1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Gord Labossiere #303 Houston Aeros WHA Rookie

Description

1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Gord Labossiere #303 Houston Aeros WHA Rookie Add a genuinely vivid mustard-tier rookie card to your hockey collection with this 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Gord Labossiere #303 single trading card, originally released during the World Hockey Association's inaugural season and bearing all the visual craftsmanship that defined early-seventies cardboard. Gord Labossiere, a Minnesota Fighting Saints-bound pioneer turned Houston Aero, was born March 19, 1940, in St. Boniface, Manitoba, and his WHA resume reflects exactly the kind of workmanlike attitude that built the league in its first six teams. The front captures Labossiere mid-pose in the Aeros' superlative sky-blue road sweater, "AEROS" arcing boldly across the chest, sleeves and pant stripes in matching white-and-orange. The bright magenta-pink background is the unmistakable 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee WHA photo-design choice that gives the whole set its candy-coloured identity, the prototype for an entire brief era of saturated Ontario-printed cardboard. What is fascinating about this card is the production lineage: O-Pee-Chee, a name lifted directly from the London, Ontario-based chewing-gum company that also made hockey cards under the OPC imprint, held exclusive Canadian publishing rights to most Topps-aligned projects of that era. The 1972-73 WHA set was exclusively Canadian distribution—Topps's American WHA set was a parallel release. The reverse is the unmistakable Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual card back, presenting Labossiere's biography in both English and French parallel text columns, the orange and black title bar at top with the Houston Aeros small franchise mark, and that quintessential "PRINTED IN CANADA" stamp confirming its Canadian provenance. front corner wear visible at upper-left and lower-right, both showing soft white at the tip; upper-right and lower-left remain comparatively crisp. Centring on the front has a hair of pull-left; back centring is excellent. Edges show minimal micro-chipping—two small contact points along the lower edge that do not disturb the layer. No creases, no surface scratches, no wrinkles, no gloss-flip damage. Cardstock has aged with a warm cream patina expected of cardstock that has crossed fifty-plus birthdays. Conservative grade: EX-MT 6 to NR-MT 7. Grade Estimate: EX-MT 6