(LOT 107)
1971 Topps #513 Nolan Ryan PSA 9 MINT - Highest PSA Example!
MINT RYAN EXPRESS!!! One of the toughest PSA 9 MINT cards to locate is any subject from the ultra-condition-sensitive 1971 Topps set, with this PSA 9 marvel representing the legendary Nolan Ryan. Tantamount to Ryan's solidified standing amongst baseball's greatest all-time pitchers, this grand memento has not been bested by a single example, proudly residing as the best of the best! A seemingly infinite number of 1971 Topps subjects are plagued by their fragile black borders, highlighting even the slightest wear or damage, substantiating why not a single PSA 10 copy currently exists. Fortunately for collectors, this particular specimen has miraculously eluded any such damage, providing its former owners and soon-to-be winning bidder with four near-immaculate black borders.

Most would agree that the extremely colorful Ryan Express action image stands tall as his favorite cardboard pose, as Nolan is about to unleash another one of his 100+ MPH fastballs at the bygone Shea Stadium. Fine edging, pinpoint corners, and a gleaming obverse side are additional qualities supporting the scarce grade, with the near-perfect positioning joining forces with the aforementioned clean black borders as the most significant attributes. Ryan's final card as a NY Metropolitan, he was traded to the California Angels before the 1972 campaign (for Jim Fregosi), where Nolan would embark on a career for the ages including unfathomable records of seven no-hitters and 5,714 strikeouts. Back in 2022, Memory Lane sold another PSA 9 for a formidable $26K, a bona fide indicator of the future prosperity of a PSA 9 MINT '71 Topps Ryan with regard to its unlimited investment potential!

MIN BID $7,500

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