Has 1971 Topps PSA 7's gone WAY up lately or is it just me? This is very discouraging... :(

Estil · May 9, 2021 5:48AM

As some of you may know, it has always been my dream to someday do a 1971 Topps set with all the HOFers and checklists in PSA 7. A little over ten years ago I had maybe what, a 1/3 or so of them but I was forced to sell them at the time. I'd like to maybe get back into it but I've noticed lately (and maybe it's just me) but it seems lately they've gotten quite a bit more expensive lately and you guys have no idea how discouraging that is.

Is it because of the 2020 Topps Hertiage set that did 1971? Is it because COVID caused a shortage of graded cards? Maybe if I give it some time the prices will cool off again?

JoeBanzai · May 9, 2021 6:56AM

I wouldn't wait for a general price drop. With grading fees what they are going to be, there will be a lot less commons being submitted and none right now of course.

Two things come to mind;

Lower your goal to well centered 6's or even 5's, wait for bargains on your 7's (ha ha) and take your time. Option 2 will make this a LONG TERM project. Possibly impossible within your budget.

PSA seems to grade this year (and a few others) particularly "harshly", so a lot of those 7's should probably be 8's. This makes them rather expensive. Very popular year doesn't help you either.

80sOPC · May 9, 2021 7:10AM

If building ex-mt to nm, consider building a raw set. Put it in a nice binder like an Ultimate Guard and you have, IMO, a much better and more affordable project then a gigantic heap of mid grade slabs. Easier to acquire, store and view

Estil · May 9, 2021 7:15AM

@80sOPC said:
If building ex-mt to nm, consider building a raw set. Put it in a nice binder like an Ultimate Guard and you have, IMO, a much better and more affordable project then a gigantic heap of mid grade slabs. Easier to acquire, store and view

That is in fact what I'd want the vast majority of the set (commons/non-HOFers) to be. But I feel like I should get all the HOFers and CLs in PSA 7 as insurance (so to speak) that the cards have not been trimmed/recolored or otherwise compromised.

And YES it would be a long term project seeing as how all me and my wife get is SSDI (sadly) so when I do get the chance to splurge it is VERY important that I make every penny count and not feel like I'm overpaying. Naturally I'd like to start with the cheaper/lower teir HOFers (the regular ones, not necessarily the ones in the subsets) and work my way up.

And while I offer my sincere and heartfelt congratulations for Ted Simmons getting into the HOF...it sure caused that card to shoot up skyhigh apparently

lwehlers · May 9, 2021 8:10AM

i agree that ted simmons psa 7 is overated. i have a psa 6 of simmons would like to have a seven but i am not going to spend 200 dollars on one that does not look any better then my six.

BaltimoreYankee · May 9, 2021 9:08AM

I have also noticed a crazy increase in 1971 Topps cards. I was fortunate to build a set a few years ago very similar to what the OP described: Most of the set is raw but all of the HOFers are graded, generally PSA 7s. It's made me think long and hard about selling but I really like the set so I'm holding onto it for now.

PNWcollector · May 9, 2021 11:41AM

Clementes and Mays in 7s are through the roof... going for $700+. Pretty wild.

kpshobby · May 9, 2021 12:16PM

I wish that I never sold my complete PSA 7 set. Or the hundreds of others that I made sets with and gave to the auction house a few years back. I remember getting Garvey 7s for $25. Clemente for $150.
Nolan Ryan for around $100. Those days are long gone. Good thing that I never sold my 8 complete set.

Estil · May 9, 2021 8:02PM

Yeah I regret most every time I sold something so I haven't done so in at least a few years...if I get something, I expect it to be for keeps.

Estil · May 10, 2021 12:30PM

Well, I guess it's not so bad...I mean I still got my other major card collecting project (mid-90s inserts) which is more affordable (mostly) yet also more challenging and rewarding. That's because it gives me a sense of the fun of set building (you know, filling in the remaining insert sets in my albums) and it often is more challenging because sometimes I'm lucky if the sets I want show up at all. Think of how many years I had to wait for the 1989 and later 1988 Kentucky Collegiate Collection sets to show up, for example.

Not to mention I got my retro video game hobby along with reference books (especially the World Book/Brittanica yearbooks) so even if I can't do 1971 PSA 7's at this point, I still got much much else I can still work on!

KendallCat · May 10, 2021 3:25PM

@Estil said:
Yeah I regret most every time I sold something so I haven't done so in at least a few years...if I get something, I expect it to be for keeps.

I hear you and have several cards I wish I had not sold the last two years. Trying to keep these two off that list, but finding other 71’s to go with them is becoming expensive these days - might have to think long and hard on this one.

