1971 Topps #553 Kevin Collins
About Kevin Collins
Collins appeared in 25 games for the 1970 Tigers and batted .208 in 24 at-bats. His only game in the field that year came at first base, his only career game there. In 1971 he batted .268 in 41 at-bats, the highest average of his major-league career. His 1971 Topps card is #553, from the fifth print series, and shows him with the Tigers.
Kevin Collins was a Massachusetts-born infielder who signed with the New York Mets as an amateur free agent in 1964, straight out of Springfield Tech High School, where the left-handed-hitting shortstop led his club to two Western Massachusetts championships. He was 17 when he signed, and the first-year roster rules of the era pushed him onto the big-league club the following spring. A ruptured shoulder muscle suffered while warming up at Candlestick Park in April 1965 required surgery and delayed his debut until September. Collins spent parts of four seasons in New York, mostly at third base and second base. In June 1968 he collected three doubles in three at-bats off Juan Marichal, and that August in Houston a hard slide by Doug Rader broke his jaw and touched off a bench-clearing brawl. Traded to the Montreal Expos in June 1969 in the package that brought Donn Clendenon to the Mets, he gave the Expos their first pinch-hit home run, a three-run shot off Jim Bunning. His major-league career ended with the Detroit Tigers in 1970 and 1971, when he worked mainly as a pinch hitter and roomed with Gates Brown. He played in the minors until 1974, then retired for the automotive supply business. He batted .209 with 6 home runs over 201 games.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · BaseballCardPedia
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 324 | 0 | 12 | 136 | 141 | 27 | 6 | 2 | 0 |
| SGC | 12 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-10-19. Half grades fold down for both graders (8.5→8); PSA qualified slabs (OC, ST, PD, MC and the like) are not counted.
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Related cards
Team card: #336 Detroit Tigers
More Detroit Tigers cards:
- #3 Dick McAuliffe
- #39 Tigers 1971 Rookie Stars
- #71 1970 American League Strikeout Leaders
- #86 Mike Kilkenny
- #101 Les Cain
- #120 Willie Horton
- #133 Mickey Lolich
- #154 Cesar Gutierrez
- #180 Al Kaline
- #208 Billy Martin
- #229 Jim Hannan
- #265 Jim Northrup
- #296 Tom Timmermann
- #316 Fred Scherman
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1971 Topps #553 card?
It is card #553 of the 752-card 1971 Topps Baseball set, picturing Kevin Collins of the Detroit Tigers.
How many cards are in the 1971 Topps Baseball set?
752 cards, tracked as 761 collectible states. Numbers run from 1 to 752 with none skipped, issued in six print series (132/131/130/130/120/109 cards), the sixth (#644-752) the high numbers; seven cards carry catalogued print variations that the master set counts separately - the #42, #265 and #306 photo pairs and the #123, #206, #369 and #619 checklists, #369 and #619 in three printings each.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA (its price guide, master set registry and set article), BaseballCardPedia, Cardboard Connection, Baseball Almanac, Baseball-Reference, the SABR BioProject and the National Baseball Hall of Fame, PSA & SGC population reports. Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-10-25.