed to take a break on its appreciation.

Well said. I am sure the seller has no intention what so ever to sell the card. That card was simply a "promotional" item in the auction.

[brian1961]

[QUOTE=GregMitch34;1299619]That R315 is not even that scarce, right?

I looked at the PSA pop report on this issue. The numbers are very low on these. Surely a population of less than 10 Ruths should satisfy you for relative scarcity. Maybe "they're all at SGC"; I doubt it.

The auction house termed this an obscure issue. I remember among the photos showcasing Barry Halper's massive collection in Beckett 3 was an entire page devoted to Babe Ruth cards. Quite an assemblage. The R315 was not among them. Moreover, as I studied the appearance of the card, it has elegance all over it. The BABE looks at the height of his game, his belly pretty firm and not bulging. Postcard-size, which is nice, as it allows us less eyestrain to appreciate his swing.

No, I think the bidders just decided this card has fantastic eye appeal, is scarce enough to have been seen by few collectors, and therefore would make a wonderful addition to one's Babe Ruth, Pre-WWII, or HOFer collection. Most of all, he's Babe Ruth of the Yankees!!!! Not the Red Sox or Bees. Nothing against those teams in the least, it's just that Babe Ruth's main claim to fame was as a Yankee, and there are tragically so few good cards of him as a Yank.

It all adds up to several collectors deciding it was well worth 13K at the end of the day. ---Brian Powell

[glchen]

[QUOTE=brian1961;1299647]

Originally Posted by GregMitch34

That R315 is not even that scarce, right?

I looked at the PSA pop report on this issue. The numbers are very low on these. Surely a population of less than 10 Ruths should satisfy you for relative scarcity. Maybe "they're all at SGC"; I doubt it.

The auction house termed this an obscure issue. I remember among the photos showcasing Barry Halper's massive collection in Beckett 3 was an entire page devoted to Babe Ruth cards. Quite an assemblage. The R315 was not among them. Moreover, as I studied the appearance of the card, it has elegance all over it. The BABE looks at the height of his game, his belly pretty firm and not bulging. Postcard-size, which is nice, as it allows us less eyestrain to appreciate his swing.

No, I think the bidders just decided this card has fantastic eye appeal, is scarce enough to have been seen by few collectors, and therefore would make a wonderful addition to one's Babe Ruth, Pre-WWII, or HOFer collection. Most of all, he's Babe Ruth of the Yankees!!!! Not the Red Sox or Bees. Nothing against those teams in the least, it's just that Babe Ruth's main claim to fame was as a Yankee, and there are tragically so few good cards of him as a Yank.

It all adds up to several collectors deciding it was well worth 13K at the end of the day. ---Brian Powell

There are 20 in the PSA pop report and 29 in the SGC pop report ....

[MattyC]

Brian,

Very well said-- there are tragically few great cards of him as a Yankee. Most of us will settle for one that just says "Yankees" on it-- I am talking about YOU, FREDERICK FOTO and M101-6 !

[brian1961]

There are 20 in the PSA pop report and 29 in the SGC pop report ....[/QUOTE]

Gary, I see where you're coming from, as the PSA report lists 13 for "Babe" Ruth, and 7 specimens for Babe Ruth. I assumed there were two varieties, but I may be wrong. PSA should lump them together if they're the same card.

Regardless, I stand firm with what I said. Fifty examples are a hefty pop to some, I realize. Still, the example in the Goldin auction was distinctly above average, condition-wise. Collectors wanting a beautiful Ruth at the height of his career obviously fought hard for that card. What you may consider high pop numbers are not always a deterrent to attracting big bucks, when the card may not have been very well noticed and appreciated in the past, prior to the Goldin auction.

Collectors have now noticed, appreciated what they saw, and now we have an appreciated value.

[rsst206]

I can add that of the 3 variations known for Ruth. Type A and Type B and yellow stock. Type A is far less seen. I for one going after the master set is missing that Ruth. But think that is an awful strong price.
br,
Ron

[glchen]

Originally Posted by rsst206

I can add that of the 3 variations known for Ruth. Type A and Type B and yellow stock. Type A is far less seen. I for one going after the master set is missing that Ruth. But think that is an awful strong price.
br,
Ron

It's possible it's a variation issue. Personally, I have always believed that the yellow stock variation was the most rare, much more than the others. The Type A is the no caption variation, and the Type B is the caption variation, I believe. I believe the no caption one is the one that is hand cut from a 3 card strip. I think the caption one is factory cut since I have never seen it in strip form. If you search the auction history for Legendary, you will see a number of R315 Ruth's including many of the Type A no caption variety, and a number of the uncut strips. The only thing that I can think of is that there are not many high grade varieties of the no caption version. Regardless, still an awfully high price, I think.