Anybody here collecting 1981 Topps Football?

fsjeter

I bought a small lot of PSA 9's last year to jump start this set and now I'm concentrating on PSA 10's the rest of the way. It will be expensive as the prices are around $15 to $20 each. I've managed to get a few stars and most have low pops in the PSA 10's. In fact, there are several cards that still have no graded examples yet. I know Montana is the only high dollar RC (which I had in a PSA 8 from my own submission) but there are quite a few cards of great players and over-achievers from the late 70's and early 80's. Some of the stars present:

Joe Greene
Terry Bradshaw
Tony Dorsett
Billy Simms
Kellen Winslow
Dan Fouts
Art Monk
Ken Stabler (in an Oilers uniform)
Ken Anderson
Steve Bartkowski
"Too Tall" Jones
Cliff Branch
Wilbert Montgomery
Phil Simms (2nd Year)
Otis Anderson (2nd year)
Joe Theismann
Harold Carmichael
Kenny King (who, until a few years ago, held the record for the longest TD reception in a Superbowl)
Jim Plunkett
Mark van Eeghen
Joe Klecko
Mark Gastineau
Franco Harris
Dan Hampton
Walter Payton
Dwight Clark
James Lofton

I know i'll never recoup the cost but, I love the set and look forward to completing it!

Scott

fsjeter

Unbelievable! I just went to check my set and it is gone from the PSA database. I've had images disappear before but never a whole set. This blows! I hope they can fix it!

Scott

thefootballcardstore

Great Year to collect. When I was younger I collected a lot of 1981 Football.
I've got a dozen or so PSA 10 in stock. Anyhow, good luck with PSA and with your set.

fsjeter

It's also the last year Topps had to airbrush the team logo's off the helmets. Seems that NFL Properties didn't license the product until the following year.

Scott

edwin5375

I am also collecting the 81 football set. This was the first set that I remember collecting, so once I got back into collecting, I drifted right to this set. I started out only collecting 9's and 10's, and like you stated, some of the cards just haven't been graded yet. Since starting out though, I have bought from ebay and submitted cards myself. From my experience (as limited as it is), sometimes it is hard to tell the difference between 8's, 9's and 10's. That is why I started collecting the 8's as well. The difference in price between an 8 and a 10 are just so much, that if I like the 8 I will pick it up. It doesn't get the same recognition, but it is still a part of a great set.

You can pick up unopened material for around $10 wax pack and $20 for a rack pack (really depends on who is bidding and how bad they want it). Those prices would drop dramatically if there were no Joe Montana rookie, but hey it is one of the allures of the set. As far as submitting raw, I am having to send in submissions and learn from the grades that I receive. I am not very experienced at grading cards, but I do like trying to get those highly graded cards and even being the first to submit a card to be graded.

One special note I would like to pass on is about the Dan Hampton rookie card. Until just the past few months, there was no card graded a 10. I believe that the SMR price may be low on that grade. I actually saw that card on ebay, but it was pulled after the first day. With that card fitting into a couple of key sets, I had a feeling it could go close to the $500 mark and might even exceed it.

Sorry to be long winded, but I do like collecting this set. I don't post much, but I do read the boards often. So this is all just my inexperienced opinion. I hope you enjoy and good luck on that 10 collection. I hope you have some deep pockets.

ldferg

i've got a freddie solomon psa 10 for $30 delivered if anyone is interested. that is the only 10 i have from this set. i can send scan and cert # if needed.