Babe Ruth $$$

[thatkidfromjerrymaguire]

Originally Posted by Seven

All this talk of Ruth, and it makes me thinking about pivoting to get one of his cards next. His Sanella still seems to be relatively affordable, along with the Japanese issue whose name escapes me at the moment.Though I'm trying to think what other cards of his would be available in the 0-2K range. Probably not much anymore. Any thoughts?

My favorite "affordable" Ruth cards (and consequently these are the only two Ruths I own) are the 1935 Goudey and the W517 portrait. Both of these in the this poor/authentic condition can still be had under $2000 (although they've been inching closer to $2000 over the last couple of years).

Ruth.JPG

w517 ruth.jpg

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by thatkidfromjerrymaguire

My favorite "affordable" Ruth cards (and consequently these are the only two Ruths I own) are the 1935 Goudey and the W517 portrait. Both of these in the this poor/authentic condition can still be had under $2000 (although they've been inching closer to $2000 over the last couple of years).

Attachment 480665

Attachment 480666

Very Nice

[packs]

To anyone who's thinking about how to acquire their first Babe, my opinion and advice is to buy anything you can afford when you can afford it. You will not regret extending yourself when you did.

Case and point, I bought this WWG for $500 when I was in grad school. I used my own loan money to do it and it meant not eating as much as I would have liked to. Do I regret it? No!



I bought my Kashin at the start of the pandemic. I wasn't exactly thrilled about paying $1,800 for it. But, uh, another win I think:

[doug.goodman]

My favorite Ruth issues are from the Blum's Bulletin

[thatkidfromjerrymaguire]

Originally Posted by packs

To anyone who's thinking about how to acquire their first Babe, my opinion and advice is to buy anything you can afford when you can afford it. You will not regret extending yourself when you did.

I think this is a very good point. While nothing is a sure thing, it doesn't get much safer than Ruth when it comes to buying a high dollar card and hoping it maintains it's value.

And there is something about owning a real, playing days Ruth card that is very satisfying. I mean, it's a baseball card of BABE RUTH!

[packs]

They say nothing is recession proof but Babe Ruth is about as ironclad an investment you can make. I don't think any collector of any length of time has paid less for Ruth one year to the next.

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by packs

They say nothing is recession proof but Babe Ruth is about as ironclad an investment you can make. I don't think any collector of any length of time has paid less for Ruth one year to the next.

Agreed. Ruth is a strong investment and a relatively low risk investment

IT is also great long term collection

[Snowman]

I need more Babe Ruth cards lol. This thread has me convinced. Time to sell some of these basketball cards...

[jingram058]

Originally Posted by packs

To anyone who's thinking about how to acquire their first Babe, my opinion and advice is to buy anything you can afford when you can afford it. You will not regret extending yourself when you did.

Case and point, I bought this WWG for $500 when I was in grad school. I used my own loan money to do it and it meant not eating as much as I would have liked to. Do I regret it? No!



I bought my Kashin at the start of the pandemic. I wasn't exactly thrilled about paying $1,800 for it. But, uh, another win I think:

You are quite correct. You will not regret it. I bought my 1933 Goudey Ruth card (see OP this thread) and my Ruth signed ball (also signed by Gehrig and Cobb) both for $800 in 1988 upon completion of weather forecasting school at Chanute AFB Illinois and receiving my $20K reenlistment bonus (Air Force and Navy go to the same weather schools even now). Also bought a Ford Mustang that I put 326,000 miles on from Rantoul Ford. I thought the money paid for both was crazy, and the only way I could have afforded such high-end baseball stuff was because I had reenlistment money. But look what has happened over time. Usually my luck is the Midas Touch in reverse, whatever I touch turns to crap, not gold. I just gave away, literally, all my 1988 to 1993 cards. I did, however, hang on to a Stadium Club Jeter RC and a few others.

[SteveS]

25-30 years ago I was at a show, and a guy was selling just the Ruth portion of a '35 Goudey for $100. I walked around trying to convince myself to buy it, but just couldn't think of any. First of all, at that time the full card could be had for less than $1,000. Second, by having only 1/4 of it is that even considered a card anymore? This thread got me thinking whether I had made a mistake to pass it up, but I still don't think I'd buy it today even at the same price. If you have just the upper-left part of the '35 Goudey, would you feel that you own a "Babe Ruth card"?

[thatkidfromjerrymaguire]

Originally Posted by SteveS

25-30 years ago I was at a show, and a guy was selling just the Ruth portion of a '35 Goudey for $100. I walked around trying to convince myself to buy it, but just couldn't think of any. First of all, at that time the full card could be had for less than $1,000. Second, by having only 1/4 of it is that even considered a card anymore? This thread got me thinking whether I had made a mistake to pass it up, but I still don't think I'd buy it today even at the same price. If you have just the upper-left part of the '35 Goudey, would you feel that you own a "Babe Ruth card"?

Probably not 30 years ago, but NOW I think $100 for the just the Ruth square seems about right. I don't think it qualifies as a card, but it's an authentic Goudey Ruth image from his playing days. It would have limited resale value, but if $1000 is out of a collector's budget (and let's face it, there are likely MANY collectors out there that want a Ruth card but can't justify spending $1000+), I can imagine there are collectors out there that would consider $100 a fair price.

I sort of follow the price history on that card, and a "Ruth square" came up on eBay within the last year or two....it's no longer in the Sold listings, but if I recall it sold in the $150 to $250 range.