Competed Set - 1996 Pacific Advil Nolan Ryan

Last week I posted an old Advil advertisement in my collection promoting a Nolan Ryan Commemorative set issued by Pacific. Here's the ad again:

The ad included a coupon to send away for a special 27-card Pacific Advil Nolan Ryan Commemorative box set. I had forgotten about that set, and didn't have one, so I jumped on ebay and purchased one. I also purchased an unopened pack.

The 2-card pack was given out to customers who purchased certain Advil items:

and included two cards commemorating Ryans first and last strikeouts.

All packs had the same two cards. The back of the pack also noted that you can send away for the box set for only $3.99 plus $1.50 for shipping and handling (interesting since thats only a little less than I spent on mine 24 years later).

Nice card design, typical of early 90's Pacific with all the royalty bling, as well as a foil "Advil" in the corner.

The cards were numbered 1a and 2a (obviously I opened my pack).

The design front and back is the same you'll see in the 27-card box set. Kinda strange that they numbered them 1a and 2a, as 2a especially wouldn't really fit into the format of the box set in that order.

As mentioned, the 27-card commemorative set came in shrink-wrapped box, with the cards already in numerical order. The first four cards show Ryans four different teams, cards 5-11 celebrate his 7 no-hitters, and the remainder celebrate milestones in his career.

So you can see how card 2a (his last strikeout) wouldn't really fit after his first Angels card #2.

There's a really nice difference in the backs of the no-hitter cards: they show the box score of the no-hitter. Nice touch Pacific.

I'm glad that I re-discovered this sweet, though once forgotten, set.