Another collector/investor wanted this card more than I...

mintonlypls

Winning bid $5655...

The only flaw is a couple of print fish eyes in green outline on the right side keeping it from a PSA-10.

handyman

There is also a print line going through the head and hand. But a killer card solid 9.

mintonlypls

I see that too...but it could be a scratch on the holder?

handyman

maybe there are more on the bottom right.
You are right about the lines.

handyman

elbow dots on both elbows?
L on bisep and dots on right elbow

coolstanley

A population of 125 and sold for that amount? How?

mintonlypls

I was the underbidder...and the winner had two bids higher than mine of $5555. I will probably concentrate on a 1971 Nolan Ryan PSA-8.5...now.

DM23HOF

The bottom left corner is weak. Low-end 9 to my eye; would be a sticker/holder buy. Plus there is a registration shift that can be seen in the top border, the top of the baseball's black outer line, and the letters in his name. The effect is less than crisp focus.

jay0791

OMG

I would rather have the 71 also

KendallCat

Beautiful and amazing card no question but clearly not a candidate for a 10. Check both right corners closely along with the bottom left one plus with some light print and registration issues and this should have been more like an 8.5/9. Again great card but i would not personally pay at 3x what it usually sells for historically.

mintonlypls

Thanks for the comments….everyone!

Centauri

Ya’ll insane. Complaining about the corners on this one?

mcadams

@Centauri said:
Ya’ll insane. Complaining about the corners on this one?

I was thinking the same. Feels like someone’s been sorting through too much modern stuff, then took a look at this one and expected hard sharp corners and IPhone14 photo quality. The price here makes no sense but I have no issues with it sitting in a 9 holder.

mintonlypls

DM23HOF…

I now see what you are saying that the inks don’t align perfectly resulting in the image of Nolan Ryan not having a sharp focus.

Monte

GreenSneakers

That’s roughly 4x an Eddie Murray rookie, same year, same grade.

BBBrkrr

78s are tough to get in high grades, and probably super-tough these days. That's a crazy number, but NR's cards have been going crazy for a while. Someone seems to be speculating, but that's hard to find as a 9.

I just hope it pulls his 7s and 8s up because I have several of those!!

UlyssesExtravaganza

Kind of sounds like a shil. Feels like somebody got greedy though

KendallCat

@mcadams said:

@Centauri said:
Ya’ll insane. Complaining about the corners on this one?

I was thinking the same. Feels like someone’s been sorting through too much modern stuff, then took a look at this one and expected hard sharp corners and IPhone14 photo quality. The price here makes no sense but I have no issues with it sitting in a 9 holder.

Card is a very nice PSA 9 with outstanding centering - no question. If someone bought it with expectations of it bumping it to a 10 thus justifying the 3x high sale for the card I can see that - buying it as a 9 for the sake of having a PSA 9 and spending WAY more than it is worth when you can buy similar 9’s for $1800 versus $5400 makes zero sense. The point about the corners is not complaining but making the point if someone is buying it to bump they wasted about $4k on a card that is not hard to find.

StatsGuy

@mcadams said:

@Centauri said:
Ya’ll insane. Complaining about the corners on this one?

I was thinking the same. Feels like someone’s been sorting through too much modern stuff, then took a look at this one and expected hard sharp corners and IPhone14 photo quality. The price here makes no sense but I have no issues with it sitting in a 9 holder.

Must be in a Pre-Pandemic holder

Seaverfan

The 78 Ryan is very very nice....a solid 9 with a great cut, centering, registration and deep color.

Those vertical scratches appear to be on the case itself. I believe not a 10 because the lower two corners are square but not sharp like the top two corners, so it does not give the card that overall eye appeal of "flatness" that 10's often have.

Don't think the fish eyes effect the grade much.

Lifelongcollector

This is a magnificent copy. A solid 9 all day in my book. I would have to take a loupe to this to make sure, but I think on a 'fortunate' day, this could be a PSA 10. I've seen worse PSA 10s (other vintage Topps baseball). Super condition-sensitive card, although the price seems like an outlier to me.

ElvisP

@coolstanley said:
A population of 125 and sold for that amount? How?

Average price was $1644. Last one sold on 7/24 in Heritage auction for $2,400 so yes that was a crazy price. The $2,400 was the highest ever sold less than 2 weeks ago.

TsavoriteSam

$2400 is too much as well

clarke442

Registration looks off too - look at the top of the green border

mintonlypls

Last night on eBay…another 1978 Nolan Ryan #400 PSA-9 sold for $3383.

Brian48

Unbelievable. I remember pulling lots of these in packs when I was a kid.

BBBrkrr

Any of you see that a 1979 rookie Ozzie PSA 9 went for $15,600 last night on PWCC? Now, that seems to be a speculation.

GoDodgersFan

It just takes to bidders to set these record prices. However, I do believe a few of these outliers are bogus sales as the buyer does not plan to pay and is creating a false data point.

billwaltonsbeard

Notoriously tough one in the Ryan run...........

coolstanley

@mintonlypls said:
Last night on eBay…another 1978 Nolan Ryan #400 PSA-9 sold for $3383.

Wish his 1980 card was this popular. Its a nicer looking card.

yankeeno7

For sure I would have gotten a PSA 7 if I had submitted it...well, maybe a 7.5