1971 O-Pee-Chee Basil Bark #119 Calgary Stampeders CFL

Description

1971 O-Pee-Chee Basil Bark #119 Calgary Stampeders CFL Collectors love cards that capture a player in transition, and this 1971 O-Pee-Chee Basil Bark issue does exactly that by showing him in a Calgary Stampeders jersey while his reverse biography explains his recent arrival from Montreal. Number 119 in the CFL set, the card features Bark in a red number 55 jersey, with the familiar red O-Pee-Chee border, white photo frame, and charging Stampeders mascot. The bilingual back identifies him as a non-import center listed at 6 feet 2 and 235 pounds and notes that he played his junior football with the N. D. G. Leafs. It also reports that Bark was obtained by Calgary in an offseason trade with Montreal in 1970 after five seasons with the Alouettes, four of them as the starting center, and that he earned E. F. C. All-Star recognition in 1968 and 1969. That combination of experience and accolades makes this card interesting beyond a common base card: it documents an established Canadian offensive lineman changing teams in a tough three-down league. Centers are often underrepresented in vintage sets, and Bark’s card offers a chance to highlight the interior line play that helped power CFL offenses of the era. For a Stampeders collector, it represents a new acquisition who was expected to anchor the middle of the offensive line. For a Montreal Alouettes historian, the biography also preserves a significant chapter of his career before the move west. This is the standard Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual English and French card back, printed in Canada, not a puzzle back. The front has minor corner softness, most notably at the top-right and bottom-left tips, with generally clean edges and only faint red-border wear; the photo is close to 50/50 top to bottom and sits slightly toward the right, while the reverse shows matching corner contact and no major staining, paper loss, creases, or writing. The image remains bold and free of serious flaws, though the tips are not sharp enough for the higher Excellent-Mint grade. A conservative EX 5 grade is appropriate because the card displays well and retains strong color, but the visible corner softness keeps it below EX-MT. This is a solid original example for a Calgary Stampeders team set, a vintage offensive-line collection, or anyone searching for 1971 O-Pee-Chee Basil Bark #119 Calgary Stampeders CFL. Grade Estimate: EX 5