1915 Boston Red Sox Postcard vs 1905 W601 Detroit Tigers

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by bcbgcbrcb

Would love to see some support from others who cannot afford to play in this space as currently construed. Or is everyone else loaded and it’s just me that can’t afford any of this? Then I should just go back and find another hobby if this one doesn’t work for me any longer and when everyone else is fine with things being the way they are.

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I can't afford to play in this space, I love the Ruth postcard but will never own one and am 100% okay with that, would probably be uncomfortable owning a card worth $200K. I'm completely happy with my 21 Exhibits Ruth that I "overpaid" for 5 years ago.

I'm a working class collector who is very fortunate to have some resources to participate in this great hobby of ours. I'm grateful to have bought what I've bought and sold what I've sold. For me, to participate in this hobby at a level that is satisfying takes sacrifice. I recently completed a 7 card E94 color run that took me 5 years to finish, during that process I sold a vintage motorcycle that I loved in order to finance part of the project. Was happy to do it to reach my goal.
I have a back run that I'm working on that I may never finish due to scarcity of cards, so it sits there at 10/15, the fun part is is the anticipation that one of the cards I need will pop up when its ready to become part of my run, until then I'll just save my pennies until it does.

For me the trick is to choose card collecting goals that are challenging, within my budget range (which I always blow), that satisfies my collecting bug, and are attainable at the some point in time. The goal has to be fun and has to impress me, nobody else. I also set a dozen goals since some will sit for a very long time.

I have cards that have passed me by and become too expensive that I would really love to acquire but the money is not in my budget, I just let that stuff go and remind myself how lucky I am to have what I have. I keep my goals very specific to avoid spending money on cards that I "kinda" like, only to regret it later when the card I really want pops up at the AH. I keep my collection to 500 cards or less and that helps with acquiring too much "clutter".

Long story short, I'm just grateful to have the cards I currently posses, the possibility to add a few more, and the friendships I've made along the way. If it stops being fun/rewarding I'll be the first to pack it all up and ship them off to the AH, keeping a few for good memories.
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[aelefson]

There are plenty of decent memorabilia options that are still affordable. I have snapshots of Ruth, a scorecard with him on the cover (33 all star game), a couple of store model bats, and other oddball items. All of those were significantly cheaper than his cards from the same era.

I thought 33 Goudey Ruth cards were overpriced 20 years ago when they were 500 or so for a decent one (don't get me started on what they go for now). I have had much greater pleasure collecting memorabilia compared to cards.

If you are looking to make money in memorabilia, it is usually more about buying it at a good price than buying it at retail and hoping it increases in the future. Memorabilia also has a bit of a learning curve, especially if you are buying in non traditional venues (I have built most of my collection through shopping at antique stores and shows).

Regarding the original topic, I agree with most of the other posters about Ruth's popularity. To me, both pieces being discussed would be great to own but I am fine with my Cobb snapshot with teammates in street clothes from the Marty McIntyre album that I paid 80.00 for. For Ruth, I am happy to own the 1915 Spalding guide that has his picture with Baltimore (showing the 1914 team) that I paid 40.00 for.

Alan