Better investment: Ruth vs. Wagner

Tomi

T206 Wagner or the Baltimore News Babe Ruth? Both cards being the same grade. Looks like the Ruth is very close in the REA auction. Do you see the Ruth overtaking the Wagner as "THE" baseball card of all time? I def. do if it hasn't already.

esebille

<< <i>T206 Wagner or the Baltimore News Babe Ruth? Both cards being the same grade. Looks like the Ruth is very close in the REA auction. Do you see the Ruth overtaking the Wagner as "THE" baseball card of all time? I def. do if it hasn't already. >>



The wagner is iconic I cant imagine it ever being overtaken.

3BoyzTrading

The Babe is THE icon in all of baseball. The Wagner is the iconic card in our hobby.

fkw

The red or blue Balt New Ruth is a far more impressive card to most any advanced collector... The more common and extremely overrated T206 Wagner is impressive to newbies or those who cant/wont get past the common (thus boring) T206 set.... and there are many of them (T206 only collectors), so supply/demand will always keep it big$$

IMO the only neg is that the Balt News Ruth is too rare, many dont know ANYTHING about the set (name another player in the set? how many cards in the set? ) and have only seen the card maybe a couple times if that...
with only like a dozen of them out there, not enough of the Ruths will change hands /yr to get the nonhobby media attention like the Wagner does 2+ times a year

Many T206 Wagner cards are owned (now) by people that DONT really collect cards as hobby..

MattyC

Both cards occupy the most rarefied, exalted tier of the hobby. I can definitely see the 1914 Ruth one day soon becoming more valuable than a T206 Wagner in equal grade-- as more and more collectors learn about it, their comparative rarity, and of course Babe Ruth is the most towering name in the history of the sport.

In Orlando's book of the Top 250 Sportscards, he names the top 3 cards in the hobby as...

1. Wagner
2. 52 Mantle
3. Ruth RC

I would say the five top "important" cards in the hobby are, in no order, because they are all so amazing...

Balt News Ruth, T206 Wagner, M101-5 Ruth RC, 52 Topps Mantle, Just So Cy Young

I'd like to add that I'm with the post above, in that I'd be much more blown away to behold a Balt News Ruth than a T206 Wagner.

Tomi

<< <i>The Babe is THE icon in all of baseball. The Wagner is the iconic card in our hobby. >>





Shouldn't a Ruth card be THE card since he is THE icon?
Seriously, there are about 50 Wagners that exist, not a rare card by any means, but shouldn't the hype for this card level off eventually since all it has is a nice story (whichever story is correct ). Only 10 Ruth cards known so far. I see this card surpassing the Wagner very soon and rightfully so. The Wagner is an iconic card, but the hype took it to a level that it should have never got to. JMO

MattyC

Hype/buzz is a powerful thing and it will just take a little time for collectors to really examine the situation and give the Balt News Ruth the top dog status it deserves--- but it sure is getting there. The copies that have sold have sold for a hefty sum. And the M101-5 Ruth has skyrocketed in recent years. It only stands to reason that the game's pretty much undisputed greatest player's RC(s) should be at the top of the baseball card hobby.

Big80s

If these cards were stock - I'd invest my money in the Ruth card, without a doubt. I think it's going to catch more publicity along the way, and eventually one will sell for around the million dollar mark.

fkw