1968 Topps Nolan Ryan Promo Help
 

Looking for a little assist in identifying this Topps promo rookie card of Nolan Ryan. It's metal and numbered out of 1,000. Most likely a premium of some sort, but I don't know. I'm sure there are a lot of Ryan fans out there that will recognize this card quickly.

Thanks.

Is the card metal or porcelain ?

Don’t know what that is, but it was almost certainly made in the 1990’s or later.


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Beginning in 84 through 91 Topps issues oh Gallery of Champions in sets of 12 in silver, bronze and aluminum. They were miniatures of cards in the base set for those year. One pewter piece was also included for high volume sellers of Traded set that year.

During those years they also produced regular card size bronze premiums of the rookie cards of players like Mantle, J Robinson, Snider and others

In the 90s Topps started putting out cards in
Porcelain form with rounded corners and numbered. One year they apparently produced a whole set that way. A poster Da Cldye has a thread on them.

They also did a full run of Mantle cards in that format. I ended up with the 59. They did the same for other stars, including Ryan

There is one on eBay now but not sure I can get link to work
https://www.ebay.com/itm/356347923682
https://www.ebay.com/itm/356347923682

Thanks for all the input. I'm aware of the porcelain cards as I had one of Clemente.

This card is definitely metal and is the same size as the standard card, but with rounded corners.

Is this the premium version referred to? It is marked as a promo - could it be a handout at a card show maybe?

There was no metal Ryan listed in the SCD Standard Catalog in 2011 ( the last year it included past 80 listings...at least through 1995 the year I quit collecting Topps supplemental offerings and following their post 80 listings. But I will check 95 to 2011 to see if one was listed.

Not in 2011 Catalog.

I know that at one time they listed the porcelein cards for at least 1994 but later dropped all porcelein listings and there are none in the 2011 Catalog. But the metal card premium listings were still in the 2011 Catalog

Thanks Al, I think I will just send it to SGC and let them figure it out - LoL. I guess that's part of what we pay them for.

I just couldn't remember seeing another card like it anywhere. I was sorting through some of my misc cards and came across it - it seemed interesting so I decided to find out what it was, and of course, I couldn't.

appears to be a fantasy piece

Thanks for the opinion, Bill.

I thought I should attach some better photos of the card, as identification isn't as easy as I thought it would be.

Yes, it is solid metal. The number 110 has been entered by hand, and it has the proper Topps markings.

If it was someone's fantasy piece, it would have taken quite a bit of money, time, etc. to make it!

Hope these photos help.

Let us know if you send it in and get an identification

Thanks Al, I sure will. Probably after the New Year.

I probably should have been more clear, as opposed to a "one off" fantasy piece per se, I'm thinking of it as more of an unlicensed/Broder type card...

In the late 1980's/early 1990's "Promo Cards" were the rage and the Ryan rookie card was certainly one of the most popular cards in the hobby.

I'm thinking these were possibly made in some quantity and hand numbered by the maker.