1981 Topps Coca-Cola Nolan Ryan Astros #1 Variation?

jacksoncoupage · September 23, 2009 3:00AM

A year or two ago, I saw an auction listing that had a 1981 Topps Coca-Cola Nolan Ryan with #1 on back instead of #9. I've since noticed that 5 copies have been graded by PSA. Does anyone have any info on this variation? How rare they are and by which way they were distributed?

BunchOBull · September 23, 2009 7:43AM

It's a proof card.

Here is the story behind the 1981 Ryan Coca-Cola #1 (quote):

Starting from January 1981, the Coca-Cola sought authorization from baseball players for inclusion in the Topps Coca-Cola Team series, which would feature 524 major league players, 36 of whom would later be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Nolan Ryan had been at the top of his game throughout the decade, and was even considered to be the game's greatest player at the time. He had appeared on advertisements for a number of other products such as chewing gum, Sunflower seeds and watches. Unsurprisingly, Coca-Cola asked for Ryan's permission to have his picture on a baseball card. According to an October 12, 1981, issue of The Sporting News, Ryan did not give his consent to appear on the Coca-Cola baseball card. In response to the authorization request letter sent by John Gruber, a Houston sportswriter hired by the Coca-Cola to seek Ryan's permission, Ryan wrote that he "did not care to have his picture on such a highly caffeinated product." He threatened to seek legal action against Coca-Cola if they went ahead and created his baseball card.

The reasons for Ryan's strong negative reaction to the Coca-Cola's request have been the subject of much speculation. The most commonly told account is that Ryan rejected the deal because he did not want young baseball fans to purchase the Coca-Cola packs for his baseball card. Ryan held high respect for many of his fans, most particularly his young fans. His granddaughter, Blair, remarked that "he loved children. He wanted to teach kids good sportsmanship. When it came time for that card to come out, it wasn't that he wasn't paid. He didn't want kids to have to buy caffeine to get his card."