The 1971 Topps baseball set represents one of the biggest challenges for condition conscious collectors of 1970s material. Many collectors are drawn in by its fantastic selection of stars, including several cards of key Hall of Famers at the end and the beginning of their careers. There are cards of veteran stars like Aaron, Banks, Clemente, and Mays as well as cards of up and comers like Nolan Ryan and Reggie Jackson. These black-bordered beauties are so easily chipped that even cards removed straight from vending boxes or packs are found with wear along the edges and corners. In addition, the centering for the issue was very inconsistent and the high-number series is tough to complete. The challenge in finding high-quality examples makes this set a popular choice, but it is not for the faint hearted.
Offered here is an incredible compilation of high-grade 1971 Topps baseball, amounting to 81% of a complete set (611 of 752) inclusive of 603 NM-MT PSA 8s including many of the key stars and Hall of Famers and a significant selection of the more difficult high numbers. This near-set appears on the PSA Set Registry titled “SCP”, currently ranked 25th with a weighted GPA of 7.972.
Entire contents of set is as follows:
NM-MT+ PSA 8.5 (1): #510.
NM-MT PSA 8 (603): # 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 84, 85, 86, 91, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 112, 113, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 134, 136, 137, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 155, 157, 158, 159, 160 (Seaver), 162, 163, 164, 165, 166, 167, 168, 169, 170, 172, 173, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 181, 182, 183, 184, 185, 186, 187, 188, 189, 191, 192, 193, 194, 195, 196, 197, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205, 207, 208, 209, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216, 217, 218, 219, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241, 242, 243, 244, 245, 247, 248, 249, 251, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257, 259, 260, 261, 262, 265, 266, 267, 268, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 279, 280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 285, 286, 289, 290, 291, 293, 295, 297, 298, 299, 301, 302, 304, 306, 307, 308, 310, 311, 312, 313, 315, 316, 317, 318, 319, 320, 321, 322, 323, 325 (Marichal), 326, 327, 328, 329, 330, 331, 332, 333, 334, 335, 336, 337, 338, 339, 340, 341 (Garvey), 342, 343, 344, 345, 347, 348, 350, 353, 354, 355, 356, 357, 358, 359, 360, 361, 362, 364, 366, 367, 368, 369, 370, 371, 372, 374, 375, 376, 377, 378, 380, 383, 385, 386, 387, 388, 389, 390, 391, 392, 394, 395, 396, 397, 399, 400 (Aaron), 401, 402, 403, 404, 405, 406, 407, 408, 409, 410, 411, 414, 415, 416, 417, 418, 419, 420, 421, 422, 423, 424, 425, 426, 427, 428, 429, 430, 431, 432, 433, 435, 436, 437, 439, 440, 441, 442, 443, 444, 446, 447, 448, 449, 451, 452, 453, 454, 455, 456, 457, 458, 459, 460, 461, 462, 463, 464, 465, 466, 468, 469, 470, 471, 472, 473, 474, 475, 476, 477, 479, 480, 481, 482, 483, 484, 485, 486, 487, 489, 490, 491, 493, 494, 495, 496, 497, 498, 499, 500, 502, 503, 504, 505, 506, 507, 508, 509, 511, 512, 513 (Ryan), 514, 515, 516, 517, 518, 519, 520, 521, 522, 523, 524, 525 (Banks), 526, 527, 528, 529, 530, 531, 532, 533, 534, 535, 538, 540, 543, 544, 545, 546, 547, 548, 550, 552, 553, 554, 555, 556, 557, 558, 560, 561, 562, 563, 565, 566, 567, 568, 569, 570, 571, 572, 573, 574, 575, 576, 578, 579, 580, 581, 583, 584, 586, 587, 588, 589, 590, 592, 593, 594, 595, 597, 598, 599, 601, 602, 603, 604, 606, 607, 609, 610, 611, 612, 613, 615, 616, 617, 618, 620, 621, 622, 623, 624, 625, 626, 627, 628, 629, 630 (Clemente), 631, 632, 633, 636, 637, 638, 639, 640, 641, 642, 643, 645, 647, 648, 652, 654, 657, 658, 659, 660, 661, 666, 668, 670, 672, 674, 675, 676, 677, 678, 679, 681, 682, 683, 686, 688, 690, 691, 692, 693, 695, 696, 699, 703, 705, 707, 709 (Baylor/Baker), 711, 713, 716, 717, 718, 719, 720, 721, 723, 724, 726, 727, 728, 729, 732, 735, 736, 737, 738, 739, 740, 741, 742, 744, 745, 746, 747, 752.
NM+ PSA 7.5 (1): #26 (Blyleven)
NM PSA 7 (5): #5 (Munson), 20 (Jackson), 100 (Rose), 250 (Bench), 300 (B.Robinson)
This 1971 Topps baseball near set represents a substantial invest in resources including not only money, but time. A true labor of love, this foundation has been built for another collector to take it across the finish line and up the Registry rankings with some final key additions.