Description

1968 Topps Milton Bradley Mets Rookies card #177 Nolan Ryan and Jerry Koosman, recently graded PSA 3 (VG). This is a rare card as PSA has only graded a total of 706 copies of the Milton Bradley Ryan rookie card. Milton Bradley dominated the board game market in the 1960’s and in 1968 they contracted with Topps to produce a new “Win-A-Card” trading card board game. The game would feature select cards from Topps’ 1968 baseball card set as well as selections from there Hot Rods and 1967 Football issues. In total, the set is composed of 132 cards: 77 baseball, 33 football and 22 hot rod cards. It is not known why those 77 particular baseball cards were selected for inclusion in the set but thankfully Ryan’s rookie card made the list. The card was once again #177 but that doesn’t mean it was necessarily that particular card in the set’s sequence. Remember, there were just 132 cards in the Milton Bradley set in total. It’s likely Topps and Milton Bradley just chose to keep it as the regular #177 rather than having to create an entirely new checklist for the Milton Bradley set. There are a couple of things that easily distinguish this version from the regular Topps issue. The first is a thin white print line across the left side on the card’s front. These come from the cut between the overlapping borders of a Milton Bradley football card that had a white background. But the easiest and most noticeable is the bright yellow color of the card’s back. It is completely different from the golden coloration of its Topps counterpart and a dead giveaway. As is the case with most players, it took Ryan some time to develop into the dominant force that fans and collectors grew to love. While it did take a few years for Ryan to blossom, it seemed like the baseball card world knew what was to come from the flame-throwing righty, as there are four different versions of his rookie card known to exist. In 1968, Ryan made his Topps debut on a card (#177) that he shares with Jerry Koosman, who was a fine pitcher in his own right. The Ryan card is one of two key Hall of Famer rookie cards in the set, along with Johnny Bench. They make up quite the battery. That same year, three other versions of the same card were produced. Milton Bradley, O-Pee-Chee, and Venezuelan Topps issued their own Ryan rookies as well. All three are tougher to find than the traditional Topps Ryan, especially the Venezuelan Topps card, but the Topps card is the one that has the most mainstream appeal. Even though all four Ryan rookies have the same general design, there are subtle differences. For example, the Milton Bradley card exhibits a brighter yellow color on the reverse and will sometimes feature a thin white line on one or more edges, which carried over from the white-bordered football and hot rod cards included on the same sheet.