1973-74 O-Pee-Chee Ken Hodge #26 Light Back Boston Bruins

Description

1973-74 O-Pee-Chee Ken Hodge #26 Light Back Boston Bruins Here is the harder half of the pair for stock-variation collectors: the 1973-74 O-Pee-Chee Ken Hodge #26 Light Back Boston Bruins card, printed on the tan paper stock rather than the grey. O-Pee-Chee alternated two paper types during the 1973-74 print run, with the darker grey stock dominating the first series that contains card number twenty-six, which makes clean tan-stock examples of low-numbered cards a genuinely rewarding find for anyone chasing both versions. Set builders who care about consistency across a binder page will recognize immediately why this copy is worth owning on its own terms. The front is the classic design collectors know, a red-bordered action shot of Hodge in the black Boston road sweater fighting through traffic in front of the St. Louis net, with the green BRUINS banner and his yellow nameplate along the bottom. Hodge arrived in Boston in the celebrated 1967 trade that also delivered Phil Esposito and Fred Stanfield from Chicago, and he spent the next decade as the power forward on Esposito's right side during the Big Bad Bruins era. The bilingual English and French card back highlights that he still held single-season records for most assists and most points by a right wing, and lists his 1972-73 production as 73 games, 37 goals, 44 assists, 81 points and 58 penalty minutes. Hodge twice reached 100 points, was a two-time Stanley Cup champion in 1970 and 1972 alongside Bobby Orr, and is remembered as the rare complementary winger whose numbers stood as league benchmarks for years. The cartoon panel notes he was the only NHL player born in England at the time, a fact that gives the card cross-appeal beyond the usual Bruins collector base. This copy is on the light tan paper stock and carries a true Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual back, with the French text set beneath the English biography, the caption "Ken est le seul natif d'Angleterre dans la L. N. H." under the cartoon and "PRINTED IN CANADA" at the lower right; the set has no puzzle backs. Presentation on this copy is a step up from the grey-stock example. Corners are noticeably crisper, with only light fuzzing at the upper left and a small touch of wear at the lower right, while the remaining corners are close to sharp. Edges are clean along the left and bottom with only very fine chipping along the top edge. Centering measures approximately 50/50 left to right and roughly 55/45 top to bottom, which is a strong result for this issue and gives the card excellent shelf presence. The photo surface is clean with even gloss, and inspection under angled light reveals no creases, no wrinkles, no bends and no scratches. The tan reverse is bright and legible with even light toning, no writing, no gum staining and no tape residue. Grade Estimate: EX-MT 6