Babe Ruth Modern Cards and Inserts
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While Babe Ruth is one of the most prolific players in the sport of baseball and earned him countless nicknames including "Sultan of Swat", any vintage cards of the legend can oftentimes price out more casual collectors of grabbing cards. With modern cards becoming more widespread with its production, Topps has offered collectors more of an opportunity to grab cards of Ruth at a more affordable rate, with some providing more uncharacteristic photography of the star.
Here are four areas collectors can look to collect Ruth in the modern era.
A more picturesque Ruth in Stadium Club
Stadium Club, which was first produced in 1991, gives collectors a view at players beyond the baseball field with its creative choice of photos for each player mostly not involving active shots during games. What makes Stadium Club stand out compared to the more traditional flagship products on a yearly basis is its ability to highlight the legends of the game, including Ruth.
Another positive of Stadium Club is its afforadbility for individual cards. While vintage or even high end cards of Ruth in products such as Topps Dynasty can cost upwards of four figures or more, a 2022 Stadium Club refractor of Ruth playing a saxophone like the photo above sold for $2 according to eBay sold listings.
Collect Ruth in Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary
Similarly to Topps Stadium Cub, Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary includes countless legends in its yearly product, but offer colorful parallels and refractors for collectors to chase. In this product, Ruth can be collected as either a Yankee or as a member of the Red Sox (depending on which side you prefer).
Topps Chrome Platinum Anniversary sells relatively cheap like Stadium Club, but can vary in price depending on if it's a low serial numbered card or just a plain base car. The Babe Ruth Topps Refractor CGC 9 above sold on Fanatics Collect for $11 in early May.
Babe Ruth Topps All Aces
This choice is more expensive than the previous two options, but still falls within the cheaper side of Ruth cards. Topps introduced an "All-Aces" shortprint insert in 2023 where some of the best pitchers in the game appear on a card that looks like an ordinary "ace" playing card. Along with highlighting some of the best current pitchers in the game, Topps included some of the all-time great pitchers such as Pedro Martinez, Nolan Ryan, and Babe Ruth.
Ruth's "All-Aces" card is one of the more valuable cards of the set give its rarity. While it is not as expensive as the 1/1 version of the card above, which sold for $5,795 on Goldin Auctions, the base versions of the shortprint sells between $170-350 according to sold listings.
Babe Ruth Bowman Retrofractor
With Bowman becoming one of the top products of the entire baseball card year, Topps has begun to retroactively honor legends who were not playing during the time of "prospecting" in baseball card terms. While all the top prospects and stars get their "1st Bowman", which marks their first professional baseball card, Babe Ruth was given his own "1st Bowman" with a "Refrofractor".
The variation shows Ruth in a Red Sox jersey, where he started his MLB career in 1914, with the "1st Bowman" logo displayed in the top right corner like all current prospects. Similar to the All Aces insert, the Retrofractor was a rare variation that could be found in 2023 Bowman Chrome. The PSA 9 shown above sold for $315 on eBay on June 21 according to sold listings, and can cost collectors in the range of $250-350.
Dan Gardella is a Red Sox fan and collector growing up in Yankee territory in Connecticut. While only reviving his love for the hobby a few years ago, he provides knowledge into baseball cards from prospects to the big leagues.
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