Ruth collectors

[drcy]

I used to be an odd ball card collector, and that mean collecting some odd items, ranging from test issues to off beat products to regional issues. Except that the collection was strictly Post WWII, this would definitely have fit in my odd ball collection. And there are many odd ball collectors out there (double entendre noticed but not intended).

If you look at them as newspaper comic strip graphics for little kids, the strip cards have quaint aesthetic appeal. If you expect them to be like T206s or T3s you'll be disappointed. People regularly pick the 1941-3 MP & Co. cards as ugly, but I always consider them as comic strip like art for kids and they they have aesthetic appeal from that perspective. And as I say about aesthetic expectations and perspective, "If you go into an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie expecting it to be like Citizen Kane, that's your fault not the movie's."

[brianp-beme]

Nice pickup...and you also get the bonus of 'jumping guy holding hat', something not often seen in conjunction with a Ruth image. Of course it's no 'creepy little man in ill-fitting suit' as seen in Babe's E121 card...

Brian

[glchen]

I think that there are multiple reasons for the low price although I think the buyer of that paid a fair price for it.

Here are some reasons for the lower price for this one:

(1) The item is from the 1930s. Since Ruth's career ended in 1935, it could have been issued after he retired. Collectors typically like to stay within a player's career.
(2) Stereographs are odd shaped and not holdered by most TPG's. Therefore, it is more like memorabilia, and doesn't store well in a typical condition. However, the stereograph is like a film strip which needs light, so it's not easily displayable like other memorabilia.
(3) The Babe Ruth / Tom Mix stereograph which this one is has been the most common stereograph with Ruth that I have seen. I've seen a lot of them for sale over time. There are other rare Ruth stereographs that I've seen go for much higher prices.
(4) Since it's a stereograph, it's not easily categorized on ebay. I've seen them in the stereograph category on ebay, the photo category, the card category, the memorabilia category, a lot of places.
(5) As others have seen, the image in the stereograph isn't the most appealing.

However, ~$35 is still a decent price to pay for a period Ruth piece.