This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/10/2010
Here we have a scorching MINT 1968 Topps example of the world famous Mets Rookie Stars issue featuring Jerry Koosman and his future Hall of Fame fire-throwing teammate, Nolan Ryan. Nearly 5,300 examples have been inspected by the grading team at PSA, and still not a single GEM MINT 10 has yet to surface. With its notorious inclinations for off-centering, excessive print defects, and almost unavoidable chipping on its infamously susceptible full-bleed yellow printed reverse perimeter, its no wonder no GEMs have ever surfaced, nor is it very surprising that the offered MINT masterpiece is just the 59th such example to top the pop charts. While this may seem like a fairly high population, keep in mind a few points as you decide whether or not it's finally time to add an ultra high-grade Ryan rookie to your cherished collection. First, the 1968 issue has long been disparaged by high-grade collectors for its relative ease, but no Ryan 10s must mean that the card is particularly challenging compared to most other cards in the set. Clearly. Second, we are, after all, talking about the "Ryan Express" here, immortal holder of MLB records for, among several others, most career no-hitters (7) and strikeouts (5,714). In short, the Ryan rookie is a hobby icon, like the '52 Mantle or the '63 Rose. As such, most surviving examples have already been processed by the hobby because of its iconic stature, with relatively few, if any, undiscovered GEMS kicking around in second-hand America waiting to join the elite five dozen or so that we already know exist. The example featured here is brand new to the hobby and has very recently been graded according to PSA's most up-to-date standards for MINT consideration. Boasting strong MINT+ to GEM MINT corners and edges around a brilliant and sufficiently clean surface with perfect centering left-to-right and just a marginal preference for the top border. Catch it if you can!