1971 O-Pee-Chee Fred James #127 Calgary Stampeders CFL

Description

1971 O-Pee-Chee Fred James #127 Calgary Stampeders CFL Collectors chasing the bold red-border look of early 1970s Canadian football will find a strong, displayable example in this 1971 O-Pee-Chee Fred James card, number 127 from the vintage CFL series. The design is instantly recognizable to gridiron fans: a bright red frame, a white-bordered stadium pose, the charging Stampeders football logo, and the light-blue Calgary Stampeders team line that gives the issue its classic personality. James appears in his number 47 red home jersey, crouched low in a defensive stance, with the moustache that becomes part of his card story. The bilingual reverse playfully identifies him as the first Stampeder to grow a moustache and notes that he was Calgary’s first Canadian university draft choice in 1966 out of the University of Alberta. The back also highlights his best season, 1969, when he took over at defensive tackle after Granville Liggins was injured and held the starting role for the rest of the year. Listed at 6 feet 4 and 255 pounds, James represents an important 1960s and 1970s CFL archetype: a homegrown Canadian interior lineman who earned his place alongside American imports in the Stampeders rotation. For a Calgary collector, this card connects a colorful period in franchise history, when Canadian university talent, hardnosed line play, and memorable locker-room personalities helped define the team. It is also an affordable way to build the Calgary section of a set that remains beloved for its vivid photography and distinctly Canadian card backs. This is the standard Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual English and French card back, printed in Canada, with the cartoon and biography panel on the reverse, and it is not a puzzle back. The front retains strong red color with only the lightest touches at the top-left and top-right corners, a very minor bottom-left softness, and almost no meaningful edge chipping; the image is centered near 50/50 top to bottom and only slightly toward the left, while the reverse is clean with no heavy stains, paper loss, writing, creases, or wrinkles. The red border shows the normal faint age contact at the tips, but the overall surface remains bright and well preserved. A conservative EX-MT 6 grade is appropriate because the card presents better than a typical Excellent example, with crisp registration and only minor corner wear, yet it is not quite Near Mint due to the small tip touches visible in the photos. Anyone searching for 1971 O-Pee-Chee Fred James #127 Calgary Stampeders CFL will find this an attractive original for a player collection, Stampeders team set, or vintage CFL build where authentic eye appeal matters. Grade Estimate: EX-MT 6