1970 O-Pee-Chee Greg Pipes #52 Bilingual Back Edmonton Eskimos CFL EX 5

Description

1970 O-Pee-Chee Greg Pipes #52 Bilingual Back Edmonton Eskimos CFL EX 5 Among the most formidable defensive linemen ever to terrorize CFL offences, the star of this 1970 O-Pee-Chee Greg Pipes card has quietly become one of the most pursued singles of the entire 115-card set. The photograph catches Pipes in a wide, coiled stance that telegraphs the explosiveness which made him an All-American at Baylor University and a genuine NFL draft prospect of the Buffalo Bills before he chose the Canadian game. For collectors, the 1970 O-Pee-Chee CFL release remains the definitive vintage portrait of the league, and the Pipes card is its Eskimos highlight. Pipes' accolades read like a hall of fame ballot: selection to the 1967 College Football All-America Team, appearances in both the Hula Bowl and the Senior Bowl in 1968, the very feats celebrated in the cartoon panel on the reverse, and in 1970 the DeMarco-Becket Memorial Trophy as the best lineman in the Western Division alongside CFL All-Star honours. Baylor inducted him into its Hall of Fame in 1986, and his five seasons with Edmonton from 1968 to 1972 remain a benchmark for import defensive linemen. Few cards in the set carry this density of achievement on a single reverse. As with every card in the issue, the back is a true Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual back rather than a puzzle back, with English and French biographies, the green cartoon vignette, and the PRINTED IN CANADA imprint, making original, unpainted examples increasingly difficult to locate in the raw market. this is the finer of our two Pipes singles, displaying corners that remain impressively sharp for the issue with only minute tip wear, minimal edge chipping confined to a few faint spots on the left border, glossy and clean surfaces without creases, wrinkles, or print defects, and centering that falls at approximately 55/45 horizontally with a well-balanced reverse whose black field shows only the lightest corner rub. We conservatively call it EX 5, though a strict eye could argue for more, and it represents outstanding raw value in a card whose graded examples command a significant premium. With graded copies of the Pipes card continuing to climb in value, raw examples with this level of eye appeal represent one of the smarter value plays in the entire 1970 O-Pee-Chee CFL checklist, especially for collectors who prefer to buy the player rather than the plastic case. Original, unenhanced examples with this kind of honest eye appeal are becoming harder to find with every passing season. Grade Estimate: EX 5