1976 was a pretty exciting year. The American bi-centennial. A presidential election. The Olympics. A little company opened its doors and 37 years later it’s safe to say Apple Computers did pretty well. Baseball card collecting was still primarily thought of as a kids hobby. There were conventions attended by adults but it would be another couple of years before the hobby went mainstream. Topps was still the only game in town (well, unless you count the one-and-done 1976 SSPC ‘Pure Card’ set that wasn’t available in bubble gum packs). Their ’76 set included everything from Father/Son cards to Hank Aaron’s last card to Dennis Eckersley’s first to the Kurt Bevacqua bubble gum blowing champion card. It’s a crisp, fairly understated set that’s a favorite of those who collect graded material because it’s still within the reach of average collectors. This week, we’ve blasted eBay with dozens of PSA 8, 9 and 10 graded 1976 Topps cards that are up for bid right now. If you’ve ever wanted some nice cards from this issue—or if you’re building a high quality complete set—this is not the week to swear off buying! We have several PSA 10 copies including one of Hall of Famer Robin Yount, who was barely 20 years old. There’s a PSA 9 of the guy who defined hitting in the 1970s, Rod Carew. We have some extremely low pop commons and minor stars that are attracting a lot of attention and we’ve got some basic stars and commons that will put a dent in your want list. We start everything at 99 cents and yes, with just a few days to go in the auction, we still have some ‘76s, including leader cards featuring Hall of Famers, that either have no bids—or just the opener. Considering what it costs just to have cards graded, we think it’s worth at least placing a bid on some of those high grade beauties.
