$3.75 million Hockey Card!

[30ranfordfan]

If I had 3.75 million I wouldn't spend it on one card... I mean you can find a perfectly nice PSA 6 Gretzky for $700-800 bucks, if that...

If I had $3.75 million I would buy a lot of sweet hockey cards, probably open a card shop too. I'd also contact Upper Deck and have them send me several cases of all of their new hockey, baseball, football and basketball product when it's released.... lol, I'd probably offer Upper Deck a million bucks for a life-time subscription to all of their product.. That would be awesome....

But yea, I'd certainly make sure I had every major hockey issue post war to the present..

I love collecting and all but only a fool would blow 3.75 million on one card.. I mean I wonder how many sealed BBCE authenticated cases of 79-80 OPC one could buy with a million bucks? perhaps 10? would 100k a case get it done?... IDK, if I wanted a PSA 10 Gretzky rookie I'd certainly go about it that way, because you're pretty much guaranteed 2 per box, I mean the set is only 396 cards and I believe there are 48 wax packs per OPC box and 15 cards a pack so 720 cards per box, so you figure 20 boxes a case you're going to get 35-40 pack fresh Gretzky's per case, if you buy 10 cases that 350-400 Gretzky Rookies -- so yea, I really like my chances on that one.. And that's only a million bucks.. I mean I'm sure one of those 350-400 Gretzky rookies will grade a PSA 10....

From an investment perspective, you cant go wrong with 10 cases of 79-80 OPC, lol... I wonder where or how someone could find 10 cases of 79-80 OPC??

I mean if you think about it whomever purchased that Gretzky for 3.75 million really wasted their money.. Like I just pointed out - the guy probably could have bought 10 cases for a million bucks 350-400 Gretzky rookie cards... When you break it down like that what the buyer did makes no sense.... And think of all of the high grade Gretzky's one would get out of a case? I mean even a PSA 9 Gretzky fetches 20K (probably way more) these days..

*IF* you could get ahold of that case, it's unlikely you're going to get a PSA 10. The PSA 10 sold for that much because there are two of them. Think about that, compared to how many copies are out there. The PSA 10 selling for 1.2 million back in December.... I'm sure some people thought that dude overpaid, and I read a rumor somewhere that he's now thinking about reselling it, since this last one went for 3x more.

I found a link to a preview for a Heritage Auction of a box of 79-80 OPC, still sealed. The estimated value was $60k, but I have no idea what it actually went for.

I'm guessing a 20 box case (if it still exists) would run you close to 1.5 million, not 100k.

If you bought a single box for $60k, and pulled two Gretzkys, and they both came back PSA 8 (incredible luck) - You would be out a lot of money.

The value difference between a 9 and 10 is incredible.

PSA 6 Gretzkys for $700-$800 ? That hasn't been true for years (if you're talking about OPC, anyway). That will run you at least $5k, probably more (CND).

Did this guy overpay? Well, sure. I guess. Except there are only 2 of them in the world (for now) and it's unlikely one will ever be sold for less than he just paid. Someone spending $3.75 million on a hockey card isn't the kind of person that wonders what they'd do with $3.75 million if they ever had it..... they're someone that's filthy rich, and 3.75 million isn't changing their life one way or another.

Yea, I have both Topps and OPC Gretzky Rookies... Not high grade by any means, both are raw. The OPC has pen on the back - not too bad but it displays really nice - and the Topps has fuzzy corners/slight rounding and a hairline crease that isn't visible but it's there, lol... I mean I'd say the OPC is a PSA 2 and the Topps perhaps a 3.5, maybe 4?

Back in 2017 I traded an Auston Matthews YG for the OPC, then a couple of years ago

I bought the Topps off of eBay via Buy It Now. It wasn't that expensive - I paid $275 for it.... I mean they're nice cards to have and no hockey card collection is complete until you have a Gretzky Rookie, lol..

There are a lot of nice vintage rookies tho, I always thought the Dryden Rookie was iconic - that was always a "must have" for me, of course I have a few of those, obviously the Lemieux Rookie is another "must have" for me so I have a handful of them.... I'm not too picky when it comes to grade, I mean I'm absolutely fine with mid-grade cards and you can (or at least could) pick up Dryden and Lemieux rookies in mid grade all day for less than $70 bucks.. I mean I think I paid between $30-50 for my Dryden Rookies and $40-90 for my Lemieux's..

Of course there is always one iconic non-hockey card I must have and that's the 1980 Topps Rickey Henderson Rookie, lol.. I don't really collect any other sport but hockey but I used to before I got out of the hobby in the late 90's, and Henderson's rookie always caught my eye - that's a really iconic card.. So yea I do have a small collection of baseball - mostly rookies from the 60's,70's and 80's..

