Observations while hunting for a Ryan rookie....

[Eric72]

Something else which *might* factor into Nolan Ryan's rookie being more expensive than statistics alone would account for:

During three of the most significant periods in baseball card collecting, Nolan Ryan was positioned perfectly.

He was a dominant pitcher when baseball card collecting exploded in popularity in the early 80s...and still dominant through the junk wax era...and had recently retired when the strike occurred in 1994.

The timing couldn't be better.

• When new collectors jumped on board in droves, the Nolan Ryan rookie was a key card, so far as it applied to active players.
• When card companies were printing a mountain of cardboard, Nolan Ryan was featured prominently in most sets. Another group of new collectors started chasing the Ryan rookie.
• When baseball went on strike, Nolan Ryan had just retired. He wasn't one of the "millionaires vs. billionaires" people were angry with.