This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 3/10/2017
Containing the most collectable hockey card ever produced, the legendary 1979-80 O-Pee-Chee #18 Wayne Gretzky rookie card, offered is a complete 1979-80 OPC in original uncut sheet form. Though the Edmonton Oilers were new to the NHL in 1979, fans of the WHA knew that the 18-year old Gretzky would immediately be considered one of the top players in the sport, notching 46 goals and 110 points in the prior year. But Gretzky built off of the rookie season to shatter just about every NHL record in history over the next 20 years, leading the NHL in assists for 12 consecutive seasons while rising to the top of the goal-scoring charts five times, including the standing record of 92 goals in 1981, an accomplishment that may never been seen again. Although Gretzky's rookie card also comes in a Topps version, it's the O-Pee-Chee example that is much tougher to land in high grade, often due to centering issues. As for the Gretzky RC featured on the sheet, inconspicuously situated in the second row and fourth from the right, it's been spared the usual wrinkling and other blemishes common to uncut sheets to deliver a nearly perfect presentation of "The Great One,", showing perhaps a slight touch of background print snow that appears on almost all of the finished products. Only a handful of uncut sheets containing the Gretzky rookie card have surfaced since his amazing rise to dominance over a quarter century ago!