Historical Hockey Memorabilia Auction Spring 2021
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 6/30/2021
Regarded as one of the most iconic trading cards, Wayne Gretzky’s #18 rookie card from the 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee and Topps sets is a must-have for hockey card collectors of all ages. We are pleased to present this as an individual part of a grouping of both O-Pee-Chee and Topps graded Gretzky rookie cards. This PSA 1 PR copy of the O-Pee-Chee version is completely off-centered left-to-right and top-to-bottom, with creases and surface wrinkles visible over each corner, with larger examples over the bottom and top right. There is also moderate toning to the reverse.
This is one of the hottest cards in the hobby today, don’t miss out on a chance to own one! For 40 years, generations of collectors have coveted Gretzky’s rookie card and it remains by far the most-desired hockey card of the 1980s. There was no telling at the time that The Great One would accomplish so much in the game and this card has remained consistently popular. By the 1990s, counterfeit versions of the O-Pee-Chee version card began to pop up and there was no better way to ensure yours was real than to have it professionally graded. This grouping features both the 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee and Topps versions from companies such as PSA and Beckett up for individual sale. With beautiful blue borders which highlight the imperfections that appear on most Gretzky rookie cards, it can be a true challenge to find one that is of the highest quality. No matter the condition, though, this is a highly desirable hobby treasure as it shows a 17-year-old superstar in the making just a week after he was traded to the Edmonton Oilers by the Indianapolis Racers. On November 9, 1978, iconic hockey photographer Steve Babineau was on assignment by The Hockey News to go to the Springfield Civic Center to get shots of Gretzky as he faced his hero, Gordie Howe, and the New England Whalers. As a stringer for Topps and O-Pee-Chee, Babineau was able to pull double duty and made sure he had photos ready for the companies for the next season since a merger between the WHA and NHL was imminent. A year later, the photo was on cardboard and kids everywhere were ready to put it in bike spokes or play a card flipping game with Gretzky and his peers – further ensuring that high-grade copies would be difficult to find in the future. It also did not help that O-Pee-Chee’s primitive cutting techniques utilizing airplane wire created problematic edges, and, as big stacks were cut, the sheets shifted to create centering problems.
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