Before Pelé and Maradona, before Di Stéfano, there was José Manuel Moreno. The Argentine striker known as "El Charro" starred for several clubs in his home country, Mexico, Chile, and Colombia, gaining a reputation in his day as the greatest in the world. Moreno was part of the River Plate called La Máquina ("The Machine") which dominated Argentine football in the 1940's and led the Argentinia National Team to South American Championships in 1941 and 1947. Positioned primarily as an inside forward, he had exceptional vision and technique and was a lethal scorer with his head in the penalty area. The chances of coming across any game-used memorabilia from JMM's career are about as likely as finding a Triceratops fossil. His trading cards aren't quite extinct, but they are certainly an endangered species.

Offered here is Moreno's official rookie card from the rarely surfacing 1936 Nobleza de Tabacos Leyes del Foot Ball issue. He is pictured in a circular frame wearing his River Plate uniform (the famous red stripe on their shirts shown in black & white). The reverse diagrams a corner kick play in Spanish. Card #30 comes in two versions, Green Front and Black Back, and this is the latter. PSA has graded this example PR 1 (MK). Its incredible picture quality would warrant a much grade if not for its edge issues and tiny tear on the bottom. An errant pen stroke on the upper left accounts for the mark qualifier. PSA reports a population of just two others in this grade and a total authenticated pop (in any grade) of just eight Black Back examples, the highest being one GD+ 2.5. (Only two Green Front versions of Moreno have been authenticated by PSA.) It should also be noted that SGC has graded just seven cards in this 1936 Nobleza de Tabacos set, and not one is JMM.