The year was 1979. Back when you bought wax packs of hockey cards along with a piece of really bad bubble gum. Back when most of the people who bought hockey cards were kids, and the cards were more likely to be played with than carefully preserved. Even those rare collectors who understood the potential value of collectible cards turned their collective eyes to baseball. Who … [Read more...] about Wayne Gretzky Rookie Cards: A History
1979-80 OPC hockey
Babe, Mick Combine for $1 Million Plus in Heritage Summer Sports Card Auction
One of the highest graded 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth cards sold for a record setting $540,000 in Heritage Auctions' recently completed Summer Sports Card catalog sale. One of 20 graded PSA 8, the card's price was nearly $400,000 higher than the last auction for a card of the same grade which took place in September of last year. There are two cards on PSA's … [Read more...] about Babe, Mick Combine for $1 Million Plus in Heritage Summer Sports Card Auction
1948 Bowman Pack Among Mountain of Unopened in Upcoming Auction
Some of it came off the assembly line just a year or two ago. One pack has remained sealed for more than 72 years. It's a wide scope of cases, boxes and packs and it's all coming to market in a couple of weeks. Heritage Auctions will feature 173 different lots of unopened material in its upcoming Summer Sports Card Auction, with a mix of vintage and modern … [Read more...] about 1948 Bowman Pack Among Mountain of Unopened in Upcoming Auction
Record Rookie: O-Pee-Chee Wayne Gretzky Card Sold for $3.75 Million
On December 11, Heritage Auctions sold one of the two 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee Wayne Gretzky rookie cards for what was then a record $1.29 million. On Thursday, the company announced the private sale of the other copy-- for nearly three times that amount. The $3.75 million sale sets a new high mark for the most expensive hockey card ever sold. December’s sale had … [Read more...] about Record Rookie: O-Pee-Chee Wayne Gretzky Card Sold for $3.75 Million
Gretzky Rookie Card Sells for $1.29 Million
A1979-80 O-Pee-Chee Wayne Gretzky rookie card graded Gem Mint 10 by PSA has broken its own record as the most valuable hockey card ever sold. Heritage Auctions sold one of the two copies of the card for $1.29 million early Friday morning. The card last sold in 2016 for $465,000. Part of an auction of over 3,700 lots of sports cards and memorabilia playing out … [Read more...] about Gretzky Rookie Card Sells for $1.29 Million
Heritage Auction Includes Big List of Vintage Unopened Packs, Boxes, Cases
They're still wrapped tightly, looking just as they did when they left the packaging part of the plant 40, 50, 60 years ago or more. A big collection of vintage unopened packs and boxes offered in a major catalog auction will once again beg the question: to open or not? Heritage Auctions' newly launched Summer Trading Card Auction includes over 80 lots of … [Read more...] about Heritage Auction Includes Big List of Vintage Unopened Packs, Boxes, Cases
Opening a 1979-80 OPC Hockey Box at the National
The National Sports Collectors Convention floor is always buzzing but in a quiet corner near PSA's booth on Thursday afternoon we spied one collector surrounded by opened packs of.... what? Was that really a 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee hockey box? The one with Wayne Gretzky's most valuable rookie card potentially inside? The ones that usually sell for around $50,000 on … [Read more...] about Opening a 1979-80 OPC Hockey Box at the National
1979-80 OPC Pack Break Yields Greatness
A Las Vegas collector turned $150 into a potentially nice payday--or the crown jewel of just about any hockey collection--Wednesday night. He bought a $150 spot in a 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee hockey pack break conducted by Vintage Breaks and despite some relatively long odds, it was his spot in the 14-card break that came up when a Wayne Gretzky rookie card came up. "Thad" is … [Read more...] about 1979-80 OPC Pack Break Yields Greatness
1979-80 O-Pee-Chee Hockey Box–Still Sealed–Coming to Auction
Unopened boxes of 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee hockey don’t come to market very often. Those that still have the rudimentary but familiar piece of the company’s signature tape over the front lid are virtually non-existent. You knew there was a “but” coming, didn’t you? Collectors who’ve been searching for the whitest of vintage hockey wax white whales can stop looking. … [Read more...] about 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee Hockey Box–Still Sealed–Coming to Auction
1951 Mantle Contact Proof Photo Tops Huggins & Scott Auction
He would become synonymous with the number 7, but for the first three months of Mickey Mantle's career, he wore a different digit on the back of his Yankee uniform. A one-of-a-kind contact proof image of the teenage star and his earliest big league uniform from the files of noted photographer Bill Jacobellis has sold at auction for $20,912. The 4x5 image carrying … [Read more...] about 1951 Mantle Contact Proof Photo Tops Huggins & Scott Auction