FT: Big Starter Lot of 1971 Topps

[JollyElm]

Okay, this is more than likely going to be a long and meandering post, so bear with me...

In the back of my mind, I was planning on trying to complete a second 1971 Topps set in pretty nice shape, but as anyone who has dealt with these black bordered cards knows, it takes a ridiculous amount of effort to get there. As I always say, you look at one of these cards the wrong way and the corners will round and turn white right before your very eyes. Just going through my stacks of cards to create this post was a nightmare. The fear of causing edge damage is with you at all times, but here we are.

Whenever a collector thinks of piles of 1971s, the image in their mind is of black cards with rounded white corners and eroded borders. What I have here is a box of 334 different cards that is a step above that. Nothing worthy of grading (although that statement in itself is ridiculous, as you can grade cards in whatever shape you want, but I digress), but pretty nice overall.

Here are the numbers:
1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 19, 21, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 31, 32, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 44, 46, 48, 49, 51, 52, 53, 57, 58, 59, 60, 73, 74, 75, 76, 80, 81, 82, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 92, 94, 95, 97, 98, 101, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 114, 115, 119, 121, 122, 124, 125, 126, 127, 129, 130, 132, 134, 136, 137, 141, 142, 144, 145, 147, 151, 153, 155, 158, 159, 164, 166, 169, 170, 171, 173, 174, 176, 178, 179, 181, 183, 185, 186, 187, 188, 191, 192, 194, 197, 198, 199, 200, 207, 208, 209, 212, 213, 215, 216, 218, 219, 222, 223, 224, 225, 228, 229, 233, 234, 236, 238, 241, 242, 244, 245, 248, 252, 257, 258, 259, 266, 267, 268, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279, 280, 281, 285, 287, 288, 289, 293, 296, 297, 298, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 309, 311, 312, 314, 315, 316, 317, 319, 320, 323, 324, 325, 326, 327, 329, 330, 331, 332, 333, 335, 337, 338, 339, 340, 342, 345, 346, 347, 348, 350, 351, 352, 353, 354, 356, 357, 358, 359, 360, 361, 362, 363, 364, 366, 371, 373, 375, 376, 377, 378, 381, 382, 383, 384, 385, 387, 388, 390, 391, 393, 396, 397, 398, 399, 404, 406, 408, 409, 412, 414, 415, 417, 418, 426, 427, 428, 429, 431, 432, 433, 434, 436, 438, 443, 444, 446, 448, 449, 452, 455, 456, 457, 458, 459, 461, 463, 464, 465, 468, 471, 472, 473, 477, 479, 480, 481, 482, 485, 486, 488, 489, 490, 492, 493, 500, 508, 510, 512, 515, 516, 517, 518, 519, 522, 526, 534, 540, 541, 542, 553, 554, 557, 558, 563, 566, 569, 577, 578, 579, 587, 604, 606, 613, 616, 617, 619, 620, 622, 627, 628, 632, 633, 634, 639, 663, 705, 721

Let's start the photo roll out (with semi-random starting points)...












There are only three high numbers so far:



Some basic facts:
• Centering is all over the place. Just assume every card is O/C.
• There are scant few stars and HOF'ers - Mazeroski, Wilhelm (basically miscut), Jenkins, Marichal, Williams, Sutton, Fingers, Weaver, and only three high numbers.
• There's not too much white damage across the lot...or, more specifically, it's not obnoxious. A card here and there is worse, but it's a pretty consistent grouping.
• The usual surface anomalies found in any stack of cards will be present, like the occasional ink bubble or tiny 'groove,' etc. There is definitely wax/gum residue on a bunch of the card fronts. It could be easily removed by panty hose. There may be wax on some backs, too. Not sure.
• A card here and there may have a slight bend. Not a crease that breaks the surface, but a bend seen when tilted in the light. I believe I removed any cards with blatant creases (and added them to the 'rough' stack referenced below).
• More pictures are in my bucket in my new album called '1971 Starter Set.'


But if you're trying to put together a complete set, it gets somewhat better. I also have an additional 126 really rough cards (with different numbers than the ones above). Every single one of these has the usual slew of 1971 problems - creases, rounded corners, gouges, tape, writing, paper loss, etc. - infecting them. Although a card here and there may be relatively close to the condition of the cards above, just assume every single one is awful, and they are nothing but place fillers.


Here are the 'awful' card numbers:
8, 12, 15, 17, 22, 33, 43, 56, 62, 63, 69, 77, 79, 83, 93, 99, 106, 116, 120, 128, 131, 133, 135, 148, 149, 152, 156, 162, 168, 172, 182, 184, 193, 195, 196, 205, 211, 214, 221, 226, 232, 240, 242, 247, 249, 251, 253, 256, 260, 262, 263, 269, 284, 286, 291, 292, 294, 307, 310, 313, 318, 321, 334, 336, 372, 374, 389, 392, 394, 403, 407, 410, 413, 421, 424, 440, 442, 451, 453, 466, 470, 478, 491, 495, 497, 498, 521, 523, 546, 549, 564, 575, 598, 607, 608, 610, 614, 615, 618, 624, 626, 631, 636, 638, 641, 643, 645, 646, 651, 652, 653, 664, 674, 681, 683, 684, 689, 692, 698, 701, 707, 724, 727, 729, 749, 750









There are quite a few high numbers: (There is only one of each. Any duplication was an error in my picture taking.)





And a bunch of rough HOFs:
20 (Jackson), 45 (Hunter), 55 (Carlton), 61 (AL Batting Leaders), 72 (NL Strikeout Leaders), 180 (Kaline), 210 (Carew), 220 (Santo), 450 (Gibson), 574 (Bunning)



So, overall there are 334 nicer cards, 126 awful cards and 10 rough cards picturing Hall of Famers. That amounts to 470 different cards, or slightly more than 62% of the set.

What am I looking for in return? Who the heck knows. I haven't placed a dollar trade value on the lot, because how in heck would I be able to arrive at that number with so many factors involved? Yowza. I would prefer to trade for something pretty nice/relatively valuable, maybe a graded card or two?


I am particularly interested in these:
• HOF'ers in nice shape from the 50's and 60's (preferably graded, but open to cards in their natural state)
• Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Mickey Mantle, Sandy Koufax, Jackie Robinson, Ted Williams, Roberto Clemente, Babe Ruth and Nolan Ryan cards
• 1971 Topps Greatest Moments
• Tough to find errors and variations from the 50's through the early 70's
• 1964 Topps Stand-Ups (need virtually any in nice shape)
• 1961-67 Topps high numbers and SP's
• 1963 Fleer BB stars and HOF'ers in nice shape
• 1967 Laughlin World Series (with address on back) in high grade
• Major HOFer rookie cards
• 1954 Bowman BB stars and HOF'ers in nice shape
• 1954 Red Heart BB (need virtually any in nice shape)
• 1968 Milton Bradley HOF'ers
• And who knows what else?

There are a few different possible scenarios. You may want all of the cards, or just the nicer lot, or whatever other combinations exist. If you're interested, give me a shout and let's talk.