1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Jack Egers #107 Rookie Card Bilingual Back St. Louis Blues

Description

1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Jack Egers #107 Rookie Card Bilingual Back St. Louis Blues They called him Smokey, and the reason is printed right there on the back of this card. Jack Egers owned one of the hardest slap shots in the National Hockey League, a weapon so loud and so quick that teammates stopped calling him by his name, and this 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee issue is his rookie card, the first time the Sudbury native appeared on cardboard at all. The reverse explains that he broke into the league with the Rangers in 1969-70, spent three seasons in New York, then arrived in St. Louis in 1971-72 and clicked immediately on a line with Mike Murphy and Garry Unger, scoring 21 goals in 66 games. He added another 34 points the following year, and while injuries and the brutal travel of the era kept his career shorter than his talent suggested, the shot was legendary in rink gossip for a decade. That combination of a rookie card, a great nickname and a genuine story makes number 107 one of the more charming entries in the first series of the 340 card 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee set, printed in Canada with the tan border, vertical St. Louis Blues lettering and yellow name stripe that characterize the issue. The portrait is a straight on studio shot in the white Blues sweater with the blue and gold trim catching the light, exactly the sort of image that makes 1970s hockey cards feel like school photographs. The back is a bilingual English and French biography with a full career record and it is a standard O-Pee-Chee bilingual back, not a puzzle back. The 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Jack Egers #107 rookie card is a strong fit for Blues team sets, rookie card collections from the 1970s and anyone who appreciates a card that comes with its own nickname. the white sweater in the portrait shows the mild print mottling that is common to this card and this print run, the green background is clean with strong color, the top two corners are sharp while the bottom left shows a light touch of wear, and centering is about 60/40 left to right with a slight tan edge nick at the lower right. The reverse is bright and fully legible with no writing, no tape and no creasing, and it is not a puzzle back. EX 5 is the conservative grade, reflecting clean gloss and honest original color alongside the bottom corner touch, the printer mottling in the jersey area and the off center cut. Grade Estimate: EX 5