I just hit the wall on my 1971 Topps Set

Mefer

Well after three or four years, I have hit just over 60% on my PSA 7 or better 71 Topps set. I have just about all of the stars and almost all of the high series. Now if I could just find those pesky lower series commons. They don't seem to be put up for sale as much as the high number series I am finding. At the pace I am going, it looks like it will take me another five years to finish the set out. It has now been at least two months since I have even added a card to my set. Part of my problem could be solved if PSA would have a $5.00 special for 71 Topps. With that price, I can stomach grading cards that will be 7s. At $6.00 or higher, I have limited my submissions to solid 8 candidates and high numbers. I am now at the point where I have in my raw inventory low numbers and those that are mostly in the 7 range. What is a boy to do? I know for one thing, never be crazy enough again to tackle a set this big!

Fabfrank

Mefer- I hear you. The last 2 weeks have seen many 8's and 9's posted on Ebay, but not many 7's. I'm still looking for #697 to finish my set. It seems you're running into "The Perfect Storm" for NOT grading cards. #1 Prices are cyclical and right now pricing on 70's baseball in PSA 8 or 7 is down. #2 No PSA special for a long while that includes 1970 or 1971 cards. #3 with prices down, dealers won't submit cards that might not return at least the grading fee. Dealers will start submitting when demand builds up again.
Stay patient. Building any set takes time. You can always raise your buy prices too (not by too much). That will get you more cards and jumpstart your set.

Axtell

I have noticed a lack of cards lately too...and I try to buy in bulk as it saves on shipping and overall gets a better deal.

I wish they would extend the set registry special to 1970...since they have specials all the time for 60s cards, the 71 and 70 cards always get left out.

kingraider75

I have no knowledge of the 1971 set. Well no current market knowledge that is. Anyways, I think that you should bite the bullet and send the cards in as part of the PSA registry for $5 a pop or so. I think that special is still on. Who knows when you will get the cards back, but if you are willing to wait 5 years or more for cards to show up on the market, maybe the timeline probably isn't that important to you.

Hubcap

I love it when somebody else advises you how to spend your money.

Be patient. Perhaps you should post what numbers and condition you need on the Wanted and/or Trading Board. They will come if you let them know what you need.

kingraider75

Well if you want to finish a set and you have raw cards available for grading why not send them in? I know the cost of grading each common is high, but he's already spent the money on the card, so why not finish the plan and grade them. He's been working on the set for four years and thinks it might take him another five years to finish it, due to lack of cards on the market. Should he wait 10 years to finish a set? That's a lot of patience. If he's truly getting tired of having an incomplete set, why not send the cards in now? PSA prices could go up in the future.

augustaman

Matt -
I have several hundred 1971 PSA 7's that I can sell
if you're willing to spend SMR prices. I may be willing
to work out a bulk deal but I can't let them go for only
$6-$7 per card.

Frank -
I don't want to just sell off 1 card from my set but if
I find a buyer for a large chunk of them, #697 will be
heading your way. We can both keep our fingers
crossed.

Fabfrank

Bill, I have my fingers, legs and toes crossed

Machodoc

I have the current #1 and #4 ATG 1971 set which I began in November 2004 and finished last month. As with all of my sets, I was always active in courting bulk deals for commmons and also scanned eBay each day. Pay attention (I'm sure you already are however) to dealers like Andy Madec, etc.. who in my case happened to put up a couple of complete sets on eBay for breakup, as did Steve Peckovich. I was sort of lucky in my timing that I happened to be assembling the set as they put these cards up for sale, but I was also very systematic in making sure I had at least some type of bid set up for each card I needed. I didn't win everything of course, but I was in the ball game.

Also don't be shy about contacting other registry members whose sets appear inactive. I've never had a member resent being asked, and in my case I made some key acquisitions from guys who had started and then put the set away because they simply lost interest.

Good luck with the set as it's a real challenge!

SW

Aaronman

Aaronman

Sorry about the blank post. I might have some 71's that you need. You can email me at drivard@optonline.net.

Doug