1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Mickey Redmond #99 Detroit Red Wings

Description

1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Mickey Redmond #99 Detroit Red Wings Before he became the voice of Red Wings hockey on Detroit television for decades, Mickey Redmond was the player the whole building waited to see, and this 1972 O-Pee-Chee Mickey Redmond #99 captures the slugger on the very eve of history. The beaming portrait against the green backdrop shows a young winger brimming with confidence, and the back bio highlights the powerful slapshot and playmaking touch that made him one of the most dangerous shooters on the roster, while noting with a smile that his father played professional hockey too. In the season this card heralded, Redmond exploded for 52 goals, becoming the first player in Detroit franchise history to reach the 50-goal plateau, a milestone that cemented his name in Red Wings lore forever. Arriving in Motown through the famous January 1971 trade with Montreal, he paired beautifully with the team's young stars and later parlayed his charisma into a beloved broadcasting career, which keeps his cards in steady demand among collectors who grew up hearing his voice on every Detroit broadcast. The card is part of the 340-card 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee set with its signature tan woodgrain border, yellow name banner and circular winged wheel crest. The reverse is the genuine Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual back with the English and French text side by side, the cartoon panel and the career record table, unmistakably the Canadian OPC issue rather than the American Topps printing, and it is not a puzzle back. the front is centered at a clean 50/50, the corners stay sharp with only a faint touch at the bottom left, the edges show minor wear consistent with careful handling, and the glossy surface is free of creases, wrinkles and print marks, while the bilingual back is clean with bold orange ink and no staining. Applying my conservative raw grading standard, that faint corner touch holds the card at EX 5 rather than EX-MT, an honest assessment for a card of the first 50-goal Red Wing that remains remarkably affordable given his fame. Grade Estimate: EX 5