(LOT 164)
1933 Goudey #181 Babe Ruth SGC 7.5 NM+
PACK-FRESH RUTH!!! Other than a few of his early Boston Red Sox issues, no card could more effectively represent the unparalleled Bambino than a high-grade 1933 Goudey Gum card. This prestigious Boston, Massachusetts based gum company transformed the card market by inserting baseball players and gum in wax packs, as opposed to manufacturers packaging cards with their candy and tobacco products. Unquestionably, Goudey chose the right player to produce four separate subjects, and one of those momentous cards just happens to be presented here in a miraculous SGC 7.5 NM+ holder. One of only five SGC examples at this hallowed plateau, a meager five SGC specimens have managed to best this revered offering! It's hard to imagine any 91-year-old baseball card sustaining the majority of its original factory-issued qualities, let alone one representing America's most captivating baseball icon.

The Sultan of Swat's significance to baseball cannot be overemphasized, with his mighty home runs revolutionizing baseball at a point in time directly after the Black Sox Scandal, when our National Pastime desperately required a momentous boost. It is the general consensus amongst baseball historians that Babe Ruth saved the game during this dark period, and he continued on with his record-breaking feats to become America's indisputable greatest all-time player. Similar to an uncontrollable brush fire, roaring prices for iconic cards are setting records each and every day, including another SGC 7.5 NM+ #181 Goudey Ruth fetching $75K in December 2023 and a PSA 8 securing a staggering $344K in August 2021. Undervalued for quite some time, high-grade Babe Ruth Goudeys are finally beginning to hit their stride. The soaring card prices of Babe Ruth cardboard treasures issued during his esteemed playing days have rocked the collecting community, with the ultimate prestige of any high-grade 1933 Goudey Ruth only surpassed by the Bambino's sanctified pre-1920 cardboard subjects.

Interestingly enough, the #181 Goudey Ruth reveals a unique pose not offered on the other three Ruth Goudey subjects (the #53, #144 & #149 Ruths all depict a similar batting pose). In fact, this #181 image, to the best of our knowledge, is unique to the card industry and not utilized on a single other Babe Ruth cardboard issue. Virtually every aspect of this Cooperstown-worthy memento is synonymous with a pack-fresh card, commencing with a sparkling Babe Ruth sitting/half body image exhibiting the finest possible clarity and robust hues. The unique Ruth pose literally projects itself in 3D style, primarily due to a spine-tinglingly bold green background. Atypical for this offering or any Goudey subject for that matter is the excellent centering, with the near-perfect side-to-side positioning only slightly compromised by the illustration's modest partiality towards the lower edge between four blinding white borders.

Additional superlatives include relatively square corners, immaculate surfaces, and the flipside's bold green typography, and it would not be a stretch by any means to state that this exalted offering would easily be residing in an 8 NM-MT holder had it not been for some microscopic/subtle wear at the utmost corner tips. In lieu of the staggering pricing points currently being realized for the most revered sports cards, projecting a final pricing point for this museum-worthy masterpiece is an extremely difficult chore. Yet, what we can safely assume is that an anticipated bidding war will surely develop, with a considerable number of elite enthusiasts ready to wage battle for this Cooperstown-worthy marvel. Any high-grade Goudey Ruth defines the sheer essence of everything this colossal slugger truly represents, an unparalleled time-tested antiquity tantamount to the Sultan of Swat's incomparable diamond exploits and irrefutable king of kings stature!

MIN BID $20,000
_