Dream Card Acquired!

Growing up as a kid baseball fan in the late '80s/early '90s, Nolan Ryan was my absolute favorite baseball player.  As silly as it sounds, I think much of this was initially based on the fact that he had a 5-card tribute subset to lead off the 1990 Topps set checklist.  These were the first baseball cards I ever opened in packs, and my 7-year-old self knew right away based on these cards that Nolan Ryan was something special.  Over the years I came to appreciate the amazing career the man had, and I've remained a fan to this day.

With that background being set, one of my big gifts this holiday season was an extremely generous $100 eBay gift card, which I was specifically told was to spend on baseball cards (twist my arm why don't you?!).  Any time I get an eBay gift card from family I try to spend it acquiring a very significant or special card, since in the end I tend to see what I pick up as the gift they ultimately gave me.

Well, this year I combined the gift card with a smaller one I'd been sitting on for months since my birthday, plus a few bucks of my own thrown in, and picked up one of the most significant cards in my entire collection to date....

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BEHOLD!

Exactly 30 years after my grubby kid hands first pried open the wax wrapper on a 1990 Topps baseball pack, I have Nolan Ryan's rookie card at last!  It's hard for me to convey just how ecstatic I am about this particular pick-up.  I'm really happy that I was able to not only land this card at long last, but that I was able to do it with the assistance of my awesome parents, which will always give it added significance to me.

Not much more that I can say about the card itself that hasn't been said many times before.  One of the most iconic baseball cards from the 1960s, or from any era really, if you ask me.  Especially since Jerry Koosman was no slouch either.

As for this specific card, here's a look from a slightly different angle than the first.  I'm experimenting with photographing my graded cards with my iPhone as they seem to come out clearer than when I attempt to scan them.

I searched long and hard through many different examples of this card before settling on this one.  It's got everything that I care most about when picking up vintage cards; bright, vibrant color, good centering, and great overall visual appeal (meaning no huge creases, stains, holes, etc).  This was the finest example that fit my personal preferences within my budget.  It received a 2.5 "Good +" from PSA, mostly because the top corners are a little soft, but again I don't feel they detract much if at all from the beauty of this one.

Here's a look at the back, which is slightly off-centered left to right.  This doesn't really bother me much on the backs of cards for some odd reason.  What can I say?  I can't really explain my OCD, it just is what it is.

So, there it is, by far the most significant card I've added to my collection and featured here on the blog as of late.  We're still in the first month of 2020, and there's a strong chance this card ends up being my card of the year in my annual year-end countdown come December.  Just awesome, I'm still smiling when I look at it.  Huge thanks to my Mom and Dad for making this dream card a possibility!

Thanks as always for stopping by.  I'll be back tomorrow with a Signature Sundays autograph post...