1969-70 O-Pee-Chee Gary Jarrett #85 Oakland Seals Raw (VG-EX 4)

Description

1969-70 O-Pee-Chee Gary Jarrett #85 Oakland Seals Raw (VG-EX 4) Card collectors chasing the short-printed, French/English 1969-70 O-Pee-Chee hockey set will want to look closely at this Gary Jarrett single, card #85 from the Oakland Seals portion of the checklist. The 1969-70 O-Pee-Chee issue is the Canadian counterpart to Topps' American release of the same year, sharing identical photography but distinguished by its bilingual cartoon-and-biography backs printed in Ottawa for the Canadian market, a detail collectors specifically hunt for over the Topps equivalent. Jarrett's card captures the winger in his green Seals sweater with the classic diagonal hockey-stick border design that makes the 1969-70 O-Pee-Chee set instantly recognizable. The reverse recounts a genuinely fun piece of hockey trivia: Jarrett got his "thrill of a lifetime" suiting up for Toronto at just eighteen years old, and the card notes the trades that sent him from the Maple Leafs organization through Detroit and ultimately to Oakland, where he was coming off his best offensive season to date with 45 points in 63 games during 1968-69. Jarrett was known around the league as one of the faster skaters of his era, and this card documents a solid, workmanlike NHL career during the tail end of the Original Six expansion period, when the Seals were still finding their footing in the new six-team Western Division. the front image shows generally sharp registration and vibrant green and red ink, with corner wear beginning to soften at the lower-left tip and light handling wear along the right edge consistent with sheet storage. Centering leans slightly toward the top but stays within acceptable bounds for the grade. No creases are visible on the front. The bilingual back shows a comparable level of wear, with a touch of edge roughness at the top and mild corner softening that matches the front. There is no evidence of writing, tape residue, or surface staining. Given the honest, moderate corner and edge wear with no creasing, this card grades conservatively in the VG-EX range, a nice mid-grade example for set builders who don't need pristine corners but want a clean, crease-free presentation. A good candidate for a vintage Seals or O-Pee-Chee team-set build. Grade Estimate: VG-EX 4