So I have always held the Nolan Ryan RC in highest regard when it comes Post War cards. To me, from probably 1960 onward, it is the single best card, followed immediately by the likes of Schmidt, Brett, and Rose rookies (and many others, too numerous to list here).
Ryan's records will almost certainly never be eclipsed, from his Ks to his no-hitters. This dude LED THE LEAGUE in WHIP at age 43 AND 44! Very few athletes (Mo Rivera comes to mind) go out on top like that. His reputation is sterling. Then to think the card features Koosman, who may very well be the best second face on a multi-face HOFer card after Allan Trammell. The cherry on top when it comes to the Ryan RC is how the card is usually born with horrible tilt and centering. For a horizontal card, tilt can instantly wreck eye appeal.
Growing up, the Ryan RC was always a special card to behold, and it was rare when a kid in the neighborhood had one. I remember there was an older kid down the block named John Philaramo (sp?). He used to sell us 1988 Donruss wax packs from his basement, and had a Ryan RC in a huge screw down.
I believe it was in the early 90's when Ryan's card began to really soar. I was lucky to live in an area of Brooklyn that had many, many cardshops. The 70's Ryans were both gorgeous cards and had that old vibe to them. I bought a 74, 75, 76, and 77, and they were among my favorites at the time.
Like Brett, Mantle, and Donnie Baseball-- Ryan always seems to have a good-looking card.
Now, seeing where the game has gone, how it is played, I can't help but have enormous respect for Nolan Ryan. His cards are always big guns in whatever set they appear, and it seems all those early issues are tough to find well-centered.
In fact what has been so surprising and rewarding about chasing these Ryans, is how I have found the best card can actually be much lower grade, numerically, than expected. I scoured many 70s before coming to terms with the fact that a 6 had the best eye appeal of the hundreds I'd seen. Ditto for the 73-- I found, of course, 9s with great eye appeal. But for 27 bucks, the 6 of the 73 could not be beat for value.
Anyways, here is my little run in progress. I will have to pony up for a sweet 75 or mini when one surfaces, and a nice 76 and 77 shouldn't be tough to locate. Then it's a wrap.
One of the great things I find about player runs is getting to see all the different card designs in a row.
I can definitely see a few of these below bumping a half grade or grade, if I ever decide to burn some loot on reviews. The 71 and 74 are utter head-scratchers on grade, especially. The RC is hands down the best centering I've encountered-- and I will always be in debt to Miller and our boy Dave for that one; the inner ridge of the holder obscures a sliver of the left edge on that scan.
