1969-70 O-Pee-Chee Ab McDonald #18 St. Louis Blues (GD)

Description

1969-70 O-Pee-Chee Ab McDonald #18 St. Louis Blues (GD) A low-number, early-series St. Louis Blues collectible: Ab McDonald's 1969-70 O-Pee-Chee card #18, pulled from the opening series of O-Pee-Chee's 231-card 1969-70 NHL set. Low-number cards from 1969-70 OPC are notoriously difficult to find in high grade because they entered circulation first and spent the most time being shuffled, rubber-banded, flipped, and flipped again in kids' collections before the season even finished — and this well-travelled example is a classic case in point. Ab McDonald was one of the most respected veteran forwards of his era, a 6'2", 195-lb winger from St. Vital, Manitoba who played on Chicago's legendary "Scooter Line" with Stan Mikita and Kenny Wharram and won four Stanley Cup rings (three with Montreal in 1958-60 and one with Chicago in 1961) before being claimed by the expansion Blues in 1967. The unforgettable cartoon panel on the reverse celebrates a remarkable career footnote: "AB IS THE ONLY MAN IN THE N. H. L. TO HAVE PLAYED FOR SIX DIFFERENT TEAMS!" (bilingually rendered as "AB EST LE SEUL HOMME DE LA L. H. N. À AVOIR JOUÉ POUR SIX ÉQUIPES DIFFÉRENTES!") — Montreal, Chicago, Boston, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis all dressed Ab McDonald at one point, a true Original Six/early expansion journey man. The front of this 1969-70 O-Pee-Chee Ab McDonald #18 shows McDonald in the blue #20 Blues road sweater posed against the red arena boards, with the blue Wing position disc in the lower right, the red stick graphic down the right edge, and the circular Blues crest patch in the upper-left corner. The reverse features the classic O-Pee-Chee bilingual layout: player vitals (age 33, 6'2", 195 lbs, 13th pro season, St. Vital, Manitoba home town), the English bio noting Ab "is not the spectacular type, but is very dependable. Good checker and has a good shot. Soft-spoken and often underrated. He broke in with the Canadiens," the full French translation, the six-different-teams cartoon with referee graphic, the N. H. L. Record / Record dans la L. N. H. stat table through 1968-69, and the vertical © T. C. G. PRINTED IN CANADA line. This is a well-loved, honest childhood card carrying the wear of generations of handling. Corners: all four corners are heavily worn and rounded, with the top two showing the most pronounced rounding and the bottom corners slightly less so. Edges: the perimeter displays significant handling wear with minor chipping visible along the top and right borders. Surface: the most prominent defect is a distinct horizontal crease running across the photo area roughly through McDonald's chest/neck region, visible on the front and accounting for the bulk of the grade penalty; surface scuffing and a faint vertical wrinkle accompany this, and there is overall paper softening from decades of handling. Centering: the photo image is reasonably well-centered both horizontally and vertically, which gives the card decent eye appeal from a distance despite the wear. The bilingual back shows corresponding wear with corner creasing at the top-left, surface scuffs, and moderate staining/foxing, but the cartoon and stats remain fully legible; no tape, gum, or pencil writing is visible. This is a budget-friendly filler card for set builders or a young Blues fan starting a vintage collection. Grade Estimate: GD 2