1971 O-Pee-Chee Ed Ulmer #28 2nd Year Card Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Description

1971 O-Pee-Chee Ed Ulmer #28 2nd Year Card Winnipeg Blue Bombers The 1971 O-Pee-Chee CFL set is full of characters, but few card backs capture a player's personality as well as Ed Ulmer's, which opens with the old coaching line that as Ed goes, so go the Bombers. This 1971 O-Pee-Chee Ed Ulmer #28 2nd Year Card Winnipeg Blue Bombers issue follows his 1970 card and celebrates a veteran import defensive halfback from the University of Detroit who had already spent eight seasons in the Blue and Gold, an eternity in Canadian football. Ulmer's value to Winnipeg went far beyond the secondary, since he doubled as a kicker and punter, and the card back describes him as the player who keeps the squad loose both on and off the field, the kind of clubhouse leader whose card tells you more than any stat line ever could. He played in the era when American imports dominated the skill positions and the best of them, like Ulmer, became adopted sons of the prairies, and his 1970 and 1971 O-Pee-Chee pairing gives collectors a tidy two card story to complete. The card design is the handsome 1971 O-Pee-Chee package, a bold red border with the player name in white caps, a framed colour photograph, the football graphic, and Winnipeg Blue Bombers set in the heavy serif type that fans of the series immediately recognize. The photo catches Ulmer in a classic head and shoulders pose with the winged W patch prominent and the intense squint of a defensive back staring into the summer light, and the overall print quality, paper stock, and colour registration are all characteristic of the series. It is the kind of card that looks great on a page of red bordered Bomber issues. examined through the protective sleeve, this copy shows the most wear of the nine cards in the group, beginning with a visible crease and fold at the top-left corner where the paper has been worked, some associated rounding, a whitish scuff midway down the left edge, and modest wear and slight colour loss at the bottom-left corner, while the centering is roughly 50/50 top to bottom and about 45/55 left to right, with the photo frame sitting slightly toward the left. The remaining corners are decent and the surface of the photo area is otherwise clean, but the corner crease is the defining flaw and it is visible from the front. The back is the Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual back with English and French text on the tan cardboard, and it is not a puzzle back, as this year's reverse uses the cartoon and biography format with the © O-PEE-CHEE and PRINTED IN CANADA line. A conservative raw grade lands in the VG-EX range, and this card is priced accordingly as an honest, filler friendly upgrade candidate for a set builder who wants the Ulmer slot filled. Grade Estimate: VG-EX 4