I finally decided to start a 1971 Topps football set

NeilDowney

Hi Guys, Most people know me from my many baseball sets such as 1972 Topps, 1972 Topps Mets team, 1956 Topps, 1953 Topps and Gary Carter sets. However, there aren't many that know I am a huge Cowboys fan. I even have a Cowboys tattoo. I became a Cowboys fan on January 17, 1971 and have been with the "BOYS" ever since. I have always played with the thought of starting a football set. I looked at sets from 1968-1987. I always wanted to collect a 1971 Topps Cowboys team set so it seemed natural that I would also like the rest of the set as well. My plan is to collect all of the commons in nm-mt raw form and the stars in PSA 7 or 8. However, I can't resist buying PSA 7 and 8 commons also at a good price. If anyone has any advice for me on collecting this set, let me know. Also, if anyone has any PSA graded cards for sale from this set - let me know that too. Neil

grilloj39

Neil...congratulations on your decision and good luck on your endeavor. I think you have a fine strategy already layed out. With the exception of the Bradshaw, Greene, and a few others, the set is going to be very ecomonical to collect. I think you made a wise choice...the 1969 and 1971 are the two nicest looking sets from the era you were considering imo.

thefootballcardstore

It's hard to go wrong collecting a tough year where PSA 7s and 8s are reasonable.
That said, I have about 50 at PSA right now due back by the Friday. I'll PM or email before I start listing in the store.

Good luck with the set, CONGRATS!

Jeremy

sixdart

Good luck as well. Very tough set!

wolfbear

Agree with grilloj39 that the 1971 set looks cool.
Also, I remember a reader's poll in Beckett about 5 years ago,
where the 1971 Topps set was voted the most popular football "vintage set".

Another nice thing about the 1971 set is that it's the last year before
football sets got a lot larger, so almost every card, if not a star, is still at least a stand-out player.

FB

I don't even wanna know where the tattoo is located...

1420sports

Jay of Quality Cards has a few ....

achtey

This is a nice set, good luck on it.

Josh

NeilDowney

Hi Frank, the tattoo is on my upper left arm. Neil

gregm13

Neil,

Good luck on the 71 set - I am starting that set myself. I bought a raw set (minus the Bradshaw - which I already have a PSA 8 of) three years ago for $175 that was collated from a vending box (so I was told). I just submitted 5 for grading to see how they will grade out - and should have my grades next week. It's a tough set for PSA 8+ and there aren't a lot of people making the set. The nice aspect of the 71 set is that there is a lot of raw cards out there still. You just have to look carefully Let me know how your progress is going and maybe we can trade.

Regards,

Greg M.

NeilDowney

Hi Guys, I'm still not sure if this set is going to be a graded set with some raw cards or a raw set with some graded cards. However, I now have coming in 50-60 graded cards from three different sources to put into the set. It's always so much fun in the beginning. Neil