1969-70 O-Pee-Chee Doug Roberts #87 Rookie Card Oakland Seals G-VG 3

Description

1969-70 O-Pee-Chee Doug Roberts #87 Rookie Card Oakland Seals G-VG 3 Doug Roberts was the rare NHL player who turned down a legitimate football future for hockey, and this 1969-70 O-Pee-Chee card #87 is the piece of cardboard that made that story famous to a generation of Canadian kids. Born and raised in Detroit, Roberts became an All American at Michigan State before turning professional, and the bilingual reverse describes him as the versatile type who can play forward or defence while adding the wonderfully period detail that he sells insurance in the off season. The cartoon panel shows him spurning a football with the caption that Doug turned down a football career for hockey, translated directly into French beneath it. Roberts came up through the Detroit Red Wings system and landed with the Oakland Seals for 1968-69, where he appeared in 76 games and posted 20 points with 79 penalty minutes, and he would go on to play for the Boston Bruins during the Bobby Orr era before finishing his career back in Detroit. He is also part of one of hockey's better family footnotes as the older brother of Gordie Roberts, the first American-born player to reach 1,000 NHL games. This card is his first-year issue and it captures the Oakland Seals in the striking green and blue that has become a cult favourite among vintage collectors, and the defunct California franchise angle continues to drive steady demand for every Seals single from this set. The reverse is the classic teal and gold 1969-70 O-Pee-Chee layout with full English and French text printed in Canada. It is a bilingual back, not a puzzle back. this is the most heavily handled card on the sheet, with the front showing rounded and slightly frayed corners at all four points, noticeable white chipping along the top and right edges, gentle surface waviness across the green background and light scuffing in the upper portrait area, with centering running slightly low and left; the reverse is where the wear is most obvious, showing significant border chipping along the top edge, an abraded patch over the card number circle where the teal ink has lifted, softened corners and general surface toning of the gold biography box, though the English and French text and the full statistical lines remain readable throughout with no writing, tape or holes. A conservative raw grade estimate of G-VG 3 is the honest call here, as the structural integrity is intact and the card presents respectably at arm's length, but the number-area ink loss and cumulative edge wear prevent any argument for a higher assessment. Grade Estimate: VG 3