Lemieux & Dryden are ones that have shot up in value too. Tough to find decent looking copies for that price anymore (certainly it used to be possible). Same on Gretzky.

When I bought mine (OPC Gretzky) - I was only interested in graded. Remove all risk of fakes. I'm not huge into grading normally, it's one of the very few cards I own that's graded. Too many fakes out there, if I ever do sell it: Too many questions can come up about condition, authenticity, etc. Going with a PSA slabbed one seemed like the best move to me. I went for a 5 because that ($400 CNDish) was what my desired price point was. I held out for one with really good centering... the eye appeal on my copy is nice.

[Savard18]

*IF* you could get ahold of that case, it's unlikely you're going to get a PSA 10. The PSA 10 sold for that much because there are two of them. Think about that, compared to how many copies are out there. The PSA 10 selling for 1.2 million back in December.... I'm sure some people thought that dude overpaid, and I read a rumor somewhere that he's now thinking about reselling it, since this last one went for 3x more.

I found a link to a preview for a Heritage Auction of a box of 79-80 OPC, still sealed. The estimated value was $60k, but I have no idea what it actually went for.

I'm guessing a 20 box case (if it still exists) would run you close to 1.5 million, not 100k.

If you bought a single box for $60k, and pulled two Gretzkys, and they both came back PSA 8 (incredible luck) - You would be out a lot of money.

The value difference between a 9 and 10 is incredible.

PSA 6 Gretzkys for $700-$800 ? That hasn't been true for years (if you're talking about OPC, anyway). That will run you at least $5k, probably more (CND).

Did this guy overpay? Well, sure. I guess. Except there are only 2 of them in the world (for now) and it's unlikely one will ever be sold for less than he just paid. Someone spending $3.75 million on a hockey card isn't the kind of person that wonders what they'd do with $3.75 million if they ever had it..... they're someone that's filthy rich, and 3.75 million isn't changing their life one way or another.




Lemieux & Dryden are ones that have shot up in value too. Tough to find decent looking copies for that price anymore (certainly it used to be possible). Same on Gretzky.

When I bought mine (OPC Gretzky) - I was only interested in graded. Remove all risk of fakes. I'm not huge into grading normally, it's one of the very few cards I own that's graded. Too many fakes out there, if I ever do sell it: Too many questions can come up about condition, authenticity, etc. Going with a PSA slabbed one seemed like the best move to me. I went for a 5 because that ($400 CNDish) was what my desired price point was. I held out for one with really good centering... the eye appeal on my copy is nice.

Well of course Gem-Mint 10 Gretzky rookies are mega rare but that's because they've been shuffled around for 40 years hence have some wear just from being handled over the years, but without question there are more 10's out there - most of which are presumably in unopened product - I'm sure there are quite a few tucked away in a shoe box somewhere in an attic or basement just waiting to be found.. I mean I would bet a good 10% of Gretzky rookies still in sealed wax are PSA 10's - it's just that 79-80 Topps and OPC are profoundly rare hence difficult to find sealed.... Look, they're out there - they just have to be found.

And honestly, I have absolutely no idea what a box of 79-80 Topps or OPC run these days, and it's hard to keep up with the price of PSA graded gem-mt 10 cards because the values are all over the place, I mean sale prices have become pretty subjective... Either way, they say money talks and BS walks and that cash is king so IMO if someone pulled out a million bucks looking for 79-80 Topps or OPC cases I have a feeling they will be found, lol.. But say cases of OPC were 200k - that's still 5 cases for a million bucks and figuring 2 Gretzky's per box on average that's at least 40 per case er 250+ Gretzky's from sealed product and you can bet there will be quite a few 10's out of 250.. I mean even if 10% are pack fresh gems that's still 25..

And as I pointed out the reason why there are only 2 PSA 10's is because of 40 years of handling, I mean collectors can be as careful with cards as they want but every time you touch a card it puts wear on that card, you mistakenly touch a corner - that's it - no longer a 10.. I mean that's why I try to avoid handling raw cards when I can and when I do I try to hold them from the sides and avoid touching the surface, and depending on the value I will use gloves...And look, I'd be willing to bet that a strong majority of 8's and 9's only graded 8's and 9's - not because of production defects - but because of surface issues or minor problems caused by the owners actions and handling of the card - meaning that card would have graded a 10 fresh out of the pack BUT a clueless owner dropped it and dinged a corner, got finger prints on the surface or put it in a binder at some point chipping the edges.... And that's another problem with the Gretzky - chipping on that blue border really shows so you have to be careful with 79-80's Topps or OPC... Also, you have to remember that 30 years ago the Topps or OPC Gretzky wasn't all "that valuable" of a card - not only that but grading wasn't really a "thing" back in the early to mid 90's so looking back I mean I can totally see collectors, dealers and LCS owners alike looking at the card raw, pulling it out of the case hundreds of times and whatnot. Not to mention considering how iconic the card is - every LCS had to have had one - a lot of which got bleached from sitting in the display case for years with the sun frying it everyday.. Look, I experienced it, I used to work at the LCS when I was a kid and we had a Gretzky rookie and I don't know how many times collectors would ask to see it, they would pull it out of the case and analyze it - because for the time it was one of those cards that was not quite a "significant" investment but it was expensive - certainly a card that would cost you your monthly card allowance in one shot.. I suppose my point is that there are reasons why gem mint 10 Gretzky rookies are difficult to find and IMO it's not because of production flaws - tho of course it happens..

