I am a Ruth Fan. But This price is way out of control

[Bicem]

Not sure about the date on those, definitely not a traditional baseball card though, weren't those cut from a larger piece containing other players?

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by Bicem

Not sure about the date on those, definitely not a traditional baseball card though, weren't those cut from a larger piece containing other players?

Nope. They were in the box that way in various configurations (4, 6 or 8 images, the latter two being mug shots) of roughly Exhibit size.

[Seven]

Ruth is THE Icon, so it won't surprise me if he continues to go up. I would eventually like to add A Ruth to my collection, one day, as I really think no collection is complete without one, but with each passing year it appears to be harder and harder.

As a side note, I think at this point I'd sacrifice the internet if given a chance to live in the 1950's. Could afford a nice house, plus all the cards that I've ever wanted

[Bicem]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Nope. They were in the box that way in various configurations (4, 6 or 8 images, the latter two being mug shots) of roughly Exhibit size.

Interesting, do you have images of the others? I'd like to research to see if we can conclusively date this thing.

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by Bicem

Interesting, do you have images of the others? I'd like to research to see if we can conclusively date this thing.

Johnson, Cobb, Alexander Bancroft



Groh (thanks Brian!), Schalk, Collins, O'Neill, ___, Ruth



Tris Speaker



Lee Meadows

[Bicem]

Thanks! Aren't their two other players with action shots or am I making that up?

[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by Bicem

Thanks! Aren't their two other players with action shots or am I making that up?

I think there are more; my archive of images is at work. I will see what I can add from there.

[nolemmings]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Johnson, Cobb, Alexander Bancroft



____, Schalk, Collins, O'Neill, ___, Ruth



Tris Speaker



Lee Meadows

The Bancroft card would have been issued post-trade, since it shows him wearing a Giants uniform--a team he did not join until July, 1920. That makes the Alexander an anachronism insofar as he was not with Philadelphia at that time.

[tkd]

My guess for why the Ruth rookie didn't sell for more or outperform some modern cards is because too many people don't understand the significance of the card. For the longest time many collectors didn't know it existed or if they did they didn't know much about it. Due to its rarity and kinda oddball set it was passed by for many years and only appealed to a certain type of collector. I think when psa came out with the top 20 sports cards it gave the Ruth rookie more attention. I’ve noticed his 1920’s cards are getting more attention too. Now more people know they exist but still might not understand the significance to the hobby and the sport.

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by tkd

My guess for why the Ruth rookie didn't sell for more or outperform some modern cards is because too many people don't understand the significance of the card. For the longest time many collectors didn't know it existed or if they did they didn't know much about it. Due to its rarity and kinda oddball set it was passed by for many years and only appealed to a certain type of collector. I think when psa came out with the top 20 sports cards it gave the Ruth rookie more attention. I’ve noticed his 1920’s cards are getting more attention too. Now more people know they exist but still might not understand the significance to the hobby and the sport.

This is spot on IMO. There's also an extremely wide expected variance for what a card like this might sell for. Being in a Mile High auction doesn't help (no offense to them). If the right buyers saw this, it could easily sell for an extra million or two.