High Grade Ruth Rookie

[ullmandds]

Originally Posted by nolemmings

Sorry, but I have to chuckle a little at many of the responses here, and the no doubt heartfelt sympathy expressed for the consignor.
What happened to the days when there was some sort of general understanding that one should not "out" auctions and thereby spoil the opportunities of some here to perhaps find a card at a good price in reward for their vigilance and investigation? Now we learn of a card that fewer than a handful on this board could ever hope to land on their best day and seem annoyed that it was not given full-throated exposure on our favorite auction sites, plus we applaud the fact that it is now outed. Please provide a show of hands-- who here plans now or ever did plan to bid on this card? Oh wait, I'm sure that was not the point

one has to protect their "investment(s)!"

[YankeeCollector]

Thanks for the heads up. I am certain you are not bidding on it bc if you were, you would not have alerted us. Thanks for the public service!

[Rhotchkiss]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

one has to protect their "investment(s)!"

There are two likely/practical reasons someone would "out" an auction: (i) its their item, or (ii) they have an example of the item being auctioned and they dont want the outed item to go cheap and create a "bad comp". In both cases, there is personal motive. And nobody outs an auction they are hoping to win.

I own a rare-back Ruth rookie and I like to see all Ruth rookies go for as much as possible. At the same time, this is a card I could bid on, especially if it was cheap, which it is right now. So, if I would be annoyed if I was a bidder, but am happy since I own one, am not a bidder, and like high comps. Purely selfish, admitted!

All that said, I was "taught" that (as a general rule) not to out an auction. But I figured it was ok to post the link since it was already outed in this, and another, earlier thread that contained a link.

It will be interesting to see where this thing lands. Its gorgeous, and its a rare combo (Gimbels is not all that rare but not may Ruths). I would think its a $1mm card in more typical sports auction house.

[mechanicalman]

I’ll admit that when I first read that that card was being sold by an auction house that didn’t have a sports focus, I was a bit perplexed/dismayed, and I don’t own a Ruth RC. But that’s a huge card for the hobby, and a large, newsworthy number on that could help drive additional interest/value in some of the vintage cards most of us own. Hoping it goes big tomorrow!

[Lorewalker]

That this is the only sports card in their auction, it is safe to assume the consignor picked it up as a trinket to go with his/her/their 200 million dollar art, vintage car and whatever else they collect. With or without the members of this board, the card would likely have done just fine.

I am in the camp that you do not out an auction and nobody would ever do it is they had interest in bidding but would if they had interest in the final price being as high as possible.

[benjulmag]

Originally Posted by Lorewalker

I am in the camp that you do not out an auction .................

+1

Jay is my friend and I have high regard for him, and I do not want to speculate on his motive. That said, I couldn't agree more with this point, and from my perspective, if through hard diligence (e.g., reading trading journals, making connections, going to obscure trade shows, doing detective work, etc.) I uncovered a gem that likely others in my field did not know about, I would be pissed as hell if someone outed that auction.

[benjulmag]

In regard to using Bonhams to sell this card, Bonhams is a highly regarded auction house headquartered in the height of a high-trafficked retail area in midtown Manhattan. They have locations throughout the world. Likely for an item such as this the card will reach its market level. Where a selection of Bonham's as the AH for a baseball card consignment (i.e., items outside the AH's recognized areas of specializations) will have an adverse impact is in the instance of a multi-lot collection. In that instance, the lack of a sufficient number of baseball card collectors in their customer base would likely result in some items going for less than they would in an AH that specializes in baseball cards.

I think we saw that in the recent Christies sale. That sale featured items from two spectacular sports memorabilia collections, and in my view some of the items went for significantly less than I perceived their market value to be.

[Vintageclout]

Originally Posted by benjulmag

In regard to using Bonhams to sell this card, Bonhams is a highly regarded auction house headquartered in the height of a high-trafficked retail area in midtown Manhattan. They have locations throughout the world. Likely for an item such as this the card will reach its market level. Where a selection of Bonham's as the AH for a baseball card consignment (i.e., items outside the AH's recognized areas of specializations) will have an adverse impact is in the instance of a multi-lot collection. In that instance, the lack of a sufficient number of baseball card collectors in their customer base would likely result in some items going for less than they would in an AH that specializes in baseball cards.

I think we saw that in the recent Christies sale. That sale featured items from two spectacular sports memorabilia collections, and in my view some of the items went for significantly less than I perceived their market value to be.

+1 - Well said Corey.

[robertsmithnocure]

Originally Posted by benjulmag

+1

Jay is my friend and I have high regard for him, and I do not want to speculate on his motive. That said, I couldn't agree more with this point, and from my perspective, if through hard diligence (e.g., reading trading journals, making connections, going to obscure trade shows, doing detective work, etc.) I uncovered a gem that likely others in my field did not know about, I would be pissed as hell if someone outed that auction.

I completely agree with this. IMHO, it is not right to out auctions, especially those that are relatively unknown in our hobby and do not advertise on this website.

[mrreality68]

$762k with BP

Thoughts?

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by robertsmithnocure

I completely agree with this. IMHO, it is not right to out auctions, especially those that are relatively unknown in our hobby and do not advertise on this website.

I respectfully disagree