As far as Lemieux rookies, or really cards in general - you can find a lot of really significant cards in mid-grade raw on eBay which are obviously mid-grade cards for pretty cheap - I mean they start to get pretty expensive around a PSA 7 or higher depending on the card, set, year etc.... And yes indeed I know there is a massive gap in value between a 7, 8 and 9 and an immense margin between a 9 and 10 depending on the card. I mean you can get a card for $20 in mid-grade, think PSA 6.5 but in a PSA 10 it's a $3,000 card.. So yea, when it comes to Lemieux, Dryden, Lafleur, Dionne, Messier, Yzerman etc rookies they have gone up in value but in mid-grade they're still more than affordable - not only that but there are a lot of idiots out there so if you keep your eyes open you can find some tremendous steals.. I mean I bought a Topps Yzerman rookie using "Buy It Now" and it cost $2.49 shipped to my mailbox, sure it's a Topps but the only flaw with this card is centering, I mean it's easily a PSA 9 if you want to add a centering qualifier which would drop the grade by 2 points.... So there are still bargains to be had..

IDK, just my .02 cents.

[30ranfordfan]

Well of course Gem-Mint 10 Gretzky rookies are mega rare but that's because they've been shuffled around for 40 years hence have some wear just from being handled over the years, but without question there are more 10's out there - most of which are presumably in unopened product - I'm sure there are quite a few tucked away in a shoe box somewhere in an attic or basement just waiting to be found.. I mean I would bet a good 10% of Gretzky rookies still in sealed wax are PSA 10's - it's just that 79-80 Topps and OPC are profoundly rare hence difficult to find sealed.... Look, they're out there - they just have to be found.

And honestly, I have absolutely no idea what a box of 79-80 Topps or OPC run these days, and it's hard to keep up with the price of PSA graded gem-mt 10 cards because the values are all over the place, I mean sale prices have become pretty subjective... Either way, they say money talks and BS walks and that cash is king so IMO if someone pulled out a million bucks looking for 79-80 Topps or OPC cases I have a feeling they will be found, lol.. But say cases of OPC were 200k - that's still 5 cases for a million bucks and figuring 2 Gretzky's per box on average that's at least 40 per case er 250+ Gretzky's from sealed product and you can bet there will be quite a few 10's out of 250.. I mean even if 10% are pack fresh gems that's still 25..

And as I pointed out the reason why there are only 2 PSA 10's is because of 40 years of handling, I mean collectors can be as careful with cards as they want but every time you touch a card it puts wear on that card, you mistakenly touch a corner - that's it - no longer a 10.. I mean that's why I try to avoid handling raw cards when I can and when I do I try to hold them from the sides and avoid touching the surface, and depending on the value I will use gloves...And look, I'd be willing to bet that a strong majority of 8's and 9's only graded 8's and 9's - not because of production defects - but because of surface issues or minor problems caused by the owners actions and handling of the card - meaning that card would have graded a 10 fresh out of the pack BUT a clueless owner dropped it and dinged a corner, got finger prints on the surface or put it in a binder at some point chipping the edges.... And that's another problem with the Gretzky - chipping on that blue border really shows so you have to be careful with 79-80's Topps or OPC... Also, you have to remember that 30 years ago the Topps or OPC Gretzky wasn't all "that valuable" of a card - not only that but grading wasn't really a "thing" back in the early to mid 90's so looking back I mean I can totally see collectors, dealers and LCS owners alike looking at the card raw, pulling it out of the case hundreds of times and whatnot. Not to mention considering how iconic the card is - every LCS had to have had one - a lot of which got bleached from sitting in the display case for years with the sun frying it everyday.. Look, I experienced it, I used to work at the LCS when I was a kid and we had a Gretzky rookie and I don't know how many times collectors would ask to see it, they would pull it out of the case and analyze it - because for the time it was one of those cards that was not quite a "significant" investment but it was expensive - certainly a card that would cost you your monthly card allowance in one shot.. I suppose my point is that there are reasons why gem mint 10 Gretzky rookies are difficult to find and IMO it's not because of production flaws - tho of course it happens..

