Nolan Ryan is considered one of the greatest pitchers of all time and his baseball cards are some of the most sought after by collectors. Ryan played from 1966-1993 over 27 seasons primarily for the New York Mets, California Angels, Houston Astros, and Texas Rangers. He holds numerous Major League Baseball records including most career strikeouts, no-hitters, and highest career earned run average.
During his early career with the Mets from 1966-1971, Topps had the monopoly on baseball cards and they issued several cards featuring Ryan’s rookie season and his early seasons breaking into the majors. These older Mets era Ryan cards are fairly common in collectors’ hands today. It was in the 1970s when Ryan was pitching for the California Angels that things got interesting in the world of Nolan Ryan cards due to the introduction of competition in the baseball card market.
In 1973, Topps’ monopoly on baseball cards ended thanks to a legal ruling. This opened the door for other companies to issue competitive baseball cards. One of the first alternative baseball card brands was called Triad Enterprises. This new company secured licensing deals with several Major League teams including the California Angels who Ryan was a star pitcher for at the time.
In 1973, Triad issued its inaugural set of cards that included star players from the Angels like Ryan, Bobby Grich, and Frank Robinson on the cards. These marked the first “non-Topps” cards of Nolan Ryan available to collectors. They featured color photos on the front and have become very popular with collectors today. At the time production issues plagued the fledgling Triad company.
Reportedly, quality control and distribution problems meant many of the 1973 Triad cards did not reach the hands of collectors as the company struggled in its first year. While the cards feature some of the biggest names in the game at the time, their scarcity drove up demand and value years later in the collecting community. The 1973 Triad cards of Nolan Ryan have become among the most expensive and desired of his entire career.
In 1974, Triad Enterprises aimed to build on its initial set from the year before. They issued another set that once again included Angels stars like Ryan and Grich. Problems continued to plague the fledgling company. Issues involving photo quality, centering, and general production scales likely meant far fewer 1974 Triad cards were produced compared to the demand.
While the 1974 cards feature the same players and team designs as the year prior, their scarceness has made them arguably more valuable to collectors today – although not quite as coveted and pricy as the 1973s. When it comes to the golden era 1970s Ryan cards, the 1973 and 1974 Triads are widely considered the true jewels of his collecting career during his years playing for the California Angels.
After 1974, Triad Enterprises soon fell apart due to ongoing financial and production difficulties. They never issued cards in 1975, bringing their short experiment with competing against the baseball card behemoth Topps to an end. They left a lasting legacy on the collecting hobby through their super scarce early issues that captured the likes of a superstar pitcher in his prime like Nolan Ryan during his California Angels days.
While Topps regained the baseball card monopoly in 1975 and on, they also continued to issue Nolan Ryan Angels cards that are popular with collectors today. But it is the ultra-short run of 1973-1974 Triad Enterprises cards that hold a legend all their own in the world of collecting Ryan’s career. Stories of the company’s struggles and the scarcity that resulted make those early Triads the holy grail for any collector looking to emphasize the hurler’s time with the Angels in their collection.
From the late 1970s on when Ryan was traded to the Houston Astros and later pitched for the Texas Rangers, Topps regained total control of the baseball card market until other competitors reemerged in later eras. As such, the majority of Ryan’s later career cards carrying Astros or Rangers uniforms were produced by Topps. Notable cards include his record setting 5000th strikeout in 1985 and final season issue in 1994 after retirement.
While plenty of Trops cards from the various stages of Ryan’s later career remain popular, accessible, and affordable options for collectors, it is those ultra-rare early 1970s issues from Triad Enterprises during his California Angels days that capture the biggest attention and demand given their exceedingly low surviving populations in the hobby. The short run 1973-1974 Triad baseball cards of Nolan Ryan have become legendary in their own right within the baseball memorabilia collecting community.
