This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 5/6/2016
It's been nearly a half-century since baseball hobbyists were first introduced to the Nolan Ryan rookie card and a more significant issue has not been made since. The popularity of "The Ryan Express" only seems to grow over time, and while his lifetime winning percentage (.526) and ERA (3.19) don't compare to other diamond legends, when he was on his game, there was no one more dominant from the hill. On seven different occasions, Nolan Ryan left the opposing team with the same amount of hits they began the game with ... zero! At a time when a 200 strikeout season meant elite status, Ryan was topping the 300 mark, and did it six times! Presented is what has become a crowning piece of any advanced collection, a 1968 Topps Nolan Ryan rookie card, graded MINT PSA 9. The large majority of Ryan rookie cards are woefully off-center, which is why there is only one GEM MINT example and less than 1% of all submissions have graded PSA 9. This card, while not perfectly framed, meets the qualifications for MINT status. Noticeably high-end, even for this grade, the card offers two MINT and two MINT+ to GEM MINT endpoints. A few characteristic microdots of pixel-sized print can be detected in the purple team circle but it's minimal compared to normal and the remainder of the surface is nearly perfect. Finished off with a smooth, generous application of gloss, this richly registered Ryan rookie is a clear winner at the elite level of PSA 9.