1970 Topps Baseball

 Topps' grey border 1970 set was a dramatic departure from the previous several years' design. Topps increased its set size from 660 to 720, adding popular Playoff and World Series subsets. As in past years, the High Number series is in much shorter supply than the remainder of the set.

1971 Topps Baseball

 1971 Topps are among the toughest cards to find in grade during the past 40 years due to the daunting black borders. The set was issued in six series with about half the cards in the final series being "single printed." However, these "black beauties" are most notable for their difficult condition. The set features the rookie cards of Steve Garvey, Dave Concepcion, Bert Blyleven and Dusty Baker.

1972 Topps Baseball

 This popular set is Topps tribute to the psychedlic era of the early 70's. Difficult in length, the abundance of stars and those tough high numbers make this set a challenge to complete. The design of the set is very unique due to its art deco lettering and a significant amount of seemingly dramatic head shots. The subset for this set make it a collectors favorite  and the high numbers are fairly scarce.

1973 Topps Baseball

 The last Topps issue distributed in "series" and the first of several consecutive 660 card sets, the 1973 Topps Baseball set reversed the creativity of the 1972 set with a conservative design. The cardboard stock used for the 1973 Topps Baseball was of poorer quality than those directly before or since, making the set much more prone to corner wear. The set contains the rookie cards of HOFer Mike Schmidt, plus the initial appearances of Bob Boone, Rich Gossage, and Dwight Evans. The set is also notable for the final appearance of Willie Mays, in a Mets uniform no less.

1974 Topps Baseball

 The 1974 Topps Baseball set was the first release by Topps issued all at once at the beginning of the year, rather than in series throughout the year. The change over allowed Topps to market the first ever "factory sets," sold in colorful boxes through retail outlets such has JC Penny. The set was comprised of 660 cards, with an additional 17 variation cards, making the total set 677 cards. Famous among the variations were the Washington Nat'l players - Topps believed the San Diego Padres were moving to Washington and printed 15 players with this designation before correcting the issue. The key rookie cards in the set are HOFer Dave Winfield, and stars Dave Parker, Ken Griffey and Bill Madlock.

1975 Topps Baseball

 Topps broke with tradition in 1975 issuing a multi-color classic that has recently started to catch on with collectors due to the difficulty in finding high grade examples. The 660 card set features the previous 25 years of MVPs, a subset which features three Mantles, three Berras and several other long-retired HOFers. The key rookies of course are George Brett and Robin Yount, but the Rookie Star subset also contains many other star rookies such as Fred Lynn, Gary Carter, Jim Rice and Keith Hernandez.

1975 Topps Baseball Mini

This popular set was sold on a very limited basis in Michigan and on the West Coast. The cards are approximately 20% smaller than the regular issue cards, and sell for about a 50% premium over the regular 1975 Topps baseball issue. High grade examples of key cards Brett, Young, and Ryan are highly sought.

1976 Topps Baseball

 This standard sized 660 card set was released by Topps in 1976. The photos on the card fronts are sharper and better quality than the previous few issues. The set features the rookie cards of Dennis Eckersley and Ron Guidry, plus the 2nd year cards of Brett and Yount.

1977 Topps Baseball

 The 1977 Topps set is a 660 card set featuring front designs dominated by a large color photo. The set contains subsets such as "Turn Back the Clock" and "Big League Brothers" as well as World Series highlights from the Big Red sweep of the Yankees. The key rookie card in the set is Andre Dawson, but popular players such as Dale Murphy and Lee Mazzilli make their first appearances as well.

1978 Topps Baseball

 Topps increased its set size to 726 cards in 1978, the largest set in six years. The design is again dominated by a color photo, with less obtrusive borders. The set features the rookies of future HOFer Paul Molitor, and HOFer Eddie Murray, along with a trio of Tigers Jack Morris, Alan Trammell, and Lou Whitaker.

1979 Topps Baseball

 Topps 1979 Baseball set remained at 726 cards with a design that was very similar to the previous year. For the first time since 1972, rookies were arranged by team - rather than position - on cards titled "Prospects." The key rookie in the set is HOFer Ozzie Smith, a card which is typically found with very poor centering.