1973-74 O-Pee-Chee Marshall Johnston #21 California Golden Seals Defense

Description

1973-74 O-Pee-Chee Marshall Johnston #21 California Golden Seals Defense Step into the colorful, cult-favorite world of the 1970s California Golden Seals with this vintage 1973-74 O-Pee-Chee Marshall Johnston #21 card, a sharp-looking single from one of the most beloved sets in hobby history. The 1973-74 O-Pee-Chee hockey release is famous for its bright red borders, deckled photo edges, and team-name banners, and this Marshall Johnston card shows the steady defenseman in the Seals green and gold with the GOLDEN SEALS pennant across the front. Johnston was far more than a fringe NHL defender, he was a University of Denver standout who the back cartoon ranks among the top players ever to come out of Denver University, a two-time Canadian National Team member who skated for Canada at both the 1964 Innsbruck and 1968 Grenoble Winter Olympics and earned a bronze medal in 1968. After turning pro he was voted the outstanding defenseman in the American League in 1970-71, a season that earned him a full-time NHL job when the Golden Seals purchased his contract. Johnston would go on to play for and later coach the Seals, making him a fascinating figure tied to one of hockey's most storied defunct franchises, the team remembered for white skates and some of the loudest uniforms in league history. The reverse is a Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual back, printed in Canada with both English and French text, his bio, the 1972-73 season record line, and a cartoon panel, rather than a puzzle back, and this copy carries the common darker gray stock. Reviewing the high-resolution scan, the card presents with light rounding and a touch of paper fuzz at all four corners, modest edge nicking and wear along the red perimeter with a slightly softer top edge, a front surface that is largely clean and free of creases, and roughly even centering that is slightly off toward the lower portion. The back is clean and unmarked. With no creases or major marks but obvious corner and edge handling wear typical of a red-bordered 1970s O-Pee-Chee card, a conservative raw grade of VG-EX 4 is the fair estimate, since red borders show every bit of chipping and a slab would likely land in the four range rather than higher. Grade Estimate: VG-EX 4