1971 Topps Baseball: Vintage cards staying in strong demand

When it comes to the 1971 Topps Baseball set, there’s no doubt it’s loaded with legendary names, outstanding rookies and some best players to ever step foot onto the field. With that said recent sales have indicated that collector demand is still very much strong and here’s a closer look at those numbers.

RAW CARDS

1971 Topps Bill Lee Card No. #58 | https://ebay.us/m/P8GlXe

The ability to find and purchase cards from 1971 Topps in their raw and ungraded forms isn't as tall of a task as one might think although the conditions of these cards have a tendency to be "rough around the edges". With that said recent sales have price ranges vary from as low as $0.55 (a Bill Lee card that was sold on October 25th via eBay) to as high as high as $475 (a Willie Mays that was also sold on October 25th via eBay).

1971 Topps Willie Mays Card #600 | https://ebay.us/m/5SehpB

PSA 8s

1971 Topps Roy Foster Card #107 | https://ebay.us/m/qoqH3e

When it comes to PSA 8s (NM-MT) from 1971 Topps these are highly sought after because of their affordability and vast differentiation in population when to compared to the relatively common PSA 7 version of most of these cards. Recent sales have price ranges vary from as low as $15.50 (a Roy Foster card that was sold on October 22nd via eBay) to as high as high as $3,000 (a Nolan Ryan that was sold on August via eBay).

1971 Topps Nolan Ryan Card #513 | https://ebay.us/m/Phimrt

PSA 9s

1971 Topps Ron Hunt Card #578 PSA 9 | https://ebay.us/m/fFxJ7q

Given the fact that this set is known to be quite hard to not only grade but to grade well, any PSA 9 is considered a cornerstone for most collectors given their rarity and scarcity. Recent sales have price ranges vary from as low as $140 (a Ron Hunt card that was sold on August 19th via eBay) to as high as high as $9,299 (a Rod Carew that was sold on May 1 2024 via eBay).

1971 Topps Rod Carew #210 PSA 9 | app.cardladder.com/sales-history?sort=price&direction=desc&q=1971%20Topps%20Baseball%20"PSA%209"&saleId=ebay-355661348681

PSA 10s

When it comes to the PSA 10 cards from 1971 Topps Baseball, terms such as "Ultra-Scarcity" and "Super Rare" are at the forefront of this particular grading level and that's because only 258 PSA 10s from that year and set exist. Within the last decade or so sale price ranges have varied from as fairly low as $1,865 (a Ted Simmons via SCP that was sold on May 12 2012) to as high as an eye-opening $138,000 (which was a Bert Blylevin PSA 10 sold via Heritage on January 28 2022).

1971 Topps Bert Blyleven Card #26 PSA 10 | https://www.psacard.com/priceguide/baseball-card-values/1971-topps/1229

From a hobby perspective, the 1971 Topps Baseball set is by far one of the best sets of the early 1970s. This set captures the importance of card quality, which has been clearly seen in the sale of its cards that reached pristine conditions (PSA 9s & PSA 10s). While it’s not solely about the monetary value of each card, the true appeal lies in the scarcity of not just finding a 1971 Topps card is good condition out in the wild, but also having it grade out as a PSA 8, PSA 9, or even a PSA 10.