The 1971 Topps "Black Betty" set is arguably the most condition-sensitive set Topps has ever produced. Featuring full-color photos on black borders the card edges are subject to chipping the lightest of which causes severe damage to corners and edges. Assembling a high-grade collection of 1971 Topps is known to be a frustrating and difficult venture and obtaining raw cards in hopes of self-submitting for high grades is a dangerous proposition due to the number of trimmed and recolored cards out there "doctors" attempting to deceive unwitting buyers.Presented here is a 1971 Topps set compiled before the advent of grading closer to the date of issue. This is a special set. While technical grades might result in this set not grading out as NM-MT it is a remarkably consistent set with very few creases and very bold images. While some cards do grade lower for the most part the flaws are restricted to the aforementioned chipping turning an EX/MT card into a VG/EX card with the flick of a finger. While there are a few beaters in the group the majority present extraordinarily well despite the technical grade. This is an outstanding midgrade set. For the collector who wishes to assemble an attractive ungraded 1971 Topps set this is an excellent starting point that will leave a collector with an excellent head start with a much smaller number of upgrades required to complete a set with minimal chipping and no creasing. Approximately 8% of this set grades out at EX/MT or better 19% EX 27% VG/EX 30% VG 13% G and 3% lesser. A breakdown of the set"s keys are as follows:Munson VG/EX Jackson (HOF) VG Blyleven (HOF) EX Niekro (HOF) EX Hunter (HOF) VG/EX McCovey (HOF) EX/MT Carlton (HOF) EX Lemon (HOF) VG/EX Rose EX Mazeroski (HOF) EX/MT Perry (HOF) VG Seaver (HOF) EX Kaline (HOF) EX Carew (HOF) VG/EX Stargell (HOF) VG Schoendienst (HOF) EX Wilhelm (HOF) VG - off center Bench (HOF) EX/MT Morgan (HOF) VG/EX Jenkins (HOF) VG B. Robinson (HOF) VG/EX Marichal (HOF) VG Garvey (HOF) VG/EX B. Williams (HOF) VG Sutton (HOF) EX T. Williams (HOF) VG Fingers (HOF) F Aaron (HOF) EX Gibson (HOF) VG/EX Ryan (HOF) G Banks (HOF) G Yastrzemski (HOF) VG/EX Killebrew (HOF) VG/EX Alston (HOF) G Palmer (HOF) G Bunning (HOF) VG/EX Perez (HOF) VG/EX Mays (HOF) EX Cepeda (HOF) EX Durocher (HOF) VG Brock (HOF) VG/EX Clemente (HOF) G F. Robinson (HOF) VG/EX Anderson (HOF) VG Baker/Baylor RC G Aparicio (HOF) VG.