1972-73 O-Pee-Chee St. Louis Blues #15 Team Logo Insert NHL

Description

1972-73 O-Pee-Chee St. Louis Blues #15 Team Logo Insert NHL The 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee St. Louis Blues #15 Team Logo Insert NHL showcases the original blue musical note with sweeping gold wing, a design that looks as dynamic today as it did during the franchise’s first decade. The logo dominates the cream card face and remains fully seated in its die-cut surround, giving collectors the complete object that originally emerged from an O-Pee-Chee wax pack. Team Logo inserts were distributed with the third series in 1972-73, bringing together NHL and WHA insignia in a 30-card checklist. No number appears on the physical card, but #15 is the recognized checklist reference for St. Louis. The Blues were part of the NHL’s transformative 1967 expansion and became the most immediately successful of the six new clubs, reaching the Stanley Cup Final in each of their first three seasons. Although they faced powerful Original Six opponents in those series, the runs established the Blues as a serious hockey identity almost overnight. By the early 1970s, names such as Barclay Plager, Garry Unger, and Red Berenson were closely connected to the club, while the note logo and distinctive blue and gold palette became fixtures at the St. Louis Arena. The franchise eventually captured its long-awaited first Stanley Cup in 2019, giving the emblem an even broader history that links the expansion years to modern triumph. This insert reflects O-Pee-Chee’s inventive approach to pack premiums. The musical note was cut so it could be pushed free and displayed, but it remains intact on this example. The back is plain brown adhesive-style stock, and the irregular cut line follows the note and wing from behind. It is not a Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual statistical back and it is not a puzzle back. The card retains vivid blue and warm gold printing, with the outer corners generally square but lightly softened from age. Edge wear is modest, although the left edge shows mild roughness and the large logo is printed close to that side. Small white surface-loss spots appear in the gold upper wing and in several blue areas, with additional tiny coloured specks scattered through the design. The visible line that follows the wing, neck, and circular note is the intended die-cut rather than a random crease. No separate full-card crease is obvious in the scans, and the plain reverse has even toning with the complete die-cut shape visible. Centering is shifted left because the wing nearly reaches the left border, while more open cream space remains on the right. A conservative EX 5 estimate accounts for that alignment, scattered print or paper loss, and light corner and edge wear. The strong colour and complete push-out still produce excellent display appeal for a vintage Blues collection. Grade Estimate: EX 5