1969-70 O-Pee-Chee Ray Cullen #130 Minnesota North Stars EX 5

Description

1969-70 O-Pee-Chee Ray Cullen #130 Minnesota North Stars EX 5 The 1969-70 O-Pee-Chee Ray Cullen #130 Minnesota North Stars EX 5 card presents a colourful piece of early franchise history from Minnesota’s third NHL season. Cullen is shown in the North Stars’ original green uniform with orange and white trim, wearing number 7 and holding his stick in a traditional posed photograph. The green North Stars emblem, large red team lettering, black skate illustration and red center circle give the card immediate vintage appeal. Ray Cullen was part of one of hockey’s notable family stories. His brothers Brian Cullen and Barry Cullen also reached the NHL, making the Cullens a well-known Ontario hockey family. Ray developed into a productive minor league scorer before joining the Vancouver Canucks of the Western Hockey League, where his offensive ability helped earn him an NHL opportunity. He played for the New York Rangers and Detroit Red Wings before becoming an important member of the expansion Minnesota North Stars. Cullen enjoyed the finest NHL season of his career in 1968-69, recording 26 goals, 38 assists and 64 points in 67 games. Those statistics appear on this card’s reverse and provide a particularly strong historical connection between the collectible and the season it documents. His 64-point performance made him one of Minnesota’s leading offensive contributors at a formative stage in team history. The reverse also includes the original stamp box, an entertaining period feature inviting collectors to place a Ray Cullen stamp on the card. This is a Canadian O-Pee-Chee release with English and French biography text, bilingual statistical headings and Canadian printing information. It is a regular biography, statistics and stamp-box back, not a puzzle back. The card has moderately softened corners, with rounding most visible at the lower-left and lower-right. The cream border exhibits age toning, tiny dark specks and light chipping along the outer edges. A small amount of roughness is visible near the bottom border, while the right edge beside the skate design shows normal handling wear. Centering is reasonably attractive from left to right, although the image sits slightly high and the border proportions are not perfectly even. The front colours remain rich, and the central photograph has good clarity. Light surface lines and minor marks can be seen, but the protective sleeve may account for some reflections or scratches. No definite major crease is apparent in the supplied images. The reverse has corner wear, mild edge abrasions and general age discolouration while retaining a strong blue background and fully legible text. A conservative EX 5 estimate recognizes the card’s appealing presentation, complete back and lack of an obvious major crease while allowing for corner softness, edge wear and surface uncertainty. This is a raw, ungraded card assessed from photographs, so the estimate is not a guaranteed professional grade. Grade Estimate: EX 5