Monday, August 2, 2021

I only need 1...no, make it 2...alright 5 Nolan Ryan Topps cards.

I went to a card show two weekends ago. My main goal at the show was to find a 1969 and/or 1970 Topps Nolan Ryan card. The dealer I have been getting most of my vintage from at the shows had posted on Facebook that he was bringing some player pages at $1 a page. I spied some 1984 Donruss cards and so I hit up his table first and went through the pages. I grabbed 8. Then I went through the 1969 and 1970 cards  in his boxes. No Ryans. Then I checked his showcase and found this.


It has great eye appeal, but has some issues which resulted in the $60 price tag Yes, please!


Not sure I realized that Ryan debuted in 1966. Check out that 15.00 ERA. Even so, Topps recognized early on that Ryan was a strikeout machine, even if it didn't always translate into wins.

I took a shot and asked the dealer if he would do the Ryan and the eight $1 pages for $60 and he agreed, so I guess technically I got the 1970 Nolan Ryan for $52. I'm very happy with that price.

In my mind I was pretty sure that I just needed the 1969 and 1970 cards to complete my Topps Nolan Ryan base card run. I realized pretty quickly afterwords though that I also need the 1972 card. Now that I am looking, I am seeing a couple other holes. I need 1977, 1978 and 1980 as well. I've got some work to do, but I guess needing only 5 out of a total of 27 is not bad.

I'm not expecting to be able to trade for a 1969 or 1972, but if anyone has a 1977, 1978, or 1980 Topps Nolan Ryan that you would be willing to trade, please let me know. I am not all that picky about condition, especially on the older cards. I do have an extra 1974 Topps Nolan Ryan card that I can offer up for trade. Let me know.

10 comments:

  1. You've got the rookie card... the rest is smooth sailing. That rookie card will prevent me from ever owning the entire Topps base card run of him. Nice find on the 1970 card. It looks really nice in the photo.

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    1. I added the rookie card to my collection two years ago I think and that is when the dream to complete the Topps run became possible.

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  2. Cardbarrel has the 1980 Topps (VG) for $6.

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    1. Not familiar with card barrel, but I will have to check it out. Thanks!

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  3. If you got 73 cards for $60, that means you got the Ryan for under a dollar.

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  4. I somehow lucked into a '70 Ryan for $10 at a local show a couple years back. I still don't know how that happened, because that's a card I just plain assumed I'd never own.

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  5. that's a nice card! that card is on my list of "upgrade desired" in my 1970 topps set, but i don't know if i will ever actually find one at a price like you did!
    i believe i have 1978 topps extra - i'll confirm and let you know.

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    1. Yes, I was happy with the price. Thanks for checking on the 1978!

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