NHL great Wayne Gretzky has set a lot of records and he just added another to his resume. His rookie card recently sold for $3.75 million, which is the highest price ever for a single hockey card.
Heritage Auctions sold the Gem Mint 10 rated 1979 O-Pee-Chee Gretzky rookie card for the whopping price, according to ESPN. The buyer, who has remained anonymous, told ESPN it was a longtime dream of theirs to own the card.
“This card has always been our ‘white whale.’ Our family is thrilled to become the new guardians of this world-class hobby treasure,” the buyer told ESPN.
The last record holder was also a O-Pee-Chee Gretzky rookie, which sold for $1.29 million in December. It is the second of just two 1979 Gretzky O-Pee-Chees cards with a Gem Mint 10 grade and was the first hockey card to sell for over $1 million. That same card sold for just $465,00 in 2016, which shows how strong the trading card boom has been in the past five years.
Gretzky is the NHL’s all time leader in goals with 894, assists with 1,963 and is the all-time points leader as well.
During his time in the NHL he played for the Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues and New York Rangers. The 60-year-old is a four-time Stanley Cup champion.