As far as Lemieux rookies, or really cards in general - you can find a lot of really significant cards in mid-grade raw on eBay which are obviously mid-grade cards for pretty cheap - I mean they start to get pretty expensive around a PSA 7 or higher depending on the card, set, year etc.... And yes indeed I know there is a massive gap in value between a 7, 8 and 9 and an immense margin between a 9 and 10 depending on the card. I mean you can get a card for $20 in mid-grade, think PSA 6.5 but in a PSA 10 it's a $3,000 card.. So yea, when it comes to Lemieux, Dryden, Lafleur, Dionne, Messier, Yzerman etc rookies they have gone up in value but in mid-grade they're still more than affordable - not only that but there are a lot of idiots out there so if you keep your eyes open you can find some tremendous steals.. I mean I bought a Topps Yzerman rookie using "Buy It Now" and it cost $2.49 shipped to my mailbox, sure it's a Topps but the only flaw with this card is centering, I mean it's easily a PSA 9 if you want to add a centering qualifier which would drop the grade by 2 points.... So there are still bargains to be had..

IDK, just my .02 cents.

I think you're really over estimating how many GEMs would be in a case. I suspect you're correct - there are other pristine copies out there - maybe they're in sealed product.... but not many. You know as well as I do, how rough the cutting technology was back then. Cards are off centered routinely. Rough edges are common. Cards with small printing flaws made up 99% of the production back in 1979. They simply didn't have the tools to produce cards with perfect edges, perfect corners, and perfect centering very often.

I'll say again, I don't think you're estimates are even close. There is no chance you could get a sealed case of 1979-80 OPC for $200k. I'm guessing that would get you two boxes, max. I thought I posted this link yesterday, but looks like I didn't:

https://www.sportscollectorsdaily.co...ng-to-auction/

That talks about an auction back in 2018 for a single box of 79-80. It was expected to sell for $60k, but I have no idea what it did go for. I suspect nobody was trying to buy it to crack it, they were buying the sealed box as a collectible. That was 3 years ago, and considering the jump in many prices (especially Gretzky) I'd bet that same box goes for AT LEAST $100k today. Considering how rare a 40+ year old case of 1979-80 OPC would actually be today..... I'd be surprised if you could buy that 20 box case for less than the cost of a PSA 10 Gretzky.

Of course if you crack the case, and pull a single PSA Gretzky out of it - you're now doing well.... but chances are you won't pull a single one. It's not just that people handled the vast majority of these cards poorly, it's that most of them didn't come off the presses in perfect condition.

[Xspyrit]

is it just me or this card doesn't even look like it'd be close to 10 if it was BGS?

i.jpg

[scarrman]

Well the coloring is bright and awesome. Centering L/R is perfect, but top/bottom is less than a 10. Edges, well they seem to forgive the rough cut for OPC, but hard to justify when you see better edges are out there. Image is great, no visible print flaws, and corners look really good.

The top edge, directly above the between the E and G, looks like some white showing. White specks look prevalent on the upper 1/3 and left 1/4 of the card - some might say specks are from dust on the cover or the scanner - but I wouldn't tolerate that on a multi-million card! Is a beautiful card, one of the nicest I have ever seen, a 10? Hard to say. The grading tolerance for vintage cards vs current is much different.

[Xspyrit]

Well the coloring is bright and awesome. Centering L/R is perfect, but top/bottom is less than a 10. Edges, well they seem to forgive the rough cut for OPC, but hard to justify when you see better edges are out there. Image is great, no visible print flaws, and corners look really good.

The top edge, directly above the between the E and G, looks like some white showing. White specks look prevalent on the upper 1/3 and left 1/4 of the card - some might say specks are from dust on the cover or the scanner - but I wouldn't tolerate that on a multi-million card! Is a beautiful card, one of the nicest I have ever seen, a 10? Hard to say. The grading tolerance for vintage cards vs current is much different.

That's the thing, we're not talking about a few thousands here

Even if vintage I think it'd be a 9.0 or 9.5 from BGS, which is amazing but 3.75 million???!!!

[Savard18]

is it just me or this card doesn't even look like it'd be close to 10 if it was BGS?

i.jpg

Exactly..

This card falls into the realm of "subjective"....Obviously the right edge is frayed as typical OPC cards from that era are.. Some collectors find that acceptable, others don't - so how is it a 10? in order for this card to be a 10 then all collectors would have to "dig those white edges and frayed paper" as just "the way OPC cards ar"..

That messed up edge makes that card a 8.5 (max) but if it was a 7.5 I wouldn't be shocked, and that grade is just factoring er accounting for other minor imperfections which without question the card has...

It's really unusual because I have a 71-72 Bobby Hull with the exact same issues, it's frayed on the right edge kinda like an OPC card - outside of that it's mega high grade.. I get it but I can objectively call bull™™™™..

[creasecollector]

Sweet sale price. We talked about this record-breaking sale on the center ice card cast podcast this past week.