Kepper19 · May 10, 2021 4:36PM

@KendallCat said:

@Estil said:
Yeah I regret most every time I sold something so I haven't done so in at least a few years...if I get something, I expect it to be for keeps.

I hear you and have several cards I wish I had not sold the last two years. Trying to keep these two off that list, but finding other 71’s to go with them is becoming expensive these days - might have to think long and hard on this one.

those are a couple of beauties

Estil · May 11, 2021 2:22AM

Way too rich for my blood...if any of you poker players still say that anymore...

bobsbbcards · May 11, 2021 5:19AM

@Estil said:
Way too rich for my blood...if any of you poker players still say that anymore...

I still say "Baby needs a new pair of shoes!" when I'm rolling dice, but that annoys my wife to no end when we play Yahtzee.

VCP average for a complete '71 set in PSA 7 has increased to $19,289, and since that's "average" it's still lagging a bit behind reality. Price realized would be closer to $23K. Ouch.

Estil · May 11, 2021 8:03AM

But that's only if ALL the cards are PSA 7 right? I just would want the HOFers/CLs in PSA 7 and the rest in an album.

Rofles · May 11, 2021 4:12PM

I love this set so much! I’m trying to build the nicest set I can, so that’s basically me buying raw and subbing the cards myself.

A great resource for you to check out would be Greg Morris cards. I’ve built my ‘71 set from him and a private sale, but mostly from Greg Morris. And a lot of his NR-MINT designations on cards often seem under evaluated. I bought my NM-MT or BETTER Gibson from him and subbed it. Got a 9. So he’s legit. Hope this helps!

JoeBanzai · May 11, 2021 4:23PM

WOW! Beautiful Gibson!

Estil · May 12, 2021 5:20AM

@Rofles said:
I love this set so much! I’m trying to build the nicest set I can, so that’s basically me buying raw and subbing the cards myself.

A great resource for you to check out would be Greg Morris cards. I’ve built my ‘71 set from him and a private sale, but mostly from Greg Morris. And a lot of his NR-MINT designations on cards often seem under evaluated. I bought my NM-MT or BETTER Gibson from him and subbed it. Got a 9. So he’s legit. Hope this helps!

Does he have/sell 7's? Wow, that is so cool you can do 9's...you must be like a millionaire or something...

Rofles · May 12, 2021 6:07AM

@Estil

Does he have/sell 7's? Wow, that is so cool you can do 9's...you must be like a millionaire or something...

Ha! Just a phone man for a phone company.
I should say, I won his auctions on eBay. I won the Gibson in auction, raw, for 180$. His auctions run all the time and he always has ‘71 baseball being auctioned raw. Good luck to you!

@JoeBanzai, ty sir!!

gemint · May 12, 2021 9:27AM

GMCards2 is his seller ID for graded cards. He doesn't sell as much graded but does list some on a regular basis. You may find some PSA 7's there.

Estil · May 12, 2021 10:46AM

@gemint said:
GMCards2 is his seller ID for graded cards. He doesn't sell as much graded but does list some on a regular basis. You may find some PSA 7's there.

Thanks

Estil · May 12, 2021 11:09AM

@Rofles said:
@Estil

Does he have/sell 7's? Wow, that is so cool you can do 9's...you must be like a millionaire or something...

Ha! Just a phone man for a phone company.

Hey! You're not "just" a phone man! I mean, if it weren't for guys like you how could we talk on phones?

bumpskier · May 12, 2021 1:20PM

Did anyone here take advantage of the 1971 PSA Special last year? I don't remember if it was the first quarter or the 2nd quarter of 2020 but it was I think 1971 Topps with a minimum of 25 for $7.10 each. I have a number of 1971"s I should have submitted but just didn't find the time and didn't realize it was such a great deal since i figured i could sub for around $8 per card in the future. Not expecting anything that good for the rest of 2021.

KendallCat · May 12, 2021 6:55PM

@Kepper19 said:

@KendallCat said:

@Estil said:
Yeah I regret most every time I sold something so I haven't done so in at least a few years...if I get something, I expect it to be for keeps.

I hear you and have several cards I wish I had not sold the last two years. Trying to keep these two off that list, but finding other 71’s to go with them is becoming expensive these days - might have to think long and hard on this one.

those are a couple of beauties

Thanks you for the kind words.

KC

RobBobGolf · May 12, 2021 8:03PM

one of my submissions in PSA purgatory has three 71's
29 Don Buford
49 Don Money
99 Mark Belanger

should be easy 7's, if interested LMK, if these come back 7 or better, might have some raw to offer as well.

