(LOT 32)
1921 Exhibits Geo. H. "Babe" Ruth PSA 6 EX-MT - Only One PSA Example Graded Higher!
RUTH EXHIBIT!!!... The popularity and value of Babe Ruth's 1920s Yankee cards continue to soar like an ICBM missile, with these pricing surges for black and white Babe Ruth cards from his early Big Apple playing days seemingly knowing no bounds. Unfortunately for hobbyists, the number of available Babe Ruth baseball cards from the early 1920s is few and far between, justifying why his exalted 1921 Exhibit "Hands on Knees" subject resides as one of the Babe's most highly coveted cardboard keepsakes. Furthermore, other than his 1920 Headin' Home theatre cards, few people realize that Babe Ruth's 1921 Exhibit (along with his 1921 Oxford Confectionery issue) stands as his inaugural Yankee mainstream card, revealing Ruth in his new Yankees uniform. In 1921, Chicago's Exhibit Supply Company issued its first of many postcard-sized baseball subjects sold in penny arcade vending machines. Measuring approximately 3-3/8" x 5-3/8", this inaugural Exhibit Supply set was comprised of 64 subjects, and as with virtually every 1920s issue, the cream of the crop card is Babe Ruth.

Presented here is one of the finest known Ruth 1921 Exhibits on the planet, a remarkable PSA 6 EX-MT heirloom that has only been bested by a single PSA 6.5 copy! Joining a meager seven other specimens at this lofty plateau, only 6% of the 130 PSA encapsulated examples (at the time this was written) have managed to achieve this world-class assessment. Fresh off the heels of his magnificent inaugural 1920 Yankee season, in which Ruth clobbered a record-setting 54 round-trippers, it came as little surprise that the Exhibit Supply Co. included Ruth in their landmark 1921 set. In typical Ruthian fashion, the Babe would break his own homer record in 1921, walloping 59 dingers, knocking in 168 runs and posting a miraculous 1.359 OPS while out-homering virtually every MLB club. Leading the Yankees to the 1921 American League Pennant, the Curse of the Bambino was here to stay, with Boston Red Sox owner Harry Frazee's ill-advised sale of Ruth to the Yankees for the then colossal sum of $125,000 haunting Beantown for some 90 years. Ruth's iconic hands-on-knees pose has basically remained unscathed over the past century, as he proudly showcases his New York road grays. Crystal-clear clarity and outstanding contrast are additional eye-catching qualities, while no glaring creases and/or obtrusive surface blemishes are evident.

Preventing a higher assessment is a diminutive soiling spot situated near the upper left edge, even corner wear, and typical surface toning along the borders as well as on the relatively clean blank back. One of Ruth's most significant early Yankee cards, its iconic stature has led to some lofty price tags, with a PSA 5 example achieving a nearly $50,000 price tag in July 2023. As collectors surely realize, locating any PSA 6 card from 1921 is an excruciating task, let alone one representing one of the Colossus of Swat's most desirable Yankee cardboard issues. A scarce for the grade early offering of baseball's undisputed all-time player, this grandeur exhibit stands as one of the most sought-after Babe Ruth Yankee subjects extant, issued during an era when this incomparable slugger was revolutionizing baseball with his prodigious tape-measure homers. One of the inaugural Babe Ruth cardboard illustrations portraying his fashionable New York Yankees uniform, it proudly resides near the top of the charts as one of the most cherished black and white Ruth issues, anxiously awaiting a new home in one of the most exalted Bambino cardboard gatherings!

MIN BID $10,000
_