Interesting local auction

bengineno9

going on tommorrow and i plan on attending after work. I took a look at the pictures of this auction and came across a 1933 Sport Kings Babe Ruth.
Front
Back
I was wondering if i could get any kind of advice from you guys. Obviously i should check to see if its trimmed or a reprint. What should i be willing to pay?
I'm hoping to get a steal since the auction ad was in the paper earlier in the week and we just finished up a horrible ice storm! Thanks Ben

helionaut

Sport Kings have been hot for quite some time, and Ruth is king, of course. If it's not trimmed and in as good a shape as the pic makes it look, I'd have to say somewhere north of $500 is a fair price, so if you can snag it for less that would be good. Two ebay auctions have closed recently: $410 and $781

Don't ignore the other lots. The 1956 Topps Antonelli and 1953 Topps Adams look pretty sharp. And a cheap Ford rookie can't be passed up either.

Engineer

Ben,
I must be in your area because I have been to a few of their auctions - looks like this one got delayed a few weeks (28th?). Did you make it to their previous auction this summer? They had quite a few 55's and believe me nothing went cheap (I posted a message about it here a few months back if you are interested). It is impossible for me to tell from the scan if the Ruth is authentic. I had a few concerns/thoughts when I saw this item:

1. Based upon the other pictures from this sale it would be one of the few vintage cards in the collection and it feels a little out of place
2. I thought the cards at the previous auction were overgraded, but they did provide the opportunity to inspect them pretty thoroughly beforehand and I understand that many people are not up-to-date on current grading standards
3. The Sport Kings Babe Ruth is one of the most commonly sold reprints I see on ebay
4. I would be hesitant buying anything that high dollar that has not been professionally graded unless I was dealing with a source that I trusted to know the sports collectibles industry. Most auctioneers have a general knowledge of collectibles and in my opinion are not equipped to grade or authenticate expensive memorabilia. My general opinion with high dollar ungraded items is that the seller (with just a little research) should realize that grading is a responsible thing to do when dealing with expensive cards that they may or may not be equipped to validate. However, there will likely be buyers there that don't care or are unfamiliar with grading (see my previous post) and will bid this card up.
5. If you are planning on bidding on this make sure you are comfortable authenticating it yourself.

That being said, it looks like a great card if everything checks out. I am planning on attending but do not anticipate bidding on anything, but you never know what might strike my fancy. Good luck, Adam

bengineno9

Hey Adam,
You bring up some interesting points about this card. It does seem outta place, 10 or so vintage cards with stacks of modern cards throwed into boxes. Surely the owner of this card knows about grading services. In some of the pictures their our a few BGS and maybe 1 PSA slab.
I'm anxious to take a look at it up close. Also wondering what kinda stuff is in the albums as well.

I live in the Wichita area and i must of missed out on the summer auction they had. I haven't found many sports related auctions locally. Just a couple Bud Palmer auctions several years back. All of the auctioneers have no knowledge of the hobby. There just auctioning off boxes and albums and trying to move through everything fast.
You don't by chance attend any of Rock's shows do you?
I'll be there the 28th. I wear a Cardinal's cap everywhere i go, stop by and say hi.

Thanks for the takes guys.
Ben