Rofles · May 13, 2021 7:26AM

@bumpskier said:
Did anyone here take advantage of the 1971 PSA Special last year? I don't remember if it was the first quarter or the 2nd quarter of 2020 but it was I think 1971 Topps with a minimum of 25 for $7.10 each. I have a number of 1971"s I should have submitted but just didn't find the time and didn't realize it was such a great deal since i figured i could sub for around $8 per card in the future. Not expecting anything that good for the rest of 2021.

I had a batch of 109 ready to go, ready to send, until a super-volcano (my wife) erupted and, well, they’re still here. 😄

@Estil said:

Hey! You're not "just" a phone man! I mean, if it weren't for guys like you how could we talk on phones?

LOL true; but it’s a dying platform. I work on internet stuff too so, it’s not all that bad.

I have some 7’s from a recent sub; if you’re interested maybe we can work something out! Happy collecting!

Estil · May 13, 2021 8:09AM

Okay; but remember I only need PSA 7 HOFers or CLs. And the #1 World Champs card of course. I mean that's how I did my 1974-79 sets so I gotta be consistent. I actually got most of the 1973 key cards in PSA 7 (not the Schmidt obviously) but it's gonna be quite a challenge to find a near set/lot that's in the right condition though.

I guess for the right price and right group I guess I could get 1972 PSA 7's also but my dream is clearly the 1971's.

Estil · May 13, 2021 8:14AM

@Rofles said:

@Estil said:

Hey! You're not "just" a phone man! I mean, if it weren't for guys like you how could we talk on phones?

LOL true; but it’s a dying platform. I work on internet stuff too so, it’s not all that bad.

If it makes you feel any better I never liked smart phones because people can be so annoying with them and it's much easier to do Internet things on a desktop with a nice big (42") screen...perfect for reading my newspaper archive as well as vintage gaming magazines and such! If only there was a place I could download vintage Becketts and Baseball Cards Magazines and such... Not to mention all those confusing contracts/plans and such...how are you supposed to know which phone and which plan is the best?

Isn't it interesting how not too long ago a car/cell/smart phone was considered a luxury item, a status symbol? Nowadays it seems more of a luxury to be able to freely choose NOT to have one.

82FootballWaxMemorys · May 17, 2021 1:59PM

Over the years I've noticed PSA seem to be far more strict with 1971 Topps Baseball and to a lesser degree 1962 & 1985 Topps Football than 1970s/1980s O-Pee-Chee rough cuts and other Black Bordered sets like 1985 Donruss Baseball, 1984 Fleer V and 1978 Topps & O-Pee-Chee Jaws 2.

Totally incongruous if you ask me. Still as long as applied consistently without altering the standard {changing rules while game is in play} then I'm fine with it, however I do not feel that that is the case.

Of course the non-sports stuff I mentioned is low demand, low interest, low value, low PSA profit (or at least used to be) with slabbing in nearly all cases costing more than card would fetch in open market thus likely not going to same graders.

My personal and updated rule of thumb for 1971 Topps Baseball is:

10 - can't afford
9 as good as 10 ; cost way supersedes my desire
8 is good as 9 ; 8 was my old sweet spot
7 is good as 8 ; 7 current sweet spot
6 is good as 7 ; 6 future sweet spot?
5 is a good as 6 ; 5 starting to consider
4 or lower no interest.

Estil · May 17, 2021 9:17PM

Can't afford? I'm surprised PSA 10's of 1971 Topps even exist! I don't know if even Trump himself could afford a set of those...

gemint · May 18, 2021 7:27AM

@Estil said:
Can't afford? I'm surprised PSA 10's of 1971 Topps even exist! I don't know if even Trump himself could afford a set of those...

I once owned three PSA 10s that came with a graded partial set I purchased. I sold them all off. They were amazing. Near perfect centering, razor sharp corners under 10x magnification, clean surface, bold print. Here's one of them...

82FootballWaxMemorys · May 18, 2021 8:59AM

@gemint said:

@Estil said:
Can't afford? I'm surprised PSA 10's of 1971 Topps even exist! I don't know if even Trump himself could afford a set of those...

I once owned three PSA 10s that came with a graded partial set I purchased. I sold them all off. They were amazing. Near perfect centering, razor sharp corners under 10x magnification, clean surface, bold print. Here's one of them...

WOW that's nice

PaulMaul · May 19, 2021 7:19AM

@gemint said:

@Estil said:
Can't afford? I'm surprised PSA 10's of 1971 Topps even exist! I don't know if even Trump himself could afford a set of those...

I once owned three PSA 10s that came with a graded partial set I purchased. I sold them all off. They were amazing. Near perfect centering, razor sharp corners under 10x magnification, clean surface, bold print. Here's one of them...

I’d love to know when the last 1971 PSA 10 was awarded. Because every one I’ve ever seen was graded pre-2008.

Has 1971 Topps PSA 7's gone WAY up lately or is it just me? This is very discouraging... :(

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