1970 O-Pee-Chee Doug Strong #68 Rookie Card Winnipeg Blue Bombers CFL EX-MT 6

Description

1970 O-Pee-Chee Doug Strong #68 Rookie Card Winnipeg Blue Bombers CFL EX-MT 6 Rookie cards of two way Canadian athletes do not usually surface in this kind of shape, which is why the 1970 O-Pee-Chee Doug Strong #68, the finest card on this sheet, deserves special attention from Winnipeg Blue Bombers and vintage CFL collectors. The 1970 O-Pee-Chee CFL issue consisted of only 115 cards, printed in Canada with a design adapted from the 1969 Topps NFL series, and the reverse is the classic Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual back, printed in English and French on black stock with the green cartoon panel and the PRINTED IN CANADA imprint, and it is not a puzzle back. Strong's bilingual biography identifies the NON-IMPORT defensive halfback at 5 feet 11 inches and 190 pounds out of Waterloo Lutheran University, the Ontario school now celebrated as Wilfrid Laurier, and notes that in his standout rookie season Doug was a key factor in the Bomber defensive corps, while the French text recounts how the Canadian made an immediate impression during his first campaign on the prairies. The green cartoon panel closes with the most lovable line on the entire checklist, revealing that Doug is a good hockey player, a perfect snapshot of the multi sport Canadian athlete of the era. Because no CFL card sets were produced in 1969, the season in which he announced himself, this 1970 O-Pee-Chee Doug Strong #68 rookie card stands as the true cardboard debut for the former Golden Hawks standout, giving it genuine first card status alongside his Winnipeg teammates Peter Francis and Chuck Harrison in the young Canadian core of a roster rebuilding after the Grey Cup dynasty of 1958, 1959, 1961 and 1962. Defensive halfbacks who shut down the wide open CFL passing games of the early 1970s rarely got their due, and surviving copies of their cards in high grade are becoming the quiet winners of the vintage regional market. this copy displays sharp corner tips with only the faintest touches, clean edges free of chipping, a bright and glossy photo surface with no creases, wrinkles or stains, strong and appealing centering, and a deep black bilingual reverse with crisp white lettering and no writing, marking or toning of concern. Against conservative raw grading standards this is the kind of example that makes collectors double check the corners twice, and it would stand proudly in any Bombers team set without embarrassment. Collectors searching a 1970 O-Pee-Chee Doug Strong #68 rookie card will not often find one this clean at this price point. Grade Estimate: EX-MT 6