1973-74 O-Pee-Chee Hilliard Graves #110 California Golden Seals

Description

1973-74 O-Pee-Chee Hilliard Graves #110 California Golden Seals Defunct team collectors and high-number hunters will love this 1973-74 O-Pee-Chee Hilliard Graves #110 California Golden Seals, a scarce higher number from the 1973-74 set featuring a consistent scorer from the Seals’ final competitive years. This is the genuine Canadian O-Pee-Chee card, printed in Canada with a dark bilingual back, and its high number status makes it inherently tougher to find than low numbers due to production runs and rubber band wear on the top of stacks. Hilliard Graves was one of California’s most reliable right wings, and the back copy tells his story accurately with a consistent rookie year, noted as very consistent in scoring, and credits him with 27 goals and 25 assists for 52 points in 75 games in 1972-73, leading the Seals and finishing the other categories with three game-winning goals, a performance that made him the team’s offensive catalyst before moving to Atlanta Flames and Vancouver Canucks later in his career. Graves was known for a quick release and durability, and his cards appeal to fans of 70s hockey when the Seals, with their white skates and iconic Seals chest script, tried to market hockey to surf culture California, an endlessly fascinating chapter in NHL pop-culture that now drives retro merch and documentary interest. The front photo shows Graves in the dark green Seals sweater in a road pose with his stick out, a moody image that stands out from the brighter yellow home jerseys in the rest of the row. This is confirmed as a Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual back, English and French season records, cartoon noting he was candidate for Rookie of the Year and Golden Seals Candidate des Golden Seals de l’année Recrue, with O. P. C. PRINTED IN CANADA, not a Topps issue and not a puzzle back. Front centering is roughly 65/35 left to right favoring right with top to bottom about 60/40 favoring top, common for high numbers. The red border retains strong pigment with light edge abrasion on the lower right and a small white tick mid-left, corners exhibit gentle rounding across all four with top left slightly more softened, no major white shows beyond corner tips. No surface scratches, print defects or creases observed, gloss is present but muted as typical for O-Pee-Chee. The dark back shows uniform aging with light toning, crisp black print for games played and totals, minor fiber roughness on edge but no stains. No wrinkles, no creases, no paper loss. The conservative grade is dictated by centering bias and corner rounding, placing it in the VG-EX range while still presenting as a clean high-number example ideal for closing out your 1973-74 O-Pee-Chee set at Alex Collect. Grade Estimate: VG-EX 4.5