1971 Topps Questions

[deweyinthehall]

Having finally finished upgrading my 1971 Topps set, I thought I'd put a few questions our there to the community and see what comes back:

1) For those of you who remember opening these up in 1971, how often did they come out of the pack with some chipping already visible, and how hard was it to prevent once you had them in your hands, boxes, etc.?

2) Any idea why the 1971 wrappers seem to be rarer and more expensive than those of sets before and after? I've been looking on eBay for a while, and they rarely come up; when they do, like one that ended last night, they sell for more than $100. 1970s and others by contrast seem plentiful and far more affordable.

3) Finally - the Boots Day "variation" with the lights - Even on the version where the lights are said to be airbrushed out, you can clearly still make them out - much fainter, but the outline and a color contrast is still there. Isn't it more likely, since even on versions where they're fully visible they still appear as a grayish blue, this is a color registration variation in the printing process, rather than an attempt by Topps to delete them?

Thanks!