Babe Ruth Gallery

Is there is any site that has pictures of all the Babe Ruth cards. I am thinking that a Ruth card may be my next purchase and would like to see what they all look like.

Thanks

Lee

Wow Lee, going for the gusto, huh?

Try VCP, which should have images of most all of them.

Good choice...id sell u one of mine but i love them too much!

Youd better get a red sox one since u hate the yankees so much...or maybe braves!

anything but a Goudey!

That's what I'm thinking Jeff. Not a big fan of black & white cards but I think the Babe will fall into that category.

Lee

Here's the list:

http://baberuthcards.net/Babe-Ruth-Baseball-Card-Checklist

My 2 favorites!
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The list is missing the '21 Fredrick Foto '34 Quaker Oats Premium (maybe too big, but the M101-7 is on the list).

Also the 1921 W-Unc Self Developing:

This is the one I will eventually acquire: 1934 World Wide Gum. On the front no different than the Goudey, but still unique. Doesn't come up for auction much, but I remain hopeful.

What's your price range Lee? My votes are either the 1921 Exhibit (great, great image) or the m101-6 (nice image plus a tough card).

I want an m101-6?!?!?! I think this card will soon be in the 10K range if not higher for a really nice one...with goods sellling 5-8K.

The hobby sort of forgot about Babe Ruth due to his career coming at a time where there weren't many great sets, but he is clearly the greatest baseball player of all time, with the exception of Martin Dihigo. I wouldn't be surprised either to see The Babe's cards take off in price in the coming years.

Not so sure if the hobby "forgot" about the babe...I think it's more a case of people looking for sound "investments" in bb cards and it doesn't get much safer than the babe.

I don't think most Ruth cards are rare by any means...I even think his rookie card is rather plentiful just buried in collections.

Ruth is far from forgotten. Just look at the prices m101-4/5s are pulling. To me, it's the "IT" card right now. You see one in almost every major auction right now. I wouldn't mind owning one but it's at the price level now that I probably can't afford a poor one.

My price range hopefully will be in the $1000-$2000.

Lee

jbonie wrote:The hobby sort of forgot about Babe Ruth due to his career coming at a time where there weren't many great sets, but he is clearly the greatest baseball player of all time, with the exception of Martin Dihigo. I wouldn't be surprised either to see The Babe's cards take off in price in the coming years.

That's a big reason the first card I added to my Gang of 10 was Dihigo. Just not that many out there and when collectors start learning just how great he was, I won't have to worry about getting priced out.

sabrjay wrote:Ruth is far from forgotten. Just look at the prices m101-4/5s are pulling. To me, it's the "IT" card right now. You see one in almost every major auction right now. I wouldn't mind owning one but it's at the price level now that I probably can't afford a poor one.

Maybe Ruth wasn't forgotten by collectors. Maybe it was just me who forgot about The Babe. I know that his rookie card has been very hot recently, but I'm not sure about the other sets. Overall, his cards seem relatively affordable considering his greatness.

I have to agree with Jamie, Babe transcends baseball and almost all walks of life now who he is so there should be a larger market for him. As far as Dihigo, yes a great player but many baseball fans have no idea who he is and I do not think that will change much in the future because he did not play in the glory days of the Negro Leagues with the like of Josh Gibson and Satchell Paige.

Lee

sabrjay wrote:

jbonie wrote:The hobby sort of forgot about Babe Ruth due to his career coming at a time where there weren't many great sets, but he is clearly the greatest baseball player of all time, with the exception of Martin Dihigo. I wouldn't be surprised either to see The Babe's cards take off in price in the coming years.

That's a big reason the first card I added to my Gang of 10 was Dihigo. Just not that many out there and when collectors start learning just how great he was, I won't have to worry about getting priced out.

I was only teasing about Dihigo, I don't really think he was the greatest baseball player of all time. That said, he put up very good numbers at an advanced age. We can only speculate as to what he would have been like as a pro in his prime. He's kind of like Louis Sockalexis in that way.

I actually like your card and think it could be a good investment because those Cuban League cards are very exotic. They are kind of like E cards where the aesthetics are not that good but there is scarcity. I think that owning a Cuban League card is appealing.

I know my Negro Leaguers pretty well. To me it's a toss up between Ruth and Dihigo for the best ever. Ruth was a better hitter, but Dihigo was a much better pitcher. Neither one was a slouch in either department, so it's pretty much a wash.

I don't think you can really tell because Dihigo was pitching against much weaker competition than Ruth was. In the Negro Leagues, Dihigo had a 2.92 ERA while Ruth had a 2.28 ERA against MLB competition, suggesting Ruth was far superior. However, Dihigo was well into his thirties for some of those years so it isn't a fully fair comparison. As such, I think it is really left to the imagination to think of how Dihigo would have done in his prime.

The tragic thing really is that due to the racial segregation that happened during that time period, we are left to speculate as to how good some amazing players may have really been against top competition - sadly, this will forever be a mystery left to the imagination.

When it comes to comparing players I don't rely too much on stats, especially with Negro Leaguers. I look more at what contemporaries thought of them and where they were on the team. Dihigo was the #1 pitcher on the teams he played for almost all of his career and many MLBers that played with him in Cuba say he was the best all around player they ever saw. This is coming from players who saw Ruth, Williams DiMaggio other greats play.

I just perused ebay for options for Lee...here is a list of ruth cards available on ebay right now for 2K or less:

1921 exhibit...nice pose!
1926-1929 exhibit
1921 e121 holding bird...dumb!
1921 schapira bros...lame!
1922 v61-2 neilsons...Awesome...possibly my favorite option!
1922 e121 montage...not bad
1922 e121 holding ball...nice pose
Various Strips...not my taste
1923 maple crispette...Nice teeth pose!
Fro Joy premium...tough...full size...but is it a card?
1931 w517...eh...oversized?!?!
1933 goudey...soooo common!!!!
33 sport king...kinda common too

So in summary...I'd go with the neilsons, the maple crispette...or the e121/122...but not holding bird!