1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Player Crests Richard Martin #4 Push-Out Insert Buffalo Sabres

Description

1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Player Crests Richard Martin #4 Push-Out Insert Buffalo Sabres Before the French Connection became hockey's most electrifying line, Rick Martin was already rewriting the record book, and this 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee Player Crests Richard Martin #4 Push-Out Insert Buffalo Sabres catches him at the dawn of superstardom. Issued in his second NHL season, immediately after he shattered the league rookie goal-scoring record with 44 goals in 1971-72, this is one of the earliest nationally issued cards of the Sabres legend. Within two years Martin would form the fabled French Connection with Gilbert Perreault and Rene Robert, pile up back-to-back 52-goal seasons in 1973-74 and 1974-75, and lead Buffalo to the 1975 Stanley Cup Final. His number 7 hangs retired in the rafters in Buffalo, and demand for his early O-Pee-Chee issues remains strong on both sides of the border. The Player Crests set is a 22-card Canadian exclusive insert, one per 1972-73 O-Pee-Chee first series wax pack, featuring die-cut NHL shields in black and red over silver stock. This example is an authentic O-Pee-Chee printing with bilingual English and French push-out instructions across the front of the card; the reverse is the correct blank tan back displaying the embossed outline of the die-cut shield, and buyers should note it is not a printed bilingual back or puzzle back, which is original and correct for this series. The shield has never been pushed out and every perforation remains intact, preserving the card exactly as it emerged from the pack more than fifty years ago. the front shows clean silver surfaces with a sharp portrait and bright red lettering, four corners exhibiting only light touch wear, a hint of edge rub along the left border, centering near even with a slight upward shift of the shield, and no creases, wrinkles, surface marks or stains found under careful review; the blank back shows smooth, even toning with a clear embossed impression and no flaws. Our grade is intentionally conservative because reflective die-cut stock from this era rarely grades as well as it displays. An early-career insert of a Buffalo icon and one of the key cards in the entire 22-card set. Grade Estimate: EX-MT 6