Doin’ Two Babes at the Same Time
Made you look, didn’t I?
So here’s a hypothetical question I’ve been pondering as it pertains to my two Babe Ruth vintage cards: You’ve only got room for one of the pictured cards in your collection in the depicted condition. Which do you choose?
Your choices include a 1960 Fleer Babe Ruth in decent condition, off-center top to bottom and right to left, rounded corners and some surface wear; and a 1967 Topps Venezuelan Babe Ruth in horrible shape, akin to the remains of a bar of soap found in a single man’s shower.
Now before you answer, I want you to consider all the factors.
The ’60 Babe Ruth is older, in nicer condition and features him in action, sorta. The back also has his career statistics (pitching and hitting), which is a big plus. It is a vintage Ruth, a card of which you can be proud to own. It’s decently valued at $100 in Beckett Baseball, but copies can be attained on eBay for about $20 in similar shape. For any collector, such a card would be a nice addition.
The ’67 Ruth is newer and just beat to a pulp. It’s rough around the edges, the card contains FIVE corners because part of the card has fallen off, it’s got evidence of having been stapled to something, and the back is written in Spanish — no statistics. Beckett Baseball has it valued at $700. But here’s where things get tricky. You’re going to have a hard time finding this card on eBay. It was produced for the people in Venezuelan four decades ago. There has not been a copy of this card on eBay in forever.
Both cards are encapsulated and deemed authentic by Beckett Grading.
Knowing these factors, which do you decide is right for your collection: The more plentiful, better condition 1960 Fleer card, or the much rarer, yet worse condition, 1967 Topps Venezuelan?
Remember, we are only talking about the pictured cards in this condition. You MUST choose only one. The card you choose can and will be the only Babe Ruth vintage card you ever own.
cardboardicons.com 
December 12, 2009 at 8:31 am
The 1960 card would display better. Since neither card is truly “vintage” (in the sense of being produced during Ruth’s playing career), I’d rather have the one with better aesthetic appeal.
December 12, 2009 at 8:33 am
My vote is for 1967 Topps Venezuelan.
December 12, 2009 at 8:38 am
The Venzuelan one has the better story. I’d go with that.
December 19, 2009 at 4:01 pm
I simply like the 1960 better — the visual appeal is much greater.
(The other is obviously a more “important” card per se, but it looks pretty nasty. A card that damaged would have to be much, much older to stick around in my collection.)