Wayne Gretzky rookie card sells for record $3.75 million

DALLAS — Rookie cards of The Great One are becoming greater in value.

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A 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee card of hockey legend Wayne Gretzky sold for a record $3.75 million in a private sale brokered through Heritage Auctions, the Dallas-based company announced Thursday in a news release.

The card was graded a gem-mint 10 by the Professional Sports Authenticator grading company based in Santa Ana, California. It is one of only two cards graded PSA 10.

Thursday’s private sale broke the record set Dec. 11, 2020, when Heritage Auctions sold the other gem-mint card for $1.29 million, Sports Collectors Daily reported.

“There are just a handful of cards out there to reach such stratospheric heights, and they bear such names as Mickey Mantle, LeBron James, Mike Trout, Honus Wagner and Michael Jordan,” Dan Imler, Heritage Sports’ vice president of private sales and consignments, said in the news release. “It’s only fitting that the greatest hockey player of all time, and one of the most beloved and revered athletes of the 20th century, join their estimable ranks.”

O-Pee-Chee was a Canadian company that worked with Topps to distribute similar cards in Canada, ESPN reported.

In 2016, the Gretzky that set the original mark of $1.29 million was sold in an auction for $465,000, Sports Collectors Daily reported.

According to the Heritage Auctions news release, the buyer and seller of the new record-setting Gretzky card asked to remain anonymous. However, the buyer said he was thrilled to make the purchase.

“Throughout many years of collecting, this card has always been our ‘white whale,’” the buyer said in the release. “Our family is thrilled to become the new guardians of this world-class hobby treasure.”

>> Record price: 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle baseball card sells for $5.2M

The known record for a sports card sale came in January when a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle baseball card sold for $5.2 million through PWCC Marketplace.

The Gretzky card is the latest example of a rare sports card fetching a high price.

“(It) is not surprising considering how rare and significant this card is,” Chris Ivy, Heritage Auctions’ director of sports, said in a statement. “After all, there are only two examples. And, it’s Wayne Gretzky.”

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